Sarah Lenti
Donald Trump. I can’t believe I am actually writing a blog post entertaining the idea of Donald Trump as a credible presidential candidate. He tells America he is thinking about running – possibly as a Republican, possibly as an independent. All I have to say is, please don’t.
But this is a useless conversation (with myself) because Donald Trump really doesn’t listen to anyone (but himself). I mean, just take one quick look at his hair. Surely one of his three wives – if not all – must have commented to the Donald about the robin’s nest on his head over the years.
But back to the question, is Donald running? First, the media would love for you to think so. Donald is the match and the media is the gasoline, and, wha-lah you’ve got the recent wildfire of stories. Donald is the new Sarah Palin for the press. He’s the possible presidential candidate best suited to assume the title of clown in chief.
Donald has effectively (already) taken America’s eye off the substance of what the 2012 campaign should be about – and that is jobs and the health of the American economy (you know, the 20 million people who are still out of work). Instead, he is off and running with the all-important birther issue. Way to go, Donald. America is swooning over and swarming around your potential run, based off of zero platform, just ridiculousness.
Here is what the Donald Trump factor has reinforced to date:
- Name recognition matters in a profuse way. Trump is a case study in name recognition 101. He’s got no substance, but he’s got The Trump Towers and The Apprentice.
- Brand trumps everything – no pun intended (OK, maybe intended). But it’s true, Americans love brands, and they are buying up Trump in a big way.
Regarding the brand factor – it is this point exactly that leads me to my speculative conclusion that, at the end of the day, Donald Trump is not running for president. Right now, Donald is talking about a presidential run precisely because it helps further build his brand (at a time when The Apprentice has hit a low). Empire is everything to Trump. And right now, it’s the daily, personal attention to his brand that is cradling his empire.
When it’s all said and done, Donald won’t be able to give up all-things Trump to take on the more serious and commandingly substantive job of running for president.
Sarah Lenti is the blogger behind NMPolitics.net’s The Savvy. E-mail her at sarah@nmpolitics.net. For full disclosure, Lenti is a Republican strategist who works closely with potential GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s PAC.