Trump’s secret weapon may tip the election

Of late, many people — especially politicians, pundits and celebrities on the left — have been engaged in agonizing introspection, trying to ascertain why the election has seemed to tip towards former President Donald Trump.

In my estimation, much of the reasoning comes down to an example of “life imitating art.” In this case, such “art” being the 1986 movie “Back to School,” starring Rodney Dangerfield.

Now, while some of the entitled, entrenched elites on the left might ignorantly and snobbishly scoff at such a theory — part of the reason they may soon be on the outside looking in — it has real validity.

Why? There is a scene in the film where Dangerfield — who plays a tough New York City-based CEO enrolling in an elite college to keep an eye on his son — takes issue with a liberal, never-worked-in-the-real-world economics professor, and explains to him the actual process of starting a business. Almost instantly, every student in the class turns their back on the know-nothing professor, faces Dangerfield’s character and begins taking copious notes.

Trump is the real-life version of that fictional CEO. Back in 2016, tens of millions of Americans turned away from the elites and toward him to jot down notes. The “academic,” the “theoretical,” the “hoped for” and the forcefully “mandated” stood no chance against such experience.

Real-world business experience mattered in 2016 and it matters even more now. For almost four years, the American people have tried to evaluate President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. And while many of the distinctions between the three may have seemed muddled — or purposely slanted by the media — one was, and remains, crystal clear: Trump worked and succeeded in the real business world for most of his life, while Biden and Harris existed in the political and government world, living off the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

While Trump established one of the most iconic business empires in the world — employing tens of thousands of Americans over the years, while supporting hundreds of small businesses — Biden became a career politician who has been on the government dole for over a half century.

Americans are very bright, and they can understand why that vast disparity in real-world experience matters. Most especially when the last few years of their lives have gotten worse under the guy who has lived off the tax-payer dime since 1972. These Americans are aware that Biden created no companies, hired no employees and met no payrolls.

Next, we come to Harris. Since 1990, she has either lived off the money of California taxpayers or of federal taxpayers. Like Biden, she has created no companies, hired no employees and met no payrolls.

Businesses — most especially small businesses — are the backbone of our nation. They do not exist atop some far-left, academic plane. They are real, and the welfare of every single American rises or falls with their successes and failures. So does our nation. 

Trump knows that, because he worked in that world for decades. In the eyes of tens of millions of Americans, he is the Rodney Dangerfield character vs. the Biden-Harris know-nothing tenured liberal professor living off other people’s money.

Trump’s experience has also made him realize that he was ill-served by some in his first administration, people who may have been working against him behind the scenes, because he was not part of the entrenched establishment and could not be controlled. To ensure that doesn’t happen again, Trump has upped his game by bringing in some extraordinary talent. One such person is Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

If you don’t know Lutnick’s remarkable backstory, you should research it. On Sept. 11, 2001, Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center terrorist attack — including Lutnick’s beloved brother, Gary.

When I first learned that, I immediately researched Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald. I did so because on that day, while driving to D.C., I witnessed the American Airlines jet heading for the Pentagon — a building I had worked in for three years.

Hours after the attack, I learned that a former colleague had been on that jet, along with the fact that my cousin was one of the first heroic firefighters to enter the burning and crumbling section of the Pentagon. At that time, I felt a need to learn as much as possible about those most affected by the horrific attack — Howard Lutnick being one.

Flash ahead 23 years and Lutnick not only rebuilt Cantor Fitzgerald, but is now the co-chair of Trump’s transition team. Real-world experience in spades.

To close with another movie reference, Lutnick has always reminded me of my favorite fictional investment CEO: Lawrence Garfield, as brilliantly played by Danny DeVito in the 1991 film “Other People’s Money.”

What set the Garfield character apart was that he was experienced, tough, intelligent, moral, deeply believed in the capitalist system and wanted to keep the “communists” out of business and the country. Lutnick in a nutshell.

Life imitating art. The American people are choosing the DeVito and Dangerfield characters as personified by the real-life Lutnick and Trump.

Real world experience is a thing. It’s not a secret. It is just devalued and purposely ignored by many on the left. Come Nov. 5, real world experience will help to carry the election.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.