In media studies there's a phenomenon known as selective perception, and it is playing a demonstrative role during this election cycle. Selective perception describes how people act when unwillingly exposed to material that goes against their interests and beliefs. Some opt to ignore it while others will reframe the content to support their way of thinking.
Last December, Republican pollster Frank Luntz held a 3-hour focus group in Virginia. All 29 members had cast votes for Romney in 2012, and all were either Trump supporters or had supported him earlier in the year. It is no secret that a Trump candidacy would be a GOP nightmare, so Luntz's job was to find the Achilles' heel on a Trump fan. What would open his or her eyes to Trump's considerable peccadilloes and character flaws? The answer was, "Not much."
Luntz had the group screen then-current TV attack ads against Trump. One ad reminded them that he wanted to round up all illegal Hispanic immigrants, and has suppressed journalists at his rallies. It ended with the presenter, a retired Air Force colonel, warning, "If he keeps going, and he actually becomes president, he might just get around to you." The focus group thought this "too far over the top."
Another ad showed Trump nastily saying Marco Rubio "sweats more than any young person I've ever seen," and that Carly Fiorina talked like a "robot." He was also shown claiming Ben Carson was "pathological," and that Jeb Bush was "meeting with Mommy and Daddy" for support. The result? The focus group had a good laugh.
As the night wore on, nothing could get the group to budge from their support of Trump — not his unproven claim that American Muslims held tailgate parties as they watched the twin towers fall, and not his physical contortions as he made fun of a New York Times reporter with a disability. If anything, the discussion strengthened their endorsement.
Luntz thought this outcome "absolutely remarkable," and offered, "Normally, if I did this for a campaign, I'd have destroyed the candidate by this point," he said.
It turned out that the only thing that would encourage these supporters to change allegiance from Trump was if he didn't get the GOP nomination and started a third party. They knew that splitting the Republican vote would open the door to victory for the Democratic candidate, and they could not countenance that outcome.
Since the beginning of the Trump candidacy, pundits have believed that he would self-destruct because of his undisciplined approach to speaking, his apparent disinterest in doing the required homework on public policy and foreign affairs, and his personal bio that includes many sexist comments, three marriages and multiple affairs. Because he's bragged about his Casanova lifestyle in his books and interviews, there's quite a media trail. Regardless, his primary victories and delegate count continue to pile up.
Trump glories in thinking himself a natural born winner, and doesn't hesitate to apply the "loser" label to anyone who criticizes him. John Sununu, former Republican governor of New Hampshire, thinks more should be made of Trump's many failures, and Marco Rubio did just that at the last debate. Aside from Trump's four bankruptcies involving casinos and resorts that lost boatloads of other people's money, he has flopped at other business endeavors. There was Trump Airlines; Trump Mortgage; Milton Bradley's "Trump: The Game"; Trump Vodka; Donald Trump: The Fragrance; "Trump Magazine;" Trump University; and Trump Steaks. There's also the Trump Clothing Line which, by the way, is "Making America Great Again" by being made in China, Bangladesh and Mexico. Interestingly, Trump told Fox News in 2010, "The stuff that's been sent over from China falls apart after a year and a half. It's crap." We should thank him for the warning.
To be fair, Trump is a real entrepreneur, and for men of his breed not every venture succeeds. Regardless, he fancies himself the alpha success story, while conveniently dodging the "failure" signs unceremoniously hung on his numerous enterprises by consumers and the business world. Does the country really need a president who rolls the dice so poorly? And as he smirks and puts down his debate opponents, they should remind him that he's earned the infamous "loser" label himself many times in the past. There's simply too much at risk to have the country play "Trump: The Game."
Frank Batavick writes from Westminster. His column appears Fridays. Email him at fjbatavick@gmail.com.
