By Tom McGregor, CNTV Panview Commentator
There’s nothing Americans love more than a true story with a Hollywood ending. 17 months ago, billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump announced his bid to seek the GOP nomination among 16 other candidates.
He arrived on the campaign trail with no more than 2 percent of GOP voter support. He was ranked dead last, scoring lower popularity ratings than US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is perceived as a clown in Washington Circles.
Trump had nothing more than deep pockets to fund his campaign and experience as a reality TV star on NBC’s ‘The Apprentice’, capturing high Nielsen rating for shouting “You’re fired” at those who failed to meet the high standards for his company.
Nobody, except for Donald Trump and his family, believed he could capture the White House when he arrived on the national political scene.
Magical turning point
Yet, every winning campaign has a crucial time when the candidate captures the heart of the electorate. Trump’s moment occurred at the beginning stages. He had given a speech in front of the Statue of Liberty and said, “Im going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.”
The slogan had shocked the media. They claimed it was racist and Trump was crazy for thinking Mexico could pay for it. The media launched full-scale attacks, demanding Trump apologize.
Nevertheless, Trump refused to say sorry. Instead, he went straight to CNN studios and granted an interview with news anchor Don Lemon.
He doubled down when told that it’s considered racist to say some illegal immigrants are raping American women. Trump responded, “who’s doing the raping?”
Respecting a fighter
Just like in Sylvester Stallone’s hit movie, ‘Rocky’, Americans respect an underdog fighter. When Trump was getting pounded by the media, he was starting to surge in popularity. They may not have agreed with everything he said, but at least they knew he was not a wimp and loved his country.
So, ‘Build the Wall’ became the buzz phrase on the campaign trail, well at least until Trump coined the slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Trump had endeared himself to voters, because the US economy has struggled, corruption has overtaken Washington and the US image abroad has weakened.
Americans were waiting for a patriotic fighter to emerge, who would not back down to the nation’s enemies and does not fear attacks from the media. Trump had transformed into an heroic figurehead, who could arrive in White House to clean out corruption and ‘drain the swamp.’
Hillary Clinton’s disastrous campaign
The US electorate was looking to vote for a ‘change’ candidate, so the Democrat Party made a major tactical mistake by rigging the nomination process with super delegates, who had already sworn to support for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was the more popular candidate and his supporters were vocal and loyal. They despised Hillary as the candidate of the Wall Street establishment.
The Clinton campaign stumbled further after Hillary won the Democrat Party nomination and she took a two-month vacation (August-September). She only made public appearances at fundraisers with Wall Street and Hollywood’s elite.
Clinton and her campaign team ignored glaring warning signs that she could be defeated. She was giving speeches with fewer than 200 spectators showing up.
And when appearing at larger rallies, she was not the star of the show, because pop singers or US President Barack Obama were invite to lure bigger crowds.
Ironically, her largest audience with Hillary as the star performer was her pre-scheduled victory celebration party in New York City. When she was defeated on election night, she didn’t even appear and give a concession speech to her die-hard supporters.
Time for a winner
Trump refused to quit when most people were expecting him to lose in a landslide. He was fighting for the American people who have been forgotten by the elite ruling class in the US.
People need hope and Trump delivered it in bundles.
（The pictures are from internet)
( The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )
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