Every few days, my friend Terry, an experienced astute observer of things political sends me his opinions on the current election. Here below he comments on He Who Is Not My President’s desecration of the White House and Paul Waldman’s article in Washington Post
The article below is a heavy dose of reality, after the Nazi era spectacle at the White House. “Trump’s finale” was a speech right out of Herbert Hoover’s era charging:
“a Roosevelt victory will lead to weeds growing in streets of empty, impoverished American cities“.
Sound familiar.
Trump’s speechwriters appear to have been inspired by that 88-year-old Hoover speech. It didn’t work. Americans believed the reality of the tragedy in front of their faces. Not in a fantasy world of Hoover’s “recovery is right around the corner”.
Sound familiar.
For the last 100 days or so the average Biden lead has not varied much: between 6 Points early on to 8 -9 Points now. Voters, to the extent they tuned in (ratings said 15m+ did), have to buy 4 dubious Arguments that a Biden America will cause violent gangs to take over the cities; the suburbs; and will lead to a socialist, impoverished, America.
Since the Republicans have been saying something similar to this since 2018, there is not much data that indicate Americans are buying it beyond Trump’s base. And, Biden’s near 50-year history in public office makes that case very difficult to sell. Bernie Sanders, he is not.
As the article below lays out, such a case is a dead-end for Trump, because it’s coming from him, and he long ago lost the moral authority to sell it. However, it’s an argument they, and he, are comfortable making and know how to make. The problem is, it doesn’t change minds or votes.
The bottom line: All will be well.
We just need to get out our vote!
FOOTNOTE: The NBA just announced they will offer all of their arenas as SAFE POLLING PLACES for this election. That’s a creative start.
Note: From Paul Waldman’s Opinion, So far, Trump’s fearmongering about Biden destroying America isn’t working:
Voters have to believe that mayhem is coming to every town in America, and Biden will make it happen. It's a tough sell.
Without knowing exactly what has convinced the Trump campaign that this is the winning formula, I’d guess that as much as anything else it’s familiar territory for them, and for Trump himself. Stoking fears of chaos and violence is something they’re pretty good at, and have done many times before.
But it doesn’t always work; you may remember that before the 2018 election, Trump made a huge deal out of “caravans” of criminal immigrants who were coming from Central America to invade our country and rampage through the land. The voters didn’t buy it, and Democrats won a huge victory.
While there’s still time for this race to change, we haven’t yet seen any evidence that voters are convinced by Trump’s terrifying picture of every town and city in flames. He may have to come up with yet another message to make people recoil from Biden.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/28/so-far-trumps-fearmongering-about-biden-destroying-america-isnt-working/
