Posted on 11/15/2022 8:46:24 PM PST by grey_whiskers
I was waiting eagerly for Trump’s Mar-A-Lago announcement tonight. After the enormous energy of the promised Red Wave, and having Trump’s election night rally end up without any announcement, and then the painful anticlimax of watching victory after victory slip away in a week of “extended counting,” (*) followed by a increasing stream of both Washington insiders and supposed grass-roots right-of-center influencers, solemnly intoning the mantra, “Trump is over. It’s his fault” I was eager to hear what The Donald would have to say. Surely he would have some choice words, and energy to rally the GOP grass roots.
And I began watching the streaming version several minutes late. What I first noted was, by comparison to his other speeches, a certain lack of focus, almost listlessness, or distraction, as if he were merely going through the motions. I had even had hope he was going to unveil dead-to-rights evidence of voter fraud. But instead he seemed tired, or (dare I borrow one of his own phrases?) “Low energy.” Has he been reduced to this? And our hopes (put not your hope in princes) dashed as well?
But then, he announced his candidacy. Even though at first it seemed underwhelming — where was the laser focus, the personal presence, the power? But as he went on, I noticed a change in the crowd. Not just in person, online commenters who were watching, and on political discussion boards picked it up too. A feeling of perseverance, of determination, of doubling down, even when things seem impossible. And I noticed something else. A number of people, who had been wavering on the sidelines, or had considered giving up, were saying, "I was giving up on him, and on elections, but not now.”
What is the change? I think it has to do with the psychological and social dynamics. When Donald Trump ran the first time, he was a firebrand — even drive-in radio programs (yes, this was before COVID) had segments called “Trump Tweets” where the outrageous, unstatesman-like comments could be savored with a guilty thrill of “OMG he said what?” And of course, he absorbed all the energy in the room: and the press couldn’t *help* but follow him around, to try to catch him in a gaffe. But I had begun to wonder, in the lead up to this election, and with an eye to 2024, if that approach would work anymore: not only is he not on Twitter, not only has Twitter been bought out, but many of the things that he said in the old days of more genteel politics, are no longer shocking, because they are seen as truisms.
(“Fake News” to name only one. Most people no longer watch the TV or give any credence to the talking heads’ opinions.)
And it is in realizing that, that I saw what the speech was. This is no longer the ping-pong game of “every 4 years let’s change who’s in the White House, and swap a few House or Senate Seats.” The country has gone down hill a LOT. High gas prices, inflation such as has not been seen since Jimmy Carter, a humiliating defeat in Afghanistan, possible war with Russia, and a host of other problems. All since President Trump left the White House.
People want someone who can handle the problems. And people no longer see politics as a game. They have real problems and want someone who is confident and competent enough to solve them. By speaking in somber tones, Trump is matching the mood of the country; quite unlike the ramblings of the senile old man and his giggling bimbo currently in the White House, and his cadre of cross-dressing Commissars, or the House and Senate full of posturing grifters. (Did you know that AOC after two years in Congress, went from being a bartender to a net worth of millions? And on a salary of only $174,000 / year? How has YOUR net worth changed in the last 2 years?)
To borrow from The Lord of The Rings, “The Beacons are Lit! Donald Trump calls for our aid!”
Will you go to him?
(*) I am convinced, that this was done intentionally, to subconsciously remind people of the overt theft in 2020, when a senile dementia patient who didn’t campaign, who spoke on video of “largest election fraud organization in history” somehow got 81 million votes, even if they had to stop counting in the middle of the night in five swing states and bus in ballots to do it. The better to demoralize the American people.)
People want someone who can handle the problems. And people no longer see politics as a game. They have real problems and want someone who is confident and competent enough to solve them. By speaking in somber tones,
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