I'm actually neither offended nor surprised by this latest Trump sortie. It's actually what he has to do in Iowa and
Also, Trump didn't belittle Governor Walker as "the landscaper" or a "Sears card-toting goober" or make fun of his Harley. Instead he tried to make up a bunch of nonsense about his peerless governing record:
"Wisconsin is doing terribly," Trump said. The tycoon, who is leading the Republican pack of sixteen in several national polls, said Wisconsin had seen budget deficits and high borrowing which led to poor infrastructure under Walker. "The hospitals and education is a disaster."
Um, what? Wisconsin has run surpluses for several years now. They've got a $450 million "rainy day fund". The State went from near the bottom in business climate and job creation to near the top. And Walk has pushed through multiple income and property tax cuts at the same time.
In the mean time, Donald Trump has gone bankrupt on four different occasions. The metaphor of not throwing stones from a mortgaged and foreclosed glass house comes to mind.
Trump also pointed out that Walker, who has repeatedly visited neighboring Iowa and was the first choice of 22% of likely Republican caucus-goers there in a recent poll, had supported the Common Core education standards that much of the GOP base now derides. Trump received support from 13% of people in the poll, putting him in second place.
Um, what? Yes, initially Walk quietly did, though education was hardly the issue that overflowed his governing plate from the moment he took office in January 2011. Then, like most GOP pols who weren't specifically zeroed in the issue, it didn't take long for him to come to his senses, and fifty-three weeks ago he "call[ed] on the members of the State Legislature to pass a bill in early January to repeal Common Core and replace it with standards set by people in Wisconsin.” Call it "growing in office," if you will.
What's Trump's stance on education been over the years? Or even last week? What is it, period? Does anybody know? Does HE know? Can he even SPELL "education"?
The attacks, which focused on the record of a strong rival, contrasted with Trump's personal attacks on a past candidate and a low-polling candidate, respectively, in the past week. He told an Iowa audience on July 18 that Arizona Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 and who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, was a war hero only because he had been captured. On July 21st, he gave out the personal phone number of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who attacked Trump over the McCain comments and statements on immigration, but who hardly registers in polls.
The difference? McCain and Graham are hated by the GOP grassroots, while Scott Walker is a conservative rock star. Unleashing a storm of his typical personal abuse on the Wisconsin governor runs the risk of alienating the constituency Trump is trying to fool, so he's to got to turn them against Walk by distorting his record.
Which again begs the question of what Trump's record is - and, of course, he doesn't have one. other than a long record of backing and bankrolling Democrats and their policies - especially Hillary Clinton.
But you just knew that there had to be butthurt ego in this outburst somewhere - and sure enough....:
Trump said that he had been holding back on Walker, whom he called "a nice guy," until he read that an ally of the governor had insulted the businessman. A Walker fundraiser had called Trump "DumbDumb" in an event invitation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"I say, 'Oh finally I can attack,'" Trump said in relating the story Saturday at the "Make America Great Again" rally and picnic in Oskaloosa. "I would have never done this. I didn’t know. Because I hear the only one beating me in Iowa is Scott Walker, and not by that much."
That Walker fundraiser would have been much better advised to keep his mouth shut, because the last thing Donald Trump needs right now is still more free media attention. But The Donald was going to go after the GOP frontrunner at some point. And for a professional like Walk, it's like giving Trump all the rope he needs to hang himself, and the debates are the place where the trap door will be pulled.
My advice to the entire rest of the Republican field? Ignore Trump. Not only is it the best revenge, but it will drive him even crazier than he already is, and that's when he'll start making mistakes, and BIG ones.
Only question then will be if Tea Party Trumpsters are willing to pay attention and admit their mistake in time.
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