A lot of people, including me, thought that the Donald Trump Presidential campaign was a joke.  I really didn’t think he would ever be the front runner.  I am still unconvinced that he can win it all, but he has already done more than anyone predicted.  I suddenly realized this was very similar to when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for Governor of California.  When you think about it, Arnold’s candidacy was a big joke from day one.  He announced his decision on Jay Leno and it looked absurd.  Arnold had zero qualifications for the job, other than the fact that he was a big celebrity.  It turned out that this was more than enough.  Arnold not only won election, he easily won re-election.   He was a superstar and ultimately when a “nobody” runs against a “somebody”, somebody always wins.  I call it the Arnold Syndrome.

We have already seen this on the Democratic side.  Hillary Clinton’s campaign is a total joke, but her celebrity status has sucked all the oxygen out of the room.   Only Hillary can prevent Hillary from getting the nomination.  Fortunately for the country and the world she seems destined to do exactly that.  Watch for Democrats to desperately search for another celebrity to replace Hillary.  If they had such a candidate now, she would already be gone.

If Donald Trump was not a huge celebrity, his campaign would already be over. He has made more serious mistakes than the rest of the candidates combined.  But he is bigger than life and all of the other candidates fade into the background when he is around.  At this point the only person who can defeat Donald Trump is Donald Trump.  He has a lot of baggage, but a lot less baggage than Hillary Clinton.  Arnold Schwarzenegger had a lot of baggage too.  No one noticed.  They were too busy buying “Gubernator” tee shirts.

So, once again, both political parties appear to be ready to choose a President basted on the worst possible criteria: “who is the biggest celebrity.”  The Arnold Syndrome.

TDM