I just don't get breadth of the appeal of his brash, vindictive, non-specific ( not to say uninformed) style which just boils down to bluster and claims about how great a president he will be and how much winning he and, by extension, the country will do. Now, I know that there are parts of the electorate who will gravitate to his brand of political diatribe, but I don't really see why it has the broad support that his poll numbers would seem to indicate. He can say the dumbest, most insulting things (e.g. of Carly Fiorina "How could you vote for a face like that?...") or show a fundamental lack of knowledge of a serious topic under discussion (e.g.not knowing what the Nuclear Triad is and ranting about China's getting a good deal in the Trans Pacific Partnership when China is NOT EVEN A PARTY to the TPP). Then, and seemingly in spite of all this, his poll numbers continue to climb.
His supporters don't even waiver at his occasional lame attempts to explain his malapropisms. To wit: "I meant Carly's persona, not her appearance..." (yeah, right), or when backing away from his assertion that his sister would make an outstanding Supreme Court justice--"I was just kidding...", or when addressing his lack of knowledge on things nuclear, saying that in his first three days in office he will learn all that stuff and be smarter on it than any president in history. Then, each of these pronouncements is followed by bellowing either of the catch phrases "THAT I CAN TELL YOU!" or "I CAN TELL YOU THAT!" (Please note that as I am uttering these phrases, I should have my right index finger raised at podium/waist level for true "Trumpian" emphasis.)
I am also slightly boggled by comments that I have heard from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mark Davis and Bill O'Reilly who seem to be trying to explain/excuse Trump's rants, by offering opinions to the effect that "What he must have meant was...", or simply dismissing them as being deliberately over the top for the sake of emphasis or by discussing his behavior with a"boys will be boys" attitude, saying "Well, that's just Trump being Trump..." (nudge, nudge ; wink, wink).
So, in brief, Mr. Trump seems to be short on specific knowledge of foreign affairs/strategic thinking, long on bluster and insults and happy to continue with the "I'm Great, You're Great, I'll be Great President and I'll Make the Country Great Again" formula. And I can't deny that it's working, but the question remains,----Why?
That very topic was addressed on CNN last Thursday morning by a discussion group that, essentially, concluded that the basic reason behind Trump's appeal is that he is loud and supremely confident, shouting down the opposition. He is positive about EVERYTHING. He is positive that he will be nominated, he is positive that he will be elected, he is positive that he will be the greatest president in history, he is positive that he will get political deals done "...in 10 minutes."
In fact, the word "positive" was used so often by the CNN panel that I was reminded that, in "The Devil's Dictionary", Ambrose Bierce defines "positive" as being "Mistaken at the top of one's voice".
I'm looking forward to a new resident in the White house on January 2oth next year, but as regards Mr. Trump's accession to the Presidency, one can only hope that Bierce was right and "The Donald's" prognostications about gaining the Republican nomination and, eventually, the White House turn out to be mistaken.
BUT, WHAT IF THEY DON'T ???
And that, fellow citizens, explains my worry!