04-27-2020, 08:21 PM
(04-27-2020, 12:39 AM)Dill Wrote: That's an interesting prediction. I think it might not happen right away, but over the course of a year or two and only for a portion of the Republican party, maybe not even half.I agree with what you're saying. I don't think people loyal to Trump will let him getting voted out of office change their opinion of him.
Still, there will be a voting record for that group and other digital record hard to escape.
But Trump's "base" won't go away and their judgment will not improve. For a portion of that base, he will remain a distorted touchstone, as Reagan is to the whole Republican party today. The crazy will be forgotten or wrongly imputed to others. And it will be easier to forget because we won't be hearing it every day in news conferences. So there will still be a contingent of Republican pols trying to ape Trump and trade on his name for years to come.
Unless Trump somehow folds and "betrays" his base, they will stick by him and Hannity will maintain and shape his legacy every evening. Remember Hannity, the guy who called everyone who questioned George W. Bush's Iraq fiasco a "traitor" back in 2003, but now thinks it may have been engineered by the "deep state"? That is the kind of history we'll be getting, and it will keep a significant portion of the base ramped up and voting in bad, obstructive Congressmen for the foreseeable future. Whoever can pull their strings ....
In fact, I predict that he will still be quite vocal and active on Twitter. His thoughts and commentary will be here until he either dies, loses all mental faculties (lol), or finally does something so shameful that practically no one wants to identify as a supporter any longer. The third is practically impossible at this point. I can't honestly come up with a scenario in my head where he could commit an act that would cause his followers to abandon him. He could survive killing his wife and kids on national TV. If he said he liked having sex with children, I think most of them would tolerate it, so long as there wasn't video evidence of an act.
Presidents historically, at least recently, like to fade into fundraising and public speaking when they leave office. Some just want to be left the hell alone. Trump thrives on attention and the adulation of his followers. He was a celebrity long before he was a politician. He may leave the office, but he will be part of the political landscape of the US until he's unable.
