Remember ten days ago, when the Democrat mole slumlord said he couldn't bring himself to tear the retired pediatric neurosurgeon any new orifices? There's nothing like two adverse Iowa polls to restore his caustic belly fire, is there?
Although it's, so far, not as bad as it could have been:
"I like Ben, but he cannot do with trade like I do," the New York real estate mogul told CNN's Jake Tapper, in an interview slated to air in full on Sunday at 9 a.m. on the network's State of the Union program. "He can't do with a lot of things like I do, so we'll just have to see what happens."
On trade deals, eh, maybe; I think he's conflating individual business deals with international treaty negotiations way too much, but it's true that neither has ever been Gentle Ben's bailiwick. But it's that last part that is the vintage Trump putdown, essentially saying, "I'm better than you at everything, including having a longer, bigger penis."
Trump followed up on that in very short order:
"I've done really well with the evangelicals and with the Tea Party and everything and I just don't understand the number, but I accept the number," Trump told Tapper. "It means I have to work a little bit harder in Iowa."
I understand the number; it means Trump is not doing nearly as well anymore with evangelicals and, in Iowa anyway, even TPers, for reasons that his standard "ATTACK!" tactic will only make worse, especially if he can't resist devolving into below-the-belt shots.
Like, for example this one:
Trump also attacked Carson during a rally at his Trump National Doral Miami resort, reports CNN, poking fun at his quiet personality and questioning his competence.
"Donald Trump falls to second place behind Ben Carson," Trump told the crowd, reading a headline."We informed Ben, but he was sleeping."
Maybe this is just Trump being Trump, and maybe this is him giving up on Iowa and playing to primary voters in other States who are more likely to like that crap. Which may not be a bad strategy since winning the Hawkeye State isn't any kind of nomination bellwether. But the risk it runs is that Dr. C's momentum keeps building and overflows into New Hampshire and those other early States. Doubling down on a strategy that has worked but is producing diminishing returns might constitute the beginning of the end for the Trump campaign.
But as limited a performer as The Donald is, he's pretty much confined to, as it were, "dancing with the one that brung him" to this "dance". Time will tell if he's playing with fire.
Exit thought: Doesn't that last jab have racist undertones being aimed at a black man? Just sayin'.
I suspect that ultimately in Carson's case, the Trump attacks will help the one being attacked and not Trump. It lends visibility to Carson. Carson can use that; while clearly being well-informed and competent, Ben Carson is not a lightning rod for attention and excitement. Trump's just bringing more attention to Carson and it could ultimately be Trump's undoing.
ReplyDeleteAs you suggest, Trump going to his well once to often (attacking) is bound to backfire at some point. It may or may not be the start of a downward spiral but I believe it very well could be.