I saw Donald Trump on Pierce Morgan last night where he declared his possible candidacy for President in 2012. Wow, does he ever have his finger on the pulse of the American people – at least those from the red states. He has clearly calculated his message to speak to “red” America in his hope to fill the leadership void that currently haunts the GOP. A paraphrase of a few of his panderous statements:

1. China is the enemy
2. If he were President he would enact a 25% tax on all Chinese goods – because they aren’t playing fair.
3. Too much money is spent on education at the federal level. Education should be handled locally.
4. He’s a military man. He would increase military spending if he were president.
5. America has become a joke internationally, and he would restore its honor in the world (he seemed to be hinting at doing that with the military).
6. He would stick it to OPEC. He’d go over there with the military at his back and dictate the terms under which they would provide the US with oil.
7. He would assign tough wall street negotiators to handle negotiations with other countries… not the diplomats.
8. The US should be charging South Korea for the protection they receive from the US.
9. He loves Sarah Palin. He just thinks she can’t win a national election.

Now some of these positions, I’m sure, are genuinely his. But it looks to me like these statements have been carefully crafted to appeal to the right. I’m sure that, over the next several weeks, he’ll be testing the waters with these ideas so he can assess his chances of winning an election.