Yeah, it’s almost as if he’s conjuring up a counterelite, which he will choose. He’s kind of a managerial populist, if you will, which in some ways is an oxymoron. I want to mention something else, which is so obvious that somehow people have stopped talking about it: This guy has been a celebrity for 30 years, and he’s familiar to people. Having a familiar celebrity who is relaxed and says what’s on his mind is what makes the kind of people who are usually attracted to populists feel more comfortable with them than they do with other politicians. But I’m not sure that in this case it’s really populist politics so much as celebrity politics. It’s similar to what Arnold Schwarzenegger did when running for governor.
And that’s why I compare him to Henry Ford. Henry Ford was famous before he even thought about going into politics. And [Ross] Perot was a little like that. Perot was a little bit famous. Reagan as well. People said he could never win and was a buffoon. But you forget that people like to feel comfortable with their politicians. And as much as I disagree with Trump’s politics, I kind of enjoy listening to him because he seems comfortable with himself.
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