A Humble Trump? Sorry, 'Loo-zahs'
Ah, not this time, loo-zah.
Suddenly the emperor had no clothes. The man behind the curtain was exposed as mere mortal, a carnival hustler and flim-flam man who came to town to pitch his magical elixir and motivate the rubes to feel good about themselves in a wicked world full of things that make conservatives worry about their children's futures -- like illegal immigrants, overseas trade, political correctness and, lest we forget, Rosie O'Donnell.
Thanks for a great fantasy, The Donald, but votes are for real.
The man who never admits to making a mistake apparently grossly underestimated the importance of building a strong on-the-ground grassroots campaign in every single county, if you want to win Iowa. That was how Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in 2008 and why Cruz worked tirelessly on his own ground game.
Trump, a virtual master of all media, apparently thought his formidable celebrity and overflow rally crowds was enough. It wasn't. Watch for more Trump volunteers to knock on doors and ring doorbells in New Hampshire.
And which candidate was the first to claim victory in front of the television cameras? Significantly it was neither Cruz nor Trump. It was Rubio. He finished third, but you would not have guessed from the celebration that he and his family brought onstage while music played and the crowd cheered.
I was reminded of how Bill Clinton is remembered for winning the 1992 New Hampshire primary, even though he actually came in second. He did such a grand job of declaring himself "The Comeback Kid" that he set a new standard for making a loss look like a win.
In similar fashion, Rubio looked like a winner and had earned it. As Bret Baier noted on Fox News, Iowa's vote was the first poll to show Rubio with more than 20 percent support. Rubio finished Iowa like a rocket in full liftoff. Cruz finished in orbit. Trump fizzled on the launch pad.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
