Military Strategist Explains Why Donald Trump Leads--And How He Will Fail: Air Force fighter pilot John Boyd's theory about confounding opponents with a constantly shifting battlefield applies to Donald Trump and all GOP aspirants.

[Machiavelli]

Dan McLaughlin
The Federalist
December 16, 2015

No matter how much you dislike Donald Trump and his effect on the Republican presidential primary race--and there are many, many good reasons to do so--you have to spare a little grudging admiration for the sheer madcap genius of Trump's ability to disrupt, unsettle, and exploit the primary system.

We can better understand what Trump has done successfully, as well as his ultimate limitations as a candidate and why he would be such a terrible president, using the ideas of military strategic theorist John Boyd. Trump has been, thus far, the true Boyd candidate in this race, yet he is already exhibiting symptoms of precisely the flaws that Boyd saw as fatal in combatants.

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[sinkspur]

This is a long but very good article.  Now, the Trumpians will pooh-pooh it, but if Trump loses Iowa (and it appears that he will), all bets will be off. 

Serious voters are not going to throw away a vote on a Huey Long populist who supports more liberal ideas than he does conservative ideas.  Plus, voters want to cast their lot with a winner, and Cruz would become the winner after Iowa.

A few more candidates may drop out in January and their supporters will NOT go to Trump. 

[truth_seeker]

Serious voters are not going to .............

I believe we need to realize that (many) Americans are less serious people today.

They are accustomed to relatively simple, easy lives. Regarding Maslow's Hierarchy, Shelter and food are not problems. For many, higher meanings are things like sports, and sports are moving away from traditional skilled games with manners and civility, to outrageous "extreme" sports and behavior.

I think many Americans see politics as entertainment, in one sense. Sure they know taxes and wars and the economy stem from politics. But so does the nightly news, and it is "entertaining" when politicos get some crazy stuff going in the news.

Trump is putting himself before the public and saying loud and bold, "I will not merely lead and govern America; I will entertain at the same time."

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Fantastic analysis.  Thank you for posting it Machiavelli.

[Free Vulcan]

Good analysis overall, but it's lacking in examining some potential angles that affect this race, and make his what-if's some pretty big leaps on the probability curve.

[Jazzhead]

A must-read, folks.  I'm up at 2:30 on Christmas morning,  I gotta put this down and wrap the last of the presents!

Trump’s basic style is “BS,” in which he is interested neither in the truth nor in lying to his audience, but just in riffing on a theme without much connection to the facts

Comedians, like jazzmen, riff on a theme;  it's the creation and resolution of tension in real time that's the thing.

He's the first comedian to run for President,  in a time when a good number of us get our information from the fake news and zoo-style talk radio. 

[Longiron]

A must-read, folks.  I'm up at 2:30 on Christmas morning,  I gotta put this down and wrap the last of the presents!

Comedians, like jazzmen, riff on a theme;  it's the creation and resolution of tension in real time that's the thing.

He's the first comedian to run for President,  in a time when a good number of us get our information from the fake news and zoo-style talk radio.

Christmas is that a non political correct word for you ??? Tell all of us who YOU support and would do a better job?????? Bet you won't  because then you will have to THINK and take a stance?