The most interesting, likable, and authentic candidates in each party (Bernie and Trump) don't want your money … although Bernie will probably take a check for $27 bucks, his average contribution.
The media is agog, especially at the Trump phenomenon. Their commentary is virtually useless … mostly because they are stuck in political correctness mode and are unwilling to speak plain English.
Case in point, The Establishment. How many times a day do you hear some bozo opine about the Republican Establishment and how they want anybody but Trump. The problem is, they never define what they are talking about. Who, in their opinion, is The Establishment?
Let me give it a shot. There are three Establishments in the Republican Party.
There is the Traditional Values Establishment. They're pro-life, pro traditional marriage, and pro Second Amendment. If you're not with them on that package of issues, you are not going to be the Republican nominee. It's not that hard to make yourself acceptable to them. As John McCain once said, “Say you're pro-life and stop talking about it.”
Second, there's the Business Establishment. They want low taxes and less regulation. Everything they're against like the minimum wage or Affordable Care Act they claim is a job killer. They're not that hard to please. Just use the Reagan line, "Government is not a solution to the problem, government is the problem."
Third, there's the Foreign Policy Establishment.
Here is where the media gets spastic. They can't quite get their heads around the fact that if you want to get the Republican Nomination for President, you cannot have foreign policy positions that are offensive to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Sheldon Adelson, and Mr. Rupert Murdoch. These three gentlemen are of the Jewish persuasion and have strong views about what's good for Israel and what American foreign policy in the Mideast should be.
Donald Trump is anathema to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. For the Foreign Policy Establishment of the Republican Party, he's a non-starter because he wandered so far off the reservation as to suggest that he wanted to “be an honest broker” in helping construct a workable peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
No way José. No “honest broker” stuff in the Republican Party. Not in your lifetime. They want people to say dopey stuff like Romney … "There should never be any daylight between the United States and Israel."
So what's a poor billionaire to do? Not to worry, billionaires don't stay home on Saturday night. They can always get a date. “Hello Marco … this is Sheldon calling. Wonderful, glad to hear you're available …”
Conclusion
It's going to hit the fan in Florida on March 15.
Marco Rubio has the job of defending his home state and stopping Trump. Marco (I like to call him the Magnificently Malleable Marco) is a perfect fit for the donor class.
He's always had a hard time supporting himself. Miami billionaire Norman Braman has filled that void in a generous way for Marco and his wife for the last 15 years.
He's not really an original thinker, so the neocons helped him with that deficiency. They got him parroting canned lines that he was at a loss to explain when Chris Christie gave him a curious glance and a hint of cross-examination.
So, Marco is their guy. Attack is their mode. Trump is their target. Money is no problem.
I hope Trump kicks his sorry ass.
I will post again on Wednesday April 6, 2016 or before if the news flow dictates.
Comments are welcome at tomc[at]wednesdayswars[dot]com. Comments will be addressed in subsequent posts.