Clive Crook, Columnist

Trump's Opponents Are Helping Him Win

Neither liberals nor conservatives have come up with a coherent rebuttal.

July 22, 2016 at 6:05 PM UTC

Clive Crook is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and member of the editorial board covering economics. Previously, he was deputy editor of the Economist and chief Washington commentator for the Financial Times.

On message.
Photographer: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

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Listening to Donald Trump's speech at the Republican convention, and scanning the reaction to it, I have the sinking feeling that he might win in November. He's extremely effective at what he does. His critics, on the other hand, are not.

The speech was purest populism: nine-tenths grievances and empty promises, one-tenth stupid policy ideas. Yet the formula is working -- partly because the grievances are skillfully marshalled, and partly because his opponents in politics and the media (meaning almost everybody in those incestuously connected industries) are deeply confused in their response.