Trump’s name dropped in NCIS Season 8, Episode 7. 169^th episode of the Series. Why Trump won the Republican Nomination in 2016.  Broken Arrow. Photo

            While watching some old reruns of NCIS during the summer soltice,  we noticed the usual plot line was followed, a murder,  international intrigue,  personal interests, sexual tension, a cameo by a celebrity,  and a solution which recovers  a lost hydrogen bomb.  Hence the name Broken Arrow and Broken Arrow’s celebrity was Robert Wagner,  of ‘To Catch a Thief’ fame, back in the day.   There is a Broken Arrow in Tulsa County Oklahoma.  Wagner’s character is Anthony DiNozzo Senior, a broke bon vivant, whose personality oozes the charm necessary for the character.   While in Washington D.C.  Senior befriends old super rich buddies, living high on the hog at the Adams Hotel,  and to close out the episode, has a heart to heart with his son.  Then the son offers to take white haired Robert Wagner to the train for New York, and Wagner says, in effect for the last thing,  ‘’I bumped into Donald Trump in the lobby. I’m going to fly out of Reagan before noon.’’  Leaving the obvious impression, that Donald Trump is wealthy enough to front the plane ticket for Robert Wagner, and Trump’s celebrity status needed no further introduction for the NCIS audience. 

            Trump’s name recognition was sufficiently high in 2010 to be a believable name drop by Robert Wagner.  Eighty percent of voters vote on name recognition.  The other twenty percent vote  for issue, religion,  self interest,  gender, race, sex appeal, whatever. The purpose of money is to generate the name recognition for that 80 percent by which people vote.  Hence the advantage to the incumbent, or a celebrity, think Schwarzenegger, Sonny Bono, the Clintons, Kennedys,  Bushs. That is also why names for movie stars or celebrities, are helpful in selling  tickets, or increasing ratings,  or endorsements.

            The polls before the 2016 election didn’t ask the right questions. The pollsters should have asked when did you first hear the name Trump or Clinton?  Do you remember where you heard the name?  Do you know why you heard their names? Who would you want to spend the day with?     These questions are answered by attendance at rallies and  eye balls on the TV. Or by name dropping on TV series. 

            The dozen and a half Republican stars competing for the Republican nomination in 2015 and 2016, except for Bush, did not have the name recognition to be mentioned on NCIS.  And name dropping should be done before national political campaigns. So  segueing to 2019 and 2020, have any of the two dozen Democratic contenders been previously mentioned on NCIS?  Pretty obscure,  but that is a clue for picking early leaders. Is it Colonel Sanders? Name recognition. You either have it or you don’t.

            Trump had name recognition, has it now, and will have it for 2020. No one else did or does.

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