Trump Card

Like him or not, Mr. Donald Trump is taking the prize for publicity in the Primary early stages of selection for the Republican Party candidacy in the coming Presidential Election.

At the moment he seems to have the knack of turning the bad into, if not good, then a means of projecting himself.

But this has  tickled the memory of a long ago story that was made into a very watchable and entertaining film.  It is "The Card" by Arnold Bennett, born in Hanley, one of the Five Towns now Stoke on Trent, nine years before my maternal grandmother.

It tells of Edward Henry Machin, known as "Denry" who rises from poverty to local greatness as a result of the imaginative reworking of documents, crafty schemes, an eye for the main chance and above all knowing how to get the right publicity.

Grandmother recommended the Bennett novels as good reading for me, in particular "The Card", perhaps to encourage me to rise to greater heights than expected by ordinary means. There are times when I think she was probably right.

It is possible, just possible, that if Donald keeps up the Denry strategy he might emulate him.  So the Primary election results soon from Iowa and especially New Hampshire could be very interesting.