Meeting The Enemy

He is absolutely burning the boats behind him after this election, win or lose. He will then become the worst nightmare for every elected Republican in the country. He couldn’t care less about anyone but himself. https://t.co/nBhvEDYc6t

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 22, 2024

The New York Times reports Trump has spent $100 million as of 2023. His Save America PAC is down to $4 million, which won’t cover his legal expenses through December (if he wins, he can’t dismiss the federal cases until January 20th).  He’s going to loot the RNC to keep his lawyers.

The GOP is done for, whatever happens in November. Because Trump is not campaigning.

Trump: "I tell my people. I don't need any votes. We've got all the votes we need. I don't need votes. All I want to do is make sure we guard our votes. We stop the steal." pic.twitter.com/raZq2MgjC7

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 22, 2024

Campaigning is about getting people to want to vote for you, and then motivating them to turn out to vote. Every incumbent has a built in advantage because voters in general reinforce the status quo (just look at Congress). Presidents don’t become as institutional as Senators, however, and so incumbents have to campaign (even Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham go through the motions every six years). But Trump thinks he doesn’t need to campaign. He just needs to defeat the nefarious enemy that denied him his victory four years ago. He doesn’t understand the first thing about politics.

He does know he has to appear to campaign in order to raise money. But he’s sending all that money to lawyers, because he can’t afford to lose the claims against (even though that’s all he’s done). So he’s convinced himself he will win, but he has to convince others to give him money.

Trump is speaking in open fields in 100F heat because he doesn’t want to spend money on venues. He needs that money for the lawyers. So he doesn’t need to campaign, to draw voters to his side and convince them to actually vote; he just needs Election Day to arrive. And he needs donations so he can pay the lawyers and maintain the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed.

Mitt Romney could have self-funded his Presidential campaign easily. But it’s a damned stupid way to spend your money, and you need your supporters to buy in to your candidacy. Trump thinks he’s got all that; he needs to campaign now to raise money.  He’s saying that quite plainly.

But we are told Presidential elections are expensive. Mostly we are told that by the people who run them Trump is using that belief,  to raise money to fund…him. He doesn’t need more votes. He doesn’t need to campaign. He needs the money to “stop the steal.” And part of the steal, in his argument, are the criminal charges against him. But he also needs money to fund the lawsuits he ran in 2020; the 60+ that he lost.

It’s a losing strategy, but it’s a losing strategy that points out so many weaknesses in the system, starting with the weakness that makes it possible for an anti-political clown like this to win the office of the President in the first place.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”