Patton: Trump Tries To Insult His Way Into The Presidency

Oh, Donald, thank goodness. You're back to your old self.

The one that said Carla Fiorina was so homely "who could vote for that face." The one who claimed Lindsay Graham "in the private sector couldn't get a job." The one who called Rick Perry dumb. "He should be forced to take an IQ test before being allowed to enter the GOP debate." Trump also doubted John McCain's intelligence. "Graduated last in his class at Annapolis - dummy!" Jeb Bush was "low energy." "Little Marco Rubio" sweated too much.

Donald had an ample supply of insults for anyone and everyone who offended him. Not only did Trump hit back at his opponents, he realized that his slurs entertain the public and draw attention to him. "Trump told Philip Rucker and Robert Costa of the Washington Post that the real problem facing the Republican Party is dullness." (Politico, 4/20/2016).

Then, the distressing news hit the front page - Donald Trump was going to be "presidential," restrained, polite, and thoughtful. The public would have to look elsewhere for excitement.

"Mr. Manafort's (Trump's new campaign chief) ambition is to turn this Eliza Doolittle into a candidate more acceptable to decent society, in time for the general election.

"Mr. Manafort rolled out his Pygmalion project with a PowerPoint presentation behind closed doors at the Republican National Committee retreat in Florida last week. 'The part he's been playing is evolving,' Mr. Manafort assured the Republicans. Mr. Trump doesn't really mean it when he says things like he'll deport 11 million immigrants, or block Muslims from entering the country, or kill terrorists' children, or when he maligns women. He's doing all that, Mr. Manafort suggested, to win the primaries; come the general election, Mr. Trump will bloom into his truer (and presumably kinder and gentler) self." (New York Times Editorial Board, 4/26/2016).

God forbid, Donald was being forced to be dull. Fortunately, Trump is a bucking bronco that can't be tamed. When freed from Manafort's tight rein, he broke the traces and took to lambasting his last two GOP rivals for the presidential nomination, Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

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Sanders signature campaign issue is breaking up large Wall Street banks.

"He called Cruz 'Lyin Ted,' saying the Texas senator's campaign was in free fall after his loss to Trump in New York state's primary." (The Morning Call, 4/26/2016).

Trump also reflected vividly upon John Kasich's eating habits, leaving little to the imagination. "This guy takes a pancake and he's shoving it into his mouth. It's disgusting. Do you want that for your president? I don't think so," barked Trump, who starred in a 1995 Pizza Hut commercial that showed him eating a slice of stuffed-crust pepperoni backwards." (Meg Wagner, New York Daily news, 4/26/2016).

Two things are of particular interest concerning Trump's use of ridicule. He is like a schoolyard bully. Politicians who flatter Trump are spared his mocking; only when they criticize him does Trump heap scorn upon them.

Earlier in the presidential campaign, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump were best of buddies. (Cruz buttered up Trump because the Texan believed that he would soon inherit The Donald's support when Trump's campaign inevitably collapsed as a result of his ham-handed gaffes. It didn't happen.)

At the time, Trump said of the man he later came to call "Lyin Ted," "He's been very supportive (and ) we have a lot of the same ideas. Well, he's been very nice and supportive of everything I've said, more than anybody else." (Blue Nation Review, 11/18/2015).

Second, Trump's criticism's are particularly effective because they often involve visual images that are hard to shake. So, voters look twice at Carly Fiorina to see if she is indeed homely. They look carefully to see if Marco Rubio is little and if he's sweating. And they watch John Kasich when he's eating to see if he is shoveling food into his mouth.

Hallelujah, Trump's tongue is now on the loose again. He will continue to entertain us with his insults. Heaven forefend, if we have a president who's merely a leader, experienced, intelligent, and capable. How dull that would be (smile). We want an entertainer like Donald.

Gary Patton is the author of two books, "Selling Mt. Washington," a political satire about New Hampshire politics, and "Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire, " a humorous account of the struggles of newcomers to this state. Both books are now available in Portsmouth at the River Run Bookstore , Discover Portsmouth, and Tugboat Alley. In Exeter, these books can be obtained at The Water Street Bookstore and the Country Store at RiverWoods. In Hampton, look for them at the Galley Hatch gift shop. In North Hampton, both are available at "The Book Outlet." In Concord, these books can be found at Gibson's Bookstore. They are also available on-line at Amazon.com.