The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board is worried that Trump is blowing the election and warns that the problem for Republicans is their candidate.
The Murdoch-owned Journal paints a picture of an electorate that wants to elect a Republican, which reads like a fantasy novel from the editorial board, but eventually, they get into the Trump problem.
The problem is the candidate. Mr. Trump has his passionate followers who don’t want to hear a discouraging word. Yet the political reality is that he has a ceiling of support that is below 50% because so many Americans dislike him. And now that he is in the news every day campaigning, he is reminding those voters why they didn’t vote to re-elect him in 2020.
Ms. Harris in particular seems to have unnerved him as he scrambles but fails to find an attack line that works. He’s said she “doesn’t like Jewish people,” though her husband is Jewish. He’s attacked her racial identity, which alienates swing voters. He calls her “low IQ” and “dumb,” as if the school-yard insult will persuade anyone.
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Mr. Trump seems to think he’s still leading in the polls against a feeble incumbent. That overconfidence is what led him to choose Mr. Vance, who hasn’t reassured voters on the fence about Mr. Trump. The former President doesn’t seem to realize he’s now in a close race that requires discipline and a consistent message to prevail. And his struggles are hurting GOP candidates for the House and Senate.
All of this underscores the risk that GOP voters took in nominating Mr. Trump for a third time. They had younger alternatives who would have been fresher voices and could have served two terms. But primary voters wanted to nominate Mr. Trump as a quasi-incumbent who they came to believe had his second term stolen by the Covid election.
Outside Of 1 Lucky Election In 2016, Trump Has Been A Loser
None of what the Journal wrote was new. The same complaints have been made about Trump for years by some on the right because the critics see what the MAGA base that controls the Republican primaries won’t. Donald Trump is not popular. Trump loses winnable elections for Republicans. Trump really isn’t a winner.
After eight years of Obama’s excellence in office, a perfect storm was in a place where Democrats were complacent, Republicans were seething with racial resentment and desperate to return to power, and the middle wanted a fresh voice.
Hillary Clinton was the perfect opponent for Trump. Clinton was treated misogynistically. The media was already hostile toward her from decades of Clinton scandals. Hillary Clinton was not the fresh face or new voice that motivated those looking for change; her campaign was conventional, and she had no clue how to counter Trump.
Even with all of those factors in his favor and Russian election interference on his behalf, Trump lost the popular vote and barely squeaked out an Electoral College win.
As time passes, it is looking more like 2016 was a fluke. Donald Trump’s real track record has been one of losing, underperformance, and defeat for his party. The fact that Donald Trump continued to cost his party elections even after he was out of office should have been a red flag for Republicans.
With each day, as the Harris-Walz momentum solidifies, the question inches closer to becoming, not will Trump blow the election, but how badly will the ex-president lose it?
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
