Third Time’s the Charm?
Despite the advice of many, former President Trump has announced that he will seek a second term as President. He will not be working on golf handicap improvement or planning a Presidential library. The results of Tuesday, November 5, 2024, will determine those plans.
To his credit he gave a speech that lambasted the progressive Democrats and Joe Biden’s leadership. He stayed on message as the man who can fix the energy, border, and inflation crises, restore American prestige in the world and not kowtow to the Chinese communists. It was completely different from his traditional rallies where he takes shots at fellow Republicans and potential rivals. It was, frankly, refreshing to see him operate like a statesman and not a petulant demagogue. The first 20 minutes of the speech hit all the proper notes. He should have stopped then, but he did another 40 minutes recounting his greatest achievements. We know Donald, how great the economy was two years ago.
Trump announced his plans when many Republicans are separating themselves from him after less than splendid midterm election results, no red wave, just a red ripple. Carping about the 2020 election results, as Trump has, is a waste of time. Mercifully he didn’t bring it up in his speech. Those candidates who were election result deniers and didn’t condemn the January 6th riot at the Capital doomed their own election prospects. Many of his endorsed, high-profile candidates who validated his 2020 election theft mantra, got defeated.
Here’s the problem, Trump will haul a mother lode of old divisive rhetoric into a 2024 race that will be mined and reported ad nauseum by a media that genuinely hates him. In his first race, voters took a chance on the host of the Apprentice, an impetuous billionaire, against an unlikable Hillary Clinton. For four years his economic policies had the country running great, low gas prices, low inflation, and a border increasingly under control. The press never reported that because they were too busy skewering his personality daily. Now the Nation is in for more of that vitriol for the next two years leading up to November 2024. MSNBC and CNN ratings will soar. The three broadcast networks along with major newspapers will never embrace Trump.
Nevertheless, a lot of Republicans will embrace his candidacy as the only one who will take on the radical progressive left. The only way he will win over Independents and women will be to remain a measured, statesmanlike problem solver and not a bombastic name caller. For Trump to remain mellow and focused on the future will be miraculous. It will be a 180-degree turn based on his past history. Two years removed from office; Trump remains more unpopular than Joe according to recent polls. He has already split Republicans into different camps and motivates the Democrat base like no other, who will constantly be told that Trump is the devil by the media.
Given that the electoral map is such that no Republican has an ice cube’s chance in Hades of ever winning New York, California, or Illinois for starters; the party may well have to consider someone who has Trump-like policies sans his personality in the remaining 47 states. There is no way that the Democratic party will run an 82-year-old, befuddled Joe Biden for a second term. The poor man said he was happy to be in Columbia when he was in Cambodia the other day. A younger more cogent candidate will be the Democrat standard bearer and Joe will be happily ensconced in Delaware.
The Republicans should find someone who can handle a hostile press, present solid economic solutions to the mess Joe has made and win over the Independent voters. It’s time for the Republican party to turn to a younger generation of conservative leaders who are dedicated to draining the swamp without all the drama associated with the former President.
No doubt that the Nation was far better off without the current progressive woke loons, climate change activists and circus refugees holding the reins of government. Their socialist agenda and attempted makeover of this country could destroy the greatest republic in world history if left unchecked.
The real charm would be a total repudiation of all the incompetence and lunacy currently in Washington DC.