It’s worth asking again: Is Donald Trump trying to tank his campaign?

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/2016/08/04/its_worth_asking_again_is_donald_trump_trying_to_tank_his_campaign/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Thursday, Aug 4, 2016 06:00 AM EST
It’s worth asking again: Is Donald Trump trying to tank his campaign?
Trump's outlandish behavior leaves two possibilities: either he's truly unhinged or he's looking for a way out
Sean Illing

snip//

More to the point, Cegielski added: “I believe Trump senses he is in over his head and doesn’t really want the nomination. He wanted to help his brand and have fun, but not to be savaged by the Clintons if he’s the candidate. He wouldn’t mind falling short of a delegate majority, losing the nomination, and then playing angry celebrity victim in the coming years.”

That last point about losing and playing the victim is critical. Trump is already working to seed the narrative. “I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” he told supporters at a rally in Ohio on Monday afternoon, referencing fanciful reports of voter fraud. The next day, in Virginia, he repeated the claim: “We gotta beat a totally dishonest machine…We’re running against a rigged system, and we’re running against a dishonest media.”

This is a no-lose strategy for Trump. His core audience is disposed to distrust the media and all things establishment. By implying the system is rigged against him now, he delegitimizes the process in the minds of his voters, who clearly don’t care about the facts and thus won’t flinch when they’re told voter fraud is a mythical problem. An ongoing study by NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, for example, found that “an examination of voter fraud claims reveal that voter fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is nearly non-existent, and much of the of the problems associated with alleged fraud in elections relates to unintentional mistakes by voters or election administrators.” But this is really beside the point.

Trump has lied with impunity since he launched his non-campaign, and it hasn’t mattered one bit. He appeared on Sean Hannity’s show Monday night and said, “I’ve been hearing about it (voter fraud) for a long time. I know last time you had precincts were there were practically nobody voting for Republican and I think that’s wrong…people were curious, how is it possible?” Like his claim that “thousands” of Muslims were rejoicing in the streets after 9/11, this is total bullshit. Is there any doubt Trump plucked this imaginary memory out of the ether? If a journalist was in the room, she would’ve asked which precincts he was referring to? Instead, Hannity, a consummate hack, mumbled a one-word response: “Absolutely.”

There’s no good reason to suppose Trump wants to be president. Running for president? Sure. That’s a path to political celebrity. But he’s given no indication that he’s serious about doing the job. He doesn’t know what a presidential candidate has to know, and he’s doesn’t care that he doesn’t know. He even implied to John Kasich’s adviser that his VP “would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.” That’s essentially the entire job of the president.

Trump is a little man with a big ego who likes the idea of being president but wants nothing to do with the responsibilities that entails. I suspect this was always about him – his brand, his fame, his business. That he’s made it this far without a plan or a vision or a plausible defense of his candidacy has to be a shock even to Trump. The best possible outcome now is for him to lose without appearing to quit. Then he can retreat to the world of entertainment with an inflated celebrity and a legion of alienated supporters convinced their hero-charlatan was wronged by a corrupt system.

If this isn’t what Trump has in mind, the only other explanation for his self-destructive behavior is that he’s completely unhinged. Which, I confess, is entirely possible.

[beachbum bob]

1. NO...this is the donald trump...the "emporer with new clothes" candidate...who has had a lifetime of

coddling....bullying....being told by all the yes men he surrounds himself with how he is the smartest of all.....nope...we are seeing the donald trump...

[oberliner]

2. What a dumb article

Sean Illing is exactly the kind of person who just doesn't understand Trump and his appeal at all.

He is not trying to tank his campaign and he is not unhinged.

Take a look at the Jacksonville rally from last night.

The place is absolutely packed and they love everything he is saying.

[babylonsister]

3. The doubling down on the Kahn

family seems unhinged to me. What did he gain from that?

[oberliner]

4. Republicans don't trust Muslims

Any bashing of Muslims plays very well with the Tea Party base.

Regardless, the Khan incident will pass and be forgotten in a few weeks at the most, like his comments about Curiel or McCain.

[Orsino]

5. I don't think he inderstands what it is to try, period.

It appears he's just been catered to his whole life, and that August 2016 Trump is the same as August 1978 Trump. Insults and bullying get his work done for him, and served to suck the right-wing oxygen from his 'rimary oppobents, but running a national organization and interacting with people he doesn't own are not skills he ever developed.

What we see is all we'd ever get.

[raven mad]

6. My husband suggested this exact thing.

And I'm still in WTF??? stage.

[LAS14]

7. I posted this a week ago, only half in jest.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512312089