Some commentators used to call it President Donald Trump’s “superpower.” For whatever reason, no matter the quality of the opposition research hurled into the public eye about then-candidate Trump or President Trump, it would just not seem to stick. “Teflon Don,” they have called him. For a day, maybe even a week, his poll numbers would drop — but for nearly an entire term, he has nonetheless hovered at around 45% favorability. Ultimately, he has seemed “immune to the sort of gaffes that typically wound other politicians.”
But as the Democratic Party presidential primary rages on, it has become clear that President Trump doesn’t have a superpower at all. The game of politics has simply changed from that which we were accustomed. In the previous era, where politicians were polished and consumers of political debate were competent, politics amounted to a game of gaffe avoidance. The first one to give up the act was clearly the less competent contender, so we voted for the other guy.
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