Willie Sutton Rides Again

Politics

The answer to all your questions is MONEY!

Don Ohlmeyer/Former NBC West Coast President

This quote is most often used in relation to sports.  It made the news cycles again last week when the NFL, after claiming they were reinventing the kickoff for player safety, announced a plan to expand the regular season from 17 to 18 games.  At 17 games, the playoffs are already a war of attrition.  The answer of course, as Ohlmeyer said, is money.  Despite the fact half the squad may be on injured reserve, replacing a third pre-season game with one that determines playoff contenders is a no-brainer, figuratively for  the owners, literally for the players.

However, sports has no monopoly proving Ohlmeyer’s theory correct.  I realized that when I read “Does Trump even want to win?” by Washington Post columnist Jim Geraghty (August 5, 2024).  Geraghty presented a laundry list of behaviors, most recently his attacking Georgia governor Brian Kemp and his wife, that he suggested was the exact opposite of someone serious about winning an election.

  • “Trump is laying the groundwork for another election conspiracy theory and another set of excuses if he loses the state of Georgia in November.”
  • “Maybe it’s a sign Trump is panicked because switching Biden for Harris couldn’t have gone much better for Democrats.”
  • “Saturday night was just the seemingly billionth example that at any given moment, Trump cannot prioritize anything…”
  • He knows “…reporters are drawn to conflict, and ‘Trump vs. other Republicans’ is always a storyline that excites them.”
  • “It is fair to wonder whether Trump’s heart is in his check-the-box statements about the policies he intends to enact.”

But Geraghty waits until the final paragraph to launch the most damning possibility.

Trump had a fairly easy path to victory against Biden, and beating Harris is still very much within the realm of possibility. But he just doesn’t seem interested in staying focused and putting in the work. Great pick, Republicans.

Which is where Don Ohlmeyer comes back into the picture.  The question is, “If Donald Trump no longer has ‘a fairly easy path’ to  the White House,  does he have an easier path to achieve some other goal?”  Once again, the answer to Geraghty’s question, “Does Trump even want to win,” is MONEY.

Consider the following.  Much is being made about the personnel in a second Trump administration, and how the Earth One guardrails will be gone.  However, those best at greasing the skids for the “big grift,” Jared and Ivanka, will not be there either.  And their replacements, courtesy of the Heritage Foundation HR office, will not have Donald’s finances as their priority.  They will be reporting to the likes of Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts and Silicon Valley deep pocket Peter Thiel who have embedded their political operative JD Vance to be the COO of their enterprise to take permanent control of the federal government.

So Trump, if president, will have to serve as both CEO and COO of Trump DC, Inc.  There’s just one problem.  He no longer has a Pennsylvania Avenue hotel where foreign governments can reserve rooms for imaginary guests.  He has already tapped out the market for inflated memberships at Mar-a-Lago.  What’s left?  Continuing to scam the same small donors who show up at his rallies.  The same ones who send their hard-earned money to pay for Trump’s legal fees.  The same one’s who buy into the fear about armed IRS agents and transgender people destroying America.  In other words, the avenue to another financial windfall as president is less certain than it was eight years ago.

Which explains why, while Harris and Walz are barnstorming seven swing states, Trump is holding a single rally this week in Montana, a state he won by  20.4 percent in 2016 and 16 points in 2020.  Call it the Willie Sutton campaign strategy.  I’m sure if you asked him, “Why are you going to Montana,” Trump would reply, “That’s where the small donors who think I’m the second coming are. And all I have to do, is lie, which, as you know, comes second nature to me.  And they send me money.”

All this bodes well for Harris/Walz.  It does not, however, mean they are assured victory or can take their foot off the accelerator, whether gas or electric.  In Trump’s absence, the source of incoming missiles will more likely be Vance and Trump campaign surrogates.  Yesterday the Harris campaign demonstrated they have stocked the armory and are ready to fire back.  Attacks directed at Walz for his response to the Minneapolis riots after George Lloyd’s murder were immediately countered with audio of Trump praising the governor at the time.  And efforts to “swift-boat” Walz’ National Guard service were met with “swift” fact checking including letters from the Minnesota National Guard which disproved the false claims. 

This is not the Democratic party we are used to.  Efficient, effective and on message.  In 89 days, we will know the only thing that matters, whether it made a difference to voters.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

One thought on “Willie Sutton Rides Again”

  1. This has become a promising and exciting campaign. It was a pleasure to see our team going immediately to the battleground states for their first rallies together. And what rallies they were. Harris and Walz play very well off of each other. The wake up call has been answered. As far as what is motivating trump, I do think we have to be wary the efforts he and the MAGA crew will be doing to undermine and swing the election to his favor. All of those small (minded) contributors might be easily led like sheep to cause trouble at the polling places.

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