Very rarely you will see me mention politics in my blog. There is good reason for this. To be completely honest, I am just not a political person. I might lean a certain way but in no way am I informed enough to engage in a discussion centered on politics. This blog post will mention a person involved in that arena but will focus more on his own personal strategy as opposed to his political beliefs themselves.

So while I can’t speak on the issues, I feel I can speak on the way a person strategizes to obtain the position he wants.

Holy cow, Donald Trump.

Over the past few months, especially the last few weeks, I have watched “The Apprentice” host go absolutely nuts on Republican rivals, the Democrats, other countries, and everything else under the sun. Why would a billionaire with too many business ventures to count spend his time dishing out all of this negative energy? Well, that was both a stupid and rhetorical question. Donald Trump is fighting for the Republican nomination for the President of the United States and the man couldn’t care less about playing nice.

At first, I didn’t know what I really thought about his outspoken, shock-value approach. I mean he has said some really controversial and mean-spirited things. But then I stepped back and thought for a second about all he has said. I can count two instances where I think he completely crossed the line. The plethora of other barbs and attacks he has launched seem to be fair game to me. Unconventional, yes. Outlandish, maybe.

I laugh to myself when the media reports on his latest quote, which now just happens to be on a daily basis. He doesn’t hold anything back. He doesn’t mind bashing China or giving out a rival’s phone number. He will flat out say that politicians are doing “terrible, awful” while praising himself to no end. He will call people ugly. A reporter will ask a question and without giving his brain a second to think he will rattle off an answer that half the country will think is offensive. He will then do it again and again. By all accounts he is absolutely ridiculous.

But perhaps more remarkable than his ridiculousness has been his rise. I still find it very hard to believe that Donald Trump is now a frontrunner to serve as the nominee of a major party. Although hugely successful and a household name, hasn’t he been somewhat of a joke in American culture? His candidacy last Presidential election was pretty much written off as a publicity stunt. But this time around it has seemed like the more times he has issued brash statements, the more support he has generated. He is pulling Americans over to his side.

Count me as one of them.

It takes me some time to get past his entitled, airy-sounding voice (his hair actually doesn’t bother me), but when I do, I have started to actually kind of like the guy. He is just so different and so confrontational that I am semi-drawn to Trump. Believe me, I never thought I would be saying this, especially four years ago when I wrote this.

But in the same way that I respect Simon Cowell and Judge Judy for their brutal but honest take, I have started to revere The Donald a little bit at a time. It is humorous to watch the jaws drop of political rivals and analysts as they see Trump rise in the polls. What he is doing is quite remarkable.

Like I said, I don’t really talk about politics but give me just one minute to say this. While the guy has won me over to a degree and I do marvel at what he has done, I just don’t believe I could vote for him. I can’t see him constructively meeting with world leaders, I can’t see him sending our troops to war, and I can’t see him sitting in the White House with integrity. Just because I mildly admire him doesn’t mean I would vote for him.

With that said, the Presidential election is still well over a year away. Before I get serious, I still have a lot of time left to watch the “Trump Show” play out. So pull up some popcorn with me and get comfortable…I think there is still a lot left to see! Don’t Blink.