I see The New York Times has a report on Trump the Failure, if my reader will permit me to extrapolate from what little I’ve read.
Significance?
Zero. I fear the Trump bubble is made of iron and it’s locked tight. The report has no tangible impact on the lives of the Trump Tribe, so they won’t pay attention. They care nothing about his personal character; in fact, if he’s been devious and unsavory, an alleged tax cheat and draft dodger, they cheer him on all the more. As this point, he’s not attracting new adherents from the groups to his left (which, don’t get me wrong, is really far right, so I’m talking moderate Republicans), only from the far-far-right; I do not include those who cynically use him to achieve their aims while holding their noses, a far more dangerous practice than they should be comfortable with.
My question is whether reports such as this CNN report will have any impact:
[Richard] Ojeda’s campaign has at times been a one-man mission to call attention to one of the most economically desolate regions of the country — a reality that explains some of his populist positions. Ojeda loves coal jobs but loathes energy industry executives. He favors marijuana legalization because, he says, it’s a way to combat “Big Pharma” and loosen opioid addiction’s grip on southwestern West Virginia. He likes the generals surrounding Trump, but sees wealthy appointees like education secretary Betsy DeVos as anathema to Trump’s campaign promises.
He rocketed to stardom in West Virginia by leading the teachers’ revolt over years of Republican budget austerity — a backlash that quickly spread to other states. Now, educators have turbocharged his campaign, giving Ojeda an issue that appeals to voters of all political stripes.
His campaign has emerged as an important test for Democrats, who have watched rural, white areas like West Virginia’s 3rd District vote overwhelmingly Republican, and feared that — even with the right candidate and the right message — those voters were lost to the party forever.
Polls in recent weeks have shown Ojeda in a single-digit race behind Republican Carol Miller. And national Democrats see Ojeda’s previous support for Trump — and the reasons he turned on the President — as part of what makes him an appealing candidate.
Yep, a former Trump supporter, out in the open and running. He’s a former paratrooper who plays the part. And he’s a Democrat:
“It’s pretty simple the role that he fills: He is the return of the Democratic Party to really being the champion of the people. Not Wall Street, not Silicon Valley, not any corporate interest — but really fighting for working people in every community,” said Krystal Ball, a Democratic strategist who has worked closely with Ojeda through her political action committee, The People’s House Project.
If he wins, Ball said, Ojeda would be an “instant national voice in the Democratic Party, just because the odds are so long for him to be able to win the district.”
If Ojeda cannot persuade Trump voters to start thinking and evaluating in a critical manner, for themselves, who can? I’ll be quite interested in the results, as he’s running in a district won by Trump by 49 points. If he’s already gotten it down to single digits, he’s done quite well at making up ground. Can he get the last few yards?
Although it’d be better if he won by > 10 points.
And I feel a bit trashy, because I have no idea if he’d be competent at this job. None whatsoever.
