The GOP is on the brink, I think, of an epic sweep of the 2022 midterm elections. I expect both the House and the Senate to be in Republican hands in January. So, is there a fly in the ointment? There is indeed: Donald Trump is preparing to announce for the 2024 presidential nomination:
Former President Donald Trump plans to formally announce his long-teased third run for the White House later this month, two sources told The Post Friday.
One source added that Nov. 14, the Monday after the midterm elections, is the likely date the 45th president will launch his bid. Another source said an announcement would come sometime this month, but they had not heard of a specific date being set.
The potential announcement date, six days after Republicans are expected to post big gains in the House and Senate, was first reported by Axios, which cited three sources familiar with the “sensitive discussions.”
We have been expecting this, of course. At every stage, Trump has acted like someone about to jump into the 2024 presidential race. Still, while it may not be surprising, this news–if it is news–should be distressing to conservatives, and can only gladden the hearts of liberals.
I have often said that Trump was a very good president–our best, rather easily, since Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, though, that isn’t the end of the story. He has both said and, less often, done, a lot of stupid things. He now carries this legacy of mistakes behind him like a ball and chain. Of course the Democrats’ attacks on Trump are mostly unfair when they are not fabricated. But there is a reason why half of America’s voters won’t even consider voting for Trump in 2024. I think it is safe to say that no successful candidate has ever begun with that sort of handicap.
The Democrats are lying in wait, hoping Republicans are dumb enough to nominate Trump. They are even planning a special counsel to investigate Trump full-time if he runs in 2024:
The Justice Department is reportedly discussing the possibility of appointing a special counsel to oversee active federal investigations related to former President Donald Trump if he decides to launch a 2024 campaign.
Trump is being probed by the DOJ over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and for his alleged mishandling of top secret documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate. …
These investigations are mostly rubbish. Yet, unfortunately, Trump did make serious mistakes both in connection with the January 6 demonstration, for which I criticized him at the time, and with regard to his sloppy handling of classified files post-presidency, which may technically have risen to the level of a crime.
DOJ officials are debating whether appointing a special counsel would protect the Justice Department from claims that the Biden administration is going after his top political rival, sources told CNN.
Just what we need! A presidential candidate who begins the race dogged by a special counsel and in serious danger of being indicted by political opponents. I mostly sympathize with Trump regarding the Democrats’ insane attacks against him, but the stakes are too high for Republicans not to be rational. We have a number of terrific candidates who do not suffer from Trump’s disabilities, and are at least as conservative as he is.
Beyond Trump’s fatal flaws, basic considerations apply. Voters want to look forward, not back. This is why political parties don’t nominate the guy who lost last time. It didn’t work for Adlai Stevenson–although, in that case, the Democrats at least had the excuse that their candidate was a sacrificial lamb–and it won’t work for Donald Trump. And no one wants another 80+ year old president. The presidency is a hard job, and requires a great deal of vigor.
The pathetic Joe Biden has reminded everyone of the peril of a mentally failing president. But if Donald Trump were to be elected in 2024, he would be older at the beginning of his term than Joe Biden was at the beginning of his. Does anyone seriously think the American people will vote for another geriatric administration? Joe Biden will not, of course, be the Democrats’ nominee. They will go with someone much younger, as they did with Bill Clinton in 1992.
The conservative movement likely will take a major step forward with this year’s elections. We ought to be able to extend our gains in 2024. We have several excellent presidential candidates, while the Democrats have none. There is only one way we can throw away our advantage: by nominating an elderly man who is already discredited in the eyes of at least half of American voters, and who through his own blunders has laid himself open to endless legal investigation and harassment. I think that nearly any Republican can win the presidency in 2024, with one exception. I think Donald Trump would lose.
Let’s not be stupid.
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