The list of potential GOP candidates for the 2012 presidential election is looking to be a who’s-who of Fox News contributors and talking heads.
Some of the last election crop is returning hoping for a better place in the ratings, and “The Donald” is looking as if he could trump them all (pun intended).
I’m not a big fan of a guy known for a lame catch phrase — “You’re fired!” hasn’t been funny or clever since 2007 — and even worse hair since the mullet and skullet were in vogue.
However, with the Republican Party seeming to become more focused on what they like to call “traditional American values” — what exactly does that phrase mean? — Trump is the antithesis of the GOP.
And the constant scowl? Come on, folks. Even though I’m not a Republican (or a Democrat), having someone who looks like a caricature of himself as the most powerful man in the U.S. and the face of the nation abroad does not instill much confidence in his ability to lead the U.S. out of the muck we’ve been in for the last couple of years.
And speaking of leading us out of the muck and mire of our economic meltdown, Trump, like all other potential GOP hopefuls and most Americans, is deluded by the notion that the president actually has the power to do a great deal in rectifying the matter.
As we have seen since 2008, even the brilliantly spoken Barack Obama has had many of his campaign goals and promises fade into the realm of pipe dreams because of Congress.
What “The Donald” brings to the table is the same thing Ross Perot brought to the table in the 1992 election — business savvy. Trump knows how to take someone else’s money and turn it into a small fortune.
Like Perot, Trump built his empire through wise investments and learning from bad ones. Look at “The Apprentice” as one such investment. Average people try to work for Trump, enticed by the glitz and glamour the media bestowed upon him and his mini empire, knowing he’s a shrewd businessman, and voila, instant millions.
While I’d like to think that someone who has made more money than you, I and maybe even God can some way turn our country around, I just can’t help but wonder what his motivation is.
Max Read’s Gawker article on the walking, talking comb over reveals that Trump is not a philanthropist, so genuinely helping the average U.S. citizen out seems to be a long-odds bet.
He doesn’t like to share his wealth, and I get that — you work hard and you should keep what you earn. But with the shape our country is in and the continued tax cuts for big business, it looks like we’re not going to get out of this sinkhole any time soon.
Maybe it’s a way to increase his fortune and empire and get more attention than he already has. I just don’t know.
What I do know is that if Trump throws down and runs for president in 2012, he’ll at least sound more eloquent than the others, and as the president in “Mars Attacks!” played by Jack Nicholson said, “That ain’t bad.”
Comments, concerns, complaints, and nasty-grams can be sent to Tyler at tjones16@asu.edu
