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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: Reality television and the GOP primaries Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Jul. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted Jul. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News The standard template for launching a presidential bid has become familiar and de rigueur. The newbie candidate appears before a crowded room of enthusiastic supporters, many holding glossy signs with his or her name on it. The candidate stands stage center to much cheering, surrounded by a spouse and children, all waving. A speech is given, touching on the familiar theme of taking the country back. Someone’s got America, usually those denizens of Washington, and said candidate will lead the charge against the entrenched establishment. Often “big government” is mentioned as well as the standard “I’ll fight for you.” This season, the Republicans have fielded an astonishing 16 ( sixteen ) contenders who are prepared to criticize the current “failed” Obama administration, which has ignored America’s exceptionalism, consistently led from behind, refused to boldly draw a line in the sand, crafted the “egregiously awful Obamacare,” and now has agreed to a deeply flawed deal with Iran that will ultimately result in its possession of a nuclear weapon. Out of this crucible of primary debates and speeches will emerge the Republican standard-bearer, ready to confront Hillary, thus far the Democrats’ de facto presidential contender. For the Republicans that was the game plan. And until a few weeks ago, there were few speed bumps. That is, until Donald Trump arrived to consummate his long-standing flirtation with running for president. Suddenly things got very surreal. Clearly, the Donald is not a politician; instead he’s an unabashed self-promoter who craves center stage and has nurtured his celebrity while starring in “The Apprentice,” a reality television show where the only line he had to learn was “You’re fired.” For his hat-in-the ring speech, before a crowd of supporters (it was rumored that many of those cheering were hired New York actors), Trump didn’t lay out a shopping list of “here’s what I’ll do for America”; instead he promised he’d get the Mexican government to pay for a massive wall along our southern border and thereby stop the flow of undocumented Mexicans into America. He further explained that Mexico is smart because they’re “not sending us their best. They’re sending “people that have lots of problems … They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” Of course, Trump is a provocateur and the brouhaha that followed was not only expected but relished. His comments (no matter their fallaciousness) put the Republicans in a place they definitely did not want to be. Going back to 2012, the RNC has been attempting to craft a Latino strategy, acknowledging that to win in 2016 they need this minority’s votes. But they also know that they need the older, conservative white vote (those who supported Mitt Romney). Their teeth-gnashing conundrum is that those who are showing up for Trump’s speeches, giving him standing ovations, were that latter, seemingly angry demographic. Hence, though Trump’s statements were outrageous and racist, they elicited few if any denunciations from the voters or the Republican leadership, who seemed paralyzed. But then Trump’s campaign is not really a campaign, at least none they’re familiar with. This is a Trump reality television show in which it’s all about Donald all the time. He’s built no infrastructure, has no donors, produced no position papers, just given ad-libbed speeches that have become more and more outrageous. He arrives on a Trump jet, carefully coiffed, enters a large room to great approbation and says whatever comes to mind, to include John McCain is “not a war hero.” Why isn’t he a hero? He was captured. Trump likes winners. Next? Now the Republican leadership and candidates, while cravenly silent on the Mexican immigration-rapist-crime characterizations, suddenly found their voice and repudiated Trump and his comment, ”He’s not a war hero.” Then they sat back and waited for Trump’s poll numbers to plummet. They didn’t. As of this writing, he is still leading the field by a solid margin and will be on the stage for the Aug. 6 Fox Republican debate. They’re desperate to say, “You’re fired.” But they can’t. Trump is the star of this new reality show called “The Republican Primares.” For him it’s all theater. The fact that it has to do with electing the next U.S. president/commander-in-chief is beside the point. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Jul. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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