Go Ahead, Make …

Once in a blue moon, an unexpected leader shows on the far horizon, sometimes discursive, showing traits of limited study, only to win the day with a revelation of persuasion, inspiration and consensus. Churchill, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Thatcher and now Trump. As I expressed in my piece yesterday, Trump stood up against the onslaught of the Dems, the MSM and his own party, with a strength and purpose that hasn’t been seen on the US political scene (or anywhere else in the West for that matter) for a generation. He took all they had to throw at him and came out the unapologetic winner.

Daniel Greenfield’s superb analysis of Trump’s fascinating election (which I will segue` into shortly) is as brilliant, and compellingly written piece as you would ever wish to come across on the attributes that describe true and unfettered leadership; singular in scope, touching on everything from history to psychology to strategy. There were a lot of moving parts during this election season, but I doubt anyone will illuminate them better.

What particularly fascinated me (as I detailed in yesterday’s piece) was how Trump held a mirror to the hostile media, exposing them and Hillary for their rank corruption. When Wikileaks supported Trump’s charges that the debates, the polls, and everything else was rigged, the media stupidly proved it. Trump kept hammering them while they kept stepping on the rake. They were so arrogantly confident in their monopoly on the news (check the arrogant audacity of that Newsweek cover, for example!) that they continued to inadvertently endorse Trump’s credibility by attacking him in biased ways that were completely unhinged. In essence, Trump killed the media, which was no mean feat.

The very best of friends and allies .. Ronnie and Maggie…

The OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, for the mentally-challenged) media has proven to be utterly incapable of anything but partisan attacks, and it is because they are all one dimensional, ideological hacks. What Trump did is what Reagan did before him; they both remembered who they represented and what they represented, and showed respect and affection for the average American. If you think about it, Trump really is blue collar. And for all of the criticism of Trump’s ego, he never wavered when his popularity seemed to drop. Again, like Reagan, it didn’t phase him. He stuck to his principles — imagine that — and the belief that speaking the truth, like finding water in a desert, was what Americans thirsted for the most. No wonder he referred to Britain’s Theresa May yesterday, as “his Maggie Thatcher” Reagan’s alter-ego.

Reagan won, and endeared himself to the nation by being unorthodox; as an actor, he knew how to use the media to his advantage. Trump also won by being unorthodox; having been a performer on TV, he used the media to his full advantage and also made it one of his many enemies. Reagan knew how to defend himself. Trump is a master of defense. Reagan pressed the attack against his opponents, sometimes with humor. Trump took his case to the people and didn’t mince words when it came to Hillary, Bill and Barry; he called it as he saw it. Like Reagan, Trump projected that he truly cared about this country and its people. Through the use of the rally (the art of which Trump perfected) his care, his feelings, his ideas came across to the average American in their language – not the convoluted language of some governmental career politician.

The best of friends and allies for the future? Donald and Theresa..

As Greenfield expresses in his closer: “Controversy made Trump a national and then an international figure. The more an establishment attacked him, the more he was seen as a savior by its enemies. Controversy, more than anything else, made him a change candidate. Trump wasn’t Teflon. He didn’t survive attacks the way Bill Clinton did. Instead he thrived on them until he became the voice of millions of angry Americans. Controversy isn’t something to be feared. It’s something to be embraced.”[.]

In the years ahead, consultants and experts will insist that Trump’s campaign was a fluke that nothing can be learned from. They will argue that the old failed way of politics is best. But the old way of politics is dead. The future belongs to Republicans who listen to their base instead of their consultants.

The future belongs to Republicans who care more about what their supporters think of them than what the media does.

On now to Daniel Greenfield and “5 Ways Trump Shows How To Win Elections”…

Daniel Greenfield…

What can Republicans learn from Trump’s victory? The biggest lesson is that the old way of politics is dead. McCain and Romney showed that twice. Now Trump has shown how Republicans can actually win.

1. Find Your Natural Base

The GOP is ashamed of its base. It doesn’t like being associated with the very voters who made 2016 happen. Its autopsy last time around searched for ways to leave the white working class behind.

There’s a party that did that. Their symbol is a jackass.  They just lost big because they ran out of working class white voters.

The Democrats have tried to manufacture their base using immigration, victimhood politics and identity politics. The GOP has wasted far too much time trying to compete on the same playing field while neglecting its base. Trump won by doing what the GOP could have done all along if its leadership hadn’t been too ashamed to talk to people it considered low class because they shop at WalMart.

The GOP wanted a better image. It cringed at Trump’s red caps and his rallies. And they worked.

Trump won because he found the neglected base of working class white voters who had been left behind. He didn’t care about looking uncool by courting them. Instead he threw himself into it.

That’s why McCain and Romney lost. It’s why Bush and Trump won.

The GOP is not the cool party. It’s never going to be. It’s the party of the people who have been shut out, stepped on and kicked around by the cool people. Trump understood that. The GOP didn’t.

The GOP’s urban elites would like to create an imaginary cool party that would be just like the Democrats, but with fiscally conservative principles. That party can’t and won’t exist.

You can run with the base you have. Or you can lose.

Continues in FrontPageMagazine