Failures make for better futures: Trump and the silver lining.

Trump is unique for two interlinked reasons. Firstly, his raw communication ability. Whether it (was) through his Twitter feed or call ins to Fox and Friends, or whether it was through buying advert space implicitly calling for the death penalty for the Central Park 5, he connected to a group of people, who, often by their own admission, had sat on the side lines of politics for decades. In a recent article for the Times newspaper, Joe Scarborough sums it up, simply saying “It’s so hard to match the Donald”. If you believe Michael Cohen (and several others), though, this is all an act. Or, what you could call a skill.

The skill is supplemented by a willingness and an ease to lie, which I don’t believe to be a skill, rather a natural disposition. Not to spin, not to polish over, but to lie. To someone with Trump’s communication skills, adding lies is like injecting anabolic steroids. He is no longer inhibited by normal feelings of human restraint.

The second unique thing about Trump is that no one with his blend of skill, temperament and worldview has ever risen as high in contemporary politics. Finally, however, his uniqueness has allowed some to breath a sign of relief. There is simply no one like him, the argument goes, so there is no chance someone like him can be elected again.