My sweetie just sent me a Washington Post article that discloses that Bill Clinton talked with Donald Trump about running on the GOP ticket. I haven't seen it diaried here, so I thought I'd send this little bit of news out into the void. I honestly don't quite know what to think.
Former president Bill Clinton had a private telephone conversation in late spring with Donald Trump at the same time that the billionaire investor and reality-television star was nearing a decision to run for the White House, according to associates of both men.
Why, oh why do the Clintons do this to me? I'm simultaneously repelled and amused by them. Repelled by the fact that the Clintons went to Donald Trump's wedding, schmoozed him, and took lots of money from him for their foundation, and appear to have cultivated a friendship with a narcissistic bully. I'm simultaneously in awe of Bill Clinton's political instincts and ability to screw the GOP every which way but Sunday when he sees the chance. I remember his epic take down at the Democratic convention when Obama was nominated. How can you not love the man for that? And if he actually helped get T Rump into the race? This is Olympic gold-medal trolling at its finest. If true - and that's a big if - it's a thing of beauty.
So what happened? A couple weeks before T Rump jumped in, Bill Clinton called him and encouraged his "efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party". Just a friendly call to discuss the political landscape.
The call came as Trump was making a final decision about whether to run...The 42nd president listened intently and then analyzed Trump’s prospects and his desire to rouse the GOP base, the Trump allies said...
Bill Clinton has some of the charming narcissism that all successful politicians need, but he also has a little empathy to go along with it. T Rump is all narcissism. I can imagine Bill Clinton playing to his vanity.
One person with knowledge of Clinton’s end of the call said the former president was upbeat and encouraging during the conversation, which occurred as Trump was speaking out about GOP politics and his prescriptions for the nation.
I'll bet. Trump was talking about his vision for the country, and I can almost hear Bill Clinton saying "You got a point there. Maybe they do need you."
The only downside to this epic trolling is that it will probably increase the cynicism of just about everyone involved in the race. But for now, on balance, I find this hilarious. There's a Spanish saying "Si no puedes correr con los perros grandes, quedate en el porche" - "if you can't run with the big dogs, you best stay on the porch." We'll have to see where this goes, but it might be that the Big Dawg himself is loose, and the GOP had better get back on the porch.