WashPost: The October surprise that wasn't

[riversedge]

The October surprise that wasn’t

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/01/october-surprise-that-wasnt/

Opinion by James Downie Digital opinions editor

November 1, 2020 at 4:01 p.m. CST

President Trump’s surrogates fanned out across television Sunday morning, but something was missing. There were lame attempts to defend the president’s despicable claim that doctors are inflating covid-19 deaths for money. There was faux concern about the “integrity” of the vote to excuse GOP voter suppression. What there wasn’t was any mention of Hunter Biden and the “smoking gun” emails allegedly found on his laptop that Trump has been yammering about for the past few weeks. That this would-be October surprise has fizzled so badly shows just how deeply the president has undercut his own reelection campaign.
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One might say it’s not surprising that the Hunter Biden emails got no traction, because they haven’t been verified. But that’s not strictly true: The Biden camp hasn’t claimed the emails are fake, though there are no records corroborating that Democratic nominee Joe Biden did discuss his son’s business interests in Ukraine while vice president. Still, an October surprise often affects votes regardless of its accuracy. In a normal election, during a normal presidency, this story would likely have enough legs to affect the final weeks, even as its veracity is in doubt.

The explanation for Trump’s failure to generate an October surprise lies elsewhere — in the president and his party’s choices and record.


Trump has made clear in the past that he expects his staff to shield him politically — as when he blasted former attorney general Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. But by valuing partisan loyalty over competence, he has neutered staff members’ power to affect public debate. The Comey letter, for example, turned out to be nothing more than incredibly poor judgment from the FBI director. But James B. Comey was respected and trusted, so it affected voters’ thinking. In contrast, Trump appointees such as Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and Attorney General William P. Barr have torched their credibility from the beginning. Thus when Ratcliffe alleged last week that Iran was sending threatening emails to voters to hurt the president, what would normally be earth-shattering news landed with a thud..................................





https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=691
A woman deflates a balloon likeness of President Trump in Easton, Pa., on Oct. 25. (Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

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[lees1975]

1. There was nothing to it

The problem that the Republicans had throwing things against the wall to make them stick is that there wasn't anything illegal involved in the whole issue. And so what if Biden had discussed with his son business dealings in Ukraine? Unlike what the President and his surrogates did, there was nothing hidden, illegal, or corrupt involved. The evidence of Trump's illegal activity, including international bribery, came from people who he hired, who worked for him, who he vetted and approved and were members of his administration or were serving as his attorney. It was solid, confirmed by the FBI, and irrefutable.

Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. End of story. Many well known Americans have been involved in assisting with the development of Ukraine. Trump, allied with Vladimir Putin, is involved in trying to destroy it for money.

[brush]

2. They should've learned by now to not go with anything Ghouliani...

is involved in. He only got lucky in 2016 because Comey fell for a bogus laptop story, so Rudy tried it again.

It was also bogus and no one fell for it this time.

He needs to lay off the booze. It's affecting his judgment.