Chump Change
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
In some ways this is a follow-up of sorts to my article here last week about press analysts not getting that the constituents of each state are different, even when they’re neighbors. This is another thing I scratch my head over when I hear it analyzed on the news.
In fairness, it’s usually said by Republican analysts, though not exclusively. Though in equal fairness, that’s because they are asked about the issue more. It’s when the topic comes up about how Trump and his party should campaign with his approval hovering around 32%. And with the economy terrible for most people, with affordability being the number one issue. And support of Trump’s Iran War of choice so massively unpopular. And high gas prices. And trusting MAGOPs’ handling of the economy now below trusting Democrats more. What should Trump and his party do to turn that around? (“Punt” or “Wave the white flag and beg for mercy” are not options.)
What analysts tend to say that that what Trump and MAGOPs have to do to pivot and change the narrative for the party.
It’s at that point I laugh, and want to shout back at them through the TV screen – “Trump is not going to pivot! That’s not who Trump is. Have you not figured that out yet, after 10 years since he was elected in his first term??” But it’s more than that.
First of all, Trump doesn’t apologize. He doubles down. He never thinks he’s wrong. He never thinks he makes mistakes. He sells merchandize that says, “Trump has been right about everything.” He can’t be wrong, he can’t make mistakes, he can’t lose. Being wrong makes you a loser, and being a loser is the worst thing in the world to Trump. Just last week, he was asked about the growing disaster of sailors on the U.S.S. Lincoln living under terrible conditions, writing home about how distraught they are, some men attempting suicide. And when asked about it, he actually said that the families are lying about it. And when asked if the ship has been deployed for too long, he not only answered “No, but then added, “Not long enough.” This is not someone who admits mistakes and pivots.
Secondly, he has dementia. And one of the core symptoms of dementia is a lack of awareness of the real world, and repeating the same thing you focus on, over and over and over. Indeed, it’s the very opposite of pivoting. It’s the obsession to double down -- and triple down, and keep on. Furthermore, dementia is degenerative. He is not going to get better. He’s not going to change direction. As psychologist Dr. John Gartner of Johns Hopkins has said, “Take a look at Trump now, because it’s the best you will ever see him.” Trump is deeply focused, intensely dug in, relentlessly repetitive. It’s basically all he can do. He’s still trying to prosecute losing the 2020 election. Still wants to take over Greenland. Still keeps raising tariffs. Still claiming his Reflecting Pool was vandalized. Trump is not going to change course. Not going to pivot. Not going to say he is wrong about anything. Not, not, not, not, not.
And third, Trump has a 32% approval. The public has figured out who he is. It’s baked in. This, right now, is what people will be voting on. If somehow a bulldozer came in and was able to uproot Trump and his MAGOP enablers in Congress from their long-entrenched positions and somehow “pivot” them however much as possible just 78 days before the Mid-Term Election – in fact only around 56 days before earlier voting starts in most states (and even a mere 37 days in some!) – the public has decided who Trump is, after watching him closely in politics for the past 10 years. They’ve heard the same stories, the same complaints, the same policies, the same racism, the same hatred, the same “in two weeks,” all of it. They get it. It’s why he only has a 32% approval, less than two years after voting to elect him. Americans know who Trump is by now. And two-thirds of them don’t approve.
So, right now, if Trump and his party are trying to figure out what to do, saying to “pivot” and change course is a great idea a year ago, but right now, weeks away, they’re headed for the giant iceberg, and it’s too late to turn the Titanic away from crashing into to it. Hoping for the best that Trump will pivot and all will be well is a fool’s paradise. Trump is not going to change and make things better. He’s on a path to making things worse. The best thing for the MAGOP may be to acknowledge to themselves who they are, understand what they’ve long-established themselves to be, and try desperately to explain to Americans why it’s all great – as they get the lifeboats ready. The problem, of course, is that the public is showing they hate it. And can see the iceberg. But maybe it will staunch the bleeding and limit the losses.
This is know as the "Hope for the best" strategy.
The risk, of course, is that it will infuriate people so much it will make things worse. But at this point, Trump and MAGOPs are past the line of worrying about the risk. They crossed into the disaster zone many months ago. But their own choice. And kept doubling down. Following the leader.
But then, as Trump said this past March at the Future Investment Initiative event in Miami --
"I hang out with losers because it makes me feel better. I hate guys that are very, very successful and you have to listen to their success stories. I like people that like to listen to my success."
Oh, yeah, this really is a guy who's going to pivot and change. Though having a 32% approval might just be part of the plan for hanging out with losers.
Though in the end, the late Lindsey Graham is the one who got it right in 2016 during the primaries of the then-Republican Party before it went full MAGOP --
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed -- and we will deserve it.”
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