2024

As the prospect of a Trump/Biden rematch approaches it is time to review Trumps record as president. For many this is an impossible task because they are blinded by his unorthodox ways. First off he was certainly an unusual candidate. This was his first entry into politics so he had no track record. He was welcomed by the press, in particular cable TV, and while they garnered record ratings they later rejected him. He was considered a joke by the main stream press. His use of Twitter to let the world know his thoughts as soon as they popped into his head added to his growing name recognition and led to his reputation of openness. While this led to many goofs it proved the old saying that in Washington it is considered a political mistake when someone accidentally tells the truth. This is why open mike statements are so juicy. Trumps verbal goofs were so politically incorrect that after each one he was considered dead in the water but he survived and grew stronger. He was the anti government guy and the bureaucrats who at first disliked him, later came to fear him. This caused these non-elected Washington insiders to ban together to "get him". Their efforts came to fruition when Trump ran a second time. It was only after the election that the plots against him became public but then the deed was done. Most people, including myself, felt that your impression of Trump would be determined by whether you looked at his policies or at his personality but according to polls that is not the case. Pew says that 24% of voters liked his personality because he "tells it like it is" but 25% dislike his personality because he speaks "off the cuff". Trump is so controversial that people cannot evaluate him based on logical thinking but follow their emotions. For these people there is nothing that Trump could do that would cause them to change their minds and they know this and it does not bother them. They feel even if Trump was impeached based on illegal actions by the prosecutors, that is acceptable because he is such a despicable person. The proof of this is that the investigation into his second impeachment began after he was impeached. If Biden's problems with cognition continue many voters will find themselves facing a dilemma. The die hard Trump haters will vote for Biden regardless of his condition but many on the fence will find themselves overlooking their dislike for Trumps mean tweets in favor of his policies. For many others their only way out is that neither Trump or Biden would be candidates. Otherwise they may just stay home.