signalmankenneth
Verified User
Almost without exception, the potential Republican candidates for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024 are showing conspicuous deference to Donald Trump, bordering on fear. Their reticence is understandable with the party still largely in his grip, but it’s hardly a way of persuading voters they are presidential timber, even at this early stage. Their theory of victory appears to hinge almost entirely on the possibility that Trump will be sidetracked or disqualified from running in 2024 or that primary voters will simply tire of his ceaseless chaos. They secretly hope the former president slips on a legal banana peel while professing to abhor any such thing.
This is plainly a strategy for losing, an approach that paves Trump’s way to the Republican nomination once again in the likely event he enters the race. But for GOP candidates who actually aspire to defeat Trump in the political arena, there are ways to take him down, particularly by focusing on his disastrous foreign policy record.
As a longtime U.S. diplomat, my responsibility was to analyze politics and assess political leaders — democrats, demagogues and dictators alike — in foreign countries, and also to help the secretaries of State I worked for navigate domestic politics to advance our foreign policy. I had the opportunity to personally size up strongmen from Marcos in the Philippines to Milosevic in Serbia and Aristide in Haiti, as well as democratic statesmen from NATO member countries such as Croatia.
The fact is, Donald Trump is beatable. I have seen his type around the world; he is a would-be autocrat who lacks the vision, discipline and basic competence to achieve anything of enduring significance — a piker compared to world historical demagogues of the recent past, or even our home-grown variety like Huey Long. Nonetheless, Trump does possess one trait that is critical in politics: a killer instinct. Armed with a talent for ridicule, he has an ability to sense his opponents’ weaknesses and to exploit them ruthlessly. And yet Trump is himself an extremely fat target for ridicule, with massive liabilities as a candidate for reelection.
For Republican White House hopefuls who are ready to exploit Trump’s vulnerabilities and explode the myths covering up his lies, here are the lines of attack.
https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...hs-propping-up-a-trump-2024-comeback-00054412
This is plainly a strategy for losing, an approach that paves Trump’s way to the Republican nomination once again in the likely event he enters the race. But for GOP candidates who actually aspire to defeat Trump in the political arena, there are ways to take him down, particularly by focusing on his disastrous foreign policy record.
As a longtime U.S. diplomat, my responsibility was to analyze politics and assess political leaders — democrats, demagogues and dictators alike — in foreign countries, and also to help the secretaries of State I worked for navigate domestic politics to advance our foreign policy. I had the opportunity to personally size up strongmen from Marcos in the Philippines to Milosevic in Serbia and Aristide in Haiti, as well as democratic statesmen from NATO member countries such as Croatia.
The fact is, Donald Trump is beatable. I have seen his type around the world; he is a would-be autocrat who lacks the vision, discipline and basic competence to achieve anything of enduring significance — a piker compared to world historical demagogues of the recent past, or even our home-grown variety like Huey Long. Nonetheless, Trump does possess one trait that is critical in politics: a killer instinct. Armed with a talent for ridicule, he has an ability to sense his opponents’ weaknesses and to exploit them ruthlessly. And yet Trump is himself an extremely fat target for ridicule, with massive liabilities as a candidate for reelection.
For Republican White House hopefuls who are ready to exploit Trump’s vulnerabilities and explode the myths covering up his lies, here are the lines of attack.
https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...hs-propping-up-a-trump-2024-comeback-00054412
