![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/c800x450-w800-q60\/uploads\/2022\/11\/kyodowc323319-800x450.jpg\")
<\/picture> <\/div>\nDidn’t we just<\/em> have an election?<\/strong> Yes, yes we did. In fact, the outcome of some 2022 midterm contests is still unknown. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump has announced his next presidential run<\/a>, thus kicking off the 2024 election season already. <bangs head against wall repeatedly><\/p>\n Why did Trump choose to announce so early? Especially given how poorly Trumpism performed in the midterms? Trump-backed, election-denying candidates lost a lot of key races, and those that didn’t (like J.D. Vance in Ohio) significantly underperformed expectations.<\/p>\n Perhaps Trump planned the announcement to come on the heels of big midterm wins and simply couldn’t be bothered to change course now. Perhaps he’s just impatient for a bigger spotlight\u2014and to change the chatter away from how dismally Trumpist candidates just fared. Or maybe he thinks that announcing now will force Republicans to rally behind him and prevent them from getting too serious about Ron DeSantis or some other 2024 presidential hopeful. (In the wake of last week’s election, a lot of eulogies were already being written for Trump’s candidacy.) My bet is on all of the above.<\/p>\n Some think that Trump’s timing is designed to stave off criminal investigations<\/a> and prosecutions. Of course, running for president doesn’t mean that you’re above the law. But it could bolster Trump’s claims that any legal actions against him are illegitimate and simply designed to thwart his political ambitions.<\/p>\n The only thing we know for certain is that this means the 2024 election season has already begun\u2014less than two weeks after the last election took place. It’s absurd.<\/p>\n U.S. campaign seasons are now much, much longer than campaign seasons in other countries<\/a>. To the extent that this takes some folks in government away from actually governing, libertarians might celebrate this as a good thing. But it also contributes to the feeling that American lives are now eternally beholden to tribal politics. There is no respite. We’re forever bombarded with horse-race pronouncements and new poll results. We’re forever being asked to pick a team. We’re forever being told that we’re in the middle of THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMES.<\/p>\n It seems designed to put people in an eternally heightened state of political paranoia, in which the stakes are always furiously and dangerously high (so donate now!).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, media, activists, and elected officials seem to shove everything into the framework of “how will this affect the upcoming election?” instead of “will this be good for the American people?” Politicians have more incentive to pander and less to make moves that might be even a smidge unpopular. And lawmakers, governors, and others have incentive to lavish praise on their party’s presumptive nominee\u2014either out of self-preservation or because it may be bad for the party’s election chances to do otherwise\u2014even when they might disagree.<\/p>\n There’s simply no time for Republicans or Democrats to take a clear-eyed look at their own sides, or for anyone to put politics aside to accomplish common goals.<\/p>\n It sucks. But here we are.<\/p>\n “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for President of the United States,” Trump said yesterday.<\/p>\n His announcement speech was long\u2014so long that even Fox News cut away<\/a> for a bit\u2014and lower energy than many a Trump speech. It was mostly packed with the same self-aggrandizing platitudes, fear-mongering, and cruelty we’ve come to expect. Trump praised China for executing drug dealers and pledged to do the same. He called for the U.S. to eliminate electronic voting machines and said America is being “poisoned”<\/a> by immigrants.<\/p>\n (“However, Trump’s speech, in a tone subdued compared to his traditional campaign rallies, avoided intra-party sniping and denials of the President Biden’s 2020 election victory,” notes<\/a> Fox News.)<\/p>\n The big question now with regard to Trump’s candidacy is now how much of his party will fall in line behind him despite indications that he may be more toxic now than in the last election he lost. This time around, the Supreme Court has already overturned Roe v. Wade<\/em>, and a lot of ordinary people seem turned off by Trump’s persistent denial of the 2020 election results. “The pundits apparently assumed that Trump’s once-strong standing was permanent, but while true-believer Maga folks keep buying what Trump is selling, a lot of other people who tried out what was on offer have moved on, including Rupert Murdoch,” writes<\/a> Rebecca Solnit.<\/p>\n A lot of Republicans praised Trump’s announcement speech. “His speech tonight, contrasting his policies and results against the Biden Administration, charts a winning path for him in the primaries and general election,” tweeted<\/a> South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. “He has my complete and total endorsement!” tweeted<\/a> failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. <\/span><\/p>\n But not all Republicans have been so publicly enthusiastic. For instance, Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted<\/a>: “Trump is correct on Biden’s failures, but his self-indulging message promoting anger has not changed. It didn’t work in 2022 and won’t work in 2024. There are better choices.” Mick Mulvaney, the former acting White House chief of staff for Trump, pointed to the midterm results:<\/p>\n Trump midterms: "232 wins and 22 losses."<\/p>\n The losses included Senate races in PA, AZ, NV, and NH. And governors in AZ, PA, and MI.<\/p>\n Wins included dog catcher in Pahrump, AZ.<\/p>\n Not the same thing. And people know it.<\/p>\n — Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaney) November 16, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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