Many of the same voices who assured us in 2016 that there was no way in heck, with all of the standard metrics for previous elections that Donald J. Trump would become our president, are telling us similar things these days.
This particular citizen...and kossack...has been trying to remind everyone at every opportunity that Trump’s biggest strength in 2016 is also one of his biggest strengths this year: being underestimated (this time, combined with the power of incumbency, which he intends to play to the max).
The purpose of this diary is not to discourage anyone. It most certainly is not intended to discourage anyone from doing everything they possibly can to prevent this monster...and his co-conspirators...from continuing to destroy this country.
In fact, my view is similar to kos, Yosef 57 and so many others who continue to insist that the best chance we have to overcome all of the obstacles, including the obstacle of underestimating Trump at every turn, is to focus like a laser on get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts to ensure we have a superior ground game to overcome him. They and others are all correct, that we need to keep the pedal to the medal from now until election day.
However, having said that, we cannot dismiss Trump and the power he has. Or, more importantly, the power that those who support him have. Just because Trump has, in fact, been one of the, if not the single most incompetent president in American history, doesn’t mean he can’t lie, cheat and steal his way into another four years in office with the vast array of resources and power from those backing him.
Yes, it’s true that virtually everything Trump touches turns to crap due to his own incompetence and those of the lackluster flunkies with whom he surrounds himself. But that didn’t stop him in the business world, despite his bankruptcies and business failures, both of which constitute most of his business career. And just because he has been an abject, incompetent failure in the White House, doesn’t mean he can’t lie, cheat and steal his way into office for another four years, with the help of those backing him.
But it’s not just me saying that. How about taking a look at an article by Jason Sattler in the USA Today (see link below).
Much like me, he is sending out a warning that we must not underestimate Trump’s chances again.
www.yahoo.com/…
Yes, we have one of the strongest tickets we could possibly hope for in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Yes, we are currently leading in the polls (but, as Sattler aptly points out, not by much more than in 2016 in those very same key states that flipped the Electoral College to Trump in 2016). Yes, we have enthusiasm, motivation and energy on our side, with unprecedented Democratic unity due to the ongoing negligence, incompetence and corruption of the Conman-In-Chief and his corrupt political cronies in the White House. Yes, we have grassroots fundraising on our side, so much so that Biden, after lackluster fundraising efforts during the primaries, is now on the verge of erasing that deficit.
However, we cannot let that prevent us from looking at this election clear-eyed in the same reality-based way that this website was founded upon. We cannot put on blinders and say that just because we see the blatant incompetence and corruption that that means that Trump can’t finagle his way into another four years in office. Trump may be abjectly incompetent and corrupt, but that doesn’t mean that the powers behind him are. And just because Trump’s chicanery involving the Post Office seems to be backfiring on him, politically, doesn’t mean that he won’t still use it, and any other way he can to try to cheat his way into another four years.
So...what are we do do you might ask?
Just like former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to notoriously do all the time, let me indulge in the luxury of being able to both ask and answer my own question:
We must, first and foremost, not underestimate Trump. He’s been underestimated at every step of that way. And, no, that’s not “giving him too much credit,” as some people claim. It’s acknowledging facts, truth and reality. That he not only was capable of violating virtually every major piece of political “wisdom” in 2016 to slither his way into office, but he and his cronies are still fully capable of slithering his way into office for another four years, by hook or by crook.
Based on all available evidence, Joe Biden is in the catbird’s seat, in terms of being able to win a free and fair election. Many writers on this site have pointed that out. And it’s true...as long as we end up actually having a free and fair election. We can be cautiously optimistic, evenly incautiously optimistic. But what we shouldn’t be is dismissive of the possibility that Trump...and the forces behind him...could well thwart the will of the American public yet again.
As Sattler points out, Trump clearly has a plan to steal the election. And he’s not clear whether Democrats have a plan to stop him. That’s the challenge currently facing us.
Luckily for us Democrats, we do have some time.
Update:
And, luckily for us, Joe Biden is not unaware of what we’re facing, having already assembled a team of 600 lawyers and 10,000 volunteers to prevent Trump from stealing the election.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/08/14/donald-trump-republicans-rig-2020-election-defraud-voters-column/3345059001/
A bit more research led me to the following article, also in USA Today, which outlines a plan of action to organize an outside, “independent effort to protect our elections” including bipartisan election monitors consisting of former presidents.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/08/14/donald-trump-republicans-rig-2020-election-defraud-voters-column/3345059001/
And we have many groups working diligently to thwart Trump’s plans to lie, cheat and steal his way into office for four more years. The House of Representatives will hold hearings on Trump’s Post Office shenanigans.
And the following Mother Jones article is about a group called “National Task Force on Election Crises,” a bipartisan group of experts who are gaming out potential election catastrophes...and coming up with solutions in advance.
While this group hasn’t necessarily solved all potential problems we may face, it’s a start. It seems to me that this type of aggressive, pro-active effort can help us ensure a free and fair election and prevent the chaos that Trump and his team will likely try to stoke.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/can-a-group-of-policy-experts-prevent-an-election-catastrophe-in-2020/
Any other ideas about what we might do to be help prevent Trump from stealing the election?
