August 31, 2015

"Donald Trump is emasculating Jeb Bush."

An interesting thesis by GOP strategist Steve Schmidt.

And a convenient place for me to drop an observation of mine. Trump seems hyper-masculine in some ways, but quite feminine in others. For one thing, those hand gestures — fingers up, palms out, wave-y wave-y. The accompanying effusive speech — "a big, beautiful, powerful wall," etc. etc. etc.

ADDED: Go ahead. Try to imitate Trump. What do you find yourself doing? Not just the "jazz hands," but don't you push out your chest and jiggle along with your over emphatic words? Mixed in, there's the super-macho scowling, pushed out lower lip, and gruff voice — screaming overcompensation.

37 comments:

Johanna Lapp said...

Trump needs to drop "fabulous" from his list of six available adjectives.
Perhaps Lindsey Graham can suggest something a little more manly.

Hagar said...

Jeb! is doing it to himself.

Is this the Steve Schmidt of McCain campaign fame?

damikesc said...

Jeb being more comfortable talking to Univision than his base is his problem.

Michael K said...

Schmidt may be a "strategist" but he is no more a Republican than Nicole Wallace who torpedoed Sarah Palin in 2008. They were the heart of the McCain campaign and helped give us Emperor Obama.

damikesc said...

Anybody who employs Schmidt is already forfeiting my vote.

amielalune said...

I don't think Jeb needs any help in the "emasculated" department. He comes across as a wimp, always has. His namby-pamby, afraid-to-"offend" positions don't help him at all.

damikesc said...

You can turn the "afraid to offend" comment and use it on all Republicans.

Except Trump. He doesn't care.

He's also doing better than all of the others.

Why not plan on a single, glorious term in office when you simply, on day one, undo all regulations passed by agencies and make Congress re-write them with zero wiggle room for bureaucrats to mess with them.

Then make the bureaucrats so miserable they quit. Lots and lots of them. Then don't re-hire any of them.

madAsHell said...

Here's Trump going off on a CNN reporter.

Meade said...

It's as if Jeb is a little baby and Trump is giving him the finger.

rhhardin said...

If only Trump didn't wear shorts.

Laslo Spatula said...

But can Trump emasculate Hillary?

I am Laslo.

rhhardin said...

Trump isn't offending anybody. The offense is a fainting-couch act.

chuck said...

I mostly remember Steve Schmidt for the McCain campaign and how he screwed over Palin. AFAICT, he sucks at his job. The fact that he makes a living at it tells you all you need to know about the GOP establishment.

rhhardin said...

Nietzsche said that feminism doesn't want a castrated man. It wants a castrated woman.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I don't produce nearly as much semen as I used to but I deadlift way more so make of that what you will.

William said...

Whatever Trump's virtues and vices, they are comprehensible. I don't understand the dynamics and glue of the Clinton marriage, but you can figure out what's going on in Trump's marriages. I think Obama and the Clintons probably have more and deeper insecurities than Trump, but they are somewhat craftier at hiding them. It takes a certain amount of self confidence to expose as many insecurities as Trump does.

Bob Boyd said...

"Go ahead. Try to imitate Trump. What do you find yourself doing?...."

You must have been trying this at home. I want video.

Phil 314 said...

¿Quien es mas macho?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Althouse is hammering away at Trump because Walker is the biggest loser since Trump's rise. Bush may ultimately benefit, as the one person that the establishment feels forced to gather around in order to defeat Trump, although Kasich is my current bet to win that particular contest.

narciso said...

Dr. Evil, has been a lying jackalope since he threw the 2008 election, per the Jones Memo and blamed Palin for it, but he has a kernel of truth in his statement, I guess he's going for 'microaggression' here,

sunsong said...

It's popcorn time watching the GOP :-) I love it. Trump is the perfect symbol of republicans: a bully, a chauvinist, a racist, a narcissist, a blow-hard, a know-it-all, etc He's going to be great. That's all he has to say - lol

holdfast said...

I don't know why we have to go down the "emasculation" rabbit hole. The fact is that Trump is simply running political and rhetorical rings around the other candidates. I really don't want a President Trump (though that's better than President Clinton, Kerry, Sanders or Biden), but I am loving the show. It's more than a year to the elections, so let's just enjoy the show.

Big Mike said...

Jeb emasculated himself.

Sebastian said...

"You can turn the "afraid to offend" comment and use it on all Republicans."

Yes. But while I like offending the right people as much as anyone, real-world GOP politicians have to think about getting a majority of voters to support them. In many states, with MSM actively campaigning for the opposition, that means not pissing off voting blocs you may need.

Paul said...

Trump is the alpha stud women like Althouse crave but never can get, settling for scurrying little betas like Meade. Thus the need for him to be "overcompensating" and "insecure". His native confidence and charisma only became enhanced with each new hot woman he slept with thus ensuring a never ending stream of them. Those who think a woman would only sleep with him for the promise of money simply don't understand what turns women on. It's charm, confidence, charisma, and most of all abundance of women who want this man!

Here's a Penthouse Pet gushing about DTs sexual prowess. Of course the lonely hearts will all scream she was paid to say this. lol

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3202153/Donald-Trump-AMAZING-bed-claims-former-Penthouse-Pet-presidential-hopeful-secretary-track-spotting-sexy-magazine-spread.html

Bobber Fleck said...

The conservative base has clearly decided there are candidates they don't want. In particular, they don't want a candidate pushed by the GOP elites.

It appears that in 2015 the conservative alternative media has become strong enough to do battle with the GOP political machine. When you combine the alternative media with Donald Trump you create a force strong enough to end the Bush dynasty.

America is hungry for a brash, straight spoken, decisive and fearless President. Trump and Cruz best fit that description.

The Democrats are owned by the liberal mainstream media and the liberal alternative media just reprints the DNC talking points. All Hillary had to do was stay above the fray, but she failed to see the consequences of her actions regarding her e-mails and national security. Her sense was that she was both inevitable and invulnerable. She was wrong about her invulnerability.

That said, it appears Obama will allow the FBI hounds to hunt on the e-mail system. Hillary will resist until it becomes a farce.

Joe Biden will be trotted out as the DNC choice. It will take a couple of months for people to remember why Joe's past runs at the Presidency failed.

MadisonMan said...

That clip of Trump and the CNN questioner is great.

Michael K said...

ARM is favoring us with his wisdom about the GOP. Trump is a genuine phenomenon and has surprised me by improving his speeches and might stick around a while longer, I don't know if he has what it will take to be the nominee. I kind of doubt it. It does seem that the base of the GOP and the Dems are not interested in the usual suspects.

Bernie Sanders is at least as odd a candidate as Trump.

g2loq said...

You are trying too hard Althouse. Chick talk.

Anonymous said...

The best Trump imitation I've ever seen was done by Rosie O'Donnell; it's the real reason he slags her off so much. She had the delivery, the hair and the fish lips down.

Anonymous said...

Re: hand gestures Yeah, I found my way to a weird corner of youtube again, and was watching "Irish people's reactions to Donald Trump."

He definitely has the campy hand gestures going when he was announcing how rich he was; they took the edge off in a way. This might be why women (who are not myself) can relate to him more than I would think at first glance.

Anonymous said...

Blogger sunsong said...
It's popcorn time watching the GOP :-) I love it. Trump is the perfect symbol of republicans: a bully, a chauvinist, a racist, a narcissist, a blow-hard, a know-it-all, etc He's going to be great. That's all he has to say - lol


Why are you describing Obama in a thread about Carson and Trump?

traditionalguy said...

Trump is 100 %"peacock male authority on the surface. He needs a common man persona. But underneath he is a triple male warrior going for the jugular of several, opponents at once. There is blood on the tracks.

So yes, he is a phony. But don't rest easy. He has already sized you up for doing the job he wants done or for disabling you.

How does it feel. To be a Scott Walket with no way home. Like a rolling stone with no way home. Your home has been occupied by a energetic common man with three times your Station Hypo resources and respect that only the strong male gets in this world.

JD said...

Who woulda thunk it, the secret weapon against Walker is Trump. Really, no one could've predicted it.

chickelit said...

Even if you factor out Trump, ¡Jeb! never really appealed to many people outside of the monied elite and the beltway insiders yearning for another Bush administration. He was one of the worst anti-Palin republicans for example. I know that's a plus for many, but unless he really excels in the next debate, I can't see him holding on much longer.

Achilles said...

Even the establishment has realized that they would have to destroy the party to get Jeb the nomination. If Jeb is the nominee I guarantee a third party.

Rusty said...

To be honest there wasn't much to emasculate. J. Bush is kinda democrat lite anyway.