President Trump will likely Win Again...

Washington DC – one of the greatest places on earth to visit. Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, Capital Building, Ford’s Theater, Smithsonian Museums(Air & Space in particular), National Archives, Arlington Cemetery, The Pentagon, DOJ, FBI, etc. We spent Thanksgiving in DC this year - a family trip. I wish we could have had a White House tour while we were in town, but it was closed for the holiday.

There’s more history of significance there than in most places on Earth. If you haven't taken the time to visit our Nation's Capital, then you don't know what you're missing. This time of year it's even nice to take a morning stroll thru Georgetown. Sure there are older cities in Europe or Asia, but we wrote the book on Democracy and while it's far from a perfect Democracy, no one has a better version of it.

The average American is NOT a politician, and as such has a palatable distaste for politicians. Why? This isn’t hard to understand. Politicians do and say whatever is necessary to serve their agenda of the moment, support their longevity. This is commonly understood, and almost always true. Sure there are exceptions, but not many.

Donald Trump ran against Hillary Clinton, and she was considered unbeatable. Trump didn’t have a chance. Hillary had all the money, and considerable backing from the powerful elite. The media sung her praises, supporting the more liberal of the two choices, maybe because they really wanted her to be the first female President? Hillary Clinton was going to make history.

Then came election day.

Polls were tight in key states, but Trump won Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The “swing states” gave him the election. Sure Hillary won the popular vote, but that’s only because of California and the way we assign electoral votes – it’s an anomaly in our calculus that just makes the results look weird. I'm not sure that it's better to have an "all or nothing" system, but that's the way our Founders set it up and no one seems interested in changing it. The truth - Hillary lost more than Trump won. I think that more people voted against Hillary than voted for Trump in some key geographies, and a vote against Hillary was a vote for Trump since he was the only other choice.

It turns out that Donald Trump was more likable, so he became President of the United States. He was an outsider, and he may have been elected because he wasn’t a politician. "The People" will always be looking for any outsider who can clean up "the swamp."

President Trump has served most of his first term. He’s accomplished some significant milestones over the past three years, despite the fact that the Democrats have fought him every step of the way. That makes him an underdog, and who doesn't like to see an underdog win?!?

We've enjoyed prosperity on many levels. There's been a long and steady stock market run. European partners are being pushed to pay their "fair share” of NATO. We have a better NAFTA agreement, and we're on the verge of an improved trade agreement with China. It seems that NOT BEING A POLITICIAN might produce better results, get more done.

Let’s talk about the press...

In October 2019 the top rated new programs, in order, were ~

-         Fox News Channel (2.4 million viewers, down 1%)

-         MSNBC (1.5 million viewers, down 18%)

-         CNN (1 million viewers, up 1%)

The Top Rated News Shows were ~

-         Hannity (FOX)

-         Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOX)

-         The Ingraham Angle (FOX)

-         The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)

-         The Five (FOX)

Fox has more than twice the viewers of CNN. That was a surprise to me? The numbers down't lie unless the numbers are wrong. Do this little experiment for yourself. When you have the time to watch the news, do it on a day when everyone is covering the same story. Flip back & forth between a couple channels in five minute increments, and watch how they cover the news - see how they tell the story. They all have their own particular bias, which makes it difficult to tell what’s true at times; however, some news networks rely on emotional story telling much more than they do presenting the facts. Those network anchors deliver good performances, but they aren't giving you the news and they are selective with the facts. They tell you what they think. They tell you how they want YOU to think. It’s annoying when you feel like you're being manipulated.

This is why people turn off the news. Their attention span diminishes with time and that creates a more uninformed population. After all, why invest your time hearing someone else’s opinion when you feel well-equipped to make your own? I can get that anywhere – grocery store, coffee shop, teacher’s conference, the office, etc. Besides, how much free time do I have these days? Do I want to spend it listening to babble?

President Trump cuts through the noise. He tweets his activities & opinions directly for the American people to see – unfettered & unfiltered. This makes the media like him less, because he’s makes them less relevant. You can get this news directly from the source from his point of view. Now, we have to be careful and “fact check” the President as we do all sources, but in general people like information that flows directly from the source.

Back to the politicians & politics, because all this is a preamble to my point.

Let's state the obvious: in general, people don’t like politicians. Just Google "Jokes about Politicians" and read it for yourself. President Trump is not a career politician and he seems to be a lot done for the American people because of it; he's very likely to be re-elected despite whatever the polls say. Remember: all the polls said Hillary was going to be President - until she wasn't. I don’t see how this is different?

Who’s going to beat him: Joe Biden(Ukraine scandal), Elizabeth Warren(too liberal & lied about being American Indian), Bernie Sanders(too liberal & health problems), Pete Buttigieg(not a strong enough base), Michael Bloomberg(can’t see him winning middle America), Hillary Clinton(so she can lose again)?

Many Americans seem to LOVE that President Trump is upsetting the political establishment - both foreign & domestic. The more the media goes after him, the more his people seem to like him because he's not politics as usual. Somehow this reality is being overlooked, and I don't see how you can factor that into a poll?

The approval rating of Congress stands at 24% currently – it was at or below 20% for seven months of this 2019. That means 4 out of 5 people DON'T APPROVE of the US Congress. How'd you like to be painted with that brush? Given the lack of bipartisanship in the Impeachment Hearings, it’s not likely to improve any time soon. What happened to Nancy Pelosi saying: "I'm not for impeachment without bipartisan support." (Washington Post - March 11, 2019)

The manner in which Adam Schiff conducted the House proceedings did not project an unbiased view of the facts, and at times the facts didn't seem to matter much. It's difficult to claim the "higher road" when you conduct so much in secret hearings - where's the transparency in that? The Department of Justice found 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA application, but that reality fell on deaf Democratic ears; it didn't impact the majority leadership in the House in any manner.

You may not like his style. It may not be Presidential to tweet. You may not like what he says or the way he says it. You may have voted for a different candidate. He may not be a role model for your children; however, keep in mind that making changes and getting things done in Washington DC is a "blood sport" and it can get rough when you turn over someone else's apple cart. Still, in spite of all the push back President Trump seems to be getting a lot accomplished for the American people.

Most people tend to vote with their pocket books, and if the economy remains strong President Trump will be very hard to beat...