I have a question; when you say “battled back”, what kind of cash reserve and assets are we talking from to start with?
Trump and Trump. What is Trump?
Nate Silver at 538 reports that Independents are not going for Trump:
The GOP has been courting southern “Bubba” voters with dog whistles for a long time. But Bubba doesn’t like dog whistles, that’s P.C. He sees no reason to hide what he believes, and he wants uncompromising political leaders willing to take blunt public stands on issues like immigration. Trump’s ruthless CEO persona suggests he’ll be that kind of leader.
He only peaked at around 20%. American politicians typically aim for 51% of the electorate. Because Trump is probably uninterested in the Presidency he can focus on the middle aged obnoxious fat white dude vote.
Trump has had a rough couple of days. Attacking Fox News isn’t a hot idea, as Republicans trust that factually challenged news outlet. And out of all the hostile questioners, picking on Megan Kelly doesn’t seem smart: there are plenty of Republicans who admire bullies, blowhards and empty suits but beating on women unnecessarily narrows your market. I see that Trump is singing praises towards female executives today which makes sense.
Ezra Klein: Donald Trump’s fight with Fox News and Megyn Kelly, explained. [INDENT][INDENT]Fox News is a strange beast. It is a conservative advocacy organization run by a longtime Republican operative. It is a profit-hungry cable network run by a talented media executive. And it is a news operation that employs some talented journalists who want to be taken seriously by their peers.
These missions conflict with each other. [/INDENT][/INDENT] Trump had gotten great press from Hannity, Ducey and other Fox News hacks. But some at the network think of themselves as journalists, and they were asking the questions Friday evening. Furthermore, “Fox News’s incentives had switched. Early in the campaign, the way to get bigger ratings was to build Trump up. But now the whole country was tuning in, and what most people wanted to see was Trump torn down — or at least the fight that would result if Fox News tried to tear Trump down.”
Pretty good article that covered a fair number of moving parts.
Well, here are a couple of black women who are hardcore Trump supporters 
It’s hard to say anything about Trump until we work out his motivations. And before that a little discussion about his skill set would help.
Trump’s interview with Hannity was all over the place, leading some to hypothesize that he has ADHD. Hey, lots of successful people have had that burden. One way of coping might be to be a showman and leave the technical stuff to your staff. All I can say is that a certain inattention to detail or hell big picture could explain the multiple businesses Trump has engaged in: here’s a list of 12 that no longer exist. They include Trump Mortgage, Trump Vodka, Trump Magazine, The New Jersey Generals, Trump Airlines, Trump University, GoTrump.com and my personal favorite Trump Steaks (check out the Trump Steaks TV ad).
Trump Steaks is the key to understanding our friend’s current vision. It’s about building a brand based upon affinity marketing.
On this message board we’ve discussed the scammy nature of advertisments in the conservative media: they prey on their own. I have an email addy that I gave to a certain conservative magazine and they promptly filled my box with messages introduced with the tagline: “Thank you for your continued support of XXXXXX. Occasionally, we send emails like this one to introduce our readers to advertisers and other organizations.” That way I can learn about Tumeric: The Brain Health Miracle as well as promises that Vision Loss is Reversible if You Do This. Yes, these are actual offers.
Huckabee is in the race because he wants to refresh his email list in order to pass it on to such scammers. That’s what he’s done in the past. But I think Trump is thinking bigger. Huckabee after all isn’t a businessman and he’s only getting a sliver of the action. Why not use this campaign as a platform for selling his usual variety of books, board games and an expanded set of consumer goods? To heck with Celebrity Apprentice, Trump might see himself as the next Martha Stewart.
Trump just vowed to spend $1 billion of his own money to get elected. I don’t think he’s disappearing anytime soon.
Well the article said : [INDENT]Pressed again later in the afternoon if he would spend up to $1 billion, Trump was more definitive: “If necessary, I will spend it, yes.”[/INDENT] It won’t be necessary.
If the Donald spends $25 million or less, that could be brand building on the cheap. If he spends $100 million or more, that’s ego. In 2012, Obama spent $684 million to Romney’s $433 million. If Trump ends up spending over $500 million of his own funds then I have seriously misjudged his intent and prospects.
Like most geniuses Trump operates on levels not readily apparent to the mortal man. Imagine for a moment how discouraging that is for his opponents…on both sides.
And their would be donors. This is what hardball looks like.
The fact that he has a extra billion lying around to spend is obscene. You can’t buy integrity. Or good manners. And you can’t fire the voting public if you don’t like their verdict.
What makes you think he has it ‘lying around’?
And why is the fact he’s created sufficent value that people have made him wealthy ‘obscene’?
Yes! Republicans, listen to this man. Go Trump go!
I agree that Trump is a fine representative of the Republican Party, but I worry a little about whether they will treat him properly. ISTM that a third party run would be prudent.
/concerned
SA: Trump may operate on multiple levels, but part of his M.O. involves trial balloons, to put it charitably. Check out my list of 12 Trump businesses that are caput. You might paint him as Moriarty or Lex Luthor, but that risks discounting his reality TV showmanship and ability to improvise on the fly.
My current take today is that he values ratings more than votes. 51% isn’t the goal. It’s more like .20*.33 ~= 7%. Capturing a market of 2-7% is golden.
Well, first of all, you might think of him as some sort of super smart villain along the lines of Mariarty or Lex Luthor, but I don’t. He’s simply a businessman, and by most accounts a pretty good guy (as an example I’ll point to the time he sent his private jet upon parental request to fly a three-year-old boy across the country for direly needed medical treatment after the nation’s commercial airlines refused. He did this without publicity and without trying to leverage it for personal gain, although he did reference it years later in one of his books. Cite). Most of the people who’ve worked with him or who know him on a personal basis speak highly of him, and Trump himself has said that most of the people who don’t like him are people who don’t know him. Still, he’s a hard-ass when necessary who believes in hitting back twice as hard when hit, and as Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Roger Ailes and Lindsey Graham found out, you fuck with him at your peril.
As far as the businesses that are kaput, meh. Most of those you listed were simply licensing arrangements, and while the others were legitimate failures…so what? Virtually successful person has failures in their history. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a few movies that were bombs. Steve Jobs had the Lisa computer and was eventually kicked out of his own company. Muhammed Ali got his butt kicked a few times. Etc., etc. The key is how you carry on after you’ve failed. Trump has had many more successes than failures and has built a multi-billion dollar empire twice, the second time after almost losing everything. In any realistic sense his few real failures are meaningless.
My take is that he’s grown bored with business and relishes the idea of being president and contending with the challenges of dealing with Congress and foreign leaders and accomplishing things that no one else has been able to accomplish. What on earth does he need ratings and publicity for, especially at the cost of so much of his time and money?
These are qualities you want for a mob boss, not for a president. If a guy like him had been president during the Cuban missile crisis, none of us would be alive today.
Certainly we would. Trump doesn’t act like that all the time to every single person. There have been many times he’s needed approval from bankers and politicians and zoning boards and various other government entities, and he’s sought out and achieved ways to deal with them effectively. He’s also had to work effectively with architects, lawyers, contractors, suppliers, etc. Trump doesn’t just blunder through his life bullying and shouting insults to everyone in his path. Negotiating and deal making are his best talents and where his greatest interests lie. My guess is he’d be one of the most effective presidents we’ve ever had when it comes to dealing with Congress and foreign leaders.
I suppose if I’d been told there is a well-known SDMB member who thinks Trump would make a great president, I might have guessed correctly.
I admit I’m curious to see some citations on the claim that those who know Trump and work with him personally speak “highly” of him. I’d like to see both whether this is true, and what “highly” amounts to if so.
100% of the people who work with Kim Jong Un speak highly of him. He’s no more a great leader than Trump would be.