trump trys to get ukraine to meddle in 2020 election

It was no accident that Ronald Reagan was a movie star. Since time immemorial, and certainly since the rise of the era of mass media, it has mattered whether a politician has personal magnetism and can draw attention. This shouldn’t obscure the fact that Trump was the best politician in the 2016 field, and may well be the best one in the 2024 field, too.īeneath all the Trumpian qualities, there’s a politician with many of the traditional attributes long cultivated and prized by candidates and officeholders.īen Bradlee, the legendary executive editor of The Washington Post, once dismissed a job candidate because, “Nothin’ clanks when he walks.” That sense of charisma and authority is even more important in politicians than journalists, and Trump, who has now starred in three different realms - business, TV and politics - has the ability to command a room that can’t be taught or learned.

There’s no doubt that his base will countenance almost anything he does, and come up with sometimes-contradictory justifications for whatever needs to be justified at any given moment. The attachment of a substantial portion of the GOP to Trump is usually attributed to its irrational bond to the former president. Alienating the middle of the electorate cost him in 2020, and it will be a major drag on his 2024 prospects should he win the GOP nomination again. If Trump could have managed to conduct himself a little more appropriately as president, he’d likely still be in office today. Most of this is a detriment to him, not to mention his party and country.

There’s much that’s unique to Trump, for better and mostly worse - the taunts and nicknames, the drive to create his own reality immune to facts and rationality, the unwillingness to honor basic norms, the serial break-ups with and denunciations of his own officials, among other idiosyncrasies and flaws.

The Occam’s razor explanation for Trump’s continued strength is that he’s a good politician, more so than is commonly recognized.

Trump trys to get ukraine to meddle in 2020 election