The Last Weeks: What You Will Hear
The October Surprise that just wasn't.
Everyone always talks about the October Surprise, which means media will be looking for it everyplace.
I don’t think it’s there, unless you consider the contest itself a continuing surprise, a man with the values of a gutter rat running against an intelligent, competent woman.
Oh, also, he’s a convicted felon who tried to overthrow the government.
Isn’t that quite enough of a surprise?
Despite lots of criticism from Republicans that Kamala Harris is not well known enough, recall she has been around for a long time in national politics and vice presidents are not there to buff up their own levels of recognition.
She collects millions of campaign dollars whenever she wants to and spends lots of it on advertising that says, basically, I work for you, and I am on your side.
That’s a strong message, particularly for a Democrat.
It’s a boot that fits.
So, what about the other side, that Donald J. Trump side?
There have been lots of great and ghastly Republican presidential candidates. But this is the first one in memory who has been bonkers.
The New York Times, in a well researched and documented story, says he is losing it and gets worse every day.
His speeches drift around like fluff from dandelions. He clearly is not sure what he is saying at many points and continues to lie about everything.
He’s still calling Vice President Harris a Communist, a Marxist, and anything else that comes to mind at the moment.
He makes up wild stories about FEMA’s hurricane response when even Republican governors praise the support they are getting from the federal government.
He suggests Tim Walz, Minnesota governor and Harris’s veep running mate, is a terrible guy who was not much of a high school teacher and coach.
Anything he can grab to keep himself afloat, he grabs.
It’s a creaky old formula. Say it enough and people will believe it.
And it makes him seem crazier and crazier as the campaign moves on. One can only imagine how his running mate, J.D. Vance, who is about as popular as a revenue agent in moonshine country, is handling this.
He may end up becoming the king of MAGA, an empire created by a crazy, delusional narcissist.
He still has his plans to unleash the military on illegal immigrants and wants to prosecute his critics.
That’s what you will be hearing about Donald Trump.
The difference is it will be true.
Jaysus!
Charlie Madigan was a reporter for The Chicago Tribune and United Press International for four decades and a professor at Roosevelt University for a decade. He lives in Evanston, Ill.
can't wait till its over!