6 ms·

Trump got several billion dollars in free coverage. No one would care about Trump if he was not Trump.

by mullen 9y ago

thaumaturgy 9y ago
You are correct. He didn't spend a single dollar on television (or radio) advertising (http://fortune.com/2016/08/09/donald-trump-tv-ads-clinton/ http://fortune.com/2016/08/09/donald-trump-tv-ads-clinton/). He relied on tweets, controversial statements, and third parties for all of his advertising. This was mentioned several times by at least NPR near the end of the 2016 campaign cycle, as I recall.
- magicalist 9y ago
  > He didn't spend a single dollar on television (or radio) advertising Before that August. He started spending after that.
Shivetya 9y ago
the vast majority negative. what it really shows that it takes an incredible level of personal wealth and fame to beat the two party system and even then he had to usurp one of parties to do it. I have no problem with his wealth and fame, I have a problem of it being an example of how much it takes to break the stranglehold those two parties have on our system. worse they use people and wealth like his as the means to implement rules to prevent outsiders from rising
- megaman22 9y ago
  They say there's no such thing as bad publicity...
wallace_f 9y ago
Does it even matter, with respect to the problems with our plutocracy? Every election the same plutocrats win no matter what, for example: https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/trump-makes-america-goldmans-again-maga/ https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/trump-makes-america-gold...
- tripplethrendo 9y ago
  Why shouldn't it anger a lot of people? Why can't we preserve America for Americans?
jeffdavis 9y ago
I don't think that's intellectually honest. The last presidential election was a clear counterexample of the "money buys the presidency" narrative. After the fact you can always think of a reason that the counterexample is a special exception, and doesn't really invalidate a claim. Someone who likes Trump could just as easily call his campaign grassroots from an outsider who didn't try to use his vast wealth to buy the presidency, but instead made a strong message for the voters.
- ConceptJunkie 9y ago
  The last election shows, among other things, that the media so grossly overplayed their hand that it backfired on them greatly, and Trump was there to take every advantage that was possible to take. Meanwhile, Clinton literally acted as if the election were merely a formality and coasted (although she spent a huge amount of money). I can say personally that the media's breathless spittle-flecked coverage of Trump did nothing to turn me off to him, and only improved my opinion of him. I did not vote for him in the primary and was angry when he ran, but by the time the general election came along, the idea inflicting schadenfreude on the media and left became incredibly appealing to me, and along with the fact that I would no sooner vote for Clinton than for Chairman Mao, and the fact that I wasn't going to throw away my vote, I pulled the lever for Trump.
  - jeffdavis 9y ago
    What you describe is similar to a heroic moment in a dystopian novel: the elites have already chosen for you, elimated all of your other reasonable options, left you with only one horrible alternative that you'd be a fool to exercise. But you, the protagonist, defy wisdom and reassert your free will by choosing the horrible option. Though your chance at heroism does place you in real risk of becoming a villian, in this case. I hope that doesn't happen.
    - ConceptJunkie 9y ago
      Voting in the general isn't about picking the perfect candidate. It's about picking the best candidate out of a limited selection. It's not even really a political decision but a game theory one. I am willing to vote for someone I don't like because he's infinitely preferable (or even somewhat preferable) to the alternative. That doesn't mean I own every bad thing Trump does. Like you said, I asserted my will and made a decision. I also know that I would face a lot of criticism, ridicule, and yes, hatred for expressing that truth (and I can already hear the chorus of, "But you deserve it!"... I'm not impressed ). Well, here it is. I voted for Trump and I'm glad I did.

Trump got several billion dollars in free coverage. No one would care about Trump if he was not Trump.

by mullen 9y ago

Trump got several billion dollars in free coverage. No one would care about Trump if he was not Trump.

You are correct. He didn't spend a single dollar on television (or radio) advertising (http://fortune.com/2016/08/09/donald-trump-tv-ads-clinton/ http://fortune.com/2016/08/09/donald-trump-tv-ads-clinton/). He relied on tweets, controversial statements, and third parties for all of his advertising. This was mentioned several times by at least NPR near the end of the 2016 campaign cycle, as I recall.

magicalist 9y ago
> He didn't spend a single dollar on television (or radio) advertising Before that August. He started spending after that.

Shivetya 9y ago

the vast majority negative. what it really shows that it takes an incredible level of personal wealth and fame to beat the two party system and even then he had to usurp one of parties to do it. I have no problem with his wealth and fame, I have a problem of it being an example of how much it takes to break the stranglehold those two parties have on our system. worse they use people and wealth like his as the means to implement rules to prevent outsiders from rising

megaman22 9y ago
They say there's no such thing as bad publicity...

wallace_f 9y ago

Does it even matter, with respect to the problems with our plutocracy? Every election the same plutocrats win no matter what, for example: https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/trump-makes-america-goldmans-again-maga/ https://theintercept.com/2016/12/09/trump-makes-america-gold...

tripplethrendo 9y ago
Why shouldn't it anger a lot of people? Why can't we preserve America for Americans?

jeffdavis 9y ago

I don't think that's intellectually honest. The last presidential election was a clear counterexample of the "money buys the presidency" narrative. After the fact you can always think of a reason that the counterexample is a special exception, and doesn't really invalidate a claim. Someone who likes Trump could just as easily call his campaign grassroots from an outsider who didn't try to use his vast wealth to buy the presidency, but instead made a strong message for the voters.

ConceptJunkie 9y ago
The last election shows, among other things, that the media so grossly overplayed their hand that it backfired on them greatly, and Trump was there to take every advantage that was possible to take. Meanwhile, Clinton literally acted as if the election were merely a formality and coasted (although she spent a huge amount of money). I can say personally that the media's breathless spittle-flecked coverage of Trump did nothing to turn me off to him, and only improved my opinion of him. I did not vote for him in the primary and was angry when he ran, but by the time the general election came along, the idea inflicting schadenfreude on the media and left became incredibly appealing to me, and along with the fact that I would no sooner vote for Clinton than for Chairman Mao, and the fact that I wasn't going to throw away my vote, I pulled the lever for Trump.
- jeffdavis 9y ago
  What you describe is similar to a heroic moment in a dystopian novel: the elites have already chosen for you, elimated all of your other reasonable options, left you with only one horrible alternative that you'd be a fool to exercise. But you, the protagonist, defy wisdom and reassert your free will by choosing the horrible option. Though your chance at heroism does place you in real risk of becoming a villian, in this case. I hope that doesn't happen.
  - ConceptJunkie 9y ago
    Voting in the general isn't about picking the perfect candidate. It's about picking the best candidate out of a limited selection. It's not even really a political decision but a game theory one. I am willing to vote for someone I don't like because he's infinitely preferable (or even somewhat preferable) to the alternative. That doesn't mean I own every bad thing Trump does. Like you said, I asserted my will and made a decision. I also know that I would face a lot of criticism, ridicule, and yes, hatred for expressing that truth (and I can already hear the chorus of, "But you deserve it!"... I'm not impressed ). Well, here it is. I voted for Trump and I'm glad I did.