Salon: The Trump "campaign" taught us that repugnant sexist creeps are treated as lovable rogues

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 08:01 ET
War Room
The biggest political lesson of the Trump "campaign"
By Alex Pareene



The brief, wondrous presidential campaign of Donald Trump taught us that the more extreme and ridiculous your statements about Barack Obama become, the more Fox News will embrace you, even if you draw a salary from a competing media conglomerate. It taught us that most of the television news industry will treat any clown seriously until that clown's "negatives" begin rising in polls, at which point everyone will gleefully pile on. It taught us that repugnant sexist creeps are routinely treated in the press and the entertainment industry as lovable rogues.

But none of those things are particularly surprising to the reasonably well-informed American. For those not currently enrolled in "Trump University," the Trump campaign was an easily spotted con from day one, a farce we've all seen before.

There were some small surprises. Who would've predicted he'd go Full Birther? Who knew he'd end it before delivering a hilarious debate performance? Why did the Washington Post invite him to the Correspondents' Dinner again?

And does the Democratic Party realize that it's been handed a wonderful gift? This is the sole momentous achievement of the Trump campaign. Donald Trump has inadvertently provided a blueprint for getting rid of an inconvenient candidate before a campaign even starts: Give him a TV show.

http://www.salon.com/news/donald_trump/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/17/trump_lesson