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| Oliver Burkeman's election diary: Trump primes media for a bombshell | Oliver Burkeman's election diary: Trump primes media for a bombshell |
| (30 days later) | |
| • As the election campaign grinds towards an excruciatingly close result, one person not biting his nails is Donald Trump – because, he explains, he's in possession of a "bombshell" secret that could swing the race. On Fox News's morning chat show, the golf-course-imposing conspiracy theorist promised to reveal "something very, very big concerning the president of the United States", though not until Wednesday, presumably because his team of fact-checking unicorns are still busy verifying it. Aficionados of Trump surprises (not to be confused with surprise trumps, though it's an easy mistake to make) may recall his promise of a similar "big surprise" for the Republican National Convention in August. Speculation ran rampant: would it be a) a tedious video in which the Apprentice host pretended to fire Barack Obama? Or b) actually there was no option b), because it was so obviously going to be a tedious video in which Trump pretended to fire Barack Obama. In the event, Hurricane Isaac prompted the cancellation of that day's convention events – though, yes, a tedious Apprentice-style video was exactly what he'd intended. "I know one thing," Trump told his Fox questioners about Wednesday's incendiary revelation. "You will cover it in a very big fashion." Which, in his defence, they probably will. This diary, on the other hand, will not belittle itself by indulging his blatantly attention-seeking … oh, damn it. | • As the election campaign grinds towards an excruciatingly close result, one person not biting his nails is Donald Trump – because, he explains, he's in possession of a "bombshell" secret that could swing the race. On Fox News's morning chat show, the golf-course-imposing conspiracy theorist promised to reveal "something very, very big concerning the president of the United States", though not until Wednesday, presumably because his team of fact-checking unicorns are still busy verifying it. Aficionados of Trump surprises (not to be confused with surprise trumps, though it's an easy mistake to make) may recall his promise of a similar "big surprise" for the Republican National Convention in August. Speculation ran rampant: would it be a) a tedious video in which the Apprentice host pretended to fire Barack Obama? Or b) actually there was no option b), because it was so obviously going to be a tedious video in which Trump pretended to fire Barack Obama. In the event, Hurricane Isaac prompted the cancellation of that day's convention events – though, yes, a tedious Apprentice-style video was exactly what he'd intended. "I know one thing," Trump told his Fox questioners about Wednesday's incendiary revelation. "You will cover it in a very big fashion." Which, in his defence, they probably will. This diary, on the other hand, will not belittle itself by indulging his blatantly attention-seeking … oh, damn it. |
| • Speaking of conspiracy theorists: we'll be hearing from them in the coming days, almost certainly, after a CBS station in Arizona accidentally called the election for Obama. For 17 seconds, the conservative Daily Caller website reports, the people of Phoenix were treated to a graphic showing that the president had triumphed over Mitt Romney, 43% to 40%, with 99% of precincts reporting. (No explanation was given for who received the remaining 17%.) An unfortunate error during rehearsals for election night? Or, as some Daily Caller commenters seem to think, evidence of an elaborately pre-arranged Democratic victory, much like the moon landings were secretly filmed in the desert, with Neil Armstrong wearing special bouncy shoes? Tellingly, as of Sunday, the station's manager wasn't returning requests for comment. Why the tight-lipped silence? | • Speaking of conspiracy theorists: we'll be hearing from them in the coming days, almost certainly, after a CBS station in Arizona accidentally called the election for Obama. For 17 seconds, the conservative Daily Caller website reports, the people of Phoenix were treated to a graphic showing that the president had triumphed over Mitt Romney, 43% to 40%, with 99% of precincts reporting. (No explanation was given for who received the remaining 17%.) An unfortunate error during rehearsals for election night? Or, as some Daily Caller commenters seem to think, evidence of an elaborately pre-arranged Democratic victory, much like the moon landings were secretly filmed in the desert, with Neil Armstrong wearing special bouncy shoes? Tellingly, as of Sunday, the station's manager wasn't returning requests for comment. Why the tight-lipped silence? |
| • With election day looming, endorsements are tumbling in. The Salt Lake Tribune has endorsed Obama, despite the fact that it serves the city where Romney rescued the Winter Olympics, a feat that many theologians agree was literally a miracle. Less surprisingly, the New Yorker has also called for the president's re-election – or what the magazine actually describes, following its idiosyncratic house style, as his "reëlection". The big question now is whether he can reënergise his base. And, additionally – because Democratic candidates suffer when it rains on voting day – whether the weather will coöperate. | • With election day looming, endorsements are tumbling in. The Salt Lake Tribune has endorsed Obama, despite the fact that it serves the city where Romney rescued the Winter Olympics, a feat that many theologians agree was literally a miracle. Less surprisingly, the New Yorker has also called for the president's re-election – or what the magazine actually describes, following its idiosyncratic house style, as his "reëlection". The big question now is whether he can reënergise his base. And, additionally – because Democratic candidates suffer when it rains on voting day – whether the weather will coöperate. |
| • Department of Unfortunate Symbolism: An airship featuring the slogan "America Needs Romney", along with a huge photograph of the candidate, sailed across Florida's Broward County on Sunday. But it diverged from its original course, blown around by changing winds, then fell abruptly to earth, making an emergency landing. "Hours later, the 160-foot airship was deflated, flat and sprawled along the grass," the Miami Herald reports. Note to Florida's political cartoonists: polls have Romney leading in Florida, so, no, you'll have to think of a different idea, I'm afraid. | • Department of Unfortunate Symbolism: An airship featuring the slogan "America Needs Romney", along with a huge photograph of the candidate, sailed across Florida's Broward County on Sunday. But it diverged from its original course, blown around by changing winds, then fell abruptly to earth, making an emergency landing. "Hours later, the 160-foot airship was deflated, flat and sprawled along the grass," the Miami Herald reports. Note to Florida's political cartoonists: polls have Romney leading in Florida, so, no, you'll have to think of a different idea, I'm afraid. |
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