The business of exploiting the moral and intellectual defects of contemporary cultural conservatism in the United States is a very lucrative political and commercial racket. Donald Trump’s self-financed vanity campaign for president may be commercially viable, but it seems increasingly clear that it is political poison for the national GOP brand.
Like a crime boss who enjoys publicity a bit too much, Trump is making it increasingly difficult for the dons of the Republican Party to keep their ugliest rhetoric (and the unsavory constituencies that this rhetoric mobilizes) out of the national spotlight. Like the man called the “Teflon Don” the Donald projects personal invulnerability and the swagger of a man who doesn’t need to be loved, and who cares more about stroking his own ego than protecting the interests of his compatriots. John Gotti is said to have done “more to destroy the old Italian Mafia than anything since Robert Kennedy.” Trump, who shares a number of personal characteristics with Gotti, may be doing similar damage to the GOP.
The more poll-driven momentum Trump’s candidacy gets, the more potentially persuadable 2016 voters will be exposed to the moronic wingnut rhetoric that Trump parrots from rightwing media celebrities. The majority of Republican voters, would never vote for a Fox News or talk radio bloviator for president, which is why the wingnut presidential candidates always flame out early (and why Trump will too at some point). These voters think of Rush, Hannity, and the scores of wannabe’s (like our own Howie Carr, for example) as comedians and harmless provocateurs. They don’t agree with them; they merely enjoy the way these jesters get under the skin of “liberals.” Donald Trump’s poll numbers reflect this very type of detached amusement, not serious intentions to cast a vote. The problem is that Trump’s antics are bridging the gap between cultural rivalry/entertainment and serious politics in a way that will make it very hard for the eventual GOP nominee to avoid association with the faction of the party that’s not in on the joke.