Trump's path had been to polarize the electorte, and then energize and mobilize the pole backing him [View all]

[Tom Rinaldo]

His hard core base is fanatical, and up until now their utter devotion to following him anywhere, coupled with generalized voter suppression, has given Trump a tactical edge that has kept him electorally competitive despite most Americans giving him negative job approval ratings. Trump had one last chance to revise his strategic approach with this current pandemic, an opportunity to attempt to reframe himself as a unifying leader of all Americans. No way it would have worked with me, but for some others out there, who knows? Clearly Trump did not make that choice.

Now I believe he is locked into a tailspin. In order the keep the fierce loyalty of his hard core base he has to keep the polarizing flames hot. But it isn't news that polarizing behavior always strengthens the opposing pole also. Here's the thing though. Small a group as it may be, there are always some who somehow still manage to float between those poles.Trump is now on an irrevocable path toward losing almost all of those. In a time of a true national crisis, people seek a unifying leader to pull us together and to rally us to work together. No one, not even those under the influence of a mind altering substance, will ever mistake Donald Trump for a unifying leader now.

Through intensifying propaganda and mind fuckery Trump may well hold onto his hard core base. But in the current social climate of crisis that we find ourselves in as a people, this will cause him to lose everyone else. Trump can no longer pull off divide and conquer, He still can divide, but the rules have changed. Now it is divide and lose.