Trump and the cult of stupid
By Rick Wilson, contributor
“Donald Trump isn’t a traditional politician and we don’t need to run a traditional campaign.”
“TV ads don’t work.”
“He won the primary without spending any real money.”
“We don’t need you fancy consultants and your decades of experience, losers.”
Sound familiar? It should. You hear it every day from new Trump Establishment Republicans trying to defend themselves against the overwhelming evidence that Donald Trump’s “campaign” is off the rails. It’s an article of faith among Trump fans that he can ignore all the rules of political physics forever and will simply rise and rise no matter how many unforced errors he makes.
They take pride in his rejection of the tools and techniques of campaigning, ignoring the hard lessons that Barack Obama’s two election victories taught us as a party. They view the tools of politics as anathema in their cult of stupid, where anger and revenge against the hated establishment was enough to get him the nomination and swear it’s enough to win against Hillary. “Who needs expertise? We’ve got rage.”
Yesterday, they collided with the realities of a general election, as first day of the RNC convention in Cleveland demonstrated how unready they are for the fight ahead. The day went off the rails with the clumsy, criminally stupid catfight with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, followed by suppression of the legitimate concerns of hundreds of Trump-skeptical conservative delegates who wanted a bare-bones opportunity to have their voices heard.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/288298-trump-and-the-cult-of-stupid
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