Tired of the "Stolen Election" Saga?

 

Tired of the “Stolen Election” Saga?

So is Rupert Murdoch!

“Definitely not a Republican wave, that’s for darn sure.” 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R/SC) on NBC News.

The great Trumpy unraveling seems to have begun. Murdoch’s Fox News lifted Donald John Trump to the stratosphere, backed his campaigns and his presidency, but his one-note “stolen election refrain” does not seem to have continuing traction to retain that support. There’s a new kid in town, equally confident (arrogant?) who attracts campaign contributions by the ton… and who does not resort to ad hominin attacks or needs to blame others for his missteps. Oh, and he is not burdened by being in his late 70s by the time the 2024 campaign rolls around… while Joe Biden now carries that “too old to be president” moniker all by himself. Ron DeSantis is rapidly becoming the new face of the GOP.

Indeed, the November 9th Fox News headline read “Ron DeSantis is the new Republican Party leader.” The story continued: “The biggest winner of the midterm elections was without a doubt Governor Ron DeSantis, whose landslide victory in the state of Florida was breathtaking… The biggest loser? Donald Trump, whose handpicked loyalist candidates in a number of races struggled to beat vulnerable Democrats. Once again, the former president may have cost Republicans control of the Senate, in a year when it was theirs to lose… Many will conclude, on the basis of the midterm 2022 results, that the Republican Party is ready to move on, without Donald Trump as its leader.”

Trump’s new nickname for the Florida governor, uttered at a Miami Trump rally just before the election – “Ron DeSanctimonious” – rings particularly weak and hollow after the mid-term results. The Trump roasting by the Murdoch empire began well before the election but exploded into negative ferocity quickly thereafter. In addition to the Post cover and Fox News trouncing above, Murdoch’s most venerable periodical added nails to the Trump coffin under construction.

The November 9th Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote, under a headline, Trump Is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser, “He has now flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022… What will Democrats do when Donald Trump isn’t around to lose elections? We have to wonder because on Tuesday [11/8] Democrats succeeded again in making the former President a central campaign issue, and Mr. Trump helped them do it… Trumpy Republican candidates failed at the ballot box in states that were clearly winnable. This can’t be what Mr. Trump was envisioning ahead of his ‘very big announcement’ next week. Yet maybe the defeats are what the party needs to hear before 2024.” How many Trump followers will stay on board as he takes on DeSantis? It appears that Trump allies are jumping his ship in droves. Right, Lindsey?

For the entire “election denying/QAnon” MAGA constituency, this did appear to be a “come to Jesus” moment. The self-righteous zeal and anger from Trump supporters, certain that Biden would face a House investigation and ultimate impeachment, just hit a brick wall. All those accused and yet-unconvicted January 6th defendants still facing trial not only were losing hope of a Trump pardon (would “President DeSantis” show clemency?), but the social winds that surround(ed) their trials and their cause have become toxic and stormy headwinds.

Sympathy is leaving the building, fast. For those election deniers just elected to state offices where they control the voting process, perhaps this is a bigger cautionary tale; you too could find yourself on the wrong end of the rapidly recovering GOP… and the law. Joe Biden, take notice. While DeSantis is too extreme for most voters, are you the right opponent who can take him on? Will arrogant Trump run as an independent and really kill the GOP? Hmmm?

You might also ask, why would Donald Trump announce he will seek a nomination he is unlikely to get? Arrogance? Or simply a way to deflect the tsunami of civil and criminal litigation he is facing. It does not look like much of a “witch hunt,” when the target is no longer much of a political threat to merit that attention. Who knows, but Donald John Trump should relish his time in the mega-plush home at Mar-a-Lago; he might soon be welcoming new accommodations. Further, the possible backlash-fear of the DOJ and state prosecuting entities facing an ex-president would seem to be vaporizing at warp speed. How much more messaging, reality checks coming in rapid fire, does bully Trump need to know he blew it… er… blue it?

I’m Peter Dekom, and that proverb, we all know and sometimes cherish, clearly applies today: “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”