Should Trump Run?

February 11, 2011 6:55 AM

It's cold outside... So where's the global warming? Should Donald Trump Run For President?

Brought to you by billionaire pharmaceutical mogul Stewart Rahr. This site is not endorsed by Donald J. Trump

posted by Devils Rancher (102 comments total)

It's winter out. Donald should not run.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:58 AM on February 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

I hope Obama is asked about this possibility and replies "I stand ready to run against whichever reality TV star the Republicans choose as their nominee."
posted by ND¢ at 7:02 AM on February 11, 2011 [97 favorites]

I'm picturing Donald Trump with Sarah Palin as his apprentice running mate. And slapstick sound effects on the evening news.
posted by ardgedee at 7:03 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Trump Tells Conservative Audience He’s Presidential Material
posted by octothorpe at 7:03 AM on February 11, 2011

The Donald should run. I would be unlikely to vote for him given his poor track record with the inherited wealth he received. In fact he is like all the other baby boomers, too busy talking about how incredibly talented they are and spending their parents hard earned equity down to nothings and then blaming someone else for their problems while giving their children lectures on responsibilities and pulling up from the bootstraps. In their day gas cost and nickle and they drove 300 yards down the road to their newly built school house, while having sex where the only consequence was a disease easily treated with antibiotics. And the mosqitos were all killed by DDT and you could run the AC 24x7 even in the winter if the radiators overheated the house because why not. He should run so we can hold a referendum on the boomers and if he wins let them eat cat food, while we take to the streets Egypt style.
posted by humanfont at 7:06 AM on February 11, 2011 [51 favorites]

Actual conversation I had this morning:

Mr. Arkham: "Donald Trump can't run for president! He's Canadian."
Me: "No, he isn't."
Mr. Arkham: "Well, why do I think he is?"
Me: "I don't know. Maybe because he looks like he has a dead beaver on his head?"
posted by JoanArkham at 7:06 AM on February 11, 2011 [37 favorites]

The most interesting thing about Donald Trump is his hair and I don't see it surviving the campaign trail, let alone four years in the White House.
posted by tommasz at 7:09 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

That's one hell of a campaign slogan. I look forward to him running with Bill "How Did The Moon Get There?" O'Reilly.
posted by papercake at 7:09 AM on February 11, 2011 [5 favorites]

Grahr!
posted by chavenet at 7:10 AM on February 11, 2011

If drugs can't be legal, then the Donald can't be president. End of discussion.


America is #1!!! (in stupidity)
posted by Benny Andajetz at 7:11 AM on February 11, 2011

Hell yeah, go for it. The Republic primary debates are basically inadvertent performance art now and I'm all for pushing that envelope a little further.
posted by theodolite at 7:13 AM on February 11, 2011 [5 favorites]

America's Boris Johnson!
posted by Artw at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Who says right wingers can't do comedy?
posted by mhoye at 7:15 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm up for a Trump/Paladino crazy NY billionaire ticket
posted by leotrotsky at 7:16 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Here's what you have to remember about Donald Trump: Everything he does is about making money. The TV show. The clothing line. The hair. Everything.

My theory? Trump understands that he's playing a complicated version of brinksmanship and chicken, advanced game theory style. Say you're going to start a pizza chain, and your plan is to corner the market in 10 cities. In the first city, you spend far more than you'll make back running your competitors out of town. But that's okay because you've developed a reputation as a crazy person, and all of the guys who run pizza places in the 9 other cities are afraid to play the game with you. They fold like card tables.

Would Donald Trump running for president be absolutely, positively crazy? Sure. But that's the point.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 7:16 AM on February 11, 2011 [6 favorites]

The man hasn't been solvent in over twenty years. He's supposed to be a businessman, but he's a failure at business, and how can he claim to be qualified as a politician when he has no political experience at all?
posted by orange swan at 7:17 AM on February 11, 2011 [5 favorites]

This seems like a good place to mention that 23% of self-described liberals would like to see Palin run in 2012 (related). My guess is that a lot of liberals would poll the same way for Trump. The prospect is just too hilari-sad to pass up, and although there's always a danger that middle America will yet again live up to its own horrifying caricature, it's hard to imagine he'd have much chance of getting elected.
posted by dephlogisticated at 7:17 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

He's got that big ass flag. Surely he's the most American of us all, he deserves to be president on that alone.
posted by symbioid at 7:20 AM on February 11, 2011

The man hasn't been solvent in over twenty years.

neither has the u s - it's a perfect match - the man knows bankruptcy - does obama?
posted by pyramid termite at 7:20 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Has there ever been a case where America has NOT voted for some stupid asshole off of TV?

Stewart 2016!
posted by Artw at 7:21 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Here's what you have to remember about Donald Trump: Everything he does is about making money. The TV show. The clothing line. The hair. Everything

And he's terrible at making money. Winging his family money he'd be a used car salesman in Bosie trying to unload a 94 Civic with no paint and radio stuck on the all child choir station.
posted by The Whelk at 7:22 AM on February 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Yes, the ideal candidate for president should be someone who has no fucking clue how human-caused climate change works.
posted by Rykey at 7:22 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Er...without.
posted by The Whelk at 7:23 AM on February 11, 2011

As has been noted above, Donald's business is Donald. Some free publicity over some imagined political move is all good for him.
posted by josher71 at 7:23 AM on February 11, 2011

Hahaha "Donald J. Trump." It's like being tickled. Till you puke.
posted by hermitosis at 7:25 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Donald J. trump, Millionare. I own a mansion and a yacht.
posted by The Whelk at 7:27 AM on February 11, 2011 [13 favorites]

If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Newt Gingrich getting the 2012 GOP nomination. He's the only potential candidate to come forward who has money, name-recognition, and a basic level of respect from most parts of the Tea Party.
posted by schmod at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Face it, he has more money than we do. He's better than all of us.
posted by jweed at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2011

Yes, the ideal candidate for president should be someone who has no fucking clue how human-caused climate change works.

I'd be shocked if any Republican candidate for president admits that human-caused climate change is a reality.
posted by octothorpe at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm up for a Trump/Paladino crazy NY billionaire ticket.

Nah. Bloomberg has the NY billionaire thing sewn up. If you want an all NY ticket you want Trump/McMillan for the Rent Is Too Damn High No Wait Not Damn High Enough Party.
posted by The Bellman at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I was really hoping for just a giant bold NO
posted by rollick at 7:30 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

No. I am not living in a bizarro America that's the setting for a dystopian future movie where the hero has to overcome some future-obstacles in a day-glo jumpsuit. And the soundtrack is not someone's cat climbing over a Casio keyboard.
posted by hellojed at 7:30 AM on February 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

how dat hair get der?
u think it grow der? comeon
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:31 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Also: love the 'rahr' tag.
posted by hellojed at 7:31 AM on February 11, 2011

The Whelk: "And he's terrible at making money"

His earnings from the TV show alone are $100 million and growing, none of which he would have gotten if he wasn't the stereotypical crazy businessman. See also Steve Wynn.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2011

He's very close to a perfect American president. I think he could out-Reagan Reagan.
posted by facetious at 7:38 AM on February 11, 2011

If he's as smart a businessman as he claims to be he'll realize running for President would be a poor allocation of resources.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:39 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

But can he always be seen with a suit jacket on when he's President? Seems doubtful.
posted by josher71 at 7:40 AM on February 11, 2011

l33tpolicywonk: “Here's what you have to remember about Donald Trump: Everything he does is about making money. The TV show. The clothing line. The hair. Everything... His earnings from the TV show alone are $100 million and growing, none of which he would have gotten if he wasn't the stereotypical crazy businessman.”

I actually disagree. Everything Donald Trump does is about being famous. He's hoping to make money off of that, but it's mostly about being famous. True, the platform he's chosen is "world's greatest businessman" or some such nonsense. I mean, seriously - how many times has he taken businesses into bankruptcy now? Two? Three? He's a mediocre real estate developer with a few hotels, which almost certainly do not generate that much money. Most people might not realize this, but hotels are almost always tax write-offs to the companies that own them; making a hotel lucrative is ridiculously difficult, and is even more difficult if said hotel has pretensions to "luxury" and the overhead that goes with them. If he's making money, it's on the property that goes with the hotels; condos, offices, etc. The thing is, as a mediocre real estate developer, he has in the past often found the "Donald Trump, great businessman" bullshit to be good for his 'image,' or at least he thinks it might be; but I really believe that at some point the fame really caught him up, because he keeps doing TV shows and such.
posted by koeselitz at 7:40 AM on February 11, 2011

Cynics. So he's a fame-obsessed failed businessman whose only salable product is the fact that people feel a sort of fascinated contempt for him, and he wants to run the US like a Fortune 500 company. How could any element of that go wrong?
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:42 AM on February 11, 2011

I actually heard perhaps his first campaign-like publicity appearance (he can't *actually* campaign until he's no longer on the air via The Apprentice) about a month ago... on The Michael Savage Show. My landlord listens to it almost every night, and occasionally, despite my best efforts, I'll catch a segment or two.

(Tangent: More of my disgust with Savage in this recent post on my blog.)

Afterwards, my landlord told me he was impressed by Trump's appearance, and I had to remind him of a few inconvenient truths:

1. If Trump manages this country like he has his properties, many of which have gone bankrupt, some multiple times... we are screwed.

2. The mere fact that Trump delivered an interview to Michael Savage, he of the patented "slap" treatment for autism and numerous other inflammatory and ill-considered remarks, suggests that his run is likely insincere.
posted by The Confessor at 7:42 AM on February 11, 2011

l33tpolicywonk: "Here's what you have to remember about Donald Trump: Everything he does is about making money. The TV show. The clothing line. The hair. Everything."

Exactly.

I'm friendly with a couple of people who used to work for a PR agency who repped him. The man is a consummate marketer. Everything he does is about pushing and promoting his own brand and businesses. The Apprentice is (Was? Has it been canceled yet?) one long ad for The Trump Organization and his related endeavors.
posted by zarq at 7:44 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

(Would like to preemptively apologize for the "slap treatment for autism" remark. Looking at the actual quote, it appears that Savage suggested screaming as a treatment of autism, not slapping.)
posted by The Confessor at 7:45 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

The Whelk: " And he's terrible at making money. Winging his family money he'd be a used car salesman in Bosie trying to unload a 94 Civic with no paint and radio stuck on the all child choir station."

Heh. His net worth last year was what, a couple of billion dollars?
posted by zarq at 7:46 AM on February 11, 2011

Heh. His net worth last year was what, a couple of billion dollars?

Who knows. He inflates his worth. In 2006, he claimed it was $6 billion. Forbes looked into it and decided it was somewhere closer to $150 to $200 million.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:52 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Morbid Curiosity Leading Many Voters To Support Palin (THE ONION)
posted by 2bucksplus at 7:55 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Astro Zombie: "Who knows. He inflates his worth. In 2006, he claimed it was $6 billion. Forbes looked into it and decided it was somewhere closer to $150 to $200 million."

Well, to be accurate, that article says that Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.9bn, and they provide the math explaining how they reached that figure. They say:

But last year, in a book about Trump, New York Times editor Timothy L. O'Brien cited three unnamed "people with direct knowledge of Donald's finances" who said Trump's true net worth was $150 million to $250 million--in the vicinity of what his publicly traded stake in his casino company is worth.

...and Forbes disagrees with O'Brien's conclusions.
posted by zarq at 7:58 AM on February 11, 2011

John Wayne's stuffed and mounted corpse would make a great running mate.
posted by Stagger Lee at 7:59 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Time Magazine: BREAKING: Donald Trump Begins Not Running for President
posted by zarq at 8:02 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Yes! Because if he wins it will be exactly the kick-in-the-ass I need to move abroad.
posted by photoslob at 8:06 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well I think he should nit run, if he ran and won we'd have to get all Egyptian on him.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 8:11 AM on February 11, 2011

>: "I stand ready to run against whichever reality TV star the Republicans choose as their nominee."

This was good, but the real point seems to me that running for the Republican nomination IS THE REALITY SHOW. And it's damned entertaining for everyone who gets to watch.

Pity the winner is not sent to some desert island.
posted by three blind mice at 8:12 AM on February 11, 2011

Was it Arthur C. Clarke who said that the people who most want to be President shouldn't ever be allowed to run? Better to pick some random guy who absolutely doesn't want to be President, but has a strong enough sense of duty, loyalty and patriotism that he'll do his best in the position. Then give him time off for good behavior.
posted by zarq at 8:16 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

He's got that big ass flag. Surely he's the most American of us all, he deserves to be president on that alone.

Thanks to this, I can't read that as anything other than "big ass-flag," which is a very colourful image, especially when Donald is involved
posted by saturday_morning at 8:17 AM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

To tell the truth, Trump scares me more than Palin does...

Palin's numbers already show it: even if she does run, she can't win - too many people literally loathe her and would never even consider voting for her.

Trump, on the other hand, is the perfect "candidate" for the Limbaugh/Beck Republican "political" party. Nobody cares enough about him to actually hate him, he's certainly got the name recognition, the "reality" of his business career are completely overshadowed by the successful marketing of his "wealthy business genius" persona... And without a slam-dunk loser like Palin, there's a greater-than-even chance the Democrats would fuck up anyway.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 8:20 AM on February 11, 2011

Yes, the ideal candidate for president should be someone who has no fucking clue how human-caused climate change works.

I'd be shocked if any Republican candidate for president admits that human-caused climate change is a reality.

Good point. Let's try

Yes, the ideal candidate for president should be someone who has pretends to have no fucking clue how human-caused climate change works.
posted by Rykey at 8:26 AM on February 11, 2011

He's very close to a perfect American president. I think he could out-Reagan Reagan.

To be fair, the current crop of GOP politicians are already doing that on their own without too much help from the outside.
posted by schmod at 8:29 AM on February 11, 2011

John Wayne's stuffed and mounted corpse would make a great running mate.

So long as Trump agrees only to mount it in private.
posted by aught at 8:29 AM on February 11, 2011 [6 favorites]

zarq: " The Apprentice is (Was? Has it been canceled yet?)"

Nope. Saw an ad for the new Celebrity Apprentice this week. This season features Gary Busey, Marlee Matlin, LaToya, a Playboy bunny, Meat Loaf, Star Jones and that guy from Survivor and about six other people. I shit you not.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 8:47 AM on February 11, 2011

It's cold outside... So where's the global warming?

Don't make me get my gasoline and matches...
posted by quin at 8:57 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Donald already pissed off the Tea Party faction with his comment about Ron Paul. Not a good start. I do hope he puts his hair in the running, along with Bachmann and Palin. I expect great things from the Republican presidential primary debates.
posted by perhapses at 9:00 AM on February 11, 2011

Oh God. I'm not ready for anyone to be running for President yet. I'm still exhausted from the last time.
posted by Kimberly at 9:04 AM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

As long as we're talking about things that are not going to happen but which sound hilarious to liberals (even though if the hilarious imaginary thing did happen, it would be kind of depressing), can we have a page 'recruiting' Michelle Bachmann, Sharah Palin, Sharon Angle, Christine O'Donnell, and Orly Taitz to appear on a daytime roundtable talk show counter-programmed against The View?
posted by damehex at 9:09 AM on February 11, 2011

In fact he is like all the other baby boomers...

Donald Trump is nothing like me, or like anyone I know.

But enough about me. Let's talk about you, humanfont. Tell us about your accomplishments, your self-sacrifice, your making the world a better, happier place. In other words, what gives you the right to malign an entire generation of people as you did in that comment?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:15 AM on February 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

I guess it was inevitable now we have two people treating the presidential election as a media stunt. Trump and Palin don't want to be president they just want to be on TV.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:22 AM on February 11, 2011

l33tpolicywonk: "zarq: " The Apprentice is (Was? Has it been canceled yet?)"

Nope. Saw an ad for the new Celebrity Apprentice this week. This season features Gary Busey, Marlee Matlin, LaToya, a Playboy bunny, Meat Loaf, Star Jones and that guy from Survivor and about six other people. I shit you not."

Lots of "B" actors/celebrities there. But many well-known names.

There are four Texans in that lineup. I wonder if they're usually well-represented in the cast.
posted by zarq at 9:23 AM on February 11, 2011

And he's terrible at making money. Winging his family money he'd be a used car salesman in Bosie trying to unload a 94 Civic with no paint and radio stuck on the all child choir station.

there is no reason to shit talk on Boise like that.
posted by rainperimeter at 9:49 AM on February 11, 2011

Someone should totally double dog dare him to run.
posted by Sailormom at 9:50 AM on February 11, 2011

It's cold outside so
Where's the global warming, huh?
Christ, what an asshole.
posted by rusty at 9:55 AM on February 11, 2011

I always love this idea that business is somehow a primer for government. So, tax revenues are down. Should we just fire Montana.

The man hasn't been solvent in over twenty years.

I take it back, he sounds perfect for American governance.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:08 AM on February 11, 2011

Let's stop fucking around and get to the meat, here.

GARY BUSEY FOR PRESIDENT.
posted by davelog at 10:14 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

In other words, what gives you the right to malign an entire generation of people as you did in that comment?

why, he was born in the right year - isn't that obvious?
posted by pyramid termite at 10:25 AM on February 11, 2011

Oh, my, no, he isn't qualified. Certifiable, perhaps.
posted by nj_subgenius at 10:35 AM on February 11, 2011

"I'm Donald Trump and I confuse weather with climate!" Great slogan.

This has got to be a spoof. It's a spoof, right?
(One can only hope.)
posted by Sallysings at 10:53 AM on February 11, 2011

Naah.

The wingnuts will ask for his position on abortion, and that's the end of his run.
posted by DreamerFi at 11:03 AM on February 11, 2011

In other words, what gives you the right to malign an entire generation of people as you did in that comment?

Experience? After all, it's not like he said anything questionable.

Oh right I forgot; where the Greatest Generation earned respect, their kids demand it as their inherent right.
posted by happyroach at 11:05 AM on February 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Was it Arthur C. Clarke who said that the people who most want to be President shouldn't ever be allowed to run?

Douglas Addams I think.

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. "
posted by St. Sorryass at 11:13 AM on February 11, 2011

I think the Don would have too many problems with the religious wing of the Republican party. I mean, he's pretty far from family values, and while that may be true of many candidates, most of them try to hide / act ashamed about it. He's always been pretty up-front and proud about his sleaziness (one of the few things I sort of, in an odd way, respect him for -- if you're going to do it, don't apologize).
posted by wildcrdj at 11:18 AM on February 11, 2011

He's supposed to be a businessman, but he's a failure at business, and how can he claim to be qualified as a politician when he has no political experience at all?

Well, it's something he hasn't failed at yet. People need to try new things, you know?
posted by steambadger at 11:51 AM on February 11, 2011

America's Boris Johnson!

What did Trump say to America's nukes?

"You're fired!"
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:06 PM on February 11, 2011

Run Don, Run!
posted by KirkJobSluder at 12:08 PM on February 11, 2011

People with bad hair cannot be President.

Someone should tell Trump this before he pulls a Meg Whitman and dumps hundreds of millions into an unwinnable race.
posted by madajb at 12:24 PM on February 11, 2011

I'm guessing he'll be running under the banner of "The Rent is TOO Damn LOW!"
posted by Splunge at 12:26 PM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

My nutshell theory: Elections in the last decades have been primarily determined by swing moderates and conservatives. A fractious and argumentative side-show of a Republican primary works in Obama's favor.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 12:26 PM on February 11, 2011

It's a bit of a stretch, but if he's doing that...maybe *crosses fingers* we can finally get the Apprentice off the air? Not that i really watch that sort of TV, I'm just offended on principle...
posted by ironbob at 12:43 PM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I once had to substitute teach a high-school business class. The assignment the teacher left was for the kids to watch an episode of "The Apprentice."

I'm not sure what that means, but coincidentally I have held nothing but despair in my heart ever since.
posted by Scattercat at 12:55 PM on February 11, 2011

OHHHHHHHHhhhh, ho HO!!!


We're fucked.

= (
posted by PROD_TPSL at 1:12 PM on February 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Well that would take care of that pesky deficit. Donald would just apply his famous "borrow billions, declare bankruptcy" strategy.

Sorry about that, China!
posted by JaredSeth at 1:25 PM on February 11, 2011

The pay is only $400K. Not enough for Trump. A king-size ego cannot work for president size chump change.
posted by Cranberry at 1:27 PM on February 11, 2011

His first act as president will be to pave the streets with gold.

You know it will be.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:38 PM on February 11, 2011

I'm pretty amazed at all the conservative opinion here. Trump isn't qualified, but Obama was? Half of what Trump pretends to have achieved is totally bogus, but the other half is real, and he's run enterprises and created an image that dwarf anything Obama, Sara Palin, or probably anyone else in government today, could ever dream of. The man is clearly good at doing something big in the real world, and surely morally and mentally, he is at about average for holders of national office. So what if he doesn't get anthropogenic global warming. Obama does get it, and that fact doesn't seem to have galvanized him to address the situation in any way proportionate to the apparent threat. There's at least as much substance to Donald Trump as there was to John Edwards -- and yet, we all thought John Edwards was an acceptable candidate. All I'm seeing here is hair jokes, and snobbery and some kind of conviction that Trump is dumb. But this is not Dan Quayle we're talking about here. This guy is not dumb. He's experienced a lot of life. He's run major enterprises. I'm not saying he'd be a good president. But he's certainly "qualified".
posted by Faze at 2:29 PM on February 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

dephlogisticated wrote This seems like a good place to mention that 23% of self-described liberals would like to see Palin run in 2012

Honestly the prospect of either him or Palin running terrifies me.

People who like to go on about how Palin can never win because she's too dumb or hated need to look back at Bush jr's pre-Presidential image.

Here's the reality: unless the economy improves drastically over the next two years the odds are very good that Obama will be defeated. I'm not saying that Obama is guaranteed to lose of course, but I'm much less confident that he'll get a second term than many people appear to be. Incumbents of any sort, including Presidents, do not do well during economic hard times.

And I'm not at all convinced that we have yet hit rock bottom in what sort of idiot Republicans will vote for. They voted for Bush jr and Reagan, is Palin or Trump really that much worse from their POV? From our POV, yes, but from theirs?

Obama has been doing his absolute level best to drive away the young first time voters who got him elected back in 2008. He's been doing his absolute level best to alienate, humiliate, and generally piss off his base. I'll vote for him because I think the alternative so much worse, but will those young voters get out there again? Will the people on the real left, the ones Obama has been systemically humiliating and driving away, get out there again?

We have a very good chance of seeing whoever the Republican nominee, no matter how awful they are, getting elected. I'm not at all happy to see Trump or Palin running. I think they have a good chance of winning, and that terrifies me.
posted by sotonohito at 2:45 PM on February 11, 2011

I don't really understand why this site isn't a single-serving "NO".

Do people take him seriously? I watch The Apprentice because it is awful TV, not because I'm gaining actual business acumen from that asshole.
posted by graventy at 3:54 PM on February 11, 2011

Haven't read any comments yet, someone tell me this is a satire. I was expecting one of the "is the server up?" NO sites.
posted by sammyo at 4:37 PM on February 11, 2011

Definitely not satire. He spoke at CPAC along with other maybe-Presidential-candidates (Pawlenty, Bachmann, Gingrich, Romney, etc) and is definitely considering a run.

Really, given a choice between Trump and Bachmann the Don wins hands down...
posted by wildcrdj at 4:46 PM on February 11, 2011

I'd be shocked if any Republican candidate for president admits that human-caused climate change is a reality.

human-caused
Not likely. Exacerbated by humans? Probably. But caused is pretty much of a leap.
posted by notreally at 5:21 PM on February 11, 2011

I guess it's now OK for conservative presidential candidates to have left their wives for their mistresses? More than once?
posted by Maias at 6:14 PM on February 11, 2011

l33tpolicywonk: "Trump understands that he's playing a complicated version of brinksmanship and chicken, advanced game theory style. Say you're going to start a pizza chain, and your plan is to corner the market in 10 cities. In the first city, you spend far more than you'll make back running your competitors out of town. But that's okay because you've developed a reputation as a crazy person, and all of the guys who run pizza places in the 9 other cities are afraid to play the game with you. They fold like card tables."

Of course, Trump wasn't counting on contending with an actual pizza magnate for the nomination.

A Godfather pizza magnate, no less.
posted by Rhaomi at 6:40 PM on February 11, 2011

notreally: "But caused is pretty much of a leap."

Maybe have a look here and get back to us later on that? Incremental denial is still a crock.
posted by sneebler at 9:43 AM on February 12, 2011

I'm not saying he'd be a good president. But he's certainly "qualified".

What interest has he ever shown in public service in any capacity? To what length has he served the public already, at his advanced age, with all his gifts and great wealth at his disposal? Is someone who never served anyone but himself fit to hold the highest public office in the US?

The answers to those questions are what qualifies as true differences between Donald Trump and everyone else you mentioned.
posted by krinklyfig at 3:51 PM on February 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

In other words, what gives you the right to malign an entire generation of people as you did in that comment?

Experience? After all, it's not like he said anything questionable.

Oh right I forgot; where the Greatest Generation earned respect, their kids demand it as their inherent right.
posted by happyroach at 11:05 AM on 2/11
[3 favorites +] [!]

They earned it with their music
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 1:10 AM on February 13, 2011

A lot of liberals want palin to win because they think it gives Obama better odds of reelection, which is true, but a risky strategy.
posted by delmoi at 5:10 AM on February 13, 2011