- June 16, 2015 -
Donald Trump and the American Dream
Read more at The American Spectator
Donald Trump will be announcing for president today, according to a source close to the Trump camp. Apparently, the conventional wisdom that Trump was just making presidential noises because he always does turned out to be…well….flat wrong.
Why is it that he is consistently underestimated whether the subject is his financial worth or his political viability?
The answer in this corner is that Donald Trump is seen by many Americans as the very embodiment of the American Dream. Someone with vision and drive who settles down and focuses, working hard day in and day out to make his own dreams come true. And succeeding. When millions of average Americans look at Donald Trump — they see — shocker! — themselves. And ironically, when other candidates talk about the need for executive experience — they are in their own way pointing out that the entire Trump Organization is a result of Trump’s considerable executive ability.
From New York to Istanbul, from the United States to Central America and Asia, Trump real estate, hotels, golf courses, and resorts circle the globe. They serve as a testament to Trump’s ability to get things done — to persist when dealing with the inevitable crowds of naysayers always on hand to explain why something can’t be done. They are, as it were, the American Dream in real estate form.
Trump is a literal illustration of what millions of Americans see in themselves. His life experience and business success is an anchor to his understanding of America. Well aside from Trump’s breezy easiness with voters — the kid from Queens grown up — there is something else. He — and they — believe in the American Dream. He — and they — see the ability to make their dreams come true under direct assault by an out-of-control culture of government run amuck. He and they see a government intruding into every last crack and crevice of American life at the same time it is hatching secretive and/or seriously bad deals on everything from trade to Iranian nukes. He and they think America is getting a bad deal on everything from the war with ISIS to Vladimir Putin and, yes, illegal immigration. He and they admire people who back up words with action — and know how to get things done. And pointedly, he and they hear politicians talk and feel instinctively that many of them are simply not believable — incapable if not unwilling of getting the job done when it comes to carrying out campaign promises.
There is a reason all those upbeat Trump books are best sellers or that The Apprentice was such an incredibly popular show. In a snapshot, it is Trump’s Reaganesque optimism for his country and his all-American insistence on the need to “think big.”
There is a long way to go in this election. But it is a mistake to underestimate Donald Trump, — he with that $9 billion worth of assets, millions of cash on hand and the ability to write his own checks. It is every bit the mistake as it was for people to believe all of that silly conventional wisdom about everything from Trump’s finances to his candidacy to his poll numbers. Not to mention is it a mistake of the first order to underestimate the millions of Americans who believe in the American Dream — and are looking for someone who shares it with them.
Someone like… Donald Trump
