One for the ages
Months ago when Donald Trump came down those golden escalators at his famous Trump Tower In New York City to announce he was running for president, I snickered. There’s no way the billionaire and reality television star can win the Republican nomination, I thought, with so many creditable and political savvy candidates vying for the political plum. So put me in that group of so-called political experts and analysts who got it wrong.
It was quite a show he put on, and I, like many others – and the nation – watched in wonderment. It was like he was in a shooting gallery as one by one he knocked off the 15 GOP hopefuls who wanted to run for president. There were members of Congress, governors and well-known personalities. The Republican establishment was against him. Many in the media tried to do him in. Nothing worked to stop the Trump train.
Give the flamboyant guy with the weird hairdo credit. He, and whoever was advising him, was smart enough to tap into the hidden anger of many voters indicated by the fact that Congress has an 11 percent approval rating. So Trump threw all of the hot-button issues against the wall in a take-no-prisoners fashion. He was rude, crude, insulting and bullying. But when the issues hit the wall, they stuck, and Trump’s fortunes began to rise. In the process, the Republican presidential primary turned into one of the best reality shows on television, which was right down Trump’s alley. He is right at home in front of a television camera.
The hope for a brokered convention where no candidate has secured a majority of delegates, which many in the Republican establishment saw as a way to stop Trump, bit the dust in Indiana. The last two opponents standing – Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich – were clobbered, and they both exited the race with their tails between their legs. Trump is now the presumptive nominee, although he still does not have enough delegates to guarantee him the nomination. That doesn’t matter. There are no avenues left to stop Trump from getting the nomination. The Republican Party now has a decision to make – support Trump or stay home on election day. The jury is still out on that.
On the Democratic side, it is a foregone conclusion that former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be the party’s nominee, setting up a battle for the ages between her and Trump. But here again, in this unbelievable and bizarre presidential campaign season, Clinton still has a burr under her saddle with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders refusing to concede the nomination. With no chance of capturing the nomination, he appears delusional as he continues to hammer away at Clinton, which is only benefitting Trump and the Republican Party at this point.
Democratic leaders are trying to convince Sanders, who is really an Independent and not a Democrat, to do as Clinton did in 2008 when she was vying for the nomination against Barack Obama. When it became obvious that she couldn’t overtake Obama, she made a graceful exit from the race and threw her full support behind him. Democrats say it is time for Sanders to pack up his Socialist ideas and do likewise instead of continuously giving fodder for Trump and the GOP to use against her.
So buckle your seat belt for what will likely be a nasty, contentious and expensive presidential fight between Clinton and Trump, the likes of which we have never seen. Early polls give Clinton a double-digit lead over Trump, but expect that gap to close and the election to turn into a barnburner. There I go again, making another prediction. We’ll see if I fall flat on my face again.
It is predicted that both Clinton and Trump will spend more than $1 billion – that’s billion with a “b” – in their effort to become the 45th president of the United States. Through March 31, campaign finance reports revealed that the Clinton campaign had spent $256 million. Trump had spent $51 million, of which $36 million was his own money. Those figures include expenditures by the candidate’s committee and outside groups, such as Super PACs. Once the general election campaign begins in earnest, which will be after each party’s national convention, money will begin to fly.
The Federal Election Committee reported that about $7 billion was spent on the 2012 race for president, making it the most expensive presidential race in history. Political analysts predict it is likely that the 2016 campaign, which includes spending from all candidates, will top that. In 2012, candidates spent $3.2 billion, political parties $2 billion, and outside political committees $2.1 billion. About $1.1 billion was spent on President Barack Obama’s re-election, while $1.24 billion was the tab for Republican Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful campaign.
It will be interesting to see if Trump will become more “presidential” and try to win back some of groups he has offended. Political analysts have come up with a consensus list of offended groups: the disabled, reporters, Iowans, Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists, African-Americans, Asians, women, POWs and his competitors. Wow. That is a tall order. But I have learned my lesson. I am not going to underestimate Trump again.
Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor Bo Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or louburnett@comcast.net.
