Master showman Trump had a great weekend
Moving the interview process for senior appointees out to the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster was a smart move in terms of the images the public saw over the weekend. As the wise Andrew Malcolm notes this morning in his column for McClatchy:
With media hanging on every rumor, the appointment process can also be useful theater for politicians, showing a thoughtfulness and breadth of considerations though most are mere courtesy. News consumers, however, would be well-served to avoid placing much stock in the flurry of names batted about like beach balls at a rock concert.
Of course, no one can move into the Oval Office without meeting with Henry Kissinger. But it’s a useful symbol of class and outreach for a vengeful real estate magnate, now president-elect, to invite in Mitt Romney, his harshest GOP campaign critic, for an amiable get-together.
If the meeting had taken place at the Trump Tower, there would have been no possibility for the impressive body language Bedminster enabled:
This theatre demonstrating Trump’s openness, generosity, and power is playing concurrently with the hysterical derangement of Trump’s critics. He knows how to use images. It is only a matter of time for a lot of reassessment of the man. Thanksgiving approaches, and for better or worse, politics may be discussed over turkey.