Rush can’t abandon The Donald even if he wants to
by digby
Trump drops the performance persona and communicates. This is an example of many; these things happen frequently in his personal appearances. I’m only illustrating this, or mentioning it, because so many people still wonder how it is that Trump doesn’t get hurt by what some people think are the stupid things he says or the ignorant things he says or the mean things he says or the controversial. The things that would normally destroy others he profits from. And professional communicators are scratching their heads, professional political people are scratching their heads, it doesn’t make any sense. They’re still hoping that Trump will implode. He’s not gonna implode, and I’m just trying to help people understand why. It’s all rooted in the bond, the connection that Trump has made with the people who support him. And, by the way, that bond is rooted in substance…
Of everybody in this field right now, Donald Trump was the first to tap into, viscerally, what Americans are feeling and living. This is not to slight anybody else. This is not to be critical of anybody else. He started with the border, the southern border, and worked his way to refugees and the economy and any number of things that are making this country weak and said it’s got to stop. And during all of this he let everybody know that they were right.
He validated what millions of people were already thinking. This is what the establishment of both parties misses. They think that most of the people this country are brain-dead, sponges, mind-numbed robots waiting to be influenced by any number of false prophets or phony Svengalis, because they have a basic contempt for average, ordinary people and what they consider to be their lack of mental ability. So they’re dead wrong about that.
So Trump comes along, and he didn’t say anything anybody else wasn’t thinking. He said something everybody was thinking. He said lists of things everybody was thinking. He validated and he let everybody know that they were right, that America is not great with Obama and the Democrat Party in charge. America is not even trending to the great with Obama and the Democrat Party in charge, and Trump did not need a focus group or polling data to tell him this. His heart told him. His instincts told him. It’s what he saw, he went out and said it. Call him Captain Obvious. And collective politicians have their heads in the sand.
But it’s Ted who really has his heart:
I thought Ted Cruz was outstanding last night. Ted Cruz speaks like a traditional powerful, well-versed proud — unabashedly proud — conservative. He is an articulate representative of conservatism and the conservative movement, and he is a happy warrior. He loves doing what he’s doing. He loves mixing it up. He loves getting in there. And he is relishing this opportunity to put on display what he believes and what millions of the rest of us believe.
I thought Cruz looked really good last night.
A couple of days ago everyone was saying that Rush was turning on Trump because he had been rude to Cruz. I said that this was not the case — the Rush was doing what he always does which is make Republicans toe the conservative line. Interestingly, Trump backed way off of Cruz and Limbaugh drooled all over him today.
This doesn’t mean Rush is endorsing Trump. He, like most of the professional right wing, much prefer Cruz. But just as all the right wing presidential hopefuls can’t afford to alienate Trump’s crazy followers neither can’t these guys. Those crazy followers are Rush’s audience.
When he says Trump just tapped into what was already out there, he’s referring to the political zeitgeist he created. Trump is his creature and no matter how much he may loathe him he can’t cut him loose.
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