TRUMP: HOW HE CAPTURED THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE by Mitch Wolfe (Marnie Kay), 382 pages. $20.50 paper. Rating: NNN
Since Donald Trump’s spectacular triumph, a chorus of pundits and political junkies have admitted they didn’t see it coming.
But I know somebody who did. Mitch Wolfe posted a blog in on Rebel last February predicting that Trump would win the election, and then he collected his posts four months ago and published them in Trump: How He Captured The Trump White House.
He called just after publication to tell me about his book, and I just laughed at him. Wolfe and I were members of the same student government in college, and I remembered him as a crabby guy pissed off at the influence of the student left. He wasn’t too impressed with feminists either.
But this month I learned as we all did a lesson. Do not just listen to your personal political echo chamber. This old (friendly) right-wing nemesis of mine, thanks to some basic journalistic instincts, predicted the election outcome and his book offers a play-by-play on how he did it.
Wolfe learned from our experience with Mayor Rob Ford. While a large chunk of Toronto dismissed the Etobicoke councillor as a racist, sexist buffoon, Wolfe, as he chronicles in his book, sensed Ford’s campaigning chops and the resilience of his surprisingly diverse base. Then Wolfe made the connection between Ford’s success and Trump’s political potential.
When Trump won the New Hampshire primary, while the old-school socialist Bernie Sanders soundly defeated Hillary Clinton, Wolfe realized that Clinton was vulnerable and Trump could move the electorate.
Too bad Wolfe’s tone is so totally toxic. Like his idol, Trump, he has his own flair for exaggeration and contempt-laden put-down, which may be why Huffpo ceased posting his blogs (although the news site did can other alt-right commentators, too).
But because his eyes were open to the candidate we all despised, he knew Trump was a winner (an extra N for that).
Which is more than most of us can say.
books@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
