Donald Trump has this year decided to take it upon himself to do what only a billionare is in a position to do – launch a presidential campiagn with an agenda independent of those who pour so much money into the political process.  On the questions of immigration and trade, the GOP’s donors have ensure that it’s candidates take positions that allow them to take advantage of cheap foreign labor, both in the United States and abroad.  Trump has enough of his own money that he doesn’t need these donors.  Hence, he can play a strategy to play to the GOP base while telling the donors off.  Two presidential candidates since World War II have done this before – George Wallace and Pat Buchanan, and Trump has more resources than either of them ever did.

The ultimate significance of this goes well beyond the campaign itself.  Whether he gets elected is less important than the fact that he is changing the nature of political discourse in this country.  He has proven that you can speak negatively about immigrants and still be a popular canditate.  He has shown that the effective way to deal with the attacks of political correctness is to hit back, not to grovel and beg forgiveness.  As the campaign progresses, there will be further comments on this page.