Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The King of Trump
Recently, an MSNBC interview with Donald Trump discussed him running for president in 2012. MSNBC even framed the discussion by mentioning that similar talk of Trump for President occurred in 1999, when he considered running for the Reform Party in 2000. While Donald Trump is not primarily associated with politics, being a celebrity and having a lot of capital place him in a role of prominence that few others occupy. So, when Trump discusses the possibility of running for president, news sources latch onto this as news. This illustrates kingmaking, which, according to our textbook, is the process of "identifying the serious contenders in an election" in which the mass media take on "the historical role of winnowing the field of candidates to the 'serious contenders'" (60). As, two years before the election, the mass media discuss Trump running as a third-party candidate in 2012, they help position Trump as a serious contender should he decide to run. Meanwhile, other potential third-party candidates who are not prominently known do not receive this attention because they are not seen as having the resources to be "serious contenders." In the process, those already with many resources gain more resources, while those with few resources continue to struggle to increase their resources. The press, thus, do a large part of the job of determining who will stand a chance of winning the 2012 presidential election.
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I think that "Kingmaking" is a very essential and good way for a celebrity like Donald Trump to have a chance in the race. I think that because he is famous and ofcourse wealthy he could maybe have a chance in winning if he gets the right people on hus side. All he needs to do is educate himself in politics and issues that concern the American people. He already has experience with being in the spotlight so you never know.
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