A Debate or a Negotiation?

A black & white Trump delivers a stark, black & white message.

Watching Donald Trump romp through the Fox News debates on Thursday, August 6, caused me to reassess the nature of his candidacy for the GOP nomination and 2016 presidential run.

Prior to that “debate,” Trump said that “I’m not a debater.”  He emphasized that he “just knows how to get things done.”

Trump is right.  He is definitely not a debater.  Yet he continues to lead the pack of GOP contenders with a 25% lead, double that of the next person, with all of the others falling well behind.

Despite the fact that his entrenched popularity appears to be at odds with many of his seemingly outrageous comments, poll respondents seem to love what he says and the style by which he delivers it.

So what’s going on?  Here are at least two clues:

GOP Presidential candidates in first debate tonight, August 3rd.

Updated 8/3/15, 9:23 PM

A first-in-the-nation Q&A debate among all GOP candidates except Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee (they declined to participate) will be held this evening at 7:00 PM at the Dana Center in Manchester, New Hampshire.

It will be carried live nationally by C-Span on Channel 109 Verizon FIOS, and on Channel 75 Cablevision.  It will also be available on iHeartRadio, and will be hosted by WGIR radio personality Jack Heath.

 

This debate, dubbed “The Voters First Republican Presidential Forum” is the brainchild of Joseph W. McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Granite’s State’s largest newspaper, and one which reflects the independent spirit of that state.