“Of Dogs and Dictators” Author Noem Might Yet Be VP Pick

Am I crazy? Maybe. But hear me out (please) before calling the nice men in their little white coats to come and take me away. Well before this weekend conventional wisdom held that puppy murdering Governor Kristi Noem had shot and killed more than a rambunctious puppy. By writing about it in the book she’s releasing this week she did the same to her political future. Odds are that’s true. However, in 2015 the laws of political physics got suspended when Donald Trump officially became a Presidential candidate and worse, made it into the WH. None of the old political rules have counted for jack since then. The fact Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee and actually is polling as good or better than Biden is proof of that startlingly terrifying fact.

I’d also call you attention to WHY Trump is on trial in Manhattan right now. Lest we forget, when the infamous Access Hollywood tape came out conventional wisdom held that Trump was toast. Almost everyone including the GOP and even a lot of the MAGAs figured it was over. Even Trump himself thought there might not be any coming back from it. Also remember that Trump didn’t actually expect to win for a very long time. The whole Presidential candidate thing was a scheme to launch a Trump media platform. His MAGA movement grew beyond his wildest expectations and he had a solid base to build on. Think about how after a little while he’d have spun the release of the Access Hollywood tape as a “Clinton/deep state plot” to keep him out of the WH. MAGAs would have eaten that up and begged for more!

But almost alone among everyone else Steve Bannon and I think one or two others told him to dig in and fight. They told him NOT to step aside for Pence and or the good of the GOP. They knew just what buttons to push and Trump decided to fight back. Hence the covering up of the McDougal affair (making sure it stayed hidden) and the tryst with porn star Stormy Daniels. Being Trump he wound up taking actions that had he simply paid the money to hush things up he wouldn’t be in legal trouble. But he’s Trump and one cheap-ass mofo and wound up committing crimes.

The point is that had Trump listened to conventional wisdom he’d have never become President. He ignored it and we’ve been living with the consequences ever since. Against all reason Trump believes his MAGAs will stick with him, as long as he feeds them their diet of toxic red meat. Also, he’s not smart but he’s savvy and knows two things about Republicans – they were scared of him back then and are even more scared now. And that the non-MAGA Republicans care more about their tax cuts and cutting regulations than they do about the good of the country and the free world.

But MAGA is the key. They aren’t enough to win but they ARE enough for Trump to maintain his stranglehold on the GOP. And you know what? Noem is their kind of gal. My apologies to John Steinbeck for bastardizing his epic novel Of Mice And Men into the Noem version coming out this week but I couldn’t help myself. Steinbeck had a talent for painting an all too realistic picture of life as it was for so many Americans during a difficult time. Yet for all the struggles sometimes they had bits of hope and even some pleasant moments once in a while.  But mostly his work describes a gritty reality.

THAT I think was what Noem was going for with her book. She wanted to portray herself as a female heroine worthy of being a central character of Steinbeck’s. A tough, capable in the face of anything plainspoken person of the Great Plains set in modern times. Only better. Unlike Steinbeck’s characters she’d beaten the odds and “made good” but it was that old school “grit” that made it all possible. Hence real anecdotes about killing rambunctious pups and nasty goats. And made up ones about secret trips into a notoriously closed off country to face down a brutal dictator. MAGAs would eat that sh*t up with a spoon and ask for more. Just like with Trump.

Still with me? Consider that while we all know Trump didn’t read the book (that’s what he has staff for!) someone did and working for Trump they’d tell him stuff like the Cricket story and he’d get off on it. And other “highlights” as well. Which is why in the books jacket there is a blurb, an endorsement from Trump about what a great book it is!  Trump of course heard ALL about the blowback last week. And much was made in lots of places (including here on PZ) about Noem being “disinvited” from the VP auditions at Mar A Lago this weekend.

However, what I think is relevant is that Noem wasn’t exactly disinvited. She did show up and even attended that tacky afternoon party for a bit. Yes, she got shoved into the background and left early but the fact is she did show up. And, instead of being turned away at the gate she was allowed in and got to do some mingling!  Hmmmmm.  I wrote an article here earlier about how Trump won’t be picking a VP anytime soon. Ursula has written one herself. My own take when I wrote my earlier piece is that Trump wasn’t spending the day bragging about how much the mega donors at last nights exclusive and secretive dinner coughed up. My belief is that while pledges were made, or promises that “we’ll talk later” were made the actual donations didn’t exactly blow the doors off the place.

Trump needs that mega donor money. And THEY are taking a hard look at his chances and aren’t sure coughing up millions for him is a good investment. I think they already have doubts and those doubts will get a lot stronger if Trump gets convicted up in Manhattan. Filthy rich people are filthy rich for a reason. They sometimes bet big and lose but by and large they refuse to piss away millions of dollars on lost causes. So Trump wanted to play up candidates like Scott, Rubio, Blackburn, Vance etc. to reassure them. Interesting that the one the mega donors might feel best about, Elise Stefanik didn’t seem to be in that top tier.

In the end however Trump will do what he wants to do. In the meantime he’ll string the big money people along to get actual huge donations before the convention. And then make his pick regardless of what he’d led them to believe. I think it would be exactly like Trump to pick someone outrageous, at least to anyone who isn’t strongly MAGA. It’s true that Noem doesn’t add anything to the ticket. What she DOES however do (if Trump picks her) is shore up MAGA. If only because the outrage would give them warm fuzzies about “owning the libs” (and the establishment too for that matter) they would LOVE it.

Remember what I said earlier? MAGAs are the way Trump controls the GOP. Without MAGA support any GOP candidate is toast. Noem is their kind of politician. Trump’s too. As this Huffington Post piece (which is typical of other similar ones) shows, Noem isn’t backing down. WE might marvel about her doubling and tripling down on what’s in her book. But MAGAs will admire the hell out of it. And so will Trump!  Noem is no threat to him or control of the government the way someone like Stefanik would be. Like Pence, she would be completely beholden to him, and easily duped into thinking one day she might inherit the keys to the MAGA bus. Pence was done politically before Trump picked him. Noem was term limited and had no prospects moving forward. That’s even more so now.

What she DOES have is the ability to help Trump keep the MAGAs amped up. And NO ability to usurp Trump’s own power. That my friends is all Trump wants from a VP.

If you’ve extended me the courtesy of reading this I thank you. And if you still think I’m off my rocker and say so I won’t be offended. However, I urge you think it over for a bit before deciding.  I’m not saying the odds are good for Noem. But I do think they are a damn sight better than zero. And perhaps if not good then still a lot better than they currently seem.