Donald Trump's entire campaign has been a massive publicity stunt that has gotten completely out of hand. Trump's candidacy has never been more serious than Pat Paulsen's, Roseanne Barr or Stephen Colbert (As noted in my previous 'Andrew Dice Clay For Vice-President!'). The Huffington Post had it right in the first place when they initially covered him as 'Entertainment.' In the days before inane reality programming blurred the lines between satire and stupidity, Paulsen's campaign was obviously taken as a political statement about the duplicity of the Nixon administration. Colbert made it clear from the outset that he was only joking. And Roseanne Barr might have been delusional enough to think the public would accept a loud, slovenly housewife as President. But reality star, and seemingly serious businessman Donald Trump, offered a more plausible optic. Then, taking a page from Madonna's past egotistical self-promotion, playing political 'Truth or Dare' for exposure, rating's hungry 'news' outlets played along with the consummate con-man, accidently fooling a large gullible section of the public into thinking he was for real.
Like Madonna's controversial and outlandish statements and behavior kept her in the headlines and sold millions of records, Trump has reveled in the spotlight building his brand. But unlike Madonna, who actually had talent and the ability to back up her braggadocio with performance, Trump suddenly finds himself in the deep end of a public pool, treading water and unable to get out. So what does he do now?
At this point, with the adulation of his pep rallies keeping his ego afloat, he's already gone farther and longer than he probably ever expected. He can't go back, and getting out of the pool would only reveal that the emperor had no clothes in the first place. So he might as well hang in there, tugging on Hillary every so often to keep his head above water. Meanwhile the dumbed-down media continues to cover the campaign like a sporting event, creating and exploiting controversy whenever possible to sell more advertising at the expense of democracy.
In the end, if some terrorist title wave or Russian email submarines Hillary with the aid of contrived attention grabbing headlines, Trump probably figures he can then pull himself out, hide the campaign funds he didn't spend on advertising in the Caimans, declare personal bankruptcy, license his name to the White House, then hire professionals with taxpayer financing to do the job he was never qualified for in the first place.