Ledent Pol, “Gossip”
Tuesday
Here’s a brief election note. People have been debating the worth of endorsements in the GOP primary, with some wondering whether being endorsed by members of the “Republican Establishment” hurts more than it helps.
After all, the candidates with the most endorsements, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, have dropped out. Meanwhile, the remaining three contenders have racked up hardly any endorsements.
So maybe, if people really want to stop Donald Trump, they should use their endorsements strategically. Ben Jonson explains the approach I have in mind in his famous poem in praise of Shakespeare.
Jonson is talking about the different false ways to praise. After discarding ignorant praise and blind affection, he mentions praise that arises out of malice.
This praise knows that it can do damage. Perhaps Establishment Republicans could undermine Trump by endorsing him:
Here’s Jonson explaining how it works:
Or crafty malice might pretend this praise,
And think to ruin, where it seem’d to raise.
These are, as some infamous bawd or whore
Should praise a matron; what could hurt her more?
Many Republican leaders these days are regarded by the GOP base as the equivalent of bawds and whores. Jonson offers them a way to use their reputation to their advantage.
