A very good life… conning small businessmen, running pyramid schemes and filing for bankruptcy while acting like a WWE and reality show celebrity. He might, however, want to watch his back when in Manhattan as the Russia Mafia have their eye on him now.
The concept of Trump TV, the structuring of his campaign operations to continually funnel expenses through his properties in order to financially benefit Trump, and the question, not yet heavily explored, as to whether Trump is amassing campaign contributions while minimizing advertising and organization costs with an eye to departing with a mountain of campaign cash for his own benefit, raises questions as to what Donald’s real goals are in all of this.
That said, Josh has a very interesting post this morning on the future of Trump and the GOP. I agree with his analysis that after November, the hard right, embodying a big chunk of Trump’s supporters…particularly xenophobes and white nationalists is going to have the whip hand in future party operations.
Trump loses and even if he fades from the picture (hard to envision given his ego), his rapid right backers are going to be liviid…they lost because the party didn’t support their candidate, because the system is rigged and because the media was all against Trump. As before, they will argue that a “true” conservative could have beaten Clinton.
But who is that conservative? Cruz? It sure seems he hurt himself with his lack of endorsement at the GOP convention and he continues to be unloved in Congress except by his most rabid followers. His base of evangelicals is shrinking as a demographic.
Who else in the panoply of conservative Republicans could be the standard bearer?
Paul Ryan clearly HOPES to be the candidate, but he is viewed with as much suspicion by the hard right as was John Boehner.
So this raises the next question…does the cadre of “traditional” Republicans…specifically many of those who “couldn’t vote for Trump” somehow coalesce to form a new Republican party…whether using that name or another…a party that sets forth a more centrist platform and one willing to work with Democrats to restore the functionality of Congress?
Doing so would not be easy, and I would argue might not even be doable. How many “centrist” Republicans and true independents are there out there? Many of them, in recent years, have clearly been willing to go along with the kinds of positions and rhetoric that resulted in Trump anyway. Many of them don’t really disagree with a lot of Trump’s positions. They simply object to the fact that Trump is a dangerous dolt and is killing their party.
If they took such a step, the hard right would either move forward with the platform they have now chosen under the party banner, or themselves form another party, leaving the GOP label to the centrists. (My guess is they would keep the GOP label and leave name changes to any group trying to move centrist.)
My own sense is that this election, once finished, is going to further deepen the clear fractures between the two sections of the part, leaving neither with the strength to regain control of the White House. Democrats will face a big challenge in 2018 when the Senate control involves LOTS of Democratic seats up for grabs and fewer Republican. But if Democrats manage to launch something like a very large infrastructure program and it begins to stimulate the economy and job growth, the GOP in whatever form(s) will have a tougher job trying to convince voters their ideas are superior.
Increasingly, hard evidence proves that the GOP really has no policies for the critical issues we face as Americans and global citizens. Trickle down has been tried in spades and it clearly is a disaster. Income inequality has grown, and critical issues like stable health care, global warming, and economic stimulus have been routinely ignored by the party in favor of anti immigration, human rights, voter ID demands and gerrymandering
Demographic trends continue to shift away from the GOP. Will the party survive and in what fashion? The next four years should prove very interesting.
I absolutely agree. I truly believe this is one of the major reasons he will not release his returns. Because he’s not a billionaire, not even close. Still, his supporters won’t care. A caller, just before, on the Stephanie Miller Show, just said he’s voting for Trump because it will be like opening a window and letting in fresh air. I mean…it almost breaks one’s will when they hear that. The notion that Donald Trump will bring “fresh air” is highly troubling. To her and her staff’s credit, Miller and company started playing fart noises, as in that’s the only kind of “air” he will bring. Fart noises are always enjoyable. 
Whoa: the fact that he stated he has an alternative (=which is obvious), indicates that he does not give a hoot and will continue being self-destructive in his campaign. He really does not want to be President of the U.S. and the leader of the free world. Period. So, when will the RNC stop funding his campaign and distribute their monies to down ballet campaigns?
Yeah. Long vacation. Shoot some golf. Get a real tan. Try the hair plugs again. Betty Ford Clinic. Younger wife. Book deal.
It seems to me that he is referring to the money that he will come away with. A. There is no such thing (as he has demonstrated) as bad publicity B. He will have access to lots of cash when he forgives the loans to himself, or whatever means he uses to tap into those contributions that aren’t being spent.
It seems that at some point, Trump will begin saying stuff that benefits his business (es). At that point, we will all know that he has “thrown in the towel.”
Building a wall between GOld sTar mothers and their dead sons, and MakiNg them PAy! For it!!!
This makes me very happy. They all should pay the price for inflicting this kind of damage on the US and the rest of the world.
“I certainly don’t think it is appropriate to start changing all of a sudden when you have been winning,” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.
So…is this Trump’s brilliant business judgment on display here?