Donald Trump has no master plan: he’s in way over his head and the sharks are circling

[KamaAina]

http://www.dailynewsbin.com/opinion/donald-trump-has-no-master-plan-hes-in-over-his-head-and-the-sharks-are-circling/24108/

All along, everyone has assumed Donald Trump had some brilliant evil master plan. I’ve been observing closely from day one, and I’ve seen no hint of that. Instead I’ve seen a one-trick pony who decided to out-racist his weakling republican opponents and pick them off one by one for sport. But at this point he clearly no longer has a plan, because he’s never operated in this space. His entire career, whether in real estate or elsewhere, has been based on isolating and taking advantage of one loser or small group of losers at a time. He can’t do that anymore, because he’s already won over all of the nation’s born losers, and he’s run out of republican candidate losers to scapegoat. Now it’s him against the world. And he has never done well in this position....

When I look at Trump, I see a guy who’s in panic mode. He didn’t cancel that rally in Chicago as part of some grand plan to change the narrative. It made him look weak, both in the eyes of those who want to take him down, and in the eyes of his own supporters who only respect strength. It was a mistake which only invited more protesters, and sure enough, one of them rushed the stage today. This kind of thing doesn’t help him, because after the path he’s taken to get here, he’s incapable of looking sympathetic in the eyes of anyone.

But let’s start by letting go of this increasingly unrealistic notion that he’s still working with some grandiose master plan and has been one step ahead of us all along. The evidence says that can’t possibly be the case. The tactics he’s used to gain a minority foothold within a dying political party at the expense of the weakest crop of candidates either modern party has ever put forward? That’s just basic opportunism. Anyone who paid close enough attention to the current state of the republican party, and saw the obvious entry point, could have chosen to do this. I could have gotten as far as Trump has on the republican side in this race, if I had his money and no soul. Probably further, because he appears to have absolutely no idea what he’s doing. This is a gut who keeps throwing blind punches and missing, as his welterweight opponents have fallen down anyway.

Let’s acknowledge that this man is in way over his head. Let’s view him as a guy who’s sitting around with his advisors wondering what on earth he’s going to do, now that the entire nation is closing in on him from all sides. And most of all, let’s consider that the only real chance he has of ever getting a leg up on us is if we keep pretending he’s somehow smarter than us.

Sharks circling? Could it be the pregame skate?

[villager]

1. Hopefully it's not only *Bay Area* Sharks...

...who are circling...

[Skittles]

2. everyone assumed Trump had a master plan?

who is this EVERYONE

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. I truely believe this is all a big joke in his head

He just doesn't really care about the consequences.

[lame54]

4. he shut it down cause...

Bullys back down when confronted

[mwrguy]

9. He's afraid of petite protesters like this

Oh so scary

[0rganism]

5. dunno, i figured his "master plan" was along the lines of...

..."destroy the Republican party and pump up his ego while doing so"

at that, i'd say he's been fairly adept so far. my concern now is that he may be peaking too soon, he needs to ensure something resembling a lock on the nomination so he gets to the convention with at least a plurality before he goes full Hitler. if he overplays his hand at this point, he could see it slip away before the convention.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Because of the hideousness of his racist appeal, we can't afford to assume...

...that he has no plan, that he will not get a plan, or that a plan will not just happen to him, as the primaries and events unfold.

Even if he doesn't personally have a plan now, who knows what kind of advisers and 'kingmakers' will be attracted to him, with plans all laid out?

And who knows that HE isn't aware of the kind of dark forces that he is playing with and of how to ride them to vast power as others have done before him? You don't necessarily need a specific plan for that; you just need keen instincts. At first, anyway, you just take advantage of dark winds and, in that storm, operatives will come within your orbit, to be used for strategic purposes, and a plan will present itself.

If this was any old billionaire blowhard, I would agree that he is clueless. But he is USING RACISM. That is a very, very, very bad sign that, if he doesn't have a plan now, he will soon get one.

[world wide wally]

7. Of course, he doesn't have a plan.

He is purely winging it. He doesn't prepare for debates or write speeches either. That is why he repeats himself over and over. I think he may have some notes or an outline to follow because he will glance down at a piece of paper every now and then.
He never actually "builds" anything. There is no way he could do his own taxes or keep his own books either. Architects design his buildings for him. He has a trophy wife who would be gone in two minutes if he ever lost his money. He made his fortune selling real estate in Manhattan. Who could ever imagine that could be lucrative?
He simply has a ton of money and expects power and respect for that alone and will go to any extreme to get it. I think he gave up on love a long time ago.

[mountain grammy]

8. Exactly!

[Igel]

10. Perhaps.

Or perhaps his supporters feel oppressed, put upon, slighted, belittled.

And this is just their enemy acting as their enemy does, making him into a victim so that he, too, shares their pain.

Maddow was cited here as calling him a "strongman", and justifiably so since a strongman rules by various techniques that Trump employs. The problem with that is that he doesn't rule all that much--the main verb in the sentences fails to match reality. He's a strongman wannabe. And what better way to garner sympathy from those with grievances than to share their grievances first hand.

When Obama is subject to racism, does it make him look strong or make him look weak? Does it make his supporters give up on him or make his supporters even angrier?

[lamp_shade]

11. An interesting take. It'll be interesting to see what trick he pulls from his hat next. nt