From what I’m seeing, this has the preliminary borders of a classic circular firing squad. Trump insists that he’s still the leader of the party, and the prohibitive GOP 2024 candidate, but when you look at independent reporting and evidence, that’s in extreme doubt.
Let’s start with the polling. While polling of GOP voters shows that Traitor Tot still maintains somewhere right around 80% support, that’s popularity, not presidential popularity polling. In presidential primary polling, Trump trails Pissantis in several polls, and I have yet to see a poll that shows FrankenTrump with a double digit lead over DeSantis.
There is an active GOP donor revolt against Trump. The Koch brothers political arm, AFP, has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for candidates opposed to Trump. And as I’ve written, Trump’s campaign donation fundraising is in the shitter.
The field is about to get larger, which surprisingly enough is good news for El Pendejo Presidente. Because if the field gets large enough, his paltry 33% support is enough to sweep through the early, winner-take-all primaries and build a delegate lead while the field winnows. But to my mind, even that scenario fails to excite.
But the real reason is that, pure and simple, Trump has lost it. It’s just that simple. When you compare the Trump of 2023 to the Trump of 2016 whom I damn near lived with, it’s crystal clear. The Juice is gone. And why not. Looking down the barrel of a NY state civil suit that could torpedo your company, a possible Manhattan DA criminal case for that innocent roll-in-the-hay with Stormy Daniels, the Fulton County DA looking to hammer you with state RICO campaign violations, to the DOJ wanting to nail you for seditious conspiracy for the Capitol riot, it’s easy to see how you could be distracted.
And it’s already showing, in spades. For instance, as I’ve written, Trump has fucked this up since day one. Following his 2020 defeat, he crammed more than $100 million into his Leadership PAC. The predator Trump of 2016 would have been out on the road every week, blowing cash like a drunken sailor, ramping up the base with rallies, and branding possible opponents before they could brand themselves. But instead he’s bunkered down in his Mar-
A-Mansion.
But it’s even easier to see in his emotional and verbal responses. When word got out that his former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley was considering getting into the race, it took him days to go on his Bullshit Central platform to call her A traitor, and a power hungry woman! Really?! That’s the best you can do? Back in 2016 you stood on a debate stage on national television, and called former HP CEO Carly Fiorina as Too ugly to be President. But an actual threat to you is just a power hungry woman? I’ve covered Trump for seven years now, and I just don’t see that lngo setting his base on fire.
And what about his strongest potential opponent, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis? As it became clear that DeSantis was laying the groundwork for a run, The Cheeto Prophet dithered for weeks before going to Bullshit Central to brand DeSantis a Turncoat acolyte. It took Hair Twitler weeks to come out and accuse Pissantis of grooming students when he was a teacher. And even more time before he took to his loser platform to label DeSantis Meatball Ron! Really? That’s the best you can do? What does that even mean?
Trump has clearly lost it. He’s 76 years old, obese, with the caloric intake of a college freshman. But he’s also lost it mentally. If you’re going to run for President, it has to take monolithic control of your life. In 2016bTrump was laser focused on the job at hand, but more importantly, He was having the time of his life. The ultimate attention whore. But in 2024, Trump is a desperate man trying to cling to the shimmering goal of the presidency to make his legal problems go away. Amd that likely won’t work outside of his base.
Oddly enough, while the mainstream GOP is hitting their knees every night praying for a state or federal White Knight to cure them of this problem by sweeping The Trumpster Fire into the legal system, this situation does them no good. As long as Trump remains a viable candidate, his loyal 33% base isn’t going anywhere, and likely won’t even if he loses in the primaries. The national GOP is about to reap what they sowed.
I repeat for those in the back…when Trump nearly died for COVID, the Juice didn’t survive. All those legal troubles are, yes, distracting but it should be old hat to him in terms of management. And instead, as you noted, Murf, it’s a struggle.
The winner of the 2024 GQP presidential nomination will be the one who sucks the least. A party this shattered is beyond the ability to unify quickly. That will impede their performance on multiple levels beyond the presidential.
You raise an interesting point. Trump damn near died due to his obstinance over Covid. And since this is Trump with his overdeveloped sense of managing his image let’s not forget he also came to the realization that he fought advice to go to the hospital for hours, and was warned he was at the point where he’d have to be wheeled out on a stretcher. I figure he collapsed, and it finally got through his thick skull that he’d better WALK out of the WH while he still could. The fear in his mind of the image of him being wheeled out and loaded into an ambulance was (and the memory still is) as bad for Trump as dying. And the thought he came so close to dying AND the last image of him at the WH could have been being wheeled out unconscious on a stretcher haunts him still. Lots of egotistic people think they are immortal, that they will never die. And many are deeply affected when they dodge the grim reaper. If it doesn’t take the wind out of their sails all at once, it causes rips in the sails and they lose their wind in time. I think you’re right and that’s part of what’s going on with Trump. And with his legal problems mounting and knowing that this time, for the first time in his life he might be held to REAL account he’s fast running out of energy. But let’s not forget that an animal is most dangerous when wounded and Trump IS both wounded and feral. He can still do incredible damage.
Most to all of that damage will be directed at those he can still touch. And lest we forget, that’s pretty much the Republican party and not many others.
unlike his rival DeSantis, who is busy hurting everyone in reach and trying to get power to hurt more people.
Virus don’t lie. Thanks Sheed!
Well they say Trump wants to bring back firing squads if re-elected. Maybe when can put him in the middle of your circular firing squad. And I really don’t think he thought this through. The sentence for treason is the firing squad. He can be his first client here.