TO EFFECTIVELY SURVIVE TRUMP, LET REALITY BE YOUR GUIDE

Be afraid! he tells you. Impeachment in the House will win ME four more years as president.

Acquittal by the Senate will guarantee ME re-election.

Starting World War III will make ME unbeatable.

Way too many of you are buying this nonsense. You are intelligent and rational, so why do you fall for it? You fall for it, because you are frightened to death that he can make good on those threats.

Seriously, you need to slap yourselves.

If you wish to remain sane from now until election day 2020, you should begin practicing some form of mental self-defense. Since we have just crossed into a new year and entered the fourth quarter of Trump’s war on decency, intelligence, and democracy, I urge you to prepare for his fast and furious assaults by developing your mental survival map.

In his heart, Donald Trump believes that the 2016 electoral map is exactly the way he left it on the night of the election, and he desperately needs you to believe it too. But as we have all learned, there is reality and then there is Trump-reality. And, in reality (of the non-Trump kind), lessons have been learned, minds have changed, new voters continue to register, and the political pendulum is doing what pendulums do.

So, if you are still seeing the “map according to Trump,” it is only because he spends  most of his non-golfing hours scaring you into believing that he is the greatest of all magicians, who pulled an elephant out of the hat in 2016 and will do it again in November.

When we focus on the facts, we can see that he was not a magician, just a lucky con man -- which is not to say that he is a man without skills. This idiot savant’s genius is selling hate, and each time we glimpse an arena full of MAGAs screaming for more, it is only natural to feel a chill going up your spine, and if you allow yourself to be blinded by that fear and to remain blinded by that fear, you will not see the reality of the next election.

So, my friends, how do you break the con man’s spell?

I suggest you do what I do, which is to create your very own mental survival map. It doesn’t have to resemble an actual map. It just has to serve as a daily reminder of where we are on the road to reclaiming the White House. If you don’t have the time for this project, you are welcome to use my map, which I designed along the lines of a self-guided museum tour.

If you have two minutes, I will be happy to show you around.


MY SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF WHY TRUMP LOSES IN NOVEMBER

Starting Point and Exhibit #1: The Confusion Intrusion

The starting point for this tour begins with a simple explanation for the outcome of the 2016 election. Russia launched missiles of confusion that landed squarely on vulnerable Blue states.

Trump won the election by squeaking out victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – three states that went for Gore over Bush, Kerry over Bush, Obama over McCain and Obama over Romney. Russian agents and far-right websites spread bazaar lies about Clinton. Remember how she was running a child sex ring out the basement of a Washington D.C. pizzeria?

The confusion barrage from Russia, WikiLeaks, and Comey fogged the election day air.

Clinton countered with an underwhelming campaign strategy.

Pollsters and pundits disarmed us with false clarity by assuring us that Hillary would survive the battering and win the White House.

Exhibit #2: The Scattering That Led to The Shattering

Voters told us what they thought before the election and after the election.

The system is corrupt. There’s no difference between the candidates. Why not just stay home on election day? It will show them how little I care.

The system is corrupt. There’s no difference between the candidates. Why not vote third party to make a statement and show them that, for some of us, principles matter?

The system is corrupt. Bernie got screwed. Why not write-in Bernie or the name of my dog? It will make me feel better.

Hillary will win anyway, so why not cast a vote for the con man, just to send her a message and have her enter the White House with a little less swagger?

No doubt all that self-expression felt gratifying, but there was one big problem – actually, one huge problem.

White, non-college men told us with perfect clarity: I voted for Donald Trump. That badass will fight for me! That badass will make your lives miserable.

Exhibit #3: Yes, This March Had Legs

On January 21, 2017, the day after Trump’s inauguration, nearly a half million people participated in the Women’s March on Washington and another 3 to 4.5 million took part in at least 100 cities and towns across the U.S. It was the largest single day march in U.S. history.

I watched it on tv. I listened as reporters waded into the crowds and conducted interviews, most of which started with: Why are you here? There was no single answer. They were there for their own personal reasons. One common scene: I am here because of my mother, says a woman, nodding toward the older women by her side, and I am here to show this to my daughter, pointing to the girl by her other side.

This march was a declaration of values, of clarity, and of resolve.

Commentators were quick to point out that, while this “feel good” demonstration was certainly impressive, it would have little meaning if it did not yield practical results.

Did it yield practical results? It would not be Exhibit #3 on my tour, if the answer was not a resounding YES.

 Exhibit #4: Kids With Clout

After their schoolmates were slaughtered, the newly minted activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, led by intelligent, eloquent organizers like Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, and Cameron Kasky, made it clear to the world that:

Deranged individuals, with access to weapons of war, who turn schools into scenes of mass murder, are aided and abetted by the politicians who’ve been bought by the NRA.

And…

They were mad as hell and they weren’t going to take it anymore. The usual thoughts and prayers, coming from the mouths of Republican lawmakers were not acceptable.

Students across the country organized, marched, spoke from the gut, and (Oh yes!) registered new voters.

 Exhibit #5: The Blue Tsunami

Ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, Republican incumbents, in the age of Trump, began retiring – you know, to spend more time with their families.

Pollsters and pundits began predicting that Democrats would win control of the House of Representatives. Predictions of a Blue Wave began to spread. Trumpism would be dealt a decisive defeat. But as election day grew close, excitement cooled. There would likely be a Democratic win, but it would be more of a Blue Trickle. Trump would rush in an and drag Republican candidates, in close races, to victory.

He sent out his orders that every race, in every district, would be about turning back “invading caravans,” pouring over the Mexican border to bring crime and disease to all of America. Republican candidates dutifully carried the message of fear to their voters.

It turned out that more voters went to the polls concerned about the loss of their current health care that Republicans had vowed to “repeal and replace. Voters noticed that Republican energy and strategy was all about repeal with virtually no interest or action on replacement.

On election day, commentators confirmed the prediction of a Blue trickle. Democrats would take the House, but by a small margin. They were wrong.

For the rest of that week, and into the next, results of close races continued to come in, ending with an historic 40 seat Democratic victory.

A record 36 women won House seats. The Women’s March did have legs.

A record number of young voters turned out. March for Our Lives did rally young voters.

Congress continued a trend of becoming more racially diverse – on the Democratic side, not on the Republican side.

The Blue Tsunami was not an accident. It was a result of the gift of clarity, provided by Trump and his band sycophants.

And the pendulum continues to swing Blue.

Every blood thirsty rally, every assault on health care and the environment, every farmer and manufacturer hurt by Trump tariffs, every lie, every childish insult, every crime committed in broad daylight, every road leading to Putin, every child in a cage, and all conduct unbecoming a president of the United States continues to clarify the American mind.

Now, I encourage you to come out of hiding, ignore the smoke screen, and just follow the map.

November 3, 2020? We’ve got this.


Bruce Coltin
Surviving Trump Two Minutes at a Time