Frank Luntz thinks Donald Trump is ‘all washed up’

benfell

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I happen to agree,[1] but we shouldn’t make more of the Alternet story (republished from the Raw Story)[2] than there is: It’s really mostly stenographically reporting Frank Luntz’ opinion. Luntz is a widely respected Republican pollster; his views aren’t merely pulled from his ass. But it’s one perspective.

We’re still a year out, and obviously, a lot can happen between now and then, but assuming Luntz is right about Donald Trump being “all washed up”[3]—and yes, I think he is—I have to expect that there will be a damaging rift in the Republican Party between Trump’s loyalists and the rest of the Republican Party, which may well fall into line with Ron DeSantis.

[Ron] DeSantis is happy to use brash rhetoric and even cruel stunts to make his point. He has flown Venezeulean migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in a bid to own liberals and battled with Disney over gay rights — breaking with Republican orthodoxy to complain about corporate power. He has said France would fold if Russia invaded and sided with Elon Musk over Ukrainian leaders after the U.S. billionaire suggested Kyiv needed to negotiate a peace deal with Russia.[4]

How damaging remains to be seen and my questions would be 1) how this affects enthusiasm and turnout in the general election, and 2) whether, in light of Doug Mastriano’s double-digit failure in Pennsylvania,[5] an extremist DeSantis, who can easily be tarred as “extremist,”[6] can draw support from a broader electorate.

Tom Boggioniand, “‘Thank you for your service’: GOP insiders say Donald Trump is ‘all washed up’ with ‘too much drama’ for 2024,” Alternet, January 29, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-all-washed-up/

Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[7] fair use.

This is the only substance I’ve seen so far to reports I’d seen on social media that Israel had struck multiple Iranian cities. Here it looks far more limited (both in scope and effect) and much more in collaboration with the U.S. and, less overtly, Ukraine.[8] But it would also divert from Binyamin Netanyahu’s domestic problems if—and a surprising bit for me is that it isn’t—it was getting more coverage.

Dion Nissenbaum, Benoit Faucon, and Gordon Lubold, “Israel Strikes Iran Amid New International Push to Contain Tehran,” Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-strikes-iran-amid-new-international-push-to-contain-tehran-11675004979

  1. [1]David Benfell, “More questions than answers as Donald Trump flags come down,” Not Housebroken, December 3, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/28/more-questions-than-answers-as-donald-trump-flags-come-down/↩
  2. [2]Tom Boggioniand, “‘Thank you for your service’: GOP insiders say Donald Trump is ‘all washed up’ with ‘too much drama’ for 2024,” Alternet, January 29, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-all-washed-up/↩
  3. [3]Tom Boggioniand, “‘Thank you for your service’: GOP insiders say Donald Trump is ‘all washed up’ with ‘too much drama’ for 2024,” Alternet, January 29, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-all-washed-up/↩
  4. [4]Adam Taylor, “Is the world ready for President DeSantis and a Floridian foreign policy?” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/10/desanntis-foreign-policy-florida/↩
  5. [5]Kris Maher, “Democrat Josh Shapiro Wins Pennsylvania Governor Race Over Doug Mastriano,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/democrat-josh-shapiro-wins-pennsylvania-governor-race-over-doug-mastriano-rdDSLqwHlckU7Q5yZYF2; Jonathan Tamari, William Bender, and Chris Brennan, “The Pa. GOP’s no good, very bad, terrible election is forcing a reckoning in the state party,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 13, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-gop-losses-mastriano-2022-20221113.html; Mike Wereschagen, “What went wrong? How the GOP’s hope for a red wave in Pennsylvania crumbled,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 13, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/election2022/2022/11/13/pennsylvania-republicans-election-control-congress-legislature/stories/202211110116↩
  6. [6]Adam Taylor, “Is the world ready for President DeSantis and a Floridian foreign policy?” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/10/desanntis-foreign-policy-florida/↩
  7. [7]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  8. [8]Dion Nissenbaum, Benoit Faucon, and Gordon Lubold, “Israel Strikes Iran Amid New International Push to Contain Tehran,” Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-strikes-iran-amid-new-international-push-to-contain-tehran-11675004979↩

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