Donald Trump Should Not Run For The Presidency
Nov 9, 2022 2022 Election, Opinion
I was hoping to be invited to play golf at one of Trump’s resorts, but I think this will put an end to that.
I was, and to some extent, still am a Trump supporter. I think his first term in office was effective and good for America. We had record employment, low inflation and a stock market that was humming right along. Despite 4 years of constant torture by the left (and some on the right) Trump managed to stay effective. I know in my heart he won the election in 2020 and that it was stolen from him in a grand act of treason by the left and some on the right. The swamp needed him out. Trump, unlike Biden, could not be manipulated by the people who really call the shots.
But there were then and are now things about Trump that drive me nuts. His ego and his mouth constantly get in the way. He is like the child who will do or say anything to be noticed by others. Look, here I am see me!!! He is a counterpuncher and I like that. I like that he will fight back but he does not know when to keep his mouth shut. His biggest issue in that regard is that he must always be the center of attention. He must be the one all others look to. No matter what, his actions are designed to keep him in the spotlight.
That might seem great to some, but it is detrimental to the team. Two things from the past week lay that out quite clearly.
At an event Trump called the Florida Governor Ron Desanctimonious. Trump likes to give people little nicknames. Most are degrading (though accurate like Crooked Hillary) but DeSantis is an ally. He is the younger wing of the party that is every much a counter puncher as Trump but without the mouth, the ego and the baggage.
Trying to be cute and call DeSantis a name in an effort to diminish his status got some chuckles but it did not play well with the base. DeSantis is genuinely liked and when Trump violated Parkinson’s 11th Commandment, popularized by Ronald Reagan, “Thou salt not speak ill of any fellow Republican”, many felt it was inappropriate. This has been a problem with Trump for a very long time. He simply does not know how to keep his mouth shut.
Case in point. It has long been speculated, and Trump has hinted, that he will run for the presidency again. That appeals to the base of avid Trump followers, but it scares many on the outer edges of the party. While Trump works hard, there is no doubt about that, and could outwork many people half his age (and could outwork Biden on Trump’s worst day), he is in his 70s. He is an old man, a hard-working old man, but old none the less. Many younger folks want new blood in the races and many older folks are not ready for a return to the chaos that Trump creates.
I often wonder if his business empire is full of this amount of chaos.
The second thing Trump did that demonstrated a lack of restraint is announcing, on the eve of what was anticipated to be a wave election, that he had a very big announcement to make and that he would make it a week from election day (look here I am, see me). Speculation had been that he would announce his intention to run for the presidency on election eve, but he teased everyone with the very big announcement nonsense.
What was supposed to be a wave election focused on all of our candidates turned into a spotlight back on Trump and the belief that he just announced without actually saying it. Once again, he opened his mouth and sucked the air out of the room. He made it all about him. He could have waited until the day after the election. He could have waited until next week, but he lacked the discipline to keep his mouth shut for the good of the nation. How many people were terrified that if they put more Republicans in office Trump would see it as approval of his intention to run again? How many people decided not to vote after he opened his mouth in hope of reining him in and avoiding a future return to chaos? Maybe Dr. Oz underperformed in PA districts that Trump carried because people were not willing to vote after Trump’s announcement. We will never really know but Trump should have remained silent and let the election play out.
Trump is worried about others announcing they will run in 2024. Trump has stated that if anyone runs against him it will be seen as disloyalty. Sorry Sir, the presidency does not belong to you and no one owes you allegiance. They, just like you, are free to run and in fact, many will run but they had the discipline to keep it to themselves. Trump is worried that Ron DeSantis is gaining a lot of steam in the party and will be the preferred candidate for 2024. DeSantis is young, a heavy hitting counter puncher, a conservative and a man who has the discipline required to lead. He knows when to speak and more importantly, he knows when NOT to speak.
So, after Trump insulted Governor DeSantis and after his non announcement, announcement what happened? The people of Florida promptly gave DeSantis a landslide election in Florida and that was in most seats up and down the state. They made it clear he was the future of the Republican Party. They made it clear that of the two heavy hitters in Florida, DeSantis is the one they want leading them. DeSantis led Florida through the Covid nonsense, and he showed true leadership during Hurricane Ian and he did it without the chaos and drama that seems to be inherent in Donald Trump’s character. The state is markedly improved because of DeSantis’ leadership. Floridians respect that and they rewarded that.
I like Donald Trump, but I now think his time has come and gone. He should come out next Tuesday and say he has decided to semi retire and let his kids run the business while he enjoys his remaining years playing golf at his golf courses. He should also make it clear he is passing the torch to Ron DeSantis.
On Tuesday the wave never came, some Republicans lost their seats, and the Senate is in peril. The people Trump endorsed for national office floundered and only a few made it across the finish line. What did Trump do the day after an embarrassing election? He made it about himself once again by touting how well his endorsements did. Trump said it was a great midterm because he was 174-9 in endorsements. I think he might be embellishing but the reality is it was not a great midterm when the Republican Party that he is the de facto leader of failed to pick up very many seats against a senile president with economic woes and tons of other issues that should have made wins easy. Once again Trump had to make it about him.
The big winner in all this is not Donald Trump and it is not the Republican Party. It is certainly not the American people. No, the big winner is Joe Biden. That man is a demented doddering old fool who was in a position to suffer an embarrassing loss. He did not and he might actually suffer fewer losses than Trump did in his first midterm. Trump lost 40 seats. Biden will probably not lose that many (though I firmly believe cheating helped out in this regard).
While Trump celebrates a Pyrrhic victory, Joe Biden is taking a victory lap.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: Desantis, florida, leadership, new blood, trump
Hard Work Pays Off, Gilchrest is Gone
Feb 13, 2008 Political
The polls in Maryland closed 90 minutes late to allow people affected by an ice storm the opportunity to vote so results were late coming in. As it looks right now, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland’s 1st Congressional District has been defeated by State Senator Andy Harris. The absentee and provisional ballots need to be counted but I do not think there are enough of them in total to make a difference.
Regular readers will remember that I have not been happy with Congressman Gilchrest and that I had regularly corresponded with him in the last two years. I found some of his letters to me to be condescending and came off as if I did not understand the issues or how hard the job is. I made up my mind that I had had enough of him and that I would actively work to defeat him in the primaries if there was a better person challenging him. Andy Harris was that person. For his part, Mr. Gilchrest blew off the challenge in the early going by indicating that he has had challenges before. When it became apparent that he had a fight on his hands he started accepting PAC money to fight back.
This time, he lost. Andy Harris ran a good campaign though I believe all of the people vying for the seat embellished (or outright lied) a bit in their ads. I have not had the time to check each and every claim but out of those that I did, Harris was the most accurate. I made sure that all my contacts in the District knew about Andy and I made sure that my family all voted for him as well. Yesterday those efforts paid off.
I wish Mr. Gilchrest well. I thank him for his service to our country in both the Congress and in the US Marine Corps (he fought in Vietnam). He seems like a likable guy but his time has come. He spent too much time in DC and he voted with the Pelosi crowd far too often to be ignored. He claims that he always voted his conscience but it was obvious to me that he voted against the wishes of his constituents more often than not. As a Representative, his job was to represent and it seemed he stopped doing that.
Change is good and our next hurdle will be to get Harris elected in the general election. He will be a great asset to the District and he will conduct his work based on sound conservative principles.
Now, if the rest of the country can start turning over the long serving members and get some fresh blood in there we might be on a path to a better government. It is beyond me how so many people can run around praising the Barack star and his message of change and then vote for the same old moldy members of Congress.
People, change starts in the Congress and if we change them out every once in a while our system will be much better. A little grassroots work can get this accomplished. The 1st Congressional District in Maryland is proof that we can truly effect change if we set our minds to it.
Congratulations Mr. Harris. Now, on to the general election.
UPDATE: I have waited for Mr. Gilchrest to concede before posting this but he has yet to do so even though Mr. Harris has a 10 point (>7000 vote) lead. I am certain there will be no change in the outcome and can no longer wait for Mr. Gilchrest.