It is working. Democratic voters are falling for it.
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| Joe Biden |
Trump is trolling Biden because Biden is the Democrat he can most easily beat.
It isn't that complicated.
Trump teases and criticizes Biden and several things happen.
1. Biden is the one getting media oxygen.
2. Biden positioned as the guy in the one-to-one matchup against Trump, the Democratic alternative to Trump.
3. It confirms Biden as the frontrunner so the other candidates are diminished in comparison, creating the image of "Biden and the 23 dwarfs."
Trump is picking the Democratic candidate for them by elevating Biden.
Biden has structural flaws as a candidate. He divides the Democrats between the progressive and liberal factions the persistent Bernie/Hillary division. Biden reflects the establishment, special interests Democratic Party, the one that missed the restless populist energy.
Biden goes to more fundraisers than he does rallies. And he has a leisurely schedule. That meme is circulating: he is the corporate guy, the guy with bundlers. Money, not people.
Biden goes to more fundraisers than he does rallies. And he has a leisurely schedule. That meme is circulating: he is the corporate guy, the guy with bundlers. Money, not people.
Biden is the one on defense. He is pressed to explain past decisions on crime and incarceration, on Anita Hill, on hand-on campaigning, on Iraq, on immigration, on plagiarism. Biden is the one minimizing, explaining, looking backward.
Plus, Biden looks fit, but old. He walks like he doesn't want to fall.
It is the perfect matchup for Trump: new Trump versus old Biden, vigorous versus "sleepy," attacker versus attacked, Trump future versus Biden past.
Trump doesn't plan, but he has good instincts for political street fighting, and Biden is the opponent that makes Trump look good. Trump likes the fight. His base likes to see him fighting. Biden is the one he wants to fight.
Observe what happened when Trump criticized Buttigieg. Buttigieg got great publicity for his artful slap back. Buttigieg said "I don't care" and it made Trump look petty. Buttigieg turned the Alfred E. Neuman jibe into a joke at Trump's expense, getting big laughs for calling it Trump's version of a "literary reference." It elevated Buttigieg.
Trump has re-focused back to easier prey, to Biden, with tweets so unexpected and outrageous that the very fact of the tweets make news:
"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that's sending me a signal?"
The media took the bait: Look at Trump! Now Trump has North Korea doing it, flattering Trump! Swampman! Low IQ!
It is cynical and smart for Trump: more media oxygen for Biden, doing the one thing that unifies Democrats, sparring with Trump.
The best thing that could happen to Kamala Harris or Michael Bennet or the other candidates would be to be the subject of nasty tweets by Trump. There are a lot of electable Democrats in the race.
Michael Bennet? Who is he? Trump isn't saying. He is tweeting about Biden.
Democrats are being played.
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| Newsworthy tweet. |
Michael Bennet? Who is he? Trump isn't saying. He is tweeting about Biden.
Democrats are being played.
3 comments:
Biden may be this cycle's Jeb.
I don't think the general public is paying much attention yet, though the media is itchin' for a fight and certainly attempting to get these roosters rilled up. I don't follow Trump's tweets, the cult does, it's their daily dose of self-affirming BS. I think Democrats, and maybe voters in general, pretty much assume Trump will heckle whomever is ascendant so the impact may be a lot less than you may think.
Uniting the wannabe-Republicans-with-a-conscience-corporate-loving Democrats with genuine Progressives will be daunting. The tension comes from the mulish DCCC stance of "lessor of two evils", ergo Biden, demand of allegiance from Progressives. Yeah, that worked out so well last time...
This plethora of candidates indicates to me that, unlike 2016 when Ms. Clinton seemed unassailable, there is genuine alarm and a rush to the gates, coupled with some pretty raw political opportunism. Not pretty.
Why should Trump waste his time Tweeting about Michael Bennett, when Bennett gets less that 1% of the vote in democrat candidate polls? Why should Trump publicize Bennett (and provide name recognition), or to any of the other 20 "dwarfs". Right now, democrat voters prefer Biden, Bernie, and Warren, according to polls. Since one of the three has the most probability of being nominated, then they are the ones Trump is focusing on. Should a democrat "dwarf" get the nomination, then Trump will attack that person too. The best chance that democrats have of beating Trump is by nominating someone who has a "fresh face", and then they don't have the political baggage. Old war horses Biden, Bernie, and Warren have lots of baggage, and their faces aren't fresh. Expect to see a different new fresh face come election time.
Most voters don't have the time or interest to pay attention to the candidates or the media.
Newspapers and other print media are read by fewer and fewer people.
Entertainment shows present the candidates, and policy is the last thing those hosts want to talk about.
The op-ed shows look more and more like late night entertainment shows, too.
Sooo...there won't be any of those 24 candidates rising up to a knowing,w majority for at least 6 more months.
Recall that Trump won only a 3rd of the voters throughout most of the primary season in 2016. Money didn't seem to help anyone; only airtime seemed to make a difference.
If there's any chance for a D to win, it will only happen when 23 of the 24 step back, so the uninformed can rally behind the annointed one.
Yes, Trump is playing the Ds.
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