Candidates Case of Affluena Affects Us All

Hmmm. Sound familiar?

If Couch is the Affluenza Teen, Trump is the Affluenza Candidate. The symptoms he exhibits are multiple, and florid: The overweening sense of entitlement. The conflation of money and intelligence, and the belief that wealth is a virtue in itself. The obsessive flaunting thereof.

These qualities are not incidental to Trump's presidential campaign. They are integral to it. The campaign is predicated on the notion that with great wealth comes great entitlement. His trumpeted billions constitute the primary evidence of his qualification for the presidency.

"I'm really rich," Trump said in announcing his campaign. "I'm proud of my net worth. I've done an amazing job."

American politics has featured its share of rich candidates, but never before, and certainly not to this degree, has a candidate's fortune been his raison d'etre. After all, the tradition is much the opposite -- to emphasize humble, log-cabin beginnings. Candidates burdened with wealthy parents endeavor to display the semblance of ordinariness.

Not Trump. He doesn't downplay. He flaunts the Trump name for all to see. His consumption could not be more conspicuous. Mitt Romney was dinged for building car elevators and having his wife drive "a couple of Cadillacs." Trump invites reporters aboard his private jet, complete with its 24-carat gold-plated seatbelts.

The candidate's wealth is both evidence of his merit and a benefit in itself, proof that Trump is immune to the pressures faced by less-affluent politicians. "I don't need anybody's money," Trump proclaimed in his announcement speech. "It's nice."

The flip side of this attitude, for those afflicted with Affluenza, is that the ordinary rules of personal conduct and human decency do not apply to the sufferer. Trump calls people names. He says things that are untrue. He never backs down. Being Trump means never having to say you're sorry.

In the case of Ethan Couch, his parents were the enablers of this conduct. In the case of Trump, at least so far, it's the voters. At least according to the polls that are at the center of Trump's universe, his offensiveness reaps no consequences. Voters seem to reward his outrageousness; they impose no limits on his bad behavior.

A candidate with Affluenza is bad enough. Imagine a president with this malady.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.