President Trump \u201cknows\u201d the American people are behind him.\u00a0\u00a0He feels that omnipotent power of a political potentate (if only there was another \u201cp word\u201d!!).\u00a0\u00a0Look at his \u201cwork\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He wanted Indiana to re-district.\u00a0\u00a0Seven Republican State Senators stood against this aberration in Hoosier tradition, and stopped \u201cthe plot\u201d to wipe out the last two Democrats in the state.\u00a0\u00a0Trump \u201cordered\u201d them \u201cprimaried\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Trump campaign money went to their even more \u201cRepublican\u201d (read MAGA) opponents, as did the infamous Trump endorsement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And voil\u00e1: five of the seven were defeated in their own party election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wanted that \u201cmeddlesome Congressman\u201d from Kentucky, Tom Massie, removed.\u00a0\u00a0After all, Massie not only questioned Trump\u2019s spending on ballrooms and monuments (to his omnipotent self).\u00a0\u00a0He also questioned the Iran War, AND, he is a prime mover in the Epstein Investigation.\u00a0\u00a0Massie led the House to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act (along with California Democrat Ro Khanna \u2013 working with a Democrat, a cardinal sin in MAGA world!!).\u00a0\u00a0So the Trump campaign war chest was turned against the man from Garrison, Kentucky, and MAGA world turned against Massie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And finally, Trump made a choice between establishment Republican Senator John Cornyn and flawed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.\u00a0\u00a0Cornyn, a Senate pillar from Texas for twenty-four years, did everything he could to please the \u201cMighty Trump\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But the President was (oddly?) drawn to Paxton.\u00a0\u00a0The Attorney General was indicted for security fraud (the charge was \u201csettled\u201d). He was impeached by the Republican Texas House of Representatives for bribery, abuse of power and obstruction (the Senate acquitted him).\u00a0\u00a0And even his wife sued for divorce, claiming a \u201cBiblical\u201d violation of the covenant of marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess Trump saw a reflection of his \u201cown self\u201d in the Texas Attorney General.\u00a0\u00a0His support threw the Texas Republican primary to Paxton, ignored the wishes of the Republican Senate leadership, and gave Democrats an easier target in the November election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s and old saying:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cyou can be a big fish in a little pond, or a little fish in a big pond\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And while no one is denying the whale-like status of Trump in our big pond of America, his omnipotence is really in a very small pond, the MAGA dominated pond of Republican primaries.\u00a0\u00a0As John Cornyn said in his trembling concession statement, decisions are made by those who vote.\u00a0\u00a0Only eight percent of the Texas voters turned out for the June election which ended his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eight percent determined which Republican would run for Senate in Texas.\u00a0\u00a0And those eight percent are MAGA, through and through.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The same story runs through Indiana and Northern Kentucky (OK, maybe all of Kentucky).\u00a0\u00a0Trump\u2019s power isn\u2019t in his ability to sway a \u201cmajority\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s never won a majority, not in his wins in 2016 and 2024, and not in his loss in 2020.\u00a0\u00a0Trump is President by, at best, a plurality of the popular vote, leading to a majority of the electoral vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the President pretends that he has an overwhelming majority of support.\u00a0\u00a0It reminds me of Richard Nixon\u2019s \u201csilent majority\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Nixon claimed their support in his decisions about continuing the Vietnam War, for six years beyond the election where he promised to end it.\u00a0\u00a0And, of course, since the whole definition of a \u201csilent majority\u201d is that you can\u2019t \u201chear\u201d them, it was difficult to disprove Nixon\u2019s theorem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump claims that same overwhelming majority, and points to his electoral power within the MAGA dominated Republican primaries.\u00a0\u00a0And while he\u2019s not wrong about his undue influence over his supporters, that is only a small slice of the American electorate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem for Trump is that heady influence doesn\u2019t expand to the whole American people.\u00a0\u00a0As the Presidential elections of the last decade show, we are a Nation on a knife-edge of political power.\u00a0\u00a0Just a few hundred thousand votes, and Donald Trump is the ultimate loser in three elections, never in office.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just a few hundred thousand votes, and Donald Trump serves two consecutive terms as President.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the largest elections ever held in the United States, we are divided by the smallest of margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same is true in our legislatures.\u00a0\u00a0The House of Representatives is down to less than a five vote difference.\u00a0\u00a0Speaker Johnson often has to \u201cdismiss\u201d the House, adjourn and close the doors, rather than allow votes that would go against his Republican will.\u00a0\u00a0And the Senate, while more firmly in Republican control with a four seat margin, still has difficulty, especially with the sixty vote \u201cfilibuster\u201d margin required for most legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President is fighting an unpopular war of his own choosing; a war he cannot find a way to finish.\u00a0\u00a0He is spending money in a way that would even make my Democratic friends blush.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The aura of corruption emanates from every part of his administration.\u00a0\u00a0And, most of all, Americans hate a dictator, or a President who somehow thinks he can act like one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump may be able to fool himself with his demonstrable control over the Republican Party.\u00a0\u00a0But there won\u2019t be much fooling in November when the entire country gets to voice its opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No wonder a MAGA priority is to keep people from the polls.\u00a0\u00a0Stopping the vote is their key to retaining power.\u00a0\u00a0Nothing sounds more Un-American.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"