Understanding Donald

If I could reach the people who are applauding Donald Trump and have catapulted him to number one in the Republican polls, I would ask this question, what is it you think he stands for?

At his core he is a salesman. If you asked a large number of citizens from all economic brackets, do you trust salesmen? The answer would be no. They occupy an opinion spectrum somewhere between criminal and a lawyer. The car salesman who coats you with honey and tries to convince you to borrow a sum you can't really afford but you love that hunk of metal and you deserve it. They pretend to fight for a better price, con you into a trade-in that exists only in the fantasty terms of a piece of paper. The nice person on the other end of the phone trying to sell you services you really don't need, but it's such a good deal. The contractor working in your neighborhood just for the day and is willing to redo your driveway at a cost below market value.

Our antenna goes up, our common sense says run, danger afoot, but the allure can be great when in the thrall of a true mesmerizer. We are as a species hardwired to be weary of these rainmakers, but even the most alert of us sometimes lose ourselves in a well woven web of deceit.

Donald Trump is just such a mesmerizer. He says absolutely nothing. He speaks the language of sales, rapid, choppy sentences that move from one thing to another so fast that like a magician you miss the slight of hand.

When confronted with a fact he's wrong about he simply dismisses it, says he is right and rolls on quickly with quips and invectives that makes his audience think, yeah that's right, his honesty is so refreshing.

All salesmen know that regardless of their product or service, it is themselves they are really selling, it is the ultimate validation of self worth. Trump is now engaged in the greatest sales pitch of his life, to convince the Republican party he is their greatest chance to win the Presidency. It could be cynically suggested that politics is a form of sales and a small part of it is but it's ramifications go far beyond buying a cable package you really don't need.

Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, has had great success in his life. His idea for the business was formed in college, he even wrote a paper on it for which he received a C-. His professor told him it would never work, so much for academic wisdom. Smith was not from a poor family, he began with a four million dollar inheritance. Not enough to launch his company but enough to make him known to the prominent bankers of Memphis. The first two years were tough and everyday was a struggle to survive. Smith has given many speeches and his company has been considered a model for many. His one piece of advice that I will never forget is, never borrow a little bit of money, always borrow a lot. If you borrow a little you will have a serious creditor that will shut you down. If you borrow a lot you will have serious partners that will loan you more money to make sure you survive.

I retell the Smith story because a few days ago I saw a political event where a young man was asked why he was enthusiastic about Trump's candidacy. He said because he doesn't talk like a politician and then added that Trump had lived the American dream twice. He had built an empire, lost it and then rebuilt it again. The problem is it's a myth right alongside the idea that he is a self made man. Trump was born to a life of privilege and began with a 39 million dollar inheritance, yes he enlarged it but a giant hand up is an advantage the vast majority of Americans do not have. It's true that many years ago Trump had overextended himself and to the outsider it looked like he was going under, but not so. The amount of money he owed was so vast that those bankers couldn't let him fail. They not only restructured his debt, they loaned him more. That is the nature of economics in America and we saw it played out in an even bigger way in the financial collapse of 2007. Too big too fail and too big to go to prison where they all belonged.

Like all salesmen Trump is adaptable to the moment and can turn turds into the best fertilizer you can buy, and your flowers will never look better. His ties are just one example. Now that the line has been dumped he says he never  liked them anyway because they were made in China. For years before this whenever that was pointed out to him he would respond he was a businessman, it was the best deal and brush it off as being meaningless. Now we are to believe he cares deeply about the American worker and despises China's practices. His ties and shirts could have been made in America, he didn't care because it didn't suit his bottom line.

When he is criticized he responds like a bully boy in a sandbox and responds with name calling. This is because he has spent his life having his ass kissed and when no one else was telling him he's the best thing since sliced bread, he told himself. There is no bigger fan of Donald Trump than Donald Trump himself.