Voter polls taken (nearly) a year ahead of the 2024 election are notoriously misleading, but there has to be some fear when Donald Trump and Joe Biden poll nearly equally. I have been banging my head to understand how my many Republican friends are getting in line with Trump, when I know that they see the same dangers in his second presidency that I do.
Liz Cheney, once a Republican leader in the House of Representatives is hawking a new book and making the rounds of cable news media. She argues that Trump would be an imminent and existential threat to our democracy. And she argues that the end to rule of law is probable because he would ignore court decisions which he disagrees with, ending this experiment with a democratic republic.
I am beginning to understand why Republicans who know better are standing behind the “Orange Jesus,” as one House Republican referred to him. It is just a matter of winning at all costs. There are a significant percentage of unthinking Trump Cult members who support Trump and always will, despite overwhelming evidence that he should never be allowed within a mile of the White House. Other Republicans recognize that without that 33% of voters they will lose to the liberals, who they detest. There are also the fearful office holders of the party who believe that if they cross Trump, a primary opponent will be recruited to take their cherished job.
There are other factors at play here within dysfunctional Democratic Party supporters. Youthful voters are distrustful of an 81-year-old president. Hispanics, who should be Biden’s most loyal supporters, are confused. Black males are not supportive, either. That leaves an opportunity for Trump to win, if not for those troublesome four criminal indictments and the 91 felony charges he is facing. I suspect that the 2024 election will be an interesting match between a dawdling old Biden and a criminal Trump.
Let the show begin.
Thomas Oatway
Valencia
