Trump’s Playground Politics: The Unsettling Dynamics Of GOP Endorsements And Influence

Donald Trump’s quest for the GOP nomination looks like it will roll into Super Tuesday with little to fear from either Nikki Haley or anyone else. The base is on his side, though not as solidly as a former president should expect, or a general election candidate can afford.

Does that mean there’s the slimmest of all possible chances that Trump could at least be made at least uncomfortable as he slouches toward the GOP convention?

Sure. But the more uncomfortable thing we will get to watch over the weeks and months to come is Trump reasserting his dominance over the Republican political class. In some ways it never ended, of course. Former presidents, regardless of party, tend to exercise at least a small degree of influence over the pols they leave behind, if for no other reasons than to help candidates/incumbents/the party raise money.

But in Trump, we’re watching something coarse: a series of pols kissing the ring of the once and former leader of the GOP.

When asked why these highly self-centered, career-minded officials would debase themselves before Trump, one who didn’t (and paid the price for it) said it’s because they want to remain “relevant.” Which is another way of saying “employed”

In an interview with Politico, Trump foe and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said such behavior is:

…a monument to people’s desire to remain relevant in politics. I don’t even know how you look yourself in the mirror when Trump’s said the things he said about Marco Rubio, and then you go endorse the guy? Or Ted Cruz, after what he said about his wife? I mean, it’s awful stuff. And you’re going to go endorse the guy? It’s a monument to the degree to which people will do most anything that they perceive to be in their best interests politically, never mind the look-yourself-in-the-mirror phenomenon.

But it’s also a reminder of how strong Trump’s lock is on the base. I mean, it’s real.

They accept the insults, the taunting, the lies, the outrageousness of it all…because that’s the way the price they have to pay for relevance.

While Trump’s methods have more in common with the playground than the halls of power, they are of a kind that’s long been a staple in American politics.

It’s even had brand names. Consider the “Johnson Treatment.” Former President Lyndon Johnson was a legendary manipulator of those in power, from his House and Senate colleagues to the heads of industry.  As John Coleman wrote in Forbes a few years ago:

…[Johnson] was willing to push people. For better or worse, he would harangue, threaten, flatter and bully. This was evident in Johnson’s dealings with his mentor, longtime Georgia Senator Dick Russell. In establishing the Warren Commission—which was responsible for investigating the Kennedy assassination—Johnson knew Russell didn’t want to serve, but announced Russell’s involvement before asking him then bullied him into it in a phone call. As recorded in Indomitable Will, he then pushed past Russell—a dedicated segregationist—to get Civil Rights Act passed, telling him, “Dick, I love you and I owe you. But….I’m going to run over you if you challenge me on this civil-rights bill.” He did just that—leading to Russell boycotting the Democratic convention in 1964. Similarly, after Bloody Sunday in Selma, Johnson summoned George Wallace to a meeting at the White House [DOC] in which he physically loomed over the man and badgered him for hours on subjects from voting rights to protecting demonstrators. He made people uneasy. He invaded their space. And he kept after them. This kind of persistence is uncomfortable for most of us but essential for LBJ.

A different approach for far different ends. But there is a long, storied history of presidents using (with varying results) the powers of their personality to get their way.

As for the pols on the receiving end of these “treatments,” who will accept the bullying and debasement if it means they are still relevant? They tend to stick around…waiting for the next bully and browbeater to arrive on the scene to make them grovel for relevance all over again.

Term limits, anyone?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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