In 2016 Trump ran his campaign from his rally enjoying lots of free media time as networks stopped everything to broadcast his speeches. He also brought in lots of attention with his outrageous tweeting habits. If you recall, and I know you do, he was roundly criticized for not having a ground game or otherwise not running a conventional campaign and his tweets.

The 2020 campaign was a little different. It was better organized along conventional lines with community centers and offices and a more traditional ground game, but continued with the rallies. In a telling sign, the rallies were more to bolster his ego and mood even while they spread -19 and, literally, killed supporters or plunged them into extended periods of misery and medical bankruptcy.

It should not be lost on anyone that Trump lost in 2020, (a) barely and (b) because of -19. The barely part hasn’t changed and the media and Republicans have successfully flushed -19 down the memory shitter. It’s like it never happened.

That brings us to the Trump campaign strategy and dynamics of 2024. Things have changed, namely, Trump’s legal expenses. Predictions that Trump would destroy the Republican Party in order to save himself are bearing fruit. He is starving the party for money to pay his legal bills. While it might not hurt him, it is going to hurt the down ballot contests.

As an aside, if any of the Republican never-Trumpers were serious, they would’ve formed a third party and be running candidates. Instead, they make commercials and appear on the TV as a talking ass hoping to redeem themselves from past sins like the Swift Boating of John Kerry and the character assassination of Max Cleland, neither of which should ever be forgotten or forgiven. Fuck you Rick Wilson.

Anywho. It seems to me that Trump used his New York fraud case trial in ways similar to his 2016 rallies. He got lots of free media and held nearly daily press ramblings. He uses events in the other cases as a foil to rail against. He’s hoping to energize his base with the unfairness of it all.

There is some truth to that. The media, driven by their insatiable need for clicks, likes, and shares, has eaten it up. They continue their bothsidesing of Trump’s amazing felonious and scandal-rich history, too.

The question is whether it will have any effect on the voting public. On the one hand, it scares me — honestly it does — because I imagine it driving his 2016 coalition to the polls. His 2016 coalition consisted of lots of first-time, yet not youthful, voters and infrequent voters to the polls. However, it is hard to get a handle on how committed those low frequency voters are for voting for him this time.

On the other hand, it leaves me hopeful because I think it must rile up the anti-Trump vote. The thought of him back in the White House ought to scare every man, woman, child, and their pets into doing everything they can to keep him out. I know it won’t because most of us tune out politics as being beyond comprehension.

Excluding the Biden campaign and its many strengths and shortcomings, what do you think (a) Trump’s campaign strategy is and (b) the effect of his conviction, trials, and indictments will be? I’d love to discuss it with you in the comments.