BEWARE: Politics…!
My last post, on July 23rd (where the heck does the time go?!) is a fascinating photograph of the time immediately after Trump is nearly assassinated, the RNC convention is about to begin and Trump chooses J.D. Vance to be his V.P., and then Biden decides he won’t run again and Kamala Harris, his V.P., becomes the Democratic presidential candidate…
…how the tables have turned.
For the time going into the RNC convention, pundits and Republicans felt the momentum was with Trump. It wasn’t looking like he’d be elected, it was to many of them looking like he’d be a shoo-in to win the election and reclaim the presidency.
But a lot changed and rather quickly.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the pick of J.D. Vance as his running mate was met with confusion and, after much of the dust settled, scorn. He’s polling very low and when people find out about his very right wing positions, they seem to like him less and less.
Worse, Trump ended the convention with a speech that was long and dull and what should have been the kicking off of the final leg of his campaign wound up curiously muted.
Then Biden decided to not run again.
This may wind up being the one thing that ensures Trump never sees office again.
In one very daring move, Biden removed himself and his weaknesses -and in retrospect they were most certainly there regarding his advanced age- and by having Kamala Harris become the Democratic presidential candidate, all the criticism heaped on Biden suddenly boomeranged back onto Trump.
The pundits and media that were scrutinizing Biden’s age and gaffs resulting from them could no longer do so and that glaring eye fell fully on… Trump himself.
Suddenly he is the one that looks old and worn down. Suddenly he is the one that has the gaffs and frozen moments. Suddenly he is the old guy we’ve been warned about not allowing back into the white house.
Worse for Trump, he seems to either be in some kind of physical decline -if not facing some kind of financial issues- as well. He barely goes out to campaign and there have been whispers that he’s been told in various states that if he wants to use their venues, he first has to pay them on venue uses from the past which he hadn’t paid for.
He was just on Twitter (ie, X) interviewed by Elon Musk, a man who seems to each day make himself look more and more foolish, and that whole interview was also a fiasco. Technical glitches at the start ensured it began some forty minutes late (shades of the interview Musk had with DeSantis a lifetime ago) and when Trump talked, he was his typical rambling/nonsensical self… but people also noted a heavy lisp. Loose dentures? Possibly. But worse for him, the possibility of further cognitive decline and yet another reminder of something he hopes to bury: His advancing years.
For her part, Kamala Harris and her V.P. pick, Tim Walz, have hit the ground running. Unlike Trump, they are moving around venue to venue and attracting large, very enthusiastic crowds.
Years and years ago, back in the Stone Age of 1984, Ronald Reagan ran against Walter Mondale. Like him or not (and I feel history has offered a harsher look at him) it felt through the whole campaign Ronald Reagan was the clearer choice. Mondale was dour, unexciting while Reagan was bright and optimistic.
It wasn’t shocking at all that Reagan won in a landslide.
Though I say this with considerable caution because there is still quite a bit of time before the election itself, it is certainly possible history may be repeating itself.
We’ll see.