The first thing Donald Trump needs to do is be dogged. He can manage that. The second most important thing was to have a plan and a team of attorneys in each state that looked like it might be vulnerable to fraud. Trump didn't do that. I think even if he had, there might not be enough fraud out there to overturn the election results (though maybe a state of two), but still, that's a big miss. That's the sort of planning he didn't do, and now he's playing catch up. He's trying to cover that by being dramatic and difficult, but that is largely irrelevant. Even if he's right about the media calling states, and even if he's right about 50% of his specific accusations of fraud, it is the legal challenges that matter.
Biden, on the other hand, is making statements calculated to give his supporters the impression that he is seeking unity, but his actions are divisive. This is the unity of "We'll all get along if you do it my way. Anyone who doesn't is defined as spoiling it for others." Seth Lipsky of the NY Sun puts it quite well. (Link via Powerline.)
The next chapter will be media and Democratic politicians telling us that "everyone" is getting tired of Trump continuing to fight this obviously useless battle and making all these wild claims. Well, no. The people who already didn't like him were tired of it before it started. They are just trying to create a bandwagon effect to convince you that you're tired of it too. Whether this is dishonest at a conscious level or at the more profound unconscious level of equating their feelings with the nation's feelings I don't know. They will find some people as examples to interview about that. "See? We told you. Everyone's tired of this. Just listen to what Judy Allen of Walla Walla, who says she voted for Trump both times, is saying now."
It's fascinating to listen to the gushing comments about healing, and feelings of relief. Really? The opposition party moved up to a temporary disadvantage of only 40-60* in national power over the last few years and you need to be healed of that? How much is enough? You're not happy until you have it all? I don't know how many Democrats are actually drama queens about this, but I hope it's only the ones grabbing the microphones, while the others are just pleased and going on about their day. That I can live with.
*I just made that up, of course. You can weight the influence of the Administrative State, or Big Tech, media, lobbyists, or whatever differently and come out with other numbers. I might agree with you.
2 comments:
I think the Trump team thought they had beaten the margin of fraud. One of the last communications I saw reported was their analysis of their position with regard to the early vote that projected narrow but still significant margins based on past vote totals. In theory those totals should have included any normal level of 'irregularities'. If anything caught them off guard it's the appearance that the Dems decided to not just manufacture thousands of votes but 10s of thousands.
Either way, a serious mistake. If you are in that deep, you see it through. As such considerations have implications for seeing a war through, or a legislative project, it highlights both his strengths and weaknesses.
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