I’m confident it will be free and fair. I don’t know whether it will be peaceful. The things that Trump said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.
President Biden (Friday briefing)
If only the 2024 election were as simple as Washington Examiner columnist Byron York’s recipe for a Trump-Vance winning campaign pitch. “1) Things were good when Trump was president. 2) Everything went to hell when Biden and Harris entered the White House. 3) Elect Trump and he’ll make things good again.” But no, the 2024 election requires voters to act as judge and jury, sifting through exaggerations, flip-flops, and reports of villainy to pick the next president.
It is a fact that 128 million voted for imperfection – Clinton (36% favorable) and Trump (40% favorable) – in 2016. It’s not any better in 2024, and we cannot turn it over to the experts in the press, Congress, or the DOJ, because only 32% of Americans trust the press, just 19% approve of Congress, and only 33% trust the DOJ (source: Gallup). In spite of what Biden claims (see quote above), I think we the people are perfectly capable of choosing between Harris and Trump, especially after observing the last eight years.
The Imperfect Populist
Trump’s supporters probably wish he’d taken Bill Barr’s and Mike Pence’s advice to concede in 2020 and run again in 2024, because they like his policies (deport illegal immigrants) and positions (anti-Iran). This view was exemplified by an anti-Trump impeachment witness, former EU ambassador Gordon Sundland, who changed his mind on MSNBC: “No, I don’t stand by it, and I’ll tell you why. I’ve now lived four years under the Biden-Harris policies and those policies are not only becoming an existential threat to our country’s way of life, but to our allies as well.”
No question, if Trump had reluctantly conceded, he’d have been the perfect “opposition leader” to the Biden-Harris administration, especially after the truth came out about the Clinton campaign’s Russian Dossier scheme and Biden campaign’s Hunter Biden’s laptop cover-up. No poll shows public support for Biden-Harris policies, and my average of (only) historically accurate polls had Trump up nationally and in six battleground states on Wednesday – when Jack Smith’s unsealed indictment may have made the election too close to call.
Smith’s indictment adds new January 6 evidence and instructs the judge how to skirt the Supreme Court’s “presidential immunity” ruling. Whatever – because 80% of voters had already made up their minds (source: NPR). Odds are Smith’s move exasperated swing voters, who just want peace and prosperity (Pew Research finds most voters want to forget the 2020-2021 years because of COVID and partisan rancor). Translation: America has stopped listening, Jack!
Moreover, Trump 2024 is not Trump 2020. His GOP has purged millions of non-residents from state voters rolls, and erased Democrat vote-by-mail advantages in many states. Harris has alienated Catholics and Jews, while Trump has made gains with working-class minorities. Trump’s TV ads are issues-focused, he’s unified his party, and Republican lawyers are at the ready in every red-flag precinct across America. What more can Republicans do?
The Devil We Don’t Want to Know
Forget Jack Smith. Kamala Harris has three barriers to becoming president. One, the before-and-after paradox of her radical policies (reparations) and positions (ban fracking). Two, her experience/role in an administration that created 70s-era inflation and has the world on the brink of world war. Three, her shadowy character as evidenced by lies, vapid explanations, and people choices.
If the Biden-Harris administration was trustworthy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics wouldn’t have had to reduce Biden’s “great jobs” boast by 818,000. FEMA wouldn’t have corrected DHS Secretary Mayorkas’ claim of “not enough funding to make it through the hurricane season” by stating that $780 million diverted to the “migrant crisis” was actually $641 million “solely” from the Shelter and Services Program. The Bureau of Justice Statistics wouldn’t have to state that “instances of violent crime — including rape, robbery and aggravated assault — is up from 2020 to 2023” (source: New York Post).
It’s been one lie after another for four years; so no surprise that Harris’s big debate lies – “world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump…some who say you’re a disgrace” (and) “today, there is not one member of the US military on active duty in a combat zone or war zone around the world” – were quickly debunked.
NATO’s longest-serving foreign minister, Hungary’s Peter Szijjártó responded, “I didn’t see anyone laughing at Trump, and since [he] left office, the global security situation is deteriorating.” Former ambassador Edelman told Congress “We still have people serving where active combat is underway,” and former NSC senior director Greenway said, “We recently [had] several U.S. troops medically evacuated after another raid against ISIS in Syria.”
Even worse, her debate handlers must have approved Harris’s false claims, more proof of her people problems…
Husband Doug Emoff admitted on CNN that he cheated on his first wife by sleeping with his daughter’s nanny, but now denies credible allegations from three women accusing him of “violently striking his former girlfriend during a booze-fueled altercation in 2012” (source: The Daily Mail). Running mate Tim Walz tried to dodge his “Tianenman Square” lie at the VP debate with a Good Ole Boy filibuster, was forced to sheepishly admit the false claim, and – with earlier lies about military rank, service in a combat zone, and drunk-driving arrest – proved he’s a self-serving serial liar.
Patriots Must Put First Things First
Job #1 is to decide if the “greatest threat to our democracy” today is Trump or China, Iran, and left-liberal censorship. Call Trump an election denier, blame the Capitol riots on him, and explain how Biden was sworn into office right on schedule. Prove China doesn’t have the world’s largest navy, lead the US in hypersonic missile development, or seek global hegemony. Prove Iran is not close to having a nuclear arsenal and behind the attacks on Israel. Explain why Biden-Harris approved a Ministry of Truth, if not to censor conservative speech.
Job # 2 is to remember that Churchill was not just February 19 (Gallipoli), Lincoln was not just April 12 (Fort Sumter), Kennedy was not just April 17 (Bay of Pigs), and Bill Clinton was not just January 26, 1998 (Lewinsky lie) before casting Trump away for January 6 (Capitol riots). Voters pick chief executives to further the common good, not be vicars of Christ. Not saying Trump is Churchill or Lincoln – just that electorates retain the right to forgive and forget a candidate’s past sins.
Prior to the October Surprises, Harris was running behind Biden 2020 in battleground states, nationally, and with almost every core voting bloc, while Trump had improved his favorability (+6.3 points), battleground polling (+4 points), and national average (+5.2 points) from 2020. Right now, the betting odds are dead even, meaning there will be a lot of soul-searching between now and Election Day. It’s not a tough decision…
The USA is in one hell of a pickle today, and who’s to blame?