THE NEW YORK TIMES: Donald Trump is running for president … again. The announcement landed with a thud.
He is losing the moment. His sizzle is dying. Presidential politics is a business of alignment — a person meets a moment for which they are singularly suited and positioned. Trump had such a moment in 2016 — with outside assistance, of course — but six years on, the country has changed. And so has he.
He is no longer new to the political space. He is no longer the underdog and outsider. The narrative is stale. He is a twice-impeached president who lost re-election, cost his party in the last three elections and is wading through an ocean of legal troubles. The arc of the story is one of descent and desperation, fading light and dimming prospects.
The scent of loss lingers on a candidate. That’s why Trump has tried so hard to convince the world he didn’t lose. But he did. And now, Trumpism is losing.
Then there is the fickle nature or Republican fanaticism. Conservatives, broadly speaking, are addicted to the political equivalent of the tent revival: wanting to believe, wanting affirmation, exalting the traveling preacher until that person moves on and the next one arrives. » | Charles M. Blow, Opinion Columnist | Wednesday, November 16, 2022
