Spin on the Trump Phenomenon

I’ve been waiting to comment on the Trump Phenomenon for more returns from primaries which are closed and only card carrying Republicans are allowed to vote.  This will answer the question of whether the Trump Phenomenon is the result of crossover Democrats, independent voters, and infrequent voters who are fired up by Trump choosing to vote Republican in open primaries or die heart Republicans are supporting the Trump Phenomenon. 

The pontification has it that working class Republicans have had enough of the type of politics exemplified by Cruz and Rubio.  However, the results of the closed primaries do not fully support this pontificate.  While Trump has won some closed primaries – Cruz has won most and came in a close second where Trump did win.  Of the 11 that have occurred so far, Trump has won 5 -- and Surprise! Surprise! (to me) Cruz has won 6.

Cruz’s returns tell me the old Tea Party – so far right that the center looks liberal – is still supporting its extreme right wing politics that currently dominates the House of Reps.    And although Trump has done well in closed primaries, there no mass flight of disillusioned rank and file Republicans to his cause.

It’s the open primaries that are driving the Trump Phenomenon.  Some recent reports on voter turnout support the argument that it is infrequent voters who can vote Republican in open primaries may be a big part of the Trump bump.  Add to that Democratic crossovers and independence and that explains where Trump is getting his numbers.  This does not bode well for Hillary.  Trump could give her a run in the general election.

Trump is using our mass news media as though it was a paid advertiser for one of his programs.  Why buy time on TV when you can say something outlandish and the 24-hr news program will suck it up and run with for hours – and I do mean hours – as though that was the major news story of the moment.

What is going on between Saudi Arabia and Iran is way more significant that what Trump just said.  What is going on in the Middle East – especially between those two countries – could lead to WW III.  Also, let’s not forget our current unrest in the House of Reps.  They turned on Boehner, currently will not pass a budget, and the clock is ticking on when they turn on Ryan.  But you have to dig into the back pages of newspaper or Google it to find anything about those stories.

And Yet!  The 24-hour new program run with the latest Trump hype.  And the most galling aspect of the coverage is the latest Trump supposedly news hysteria becomes old news, forgotten and replace by something entirely new.  The NYTimes had a recent article on this subject that nail it.