Daily Times

Trump triumphs are intriguing all and sundry. He has become an object of ridicule, an object of study, an object of debate and thereby, an object of reluctant fascination. Perhaps, nobody really expected Trump to be anything more than a nuisance value but his front-running spree as a Republican nominee has taken many, including himself, by surprise. He represents everything that intellectuals demonize: loud money, sprawling real estate, Hollywood jet setting, trophy wives and, now, shock and awe campaigns -a profile befitting many from Pakistani politics. However, in Pakistan, we justify such profiles by blaming the uneducated choices made by the uninformed masses. The question, hence, is that despite the American democracy being, almost, 250 years old with a supposedly mature electorate; how can a candidate like Trump get away with crude arrogance?

The foremost reason is, of course, the fact that he has a story-one that sells. Trump’s slogan of “making America great again” is what is hitting the cords of what most disgruntled Americans regard as the need of the hour. The last decade has proved itself to be very sobering for Americans. The persisting recession, a high rate of unemployment, disconcerting losses in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the resurgence of Russia alongside the rise of China; all has hit the self-esteem of Americans. Trump also posits a great example of America still being a golden land of opportunity, where his immigrant parents despite coming, in rags, from Germany, were able to make their way to the top in this avenue of equality and opportunity.

Another reason why Trump has come this far is because of his interplay between his own as well as the weaknesses of the American public. He has always been rough, raucous and even outrageous; using all of these qualities to dominate the media- with statements that are negative and controversial enough to obtain air time and e-time over the social media. He stands out in comparison to Ted Cruz and Marc Rubio, who both appeared tongue-tied in response to policy statements as ridiculous as banning all Muslims or building walls on the borders. By the time, his two opponents had gathered pace and did start hitting out on him; he was, already, far ahead of them. He attacks with passion and insults, sticking to his own rationale with supreme irrationality. He poses himself as the only straight talking, hard-hitting candidate: an anti-thesis to the proper diplomatic politician.

Aside from building on his own strengths, Trump also pounces on public anger and disappointment. 68 percent Americans believe that Obama has failed to take sufficient action against IS and their terror threat. Adding that disillusion to the fall of the automobile and the banking empire makes an ideal combination of fear, anger and frustration, becoming just the right fertile ground for a dark knight like Trump to sow his own success. Hate words uttered by Trump like choker, loser, joker are first hammered in his speeches and then, in more than 6000 tweets that his campaign manages, resonating with this category of voter. Thus, he has cashed upon this political and economic catharsis that his audience wants. His irrationality strikes a chord in their irrationality. Trump is a shrewd businessman and he knows well how controversy sells. He has spent minimal money on buying ads on television, when compared to other politicians. Despite this lack of advertisement, cable news channels have still given him more air- time than any other presidential candidate. Nine of the top national networks have mentioned Trump a stunning 258,831 times, since June. That’s more than Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and John Kasich mentions put together. In fact, Trump has been mentioned more times on MSNBC alone than any other Republican candidate has been mentioned on all nine networks, cumulatively.

Cashing upon on negative sentiments has paid dividends in our part of the world too. Narinder Modi’s campaign also anchored on the hatred against Pakistan/Muslims. He was selling the same story positing his rise from a tea boy to a Prime Minister. However, he also had an economic turnaround of a province Gujrat to back him up. Similarly, in Pakistan, the rise of MQM was also based first on deprivation, and then hatred alongside fear. Altaf Hussain also represented a man on the bike raising his voice for the Urdu- speaking immigrants to make them count. Later, he became a force to be reckoned in the assembly, using all means to enforce that force. The public was held in abeyance on the basis of the lethal hate-and-fear rhetoric of the leader.

Many question yet are fascinated by the ability of the likes of Trump to create his following to get into power politics. Just like a bad product may sell for a while, but its ability to sustain its market hold can never be guaranteed. similarly, the likes of Trump, Modi and Hussain may gain huge air time and even enter the power echelons, but their ability to sustain this popularity by employing only negativity is not possible. Modi, in India, created this huge uproar of a Hindutva firebrand to get into power, and is now struggling to counter the monster on all fronts. His immediate loss in first Delhi, and, then Bihar were clear indicators of how hate strategies ultimately become self-destructive. Similarly, MQM may have managed to stay in power for 30 years, but they still have not grown beyond Karachi; failing to become a provincial power, leave aside a national party. The recent re-emergence of Mustafa Kamal is a clear indicator that hate and fear are eventually counterproductive as sustainable strategies.

The question that arises now is does Trump know his strategy will not be enough to defeat democrats? The answer is even if he knows, he does not care. At the end of the day, even if he loses, he has made himself count right to the top. He has gotten more publicity and media in these few months than in his entire 50-year career, and, mostly free of cost. When he loses, he will be remembered in political history as the corporate raider who dared to raid the capitol hill. His speaking fee will be so high that he will have to diversify his business into Trump Coaching Inc. He will write a book that will be a best seller, which Hollywood would love to buy and make into an action thriller blockbuster. At the end of the day, the Trump Brand may live richer and bigger than ever.

The writer is a columnist and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com