OPINION:
“Winning isn’t everything,” decreed Vince Lombardi, the football legend for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named, “it’s the only thing.” In both football and politics, he caught the essence of competition. Americans exalt winners, whether on the gridiron or at the ballot box. The 2016 presidential election is the biggest game in town and to the victor goes the spoils of the toughest job in the world. Donald Trump, alone (so far) of the candidates has found the single message to propel a campaign. To the consternation of his rivals and the Republican elites, the formula is working.
“We will have so much winning if I get elected,” he once told a rally on Capitol Hill, “you may get bored with the winning.” The New York billionaire phrases his core sales pitch in different ways on different days, but the message that evokes the loudest cheers is that “Trump equals winning.” It’s the political equivalent of sex appeal.
The Donald performed in South Carolina pretty much as expected: Trump, 32.5 percent; Marco Rubio, 22.5 percent; and Ted Cruz, 22.3 percent. Jeb Bush threw in the towel after polling a disappointing 7.8 percent. Jeb, now shorn of his exclamation point, was followed closely by John Kasich and Ben Carson, who bravely vowed to keep on keeping on, in George Wallace’s memorable description of the endless campaign slog. The Republicans still standing say the usual things that has got them this far. No one can articulate thoughtful solutions to mounting college debt like Mr. Rubio. Mr. Cruz’s ardent defense of the Constitution is eloquent and formidable.
In contrast, Mr. Trump doesn’t bother to spell out the details: He’s going to repeal and replace Obamacare (with something but doesn’t say what), reinforce the military and “take care” of the veterans, build a wall to halt the tide of illegals and make Mexico pay for it (he doesn’t say how), and stop China vacuuming up American jobs and intellectual property. Republican pollster Frank Luntz has employed his focus groups to examine Mr. Trump’s “gaffes,” such as his promise to temporarily ban Muslim immigration.
But this year the celebrated Gaffe Patrol is shooting only blanks. Policy pronouncements that would destroy other candidates are merely muscle-flexing for the Donald. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Mr. Luntz. “There is no sign of [his supporters] leaving. He has created or found the magic formula.”
It’s the era of “who cares how as long as we win?” Voters know the size of Mr. Trump’s bank account better than they know their own: $10 billion. He understands the job interview. His reality-TV shows, “The Apprentice” and its successor, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” ran for 14 seasons presenting “the ultimate job interview.” Visitors to the nation’s most popular tourist destinations can scarcely get through a day of sightseeing without stumbling across a Trump signature development: office towers in Chicago, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Fla., Honolulu, and on practically every other block in New York City. They dot skylines overseas as well, in Istanbul, Mumbai, Panama, Uruguay and Rio de Janeiro.
For the marathon runners it’s on to Nevada for Tuesday’s Republican caucuses, then to Super Tuesday on March 1. Time grows short to halt his momentum. When he says he’s going to “make America great again,” it’s becoming harder not to believe that he’s at least on the verge of making Donald Trump great, or at least most famous, of all.
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