The 2012 Presidential race may turn out to be the most interesting episode of The Apprentice ever.
Donald Trump has created a media firestorm in recent weeks by going on nearly every major network and talking about what he would do as president. While he's making an obnoxious roar, his ideas for changing America range from the silly to the downright absurd, like taking Iraq's oil supply as reparations for the Iraq War.
Candidates from the business world are not uncommon. Ross Perot, likely the most effective independent ever, was a successful businessman before his campaign, as is current GOP hopeful Mitt Romney. Much of Trump's platform rests on his skill as a businessman, but building a hotel in China doesn't necessarily translate into effective foreign policy experience.
Trump seems to be operating on two principles. One aspect is to disagree with President Obama on every possible point or issue, even going so far as to rekindle the debate on Obama's citizenship. This is right in line with Tea Party ideologies, and may be a big source of his early polling success.
Being the loudest, bawdiest, and most public voice in the race has also proved to be a key to his early strategy. His inability to control his words in any way has him attacking other Republican front-runners, like Romney.
The best way to combat Trump would normally be to simply ignore him and let him speak to the wind, but his constant media coverage makes him virtually impossible to ignore. Almost all of his ideas are completely crazy, but his huge pool of resources and his big name are tools that most candidates don't have.
Many pundits and columnists view his candidacy as a joke or a publicity stunt, but the implications of his run for the White House are scary. Trump has stated that President Obama should be scared of him running, but the people who should be most scared are the Republican candidates.
What's most unnerving is the infiltration of pop culture into politics. Ronald Regan may have been an actor before running for president, but he took the position seriously. Trump seems to think that the way to get elected is to act like a character from his reality show. Maybe he's even thinking of making a new show out of it called The President. His new line could be "You're Vetoed."
It looks more and more inevitable that a Trump candidacy is terrifyingly possible. Trump has stated that if he doesn't get the Republican nomination that he would run as an independent, and his Tea Party inspired platform would divide the Republican vote.
Trump's candidacy may be a total media circus, but he might be able to shake up the same-old campaign trail. His obnoxious and boisterous attitude could allow him to call out candidates on subjects that would be political suicide for mainstream candidates.
Maybe these subjects won't be important dialogues, but they will expose how each candidate deals with pressure from someone with nothing to lose. What we are most likely watching, however, is how much an egotistical maniac can love himself.
