BRYCE ON POLITICS
– He hits the ground running at a mega-campaign event.
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President Trump’s re-election campaign kicked off this past Tuesday at the Amway Center in Orlando. This was well attended with over 20,000 people inside and thousands outside watching the rally on large screens (120K tickets were issued). The size will undoubtedly dwarf the upcoming Democrat debate at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, allowing no more than 2,400 people in-doors. The massiveness of the Trump rallies perplexes the news media and the Democrats. They do not understand the overwhelming support he receives. Plain and simple, they just don’t get it. Then again, maybe they do, but just don’t know how to respond.
Florida was a smart selection to start the campaign as it represents an important swing state with 29 Electoral College votes. President Trump won Florida in 2016 and it remains a red state with a Republican Governor, Attorney General, the Legislature, and both U.S. Senators. Yet, urban areas like downtown Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami remain in the hands of the Democrats, so the president is leaving nothing to chance.
From the beginning, the rally took on a festive atmosphere with “45 FEST,” (45 – a reference to the 45th president) prior to the doors opening, and hosted by Lara Trump (wife of Eric Trump, the president’s son). This pumped up the crowd and added to the expectations. Having done this for four years now, the Trump campaign is now a past master at drawing huge crowds.
There were, of course, a comparatively small number of protesters, as has become customary at Trump Rallies. This time, they brought in the Baby Trump Balloon as has been used at other anti-Trump protests. More importantly, on this day, the Orlando Sentinel wrote a column not endorsing the president, even though no Democrat has yet to be selected. This OpEd is just another salvo in the on-going war between the President and the news media.
There were several members of the press in attendance, which the president shot barbs at during the rally. Interestingly, the only two networks covering the event were Fox News and CNN, but not MSNBC. It wasn’t on C-SPAN either.
Inside the Amway Center, Vice President Mike Pence warmed up the crowd, and First Lady Melania Trump introduced the president who was welcomed with thunderous applause.
President Trump began with a description of his accomplishments, particularly the economy, whereby he claimed six million jobs had been created during his term of office, the country was experiencing the lowest level of unemployment in 51 years, and 160 million Americans were now working. He also touted his tax cuts and trade deals.
The president noted he had appointed 145 judges which will influence jurisprudence for years to come. He also noted his fight to “Drain the Swamp,” claiming “We’re under siege” by Democrats and the media.
Mr. Trump also noted America is now the number one producer of energy in the world.
In the middle of his talk, the president took a moment to recognize Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, his outgoing White House press secretary and possible GOP candidate for Governor of Arkansas. Mrs. Sanders received thunderous applause from the crowd present, recognizing her work for Mr. Trump.
The theme for the president’s campaign will be “Keep America Great,” replacing “Make America Great.” I am confident we will see a new array of hats, apparel and flags sporting the slogan shortly.
Late into the talk, the president officially declared his candidacy for re-election.
He then gave a description of his platform for his second term, most of which is a continuation of his existing policies. This included immigration reform, continue to rebuild the economy, a strong military, and development of the new Space Force. Echoing a line from his State of the Union speech delivered earlier this year, he repeated, “We will never be a socialist country.”
ANALYSIS
More than anything, what I picked up from the president’s speech is that he is assuming former Vice President Joe Biden will be the candidate for the Democrats, and in a preemptive strike, is tying Mr. Biden to former President Barack Obama’s failed policies while in office. He doesn’t want the country to forget the failures of the preceding administration. In other words, President Trump is ready to take on the former Vice President.
Just as in 2016, the president will be fighting not only the Democrats, but a news media bent on his ouster, not to mention treacherous RINOs within his own party, in other words, the Washington establishment, aka, “The Swamp.”
The Democrats claim they are already ahead in the race for president. Interestingly, they have presented no platform to counter the president, other than socialism and Trump bashing.
It is disturbing to read polls claiming the president is losing to just about every Democrat in the race. This is reminiscent of the same polls in 2016 predicting Mrs. Clinton would win by double digits. These “fake” polls are no longer credible and suggest corruption. Further, such polls only galvanize the president’s supporters and encourages them to vote as they did before.
It appears President Trump has a well oiled campaign machine ready to go. His political rallies have been refined and fine-tuned. They are now greater in turnout and enthusiasm than any Rock n’ Roll concert. Being quite the showman, he will now take this rally on the road for all to see.
It is rather obvious the president is eager for a political fight. God help any Democrat who gets in his cross-hairs as he will eat them for lunch. Unlike 2016, the president is unencumbered by 15 other GOP rivals and can concentrate only on the Democrats.
Mr. Trump is now off to Japan for the G-20 meeting next week. By doing so, he will likely distract the media from the Democrat debates. It is my understanding he will be live tweeting during the debates from Osaka (particularly the one featuring former VP Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders). His tweets may very well make bigger headlines than anything the candidates say at the debate. I do not believe they realize they are now playing President Trump’s game, not their own.
Next up in the President’s campaign:
July 4th – He is scheduled to give a speech in Washington for Independence Day and has authorized an Air Force One flyover the Washington Mall. It should be very well attended.
July 13th – Johnson County GOP 2020 Kick-Off in Texas; it will be interesting to see if as many supporters attend as those in Orlando. I’ll bet it will be “yuge!”
Keep the Faith!
P.S. – Don’t forget my new book, “Tim’s Senior Moments” now available in Printed and eBook form.
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at [email protected]
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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