An Ohio Reader Suggests That Patriots Be Wary Of "Master Persuader" Trump; Peter Brimelow Replies
11/03/2015
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A Reader in Ohio [Email him]

I would like to see other immigration patriots—especially John Derbyshire—consider "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams's "Master Persuader Hypothesis" (he's been writing about it on his blog for the past few months) and reassess Trump through that prism, if they have not already.

artofthedealIn the "Master Persuader Hypothesis" Adams argues that Trump is using expert-level rhetorical and negotiating skills to persuade his way to the White House, exercising a high degree of control over how he and his words will be received by various audiences. Even when Trump has elicited negative responses, Adams claims, these have been engineered for a specific effect.

(Adams maintains that he is not rooting for Trump, only commenting on his campaign, though Adams does occasionally say supportive things about him.)

A lot of Adams's beliefs about life and humanity are disagreeable to me, even revolting, and I suspect many other VDARE.com readers would feel the same way. But seeing Trump's campaign described via the Master Persuader Hypothesis has been eye-opening.

If Scott Adams's Master Persuader Hypothesis has any credibility—and I think it has—Trump's backpedaling is exactly according to plan. What that plan is, only Trump and his closest associates know, but it is certainly possible that while Trump understands how to rally the GOP's base to get to the White House (saying the right things on the National Question is indeed a $100 bill lying on the ground, as Dave Brat found out in his congressional race against Eric Cantor) Trump doesn't actually care much about the National Question himself.

The idea that Trump doesn't really plan to stand by the things he's said about immigration so far would be a hard pill to swallow since no other serious GOP contenders have said anything nearly as refreshing, but it's better to see the edge of the cliff coming. As the Derb reminded us in his recent podcast, "knowledge is good."

VDARE.com Editor Peter Brimelow comments: As I argued recently, I think many Trump supporters simply don't care what he actually believes or might do—they just see him as a "wrecking ball" that will smash the GOP Establishment. The worm has turned.

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