Monday, October 08, 2018

How will Trump deal with the Democratic primary?

It occurs to me that when the 2020 presidential election season start (i.e. just after next month's midterms), it will drive President Trump completely nuts. Think about it: the GOP probably won't have a contested primary. Sure, maybe some anti-Trump GOPer, like Evan McMullin, might attempt a primary challenge. But the Republican party is now solidly behind Trump largely because that is where their voters are. So the McMullin campaign won't go anywhere. Meanwhile, the Democrats will have an actual primary contest. Potentially with a large field of new and old faces, some with an already high profile. So when the press gets fixated on the primary season horse race all the attention will be on the Democrats, not the Republicans, and not, more importantly, on Trump.

I don't think he will be able to handle it. He is going to tweet about every twist and turn in the Democratic race. He will try to hold his own rallies and brag about the size of the crowds as compared to Democratic campaign crowds. He might start announcing big events (along the lines of the nothing-actually-happened-beyond-the-hype-and-some-unilateral-US-concessions North Korea Summit earlier this year) in the hopes of hogging the spotlight.

It might be funny to watch someone as desperate to be the center of attention when the center inevitably moves elsewhere. Or it would be if Trump weren't one of the most powerful people in the world. Once you think about it in those terms, it can seem a little scary.