Trump's outrage familiar

Twenty-eight years ago, this writer followed a loudmouth, profane, self-assured, flamboyant candidate for president to New Hampshire to hear him rail against illegal immigrants, China’s unfair trade practices, this nation’s ridiculous tax code and Congress being up for sale to the highest bidder.

The candidate sported such a bad hairdo that he turned the look into a self-deprecating opening line for his stump speech: “I cut my hair with a weed whacker.”

His populist message struck a chord with some voters in the state that has the first-in-the-nation presidential primary election.

“He’s got a message to convey,” said George Bruno, a political party insider. Bruno added that he was “impressed” with the candidate and wanted him to continue speaking on the issues.

“I think the people of New Hampshire will listen,” Bruno said. “He certainly would liven the campaign.”

“Refreshingly different,” was how another observer described the candidate, adding that he was talking about “genuine issues.”

But having the right message means little when you don’t have the money to deliver it far and wide.

And so, James A. Traficant Jr.’s bid for the Democratic nomination for president was doomed from the outset. Money in politics has, unfortunately, become the standard by which a candidate’s seriousness is measured.

Traficant, the Mahoning Valley’s favorite son who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 17 years, was expelled in July 2002 after he was convicted on federal criminal charges, including bribery, tax evasion and racketeering. The former sheriff of Mahoning County spent more than seven years in federal prison, and upon release became a political caricature of his once politically dominant self.

He died last year.

POLITICAL SPIRIT LIVES

But in recent weeks, Traficant’s political spirit has come alive through the candidacy of another loudmouth, profane, self- assured, flamboyant know-it-all named Donald Trump.

Trump, whose hairdo has also become the source of comedic commentary on the late-night talk shows, seems to be channeling Traficant as he takes the race for the Republican nomination for president by storm.

The real estate tycoon and reality TV host who says he’s worth $10 billion is connecting with people in the same way Traficant did – by railing against illegal immigrants, China’s unfair trade practices, an out-of-control Congress and government policies that are undermining business growth and development.

And, like Traficant, Trump has no qualms about taking on the elders of his party and going after the sacred cows of politics.

But unlike the late congressman, the billionaire New Yorker is sending shock waves through the Republican Party establishment by his standing in the polls. He has been in the first or second spot for weeks, and while his recent unjustified, scathing attack on U.S. Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five years and was tortured endlessly, has diminished his support somewhat, there is no doubt that many Republicans are willing to forgive his foot-in-mouth afflictions. That’s because they see him as the champion of the common man and the epitome of the American patriot.

Indeed, it isn’t only the Republican hierarchy that fears The Donald.

Listen to what Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras, who has been on the front lines of his party’s implosion in statewide elections, had to say:

“I hope Donald Trump isn’t around when Ohio’s primary election is held because we’ll have a number of Democrats pulling the Republican ballot to vote for him. His anti-free trade position will sell huge here, as will his populist message, a la Traficant.”

It may well be that the billionaire, who has curried favor with the voters by self-financing his campaign, has correctly judged the mood of the American people and is feeding their discontent.

That’s what Traficant did so effectively. He had the uncanny ability to sense the direction the voters were moving in and rush to the front of the pack to lead them.

Trump possesses the same instincts when it comes to the American people. He knows that the national economic recession of 2008 has disrupted lives of many, and that the failure of President Barack Obama and the Republican- controlled Congress to address the major problems confronting the nation has given rise to a distrust of politicians and healthy doses of cynicism about government.

So, if Trump is channeling Traficant, it’s possible we’ll hear The Donald exclaim, “Beam me up …” That will be worth another several weeks of headlines.

Democratic Party Chairman Betras and the other party leaders in Ohio should expect the worst: Trump blazing a trail in the all- important swing state in the 2016 presidential election.