{"id":8129,"date":"2025-09-22T11:57:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=8129"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:48:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:48:20","slug":"the-end-of-the-barrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/the-end-of-the-barrel\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of the Barrel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Biden<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was forever ago, actually about fourteen months.  President Biden was in the throes of determining whether to run again or not.  He had a lot going for him:  an economy that was going up, inflation that was finally going down, and a series of laws passed that were almost universally approved.  The problem:  Biden completely failed in his June debate with Trump. He came out  looking like everything the opposition claimed he was:  old, tired, lost, perhaps even demented.  And those around him, who knew best that wasn\u2019t the case, were struggling to find a way out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing like a first impression (or a first re-introduction).  And Biden\u2019s performance played exactly into the hands of Trump.  When Trump said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what he said, and I don\u2019t think he even knows what he said\u201d, Trump showed his tremendous instinct for the political \u201ckill\u201d.  Even I agreed with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there was a month of \u201cwhat\u2019s he going to do\u201d.  I even wrote an essay, stating that the Democratic Party had no choice but to follow Biden\u2019s will, and double-down on his candidacy (Nailing It<\/a>).  But, it became clear that the leadership of the Party left Biden behind.  He had to make the choice (Changing Horses<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assassin\u2019s View<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In American history there is another, dark tradition.  It\u2019s political change at the end of a barrel; the immediate, unforeseeable consequence of the assassin\u2019s bullet.  On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, an assassin tried to take Donald Trump\u2019s life.  There is much to say about that whole episode; the failures of the Secret Service, the incredible swiftness of the investigation, determination, and cremation of the assassin himself, the miraculous condition of the candidate for President.  But it didn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was political \u201cmagic\u201d.  Trump went from a defeated, indicted, convicted, former President, to an icon of strength.  He fought his own protection agents to rise up and address the crowd, blood on his face, fist in the air, \u201cFight, Fight, Fight.\u201d  While some might question that Trump could be so heroic; the political imagery was undeniable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five Million Votes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my view, the election was decided right there, in Butler.  Current American elections are determined by one thing – turnout.  The contrast was mighty:  a seemingly befuddled Joe Biden and a heroic Trump.  It probably didn\u2019t change many voters, but it drove the Trump voters to the polls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 And that didn\u2019t change much when Kamala Harris took the nomination. In the end, Trump didn\u2019t defeat Harris.  It was the millions of voters, particularly in the \u201cswing\u201d states, that left the Vice President high and dry, not coming to the polls. 155,500,000 votes were cast in 2020, versus 150,327,000 in 2024.  That\u2019s five million voters, who might and probably would have supported the Democrat, who stayed home. The election was decided for Trump, who won by a little over two million votes nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martyr<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An assassin struck again a couple of weeks ago, this time with deadly accuracy.  Charlie Kirk, a darling of the MAGA-conservative movement, was struck down, on stage, in front of thousands of students.  Kirk was memorialized yesterday, a martyr to the MAGA cause.  Tens of thousands of admirers; the President and the Vice President, and almost every MAGA luminary was there to extoll his virtues and mourn his loss.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more importantly, Kirk combined both their political sentiments, and a form of Christian fundamentalism. That\u2019s a powerful admixture of politics and religion, one that the United States hasn\u2019t seen since the populism of Williams Jennings Bryan at the end of the 1800\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really doesn\u2019t matter if you agreed with Kirk\u2019s views or not.  The \u201cpolitics\u201d of his death will be a \u201cknown, unknown\u201d, and perhaps a powerful force to be reckoned with in 2026 and beyond.  How many new, young, adherents  will be motivated by his death?   How many of them will be \u201cnew voters\u201d, altering the narrow balance of our electorate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nation is on the cusp of change.  Any one factor could be the difference.  History is replete with martyrs raised up to drive \u201cthe masses\u201d.  The impact of this tragic act of madness may well be more than just the loss of one individual.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s just one more \u201cthing\u201d, as we worry about the fate of American democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biden It was forever ago, actually about fourteen months.  President Biden was in the throes of determining whether to run again or not.  He had a lot going for him:  an economy that was going up, inflation that was finally going down, and a series of laws passed that were almost universally approved.  The problem:  Biden completely failed in his … Continue reading “The End of the Barrel”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe End of the Barrel : Our America - 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