145 days until the election (#4149)

     Significant events happened yesterday. Both the NFL, which conceded kneeling during the anthem will be acceptable, and Nascar, which will now ban confederate flags from their races and properties. Four years ago I was worried when I saw all the trump ads on Nascar and appeared to secure their votes. I bothered me that I saw no Clinton ads. Same with the NFL being courted by trump while Clinton was devoid connection. I still thought Hillary was going to win and was devastated when she didn't. But looking back I see how trump was able to sneak in and steal the election from under her.
     With the republican party making it hard for voters of color to vote you can see where appealing to white sports fans might net out a large advantage. Which is what trump is trying to do again this time around. But this isn't the same dynamic of 2016. We had a beloved democratic president ending his second term and a viciously determined republican party willing to lie, cheat, and steal to elect their nominee no matter how offensive he was personally. A perfect storm of events allowed trump to become an appointed president despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. So this time around the same playbook is essentially being adhered to but with some obvious changes. As trump is the appointed president and cannot lie, cheat, and steal like before because he has a political record now.
     Plus trying to use the NFL and Nascar to strengthen his base is now proving troublesome. Since both now are moving toward the political positions demanded of by democrats. So that unsettled feeling I was having in 2016 isn't available this time around. I keep thinking how can trump turn this around with so many now angry or disapproving of him? Well my conclusion is that he cannot turn it around and must now throw everything he has into denying voters their right to vote. As well he will likely try to find a way to discount any electoral defeat that is inevitably coming. He will not succeed at either because we know his plan and are at full attention in defending against him.