Occam's Razor

You wouldn’t know it from all the trepidation from elected Republicans, but it looks like Republicans are starting to move past Donald Trump. In a recent NBC News poll, when Republicans were asked which they supported more, Trump or their party, 44% said Trump and 50% said their party. The Party of Trump seems to be slowly de-Trumpifying.

Why then are Republican Party leaders so scared? It’s likely because Trump is a master bully. However, Trump simply doesn’t have the microphone he used to have. He’s largely banned from social media. He may make an occasional appearance on a conservative talk show, but even Fox News seems to be putting him in their rear view mirror.

Trump also seems to be losing interest in being at the center of attention. The pattern of daily life at Mar-a-Lago must be appealing to him: the daily eighteen holes of golf and his gold-leaf office in what used to be the wedding chapel. In any event, it used to be easy for him to command attention. He had Twitter. He was president. Now he largely stays at Mar-a-Lago and if he has something to say, even his supporters aren’t hearing much about it.

I’ll bet he’s still drinking a lot of Diet Coke, but probably resents having to pay for it. In any event, the nonstop tweeting must have been exhausting, even for Trump. Just because you have a narcissistic personality disorder doesn’t mean it’s an easy condition to deal with. Likely some part of him is glad to no longer be president and to have a much simpler life.

It may also be that Trump is running nervous. He doesn’t have the legal protections he used to. He incited the January 6^th Capitol rioters. It would not be too hard a case to prove if a criminal or civil case was made of it. Civil cases are probably coming, but the criminal ones are doubtlessly more worrying. He may be heeding advice from counsel for a change to lie low.

Granted, it sure appears that even though Republicans may be de-Trumpifying, many still believe that his reelection was somehow stolen from him. Republicans in Arizona are trying to get possession of all the votes cast in Maricopa County to have them examined by their own forensics firm with no actual experience in forensics. One hopes saner heads will prevail because once they have access to the ballots with no open auditing of their process, they can be massaged any way that fits Arizona Republicans’ narrative. The votes have already been audited a number of times with no fraud found. They just didn’t give the results Trump and Republicans wanted.

It’s not too hard to figure out. Trump never was a popular president. His approval rating never got above the mid 40s. He left office with 40% approval and his approval level is now in the thirties. Trump’s election was something of a fluke, but four years of Trump never enamored him with the general public. If Trump is serious about running again in 2024, it’s hard to see how he could win without a huge amount of voter disenfranchisement, which Republican legislatures seem all too happy to implement. Trump has branded himself with Americans and they really despise his brand.

Or it could be that Republicans are slowly moving on. That doesn’t mean they haven’t embraced most of Donald Trump’s ideas, but hearing less from Trump means he’s not their constant focus of attention. Voter suppression to win elections is not a great strategy. Also not a great strategy: refusing to wear a mask. It just speeds up the process of reducing the number of Republicans out there.

I find Rep. Lynn Cheney (R-WY) pretty reprehensible, but she is one of the few Republicans in a position of power speaking out against Trump. So far at least she hasn’t lost her position in the Republican House leadership. Her fundraising seems to be steady. Fearlessly speaking out against Trump is risky but has a potential upside in that it distinguishes her in the future as someone willing to tell the truth. She is primed to benefit if Trump’s popularity proves fleeting.

Because even with voter suppression, Republicans who haven’t lost their minds know they don’t have a good hand, and Trump is weighing them down. They can’t do much to appeal to independents while Trump is controlling the party, simply because they don’t have an appealing message to independents, who tend to align more with Democrats and Joe Biden, perhaps in reaction to Trump.

Maybe even most Republicans are tired of the Trump show and want to move on. As one person polled by NBC News put it:

The best thing about Joe Biden (as president) is I don’t have to think about Joe Biden.

Amen, say most Americans, including, I suspect, now even a majority of Republicans.