The Democratic political class cannot believe they might lose again to Donald Trump. "How could anyone vote for that man?" they complain. "He is just so gauche!" In a way, they have a point. Trump is gauche. His recent perambulations about Arnold Palmer are the latest in a long line of baffling utterances and improvisations. But mixed in with the weirdness is some smart campaigning. Trump's McDonald's stunt was a very sharp move (not genius, but pretty good for a standard political stunt). And of course, it sent Democrats on tilt at how undignified and cheap Trump was (again). The Democratic elites are so appalled by Trump they cannot bring themselves to give him any credit for anything. But the fact is, the former president has good instincts at self-promotion, unlike Kamala Harris or Joe Biden. Trump's delay, delay, delay legal strategy worked. Trump has the issue environment on his side. And Trump is currently the favorite to win.
President Trump's criticism of the CBS "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris has triggered the predictable legacy media meltdown. It's unfortunate. Trump and Harris supporters should demand CBS come clean about why the network significantly altered Harris' responses on the Biden-Harris administration's relationship with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In ordinary times, all honest, professional journalists and specifically media critics would be dissecting the striking lapse in journalistic ethics at CBS. On the Oct. 6 broadcast of "Face the Nation
With the Nov. 5 election just over a fortnight away, here is an intriguing thought experiment. By most accounts, the election is still a horse race too close to call. But although Vice President Kamala Harris quickly assumed the presidential mantle from Joe Biden and put in place an impressive start-up, October has not been particularly kind to her. Donald Trump has closed the electoral gaps, and some believe he is actually leading.
W What T. S. Eliot said of humankind, that it "cannot bear very much reality," must be doubly true for Americans. It's a feature of being a providential nation, protected by two oceans and mostly spared the harsher existence that habituates other societies to corruption and tyranny, while left free to cultivate its uniquely optimistic political culture. The drawback of this good fortune is that, at decisive moments, a hopeful people can be blind to self-inflicted disasters. The reality facing America now is that of widespread, coordinated efforts to control our politics, carried out by a self-interested elite grown openly disdainful of the nation's traditions.
The one part of this op ed that rang true to me is that Democrats aren't focused on issues that are most important to voters, they are focused on issues that are important to themselves.
My gut is telling me Trump and the GOP will win by more than the polls are showing. My mind is telling me that Harris will eke this out and the down ballot races will be mostly a push.