9 Comments

"...a scurrilous liberties who enacts a platform of strong policies is better for you than a “pillar of the community” whose policies run contrary to your desires."

Amen.

Expand full comment
author

Argh. Typo. Fixed :).

Expand full comment

"a scurrilous liberties (did you intend 'libertine'?) who enacts a platform of strong policies is better for you than a 'pillar of the community' whose policies run contrary to your desires."

Isn't that the determination which persuaded sufficient among us to elect DJT in 2016? And is it not what determined those same to support him in 2020? We are agreed about the field of possibilities today and tomorrow, but you've stated perfectly what motivated those who chose him over the alternatives of yesterday. I am ever optimistic and persuaded far more than you imagine of his former followers have arrived at a similar opinion.

Expand full comment
author

Yes. Fixed.

I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 but was pleased that he beat Clinton. I praised the policies that I liked and criticized those I didn’t. Had he run on his record rather than on his ego, he would have won in 2020.

The point is that he strayed from a mixed bag but good enough policy package, to an ‘us vs everyone’ cult of personality. Yes, much was contrived against him, and that prompted the mememe angle. But a better politician would have elevated policy over petulance.

The crux is about today, not 2016, though. Trump did win the primary because of policy focus. And he beat clinton for similar reason. He isn’t offering policy as reason to vote for him this time. Instead, he wants vindication.

Expand full comment

Yes, wholeheartedly agree that this personality over policies nonsense needs to stop. That's how we got into the situation we're in now. The only conditions a presidential candidate should meet, imo, are: can they articulate their point properly (i.e. good speaker), and are their policy proposals good for the majority of Americans? I don't care if it's a man or woman, just give me those 2 things and I'm set

Expand full comment

Just as Trump fired an opening salvo against DeSantis (who hasn't declared anything yet) so too has Team Biden and NY State AG Letitia James - not to mention the J6 committee, various federal agencies (DOJ) and the Democrat media complex. They will go to ANY length to ensure Trump will never be president again. We need to GET this: they will burn the whole place down before they let him be president again. And that's not right - it's just crazy - but it is.

I'm no political soothsayer by any stretch, but I can assure you of this much sooth: nominating Trump in 2024 will result in 2020 all over again, albeit with an even LOWER turnout for Trump.

Elections (at this point) turn on what Independent voters will accept. They want a return to Normal - they don't want the circus freak show the Democrats are running and they don't want a return to the chaos of a Trump presidency. They just want a Steady Hand at the rudder.

Partisans like me can wish and want all day long about what Could Be - but that doesn't win elections at the national level, and at this point just results in more Democrat control. I don't think the country can take that. It's time to move on. https://jeffmockensturm.substack.com/p/the-sun-sets

Expand full comment

Your typical fabulous article 😁👍 The Washington Examiner & NR state the same or very similar position. I am even starting to entertain the idea that those who continue to support Trump suffer from the same or similar psychopathology as those who supported Hitler.

Expand full comment
author

It’s never monolithic. Some do fall into the kill someone on 5th avenue category. But others are less so, and people are abandoning him in bits and pieces. And will continue to do so.

Best angle IMO is not to ‘notice’ the defectors. No need to I told you so or anything like that.

His base will continue to shrink, and as it does, his behavior will only escalate. In that he will be much like the apoplectic wokesters that can’t stand our failure to bend to their wisdom.

Expand full comment

I'm patting myself on the back because I predicted the Trump scenario as a basis for a novel that I imagined, oddly enough while cutting the grass of my girlfriend's lawn, maybe late 1980's. Unfortunately I am more of a planner than I am of a doer so that novel never got written. But the premise was that a former deceased politician was brought back to life to rescue a country that had succumbed to bizarre progressive actions. One specifically was that males and females would be be conflated into one gender. I wasn't too far off on that one but I saw it further in the future.

When Trump arose I thought, holy crap this was my prognostication come to life. But two factors came into play that I didn't anticipate. The first was that the deep state simply had too many forces to combat changes to the status quo. Example is that 99% of Democrat politicians, maybe 67-75% of Republicans, and 99% of mainstream media and social media, driven by the alphabet Federal agencies, would work against him.

And then Trump proved himself (despite some decent policy changes) to be a narcissistic asshole who turned on every person who didn't kneel to him when he was clearly wrong on certain policies. Then factor in his influence on horrible candidates in 2022. I live in GA and held my nose to vote for Walker only for the sake of the Senate. Walker may have been the worst candidate in history but Trump pushed him into being the GOP choice. I really just want Trump to away. He could have been a savior but instead could not resist being the complete asshole that he is.

Expand full comment