It shocked some, surprised virtually all — save Scott Adams — when mega-branding braggart, businessman, and reality TV star Donald “You’re Fired!” Trump slapped his way to a trifecta, winning in decades-long bastions of blue — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — en route to his “landslide” Electoral College win.
How could a candidate viewed negatively by 61 percent of voters mere days before the election possibly win?
Well, consider the alternative: Hillary Clinton’s negatives were 52 percent in that same poll. Moreover, two-thirds of voters harbored “doubts about her trustworthiness.”
Entering Trump Year IV, the president’s approval rating remains under water, and, following the House impeachment, he’s being tried in absentia in the Senate. Plus, the Democrats get to choose a low-negatives/high-positives candidate to run against him.
What could go wrong?
Everything.
Except for promising to give away free stuff to everyone, it’s all very unsettled. Even The New York Times, “in a break with convention,” if not reality, has endorsed two candidates: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.
Klobuchar? She’s stuck in seventh place in New Hampshire.
Four candidates vie for the lead two weeks before Iowa and three weeks before New Hampshire: former Vice-President Joe Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senators Sanders and Warren. “Sleepy Joe” tops the latest Iowa poll while self-declared socialist Bernie leads in New Hampshire — and pushes ahead of Biden nationally.
And to meet Sanders’ surge?
Mrs. Clinton.
Being lovable.
As always.
Of the current Democratic front-runner, “Nobody likes him,” Hillary sniped, channeling her inner Mean Girl. “Nobody wants to work with him, he’s got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
Cluster-yuck 2020 is Reality TV at its best.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
—
See all recent commentary
(simplified and organized)
2 replies on “Reality TV 2020”
In May of 2016, I predicted that Trump would win not only Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but also Florida.
People told me I was crazy to believe he’d win any of them, let alone all four.
I did miss Wisconsin and Iowa in my final prediction, though. In my defense (I still would probably have not predicted Wisconsin), I made that final prediction in September.
Only comedy writers could come up with a scenario as good as this..