Photo by Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA2.0
Hans Christian Anderson, the popular children's fairy tale author who lived in the 1800's, could easily have been hired as Donald Trump’s political operative in the 2016. His classic story of the "Emperor's New Clothes" is a tale that would play well in the Trump campaign.
As the story goes, two weavers are hired to make a very vain Emperor a new suit of clothes. The Emperor always had a coat for every hour of the day. The weavers promise him a top of the line best quality suit, made from a fabric that's invisible to anyone "unfit for his position" or "hopelessly stupid."
We have a candidate about to become the Republican presidential nominee who has thrived on changing his verbal ‘outfits’ at whim. But he finally agreed that he had to change some of his campaign in an effort to appear more presidential. So he flung out the old and controversial campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and hired a new more seasoned “weaver,” Paul Manafort. Corey, it seems, was deemed unfit for his position. The man who touted "Let Trump be Trump" was escorted out of his Trump Tower office in true Trump fashion, by security guards, and muzzled by an apparent airtight non-disclosure agreement.
Paul Manafort has been a long-time lobbyist and political consultant working with foreign governments, dictators and corporations as he wound his way around the globe of political operatives. Manafort has also advised the presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He's a man who has been quoted as having a "history with strong men." A recent story in Slate says Paul Manafort "has a particular knack for taking autocrats and presenting them as defenders of democracy." Add to that the facts that Manafort's old firm has done work for Trump, and the new campaign chief has an apartment in Trump Tower. Sounds like a match made in Trump heaven.
So two wealthy men of about the same age have come together to pull off a Trump victory. And a new suit of clothes begins to be designed. It weaves a fabric of advice determined to make Trump appear just as palatable and professional as some of the politicians Mr. Manafort has previously disdained. If that means using more things like teleprompter support to help him stay on message, then so be it. The newly woven fabric also calls for less Twitter, but that seems to be more challenging. Trump may being trying, but here's a recent Trump tweet:
“Crooked Hillary is wheeling out one of the least productive senators in the U.S. Senate, goofy Elizabeth Warren, who lied on heritage.”
So are we to expect Trump not to be Trump under Manafort's reign? Donald Trump is who he has been for 70 years.
He may overtly show short term signs of changing his approach to the campaign, but over the long-term I believe Trump will be Trump. I was a New Yorker in the ‘70s, '80s and '90s observing this man. He has just gotten bigger, bolder, brasher, and more egocentric over time. The thought that Trump will reverse those characteristics as part of a long-term personal and professional overhaul is hard to imagine.
If you recall, the Emperor's new suit showed him wearing no clothes at all. It was a tale of grand deception.