The Ghost of William Jennings Bryan - Trumped!

There's been a lot of talk about how there's never been a presidential campaign like this one because there have never been candidates like Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. Each has grabbed a segment of the public by its respective collective lapels and, in his own way, given 'em quite a shake. And damn if they didn't like it! However, the truth is that there have been a lot of wacky candidates - and, therefore, a lot of wacky campaigns. But perhaps no candidate has been as wacky as William Jennings Bryan. Bryan ran on the Democratic ticket in 1896, 1900 and 1908. He possessed Trump's ability for endless blabbing, Cruz ability – even determination – to say anything to alienate himself within his own party, and Rubio's constant call for a reform movement that was – and is – unknown even to the candidate himself. Maybe best of all, he was the precursor to Bernie Sanders as a true man of the people – "the great commoner," as Bryan was known in his day.

But it is mostly Trump who seems to be a reincarnation of Bryan who, in truth, was a reincarnation of P. T. Barnum – the circus man who believed that a sucker is born every minute. Like Bryan, Trump has a way of reaching the ignorant masses in a way that is seemingly unrivaled – a la another great character from history (albeit literary history), Elmer Gantry, the charlatan minister of the 1900s who, indeed, got the joke. Trump gets it, too. Don't let him – Trump – fool you into thinking he is a hard-core, rigid, tough-guy bastard who is set in his oh-so-righteous ways. In truth, he's one of the most malleable politicians in recent memory, and will say anything to get people on his side. And has.

Like William J. Bryan, Donald J. Trump is a man of no ethics, no principles and certainly no worries about possessing neither.