It reminds me of this passage from @stuartpstevens's book, It Was All A Lie⤵️
The passage rings true for me. It's one reason I never believed the "GOP elected officials are conspiring to cheat and throw the election to Trump even if he loses the election" theory.
3/
I agree that Trump is not using these rallies strategically as a way to win the election. And while the gratification he gets from applause and cheers is part of it, I think that these rallies are how he retains "power" after he leaves office.
His base is a minority of US voters, but a majority of GOP voters.
His base isn't big enough to hand him an electoral victory in 2020, but if he maintains control over his base, he has power over the GOP.
5/
Yale political scientist @Jacob_S_Hacker and Berkeley political scientist Paul Pierson in Let Them Eat Tweets explain how the GOP got itself into this bind.
Basically, the GOP elected officials outsourced voter mobilization to organizations like the NRA and FOX. . .
6/
At first, the Fox-GOP partnership was a boon to GOP candidates. FOX turned out voters.
Eventually, FOX exerted control over GOP officials. Elected officials were forced to cater to Fox’s demands, which forced GOP officials to adopt more extreme policies.
7/
Trump plans to outfox Fox.
By keeping control of his "base" he controls a majority of GOP voters, which gives him control over the GOP, which is why Trump can make a "naughty" list and plan his retribution.
He does rallies. Keeps his base pumped. And later weaponizes them.
8/
Trump isn't a strategic thinker or problem solver, but he knows how to manipulate people and maintain power over them. He's an expert liar because he lives in his own reality.
Later, when the law catches up to him, he'll play the victim and keep a grip on his base.
9/
I don't see evidence of this. Manafort, Stone, Bannon, etc, are treated as heroes by the Trump Cultists—as long as they remain loyal to Trump.
I believe if Trump starts "losing" he'll lose his grip on the cult, but prosecution will make him a victim.
When Hitler’s followers learned he lied, “instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.” Arendt
We can never stop. Democracy means government by the people.
Example: The long term solution to the problem with how elections are conducted in Georgia is to elect people who are competent and care about well-run elections.
Maryland GOP Governor Larry Hogan is not showing courage, leadership, or love of democracy in throwing away a vote.
The kind of courage required by conservatives when confronted with an extremist is described by Levitsky & Ziblatt (How Democracies Die) washingtonpost.com/politics/larry…
Correct. (I forgot to tag @GovLarryHogan in the first tweet.)
Hogan's gesture is not only a cowardly and weak (and pointless), he is also perpetuating a false narrative.
Voter suppression was a problem in California in the 1980s and 1990s. Then California turned blue and elected Democrats to office, and now it's easy to vote here.
🔹Biden's lead has expanded to more than 10 points in the polling aggregate.
🔹COVID cases are spiking.
🔹The New York Times has released information about Trump money laundering and tax fraud.
The Trump team has a plan . . . another disinformation campaign 🙄🤦♂️
Trump has no interest in actually governing. He never had any interest in governing. He just wants an audience so he can play a "winner" on TV. He thought, like any starring role, playing a World Leader would be a great way to get rich.
I suspect his "fans" (the ones who go to rallies) want to be entertained. Politics is boring. They don't understand it or have the patience for it.
Trump tells them they're the elite, and would be at the top of the hierarchy if the 'others' weren't taking what belongs to them.
The explanation is that Trump is incapable of doing anything other than what he is doing. He can't plan. He can't govern. He can't alter his behavior. He can't care whether people die of COVID.