Mostly awake, I was scrolling through some show biz news releases, amazed at the range of new TV shows in which I had zero interest whatsoever. Somehow in a sort of crossover, I had the following could-be-insight which I now recklessly share with you.
Maybe a major part of why Donald Trump drives so many people wild is that he has taken a show biz approach to politics? There is a sort of standardized way politics is done in this country, one well explained by the likes of Karl Rove and Michael Barone. Trump does it another way that has more in common with how one manages a show biz career.
Let’s review Trump’s career path. Young Trump made his bones in big city property development and the related skills of schmoozing city pols and union bosses.
Then he detoured through the show biz ghettos of beauty pageants and professional ‘wrestling.’ Followed by quite a successful stint in ‘reality TV’. In all of these actual realism is optional, and often ignored.
Along the way he also followed the path of most entrepreneurs who typically start many more businesses which fail than those few that succeed. And yet we see video of a younger Trump interviewed, with him actually thinking seriously about national issues. From this era we get the story of him sitting in the green room after TV interviews, asking to view a replay of his interview with the sound off, studying his “performance.”
Did he work his way up the ladder in politics? Not even close. He started at the top, ran for president and, by the skin of his teeth, got the role or maybe job. Then he didn’t get selected for the second season, which we who follow politics call “getting reelected.” His show was cancelled in spite of a near 50% audience share.
I don’t know, does that start to explain the Trump popularity on the one hand, and Trump Derangement Syndrome too? I think it might. He got there the wrong way using skills from another setting, appealing to an audience not always played to, and that offends many, while mesmerizing others.
