Not Comics: On Scott Adams As An Election Prognosticator

Zach Weissmueller has an article up that I expected to see before now: how Scott Adams basically called the rise of Donald Trump. I don't think this is as remarkable as Weissmueller given the Adams' theory is that Trump has a severely under-appreciated political skill: insults that suggest unexpressed truths, thus casting Trump as a truth-teller and causing untold damage to his opponents. As perhaps the most successful cartoonist of all time in relation to the degree of artistic skill brought to bear on the strip itself (depending on how you process Thurber), Adams knows his way around hidden, under-appreciated skills.

I think there are about a half-dozen factors of similar levels importance in play with the Trump candidacy, and not just political skill. I've always rejected the idea that if something happened that means it was bound to happen, which seems to be a dominant way of thinking now. A lot of things fell into place here, including the abominable slate of candidates the Republican Party put forward this time and the general clown show that the American citizenry has let its elections become. That said, it's worth noting the prediction that was made as Adams has projected a similar stomping in November, and a Trump presidency. I don't believe it's inevitable, but I do believe it's possible: 1) the candidate will lurch to the middle in front of an electorate that might be convinced the hateful flourishes were smart, funny politics, 2) both Clinton and Sanders seem to be weak candidates ahead of their projected utility as high-office holders when a disciplined, perhaps more broadly appealing one would be preferable, and 3) Trump can be convincing on the general notion that the American economy has escaped overseas.

In other words, I hope Adams is very, very wrong. The fact he could be on the right side of things is scary enough to demand all of our attention in every serious way you can imagine.
 
posted 11:55 pm PST | Permalink
 

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