In the wake of the attempted assassination of President Trump, there appears to be a vibe shift. This shift was already in the works, but it seems to have escalated. It includes: more minorities looking to vote for Trump, more moderates and disaffected liberals considering Trump, and more Democrats seeing their candidate as painfully weak compared to Trump.
The vibe was turned up to level 11 when Donald Trump took a bullet to the head last Saturday and defiantly survived the assassination attempt. This follows weeks of good news from the pollsters, the courts, and debate viewers. As a result, “conventional” red/blue politics almost feels like a thing of the past. The typical right/left dichotomy seems quaint, and the awakening to the "globalist versus nationalist" divide continues. In short, politics is now more serious, substantial, and consequential than compared to the recent past.
More Serious
Do you even remember 2015-2016? It feels like a lifetime ago. During that time period, Donald Trump was seen as a clown and treated as such. He was heckled, mocked, and “othered,” even by members of his own party. Only a few thousand Midwesterners saw what many of us did not see at the time; that his unconventional political aura was his greatest asset. We all assumed that the transition from one globalist to another would take place in November, 2016, but at least it was entertaining to watch Trump embarrass Hillary on the debate stage.
It’s not that there weren’t some very serious challenges to our nation and the world, but those now pale in comparison to what we see in 2024. The threat of World War III was much further off; the deficit was a fraction of what it is today; no one had even heard of COVID; and there were no American political prisoners. Politics was still a bloodsport, but at least it was a sport. It was not a matter of life or death, or more importantly, freedom.
The bullet that grazed Trump made all of this much more serious. There is now a sincere gravity to politics. Two of Trump’s top lieutenants are in jail, and there is a legitimate fear that almost anyone can be arrested for almost any reason. There is also a sense that a Trump loss will not just usher in those typical “we’ll get ‘em next time” sentiments, but a reality that we really are at risk of “losing the country.” And it appears that there will be nothing to stop Biden and Co. from quelling speech, rigging elections, imprisoning opponents, and perhaps turning a blind eye to assassinations. So, it would seem that for most of us, this election just got a lot more serious.
More Substantial
The assassination attempt provided a huge bump in credibility to those who warned against it; the heavyweights of conservative media: Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobeic, Tucker Carlson, and yes, even Alex Jones. Written off as conspiracists, their prescient predictions that the vile lawfare and rhetoric that was being perpetrated against Trump was "setting the stage" for an assassination has made them look prophetic.
And just like COVID awakened many to the actual goings-on and/or existence of the Washington managerial class (aka the "Deep State"), the accuracy of their predictions will awaken many to giving these “conspiracists” a listen for the first time. In other words, our politics just got a lot more substantial. Because if there is one thing that all five of these individuals have in common, it's their ability to dig into the substance behind the politics.
Sure, maybe some of the “normies” feel that they might go a little too far from time to time; and perhaps they embrace or promote a few ideas that are a little on the far-out side. But they are ahead of the curve on important issues such as immigration, vaccines, war, cultural rot, Wokeness, local political activism, the World Economic Forum, the Federal Reserve, and so much more. Cable news covers the occasional controversial bill, DC drama, and rank politics, but they lack substance because they are either too dumb (or uninterested) to ask why and how we have ended up with our present situation. Traditional news now looks both out-of-touch and superficial, and there is an increased hunger for substance.
More Consequential
Among many, there is now a sense that if “they” wanted to take Trump out this badly, they must really fear what he will accomplish. Having already survived two impeachments, constant accusations, a "rigged" election, and seemingly endless lawfare, Trump seems poised to place heavy hitters into his administration in order to bring substantial change to the “blob” in Washington (at least, that is what his supporters are hoping for). We are past the days of “draining the swamp,” and have moved on to restoring American government to, possibly, pre-1913 territory, even if it takes decades to accomplish.
This is what conservatives are seriously hoping for; not just a few tax breaks, but the full-blown takedown of the Administrative State (that many had just been assuming for years was somehow constitutional). We are now learning, thanks in part to all those who worked to get the right cases before a more conservative-leaning Supreme Court, that the New Deal was responsible for ushering in an era of unconstitutional government. Thanks to West Virginia v. EPA and the end of Chevron deference, Trump now has some serious tools in his belt to begin peeling back the thing that we call “Big Government.” The culmination of this peel-back will hopefully have significant impact, such as, for example, possibly the end of the Federal Reserve or other similar institutions.
And while all this might sound a bit fanciful, the selection of JD Vance does provide hope that there could potentially be some serious staying power to this movement. Vance, who seems to be a true believer in old America, has the mind, talent, and platform to explain to the American people that their government is not only wasteful, but it is in many key aspects illegitimate. A true populist revolution may very well be on the ballot this November, and that makes this election more consequential than any in our lifetimes.
Photo Credit- 6abc News.