Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump announced that he intends to run for the presidensity in 2025. "Quelle surprise!", said no-one at all. "Trump 2024" signs, flags, t-shirts, etc. had already appeared just over two years ago.
An even better slogan (IMHO), which has been voiced by millions of his supporters, if not directly by President Trump himself, is the one featured on the signs shown at left, now available at most Walmart stores (offer void in Philthydelphia, LA and Portland OR).
Mr Trump's speech, less bombastic than usual, offered little that was new. It was largely a mix of boasts about his record and attacks on the first two years of the Brandon presidency.He said next to nothing about the hardships and missteps of the first years of the Covid pandemic. Nor did he talk about the events of Jan. 6th, or the fake "democracy is in danger" claims of the Democrats and their lickspittle media.
He didn't appear to have been weakened by, or indeed to have given any though to the lack of success of some of the star candidates he endorsed, who went down to defeat. Kari Lake and Dr Oz come to mind. Instead of indicating a rethink of why they might have lossed, he played to the issues which continue to be important to grassroots voters, such as immigration, crime, and Bidenflation.
As noted, the speech was low-key (by Mr Trump's standards), and there appeared to be little of the usual energy in the room. Nevertheless, his announcement drove news coverage last night, despite the attempts of President Brandon to shift the spotlight to the latest "crisis", the unexplained explosion near the Polish border with Ukraine.
Make what you will of the speech. The fact remains that President Trump has a base of loyal supporters who, even now, will turn out in their thousands just to be in The Presence.
That said, it cannot be denied that Mr Trump is no longer as popular as he was six years ago. Recent polls of Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire showed him trailing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a head-to-head contest by double-digits.
Governor DeSantis also led in Florida by 26 points, and by 20 in Georgia. We'll see what happens to Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker in the Georgia run-off election on December 1st. If he loses, that will amount to an indirect vote of "no confidence" in President Trump.
The results of the midterms show that President Trump's words and actions in the weeks leading up to the election influenced voter behaviour... and may continue to do so well into the next election cycle. Many GOP candidates who voiced full-throated support for Mr Trump did poorly compared with others who were less vocal.
Many Republicans are starting to say (cautiously) that Mr Trump has had his hour in the sun, that revenge is not a good plan for the future, and that it's time for a new generation to take over. They long for someone who can lead the GOP away from battles of the past, forward to victory in 2024.
The chief beneficiary of the sentiment for change is Ron DeSantis -- labelled "Ron DeSanctimonious" in last night's speech -- who trounced his opponent on November 8th, and carried most of Florida with him. (That includes a large chunk of the Hispanic vote, increasingly critical in the Sunshine State.) Mr DeSantis is 44. Mr Trump is 76. That's a hyuge generation gap!
Among those saying that President Trump should pass the torch to Governor DeSantis is Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son and heir apparent of Rupert Murdoch. The co-chair of News Corp. and director of the parent company of Fox News has reportedly told Mr DeSantis that the group would back him if he ran in the next election.
"Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time," said a source within the Murdoch group. "He's viewed within the organisation as a sanitised version of Donald." The New York Post calls him "DeFuture", and a Fox News column declares him "the new Republican party leader". Governor DeSantis has not yet declared his intention too compete for the GOP nomination. As usual, Walt sez... stay tuned!
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