Like a lot of people who take time to comment on substacks, I've a read a zillion takes about "why Trump won and won again". He tapped into a latent nativism, the "China shock" was more impactful then we realized, there is a latent bigotry in this country that had become verboten to speak about from prominent politicians that he tapped i…
Like a lot of people who take time to comment on substacks, I've a read a zillion takes about "why Trump won and won again". He tapped into a latent nativism, the "China shock" was more impactful then we realized, there is a latent bigotry in this country that had become verboten to speak about from prominent politicians that he tapped into, it's the inflation stupid, he doesn't talk like 20 different consultants crafted his answer, his existing celebrity etc. All explanations that I think have some validity to an extent (especially the "it's the inflation stupid" one).
And yet I hear this man speak for five minutes and to this day 10 years later, I think to myself "how in god's name do you think this man is capable of running the lemonade stand let alone be in charge of the most powerful military in the world. He literally can't put basic sentences together. If you're uncle talked like this, you'd have a family conversation about whether you need to take the car keys".
Call me an out of touch elite all you want but to this day, I honestly think the correct answer to his fans is "seriously this guy?! How can you possibly vote for this man?"
Right. I don't care what inflation is like, or how unsettled Americans were by the pandemic; it's never the right move to vote for the wrong candidate. And I have difficulty imagining a candidate worse than Trump.
(I say that now, but in 2028 Scott Baio will no doubt be competing for the Republican nomination.)
November 2024 thoroughly disabused me that Americans care about the moral character of the President. What a tragedy. If a candidate is considered better on the economy and security (even undeservedly or falsely), that seems to be enough. I think Trump could have literally shot someone on Fifth Avenue and he either still would have won or come damn close.
Like a lot of people who take time to comment on substacks, I've a read a zillion takes about "why Trump won and won again". He tapped into a latent nativism, the "China shock" was more impactful then we realized, there is a latent bigotry in this country that had become verboten to speak about from prominent politicians that he tapped into, it's the inflation stupid, he doesn't talk like 20 different consultants crafted his answer, his existing celebrity etc. All explanations that I think have some validity to an extent (especially the "it's the inflation stupid" one).
And yet I hear this man speak for five minutes and to this day 10 years later, I think to myself "how in god's name do you think this man is capable of running the lemonade stand let alone be in charge of the most powerful military in the world. He literally can't put basic sentences together. If you're uncle talked like this, you'd have a family conversation about whether you need to take the car keys".
Call me an out of touch elite all you want but to this day, I honestly think the correct answer to his fans is "seriously this guy?! How can you possibly vote for this man?"
Right. I don't care what inflation is like, or how unsettled Americans were by the pandemic; it's never the right move to vote for the wrong candidate. And I have difficulty imagining a candidate worse than Trump.
(I say that now, but in 2028 Scott Baio will no doubt be competing for the Republican nomination.)
November 2024 thoroughly disabused me that Americans care about the moral character of the President. What a tragedy. If a candidate is considered better on the economy and security (even undeservedly or falsely), that seems to be enough. I think Trump could have literally shot someone on Fifth Avenue and he either still would have won or come damn close.