A DIFFERENT TRUMP FOLLOWING THE DEBATE

Calmer Trump turns new leaf, builds momentum

 

By Boaz Bismuth

 

Israel Hayom

October 25, 2020

 

It seems election campaigns agree with Donald Trump, as if he's born for them. In essence, it's as if he's reborn every time they are held. Anyone who saw him in the debate and his ensuing conduct over the weekend can sense something new is bubbling inside him. The question is whether this will translate into momentum.

Trump, like Trump, is running and non-stop rally marathon: On Saturday he was supposed to shuttle between North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, who had disappeared in recent days because he wanted to prepare for the presidential debate, made another public appearance over the weekend, in Pennsylvania. He had an embarrassing incident in one of his rallies when Trump supporters showed up and started honking their car horns, rattling the presidential hopeful. "We don't do things like those chumps out there with the microphones, those Trump guys," he said.

His words sparked an immediate uproar in the Trump camp, who compared his comment to Hillary Clinton's four years ago when she called Trump supporters "deplorables."

Trump's message is optimistic – we are on the verge of defeating the coronavirus, America is leading again – while Biden's message is just more pain and sadness, and complaints about the presiding president. Voters tend to want something exciting, and the sitting president is the one bringing the energy.

As stated, Trump is marathoning in three states between Saturday and Sunday. These are three swing states, which the president won four years ago and doesn't plan on surrendering to the Democratic candidate, who still leads in the polls despite a clearly dwindling gap.

The 2020 elections are invigorating the American public, and more than 50 million people have already cast their ballots. The belief is that 85 million people will have voted by election day November 3. In other words, around half of eligible voters. Most of the early voters are apparently Democrats, which is perhaps starting to concern the Republicans who care calling on their supporters to cast early ballots rather than wait for election day itself. Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, have indeed already voted.

On Friday, Pence, accompanied by his wife, voted in Indiana, while Trump cast his ballot on Saturday where he is registered in West Palm Beach, Florida.  

The US president, meanwhile, received a surprising endorsement. A New York Post article penned by Josh Hammer, the opinion editor for Newsweek, said Donald Trump may be the most pro-Jewish president ever. 

Both candidates are attacking the other's weak points. Biden constantly raises the pandemic, saying the president has failed to contain it; while Trump is emphasizing Biden's desire to transition to green energy sources. In the debate on Thursday, Biden said he wasn't against traditional energy industries, he just wants to get rid of subsidies for fossil fuels. For Trump, however, Biden's remarks were a gift from above. 

Trump has repeatedly pounced on the issue while Biden has been on the defensive. "I hope Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and all of the rest were listening last night. High energy prices, massive jobs losses," he tweeted on Friday.

Either way, during Thursday's debate we saw a level-headed, highly focused Donald Trump. In several instances, he even ceded the stage to his rival and the moderator, to the point that even Politico said in a headline that "Trump came out strong." Everything the candidates said was predictable, but they also got their jabs in. It was like night and day from the chaos of the previous televised debate on September 29. The rivals argued, but there was style. This isn't surprising, because both of them were aware it could be the final chord of their campaign, and that they have to emerge from the debate clean.

In certain moments, Biden didn't know what to do with the time he was given. Like a deer in the headlights, he occasionally froze, falling into Trump's trap by trying to defend himself from the president's attacks and rhetorical questions instead of responding with a suitable counterpoint.

Trump wants to project calm

On Friday, I left Nashville. I spent time on Honky Tonk Highway – an entertainment district renowned for its honky-tonk bars hosting live country or rock music. 

Trump was the star of the district, his name appearing prominently on numerous bar windows and street signs. His supporters had come out to celebrate his debate victory. It appears they were out en masse, no longer afraid. At the same time, the media is rallying against him, aside from Fox News; but his supporters don't care. It seems the debate didn't change many minds, but the president's ability to knuckle down and conduct a debate in a stately, even presidential manner, instilled many of his supporters with hope.

Essentially, Trump went about projecting a new and even conciliatory message the day before the debate, in an interview with OutKick's Jason Whitlock. He was asked: "When you go into the second term, though, if you go into the second term, might we see a different personality… a kinder, gentler President Trump?" To which Trump replied: "I think the answer is yes. I want the answer to be yes, but when I first came here, there was so much to do. I didn't have time to be totally and politically correct."

It's possible Trump could try turning these last two weeks before election day into what we saw in 2016. As a reminder, in those final two weeks four years ago, he was a disciplined and extremely on-point candidate, who was riding a wave of optimism and change to victory.  

Meanwhile, Trump now appears the calmest he has been since launching his campaign. He was focused, sharp, even witty at his rallies over the weekend. Immediately after the debate, the journalists around him commended his newfound demeanor. 

We will "ensure peace through strength," Trump promised at his rally in North Carolina. "We will land the first women on the moon," he added. "We will put the first astronaut on Mars." Trump is again trying to wide a wave of optimism that always captivates Americans, and hopes they will turn their backs to Biden's gloomy prognostications. "For the past four years I've been fighting for you, and I now want you to fight for me and give me the most important victory ever," he told crowds.

Trump, it appears, intends to hit the patriotic notes until the end. "The best is yet to come," he vowed. America's best days are still ahead, that's his message, and he hopes it gradually resonates all the way to victory.