Hanging on the coattails of a man who would rather lie than tell the truth is a slippery slope. For all of the Trumpified followers who think his style will catapult them to higher ground — caveat emptor. These are the politicians, election workers and followers that get more involved with the campaign than just voting.
Trump has spent a lifetime honing his craft. By all accounts he developed behavioral problems at a young age, a bully, mentored by people who furthered his natural inclinations to do anything to get what he wanted. He expressed his desire for dominance at an early age. Showered with more cash than he ever knew what to do with, he made poor investment after poor investment. He could always count on being bailed out by his father and the banks.
The former President fights for relevancy on a daily basis. Winning is what Trump contends is his only mission. What Trump really values as a success is a positive outcome for his brand. If his business venture or thirst for governmental power fails, he would declare himself to be victorious and his effort a total success.
An outstanding example of this was Trump’s involvement with the Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was the first of many bankruptcies declared by his companies. In 1987, Trump was accumulating stock in the unfinished hotel and told New Jersey State Regulators that he could finance the $1 billion of the hotel with money borrowed from the banks at then Prime Interest rate of 8%, rather than the high junk bond rate that was normally attached to such a project.
He said the banks would finance the project at prime because he was Donald Trump and that his reputation, partially founded on his own self promotion, made him such a desirable business partner. The regulators gave him the green light to go ahead with the acquisition, but the loans at prime never materialized. Instead he was forced to take out junk bonds at 14 %. In just a few months, after the completion of the Taj Mahal, the increased debt brought about by his misleading assertions and poor foresight caused him to declare bankruptcy on all three of his casinos. Trump still characterizes this as a personal victory and successful venture.
The former President was as surprised as anyone when he won the 2016 election. After all, Clinton still maintained a 6 point lead in the polls, on the morning of the election. She went on to win the popular vote by 3 million votes, but was prevented from winning the election because of a series of mostly unrelated events. This was not Trump’s election to win, but Clinton’s to lose.
I think that barring any unforeseen event , the Harris Walz ticket will win the election, by a commanding majority. The election is right around the corner and the strong coalition comprised of young voters, blacks, women and traditional Democratic constituents, as well as a commanding lead in funding, will prove too much for the Trump -Vance campaign to overcome.
Policies play a small part in the Trump camp. False promises that can change from day to day, his brazen narcissism, his willingness to paint a picture of today and tomorrow that have no claim to legitimacy or reality, attract the voters looking for personal gain or crave the excitement that a Trump circus atmosphere brings. The politician that Trump fashions himself after, has no concern for consequences or the ramifications of his actions. Be they violence, or the unnecessary deaths of an estimated 100,000 American citizens from covid. When covid first struck in late 2019-early 2020, Trump refused to alert the public as to the seriousness of the disease and in march of 2020 would not allow passengers to disembark the Grand Princess, a stricken cruise ship, because he said it would hurt his polling numbers.
If Trump and Vance are not elected, the maga faithful are ready to declare the November election a fraud and stolen. Just remember, if Trump is not President, he won’t be able to pardon anybody. In their never ending efforts to control the narrative, Trump and Vance continue to dig their hole a little deeper.
As Trump sees his poll numbers dropping he has pivoted to a new method to maintain his position. He is telling jokes that most decent people would find repulsive and desperate. A recent example of this is an attack on Kamala Harris. At a recent rally, Trump said that Joe Biden has become mentally impaired, but that Kamala Harris was born that way. This brought about a spontaneous round of laughter by the crowd.
When not telling jokes he attacks a new and ridiculous enemy daily. One of his favorite scapegoats has always been the migrants. He condemns them for eating their neighbors’ pet dogs and cats. He says they are eating the ducks and geese near the pond. He takes hyperbole to never seen before levels. He has always seen himself as a showman who will stop at nothing to entertain and arouse his supporters.
A constant drumbeat of his is that things are terrible, the economy is terrible and that people can’t afford to buy food. Then he tells them to buy his $100,000 watches. Logic and reason don’t interfere with any of the lies and exaggerations that he says.
Why should we care? Because of the tripe that he and his followers spew out on a daily basis, real issues find a hard time getting airtime.
His claims that he will prosecute his political rivals, bring cheers. He claims he will stop the war in Ukraine on day one. He will end the bloodshed in the middle east on day one. He will stop the migrant invasion on day one. He will make women very happy. Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, his followers will see that he is dragging them down a rabbit hole that will benefit no one but him. Robert Bender