Trump: Smarter Than Everyone Even Without TV Ads

The political establishments have perfected the art of simultaneously attacking the Donald and missing the point of his candidacy. The pattern is to continue to point out how repugnant is his rhetoric and program and predict his demise. Hasn't worked. He has perfectly understood the politics of the Republican electorate, spoken precisely as he must to appeal to it, and laughed his way to the lead, and to the bank. It's the economic brilliance of the Trump campaign that illuminates how right he has been. Unique in the annals of national campaigns, he has spent no money on TV. None. As best as can be gleaned, he hasn't spent a dime because it would only interfere with his dominance of free TV. "It's been all Trump, all the time. If you had an ad, people would OD." he points out, crowing that "I don't think I need to spend anything. And I'm very proud of the fact that I've spent the least and achieved the best result." No arguing with that. So much for the conventional wisdom that candidates rise and fall based on how much money they have, and then spend on TV ads. And so much for predictions that Citizens United presaged the end of popular movements in American campaigns. Would a few Trumpish ads help or hurt' Well, the conventional wisdom is that they help, and might be a smart investment as he tries to close the deal in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. And, lo and behold, he has announced that he'll spend $2 million on TV in those states. There's no way of figuring out what impact they may have, but they will be interesting and maybe decisive. There's a second level to this. Trump is, shall we say, careful with his own money. He's not been known to pony up a Trump dollar when there are taxpayer dollars, or CNN dollars, available. There's a reasonable chance that his tight-fistedness will distort his political judgment. There's always been a strand of thinking about Trump that sees his Presidential campaign as intended to improve his commercial brand, and that he may not actually want to win. Rather than put up his own TV cash, the argument goes, he will ride the free TV pony for as long as he can, and then go home. I don't buy it. Whatever Trump's intentions when he started, he is now a credible contender for both the Republican nomination and in the general election. He's got that gleam in his eye that comes when a candidate can see victory within his grasp. The decision to open his own wallet may be the key strategic choice of his campaign. So far he's made the right call every time. But until I see an ad that ends with "Paid For By Donald Trump" I'm hedging my predictions on the outcome of the campaign. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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