Saturday 4 July 2020

Is this Trump's last July Fourth as president?

Happy Independence Day to my American friends and contacts. How hapoy is Donald Trump I wonder. Does he fret every evening as he sits in front of the TV that every day from now until the first week in November are his last days as the all-powerful president of the United States? It must be a terrible possibilty for him as he watches the polls consistently putting Joe Biden a long way ahead of him. I know I have suggested before that unless the economy jumps back into full-grown bullishness and the pandemic disappears and becomes a forgotten nightmare, Biden, for all his faults and rather sheepish look will win in November and become the 46th president. There are only four months left before election day. Did I say "only"? In politics, four months is a long long time. And politics in Washington over four months can change dramatically. Despite a few ventures out into the public Biden is still largely a home basement presidential challenger. That's not necessarily a bad thing as a lot of voters are still in lockdown mood, scared to go back to normal too quickly whatever Trump says. But at some point Biden is going to have to do the rounds in every state which he needs to win to have a chance of the White House job, and that's where the danger lies. Biden has a history of making gaffes. A wrong reply here or an unfortunate phrase there and he will be crucified as the graffe-prone septuagarian who can't be trusted to get the words out of his mouth in the right order. Politics can be so cruel. If he introduces his sister as his wife once again, as he did in March, or falls over as he climbs up the stairs to make a speech, or forgets to remove his black mask as he tries to eat a cheeseburger, the reaction from some of the media and certainly from the White House will be remorseless. Anything like that could happen in the next four months. Or Biden in the upcoming TV debates with Trump could flop badly or say something he will regret or forget to say what he wanted to say. The next four months are absolutely crucial for Biden if the polls are to be proven accurate. But if he does make a gaffe or two and the ecocomy starts to improve noticeably and the second virus wave fails to materialise or is prevented by the arrival of a virus-beating vaccine, then the poll numbers could change. Some poll experts are forecasting a landslide victory for Biden. But even though that is probably off the mark, such a scenario depends on Biden doing everything right in the next four months. Somehow, based on his past record, that seems a little unlikely.

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