* Donald Trump says he doesn’t want any more debates. Same questions, same answers, why bother, he points out dismissively.
Smart, however calculated and disingenuous, ploy. Actually there are some different questions as locations and time-lines change. Cuba wasn’t a big deal in Iowa. Political-rally violence has only now manifested itself.
Trump’s pragmatic–and for all his anger-channeling, nativist manner, he is a pragmatist–reason for moving on to post-debate status is simple. As the candidate-herd thins further, the more like a debate it becomes. The more like a debate it is, the less like a reality TV show it is. Fewer opponents mean more time for specifics, which means more time spent on relevant issues than on juvenile insults. How impressive was Trump in handling that Social Security or Islam question? The more specifics come into play, the less credibility Trump projects.
* Much has been written about what really drives Donald Trump. He’s a narcissist on ‘roids who craves publicity. He hydrates on adulation. He loves the spotlight and loathes its eclipse. He’s a peacock-nationalist and authoritarian who wants America to act more like a winner.
Hard to argue with any of that. But it also likely comes down to this: What’s left for a billionaire who gets his way and his babes? Well, how about the most important position in the world? The one with a bigger brand than his own? Why bother being Donald Trump if you can’t add the ultimate arrow to your quiver?
All it takes is uber name recognition, a compliant media that enables the merger of politics and show business and a sizable chunk of the electorate cluelessly pursuing an outlet for its frustrations and an avatar for its anger. Donald ex machina.
* Pam Bondi endorses Trump. Pathetic.
* Some things never change. A recent, last-ditch super PAC ad for Marco Rubio gave the inaccurate impression that his parents escaped Castro to come to America. As in, “fled dictatorship.” He corrected it a few years ago, but it was back again to pad Rubio’s back story. His parents left Cuba in 1956 for economic reasons when Fulgencio Batista was still very much in charge.
* We know how fast a political assent can flame out. Ask John Edwards or Herman Cain. But the political trajectory of Dr. Ben Carson is beyond improbable. How do you go from impoverished, Detroit black kid to preeminent, Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon and author to–cluelessly cringe-worthy candidate who now whores out for Donald Trump?