Geniuses

 If Republicans - both Trump and in the Senate - were trying to lose the election, I'm unsure what they would do differently. 

First of all, we have an economic situation largely unique in the post-New Deal landscape: a pandemic has shuttered and reduced business activity around the country. There has to be more stimulative and relief spending. McConnell won't vote on it. The article credulous calls opposition rooted in "fiscal conservatism." That's...something, and largely a feature of how, in Josh Marshall's words, the media is hard-wired for conservative narratives. This same party slashed taxes for billionaires and punched a trillion dollar hole in the budget BEFORE Covid. They don't give a shit about "fiscal conservatism," they just don't like it when government is shown to benefit people. So people are going to lose their business, watch their dreams crash around them, while McConnell pushes through a Supreme Court justice.

Second, we have President McBabypants storming out of an interview with Leslie Stahl, because he didn't like the tone in her voice. Some of this is his well-documented contempt for women who "don't know their place," which will most likely lead to an absolutely historic gender gap in this fall's election. The other is that this is a man with a skin so thin a breeze irritates it. Who sits down with 60 Minutes and expects some OANN fluff piece? Trump's entire appeal to those deluded men without college degrees is his perceived "toughness." I will admit...I don't get that. He's an absolute crybaby. I'm guessing it's more that Trump can throw about misogynistic slurs and still be president, so they admire that, because some woman from HR told them they had to take down the centerfold in their locker.

Meanwhile, as Trump gets more desperate and the possibility of his defeat looms, he is decompressing. Pennsylvania is the critical state this election. The folks at 538 have Biden leading 50.5% to Trump's 44.2%. That's 6 points and Biden is over 50%. If that holds, that's the ballgame. So, naturally, Trump goes to Erie - the sort of Rust Belt town that propelled his fat ass to the presidency - and says he doesn't want to be there. In most presidencies, this would be a scandal of yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah. 

Oh, and the Trump campaign is out of money.

The news isn't getting much better, as the inevitable fall spike in Covid cases is here, and - oh, yeah - another story about Trump's corruption and hypocrisy has dropped. It's already disappeared into the sinkhole of Trumpistan's news cycle, but every day Trump isn't making up ground, he's losing. Given the petulant child that he is, his rolling tantrums will only intensify. 

It really feels like he's trying to lose, but really, he's just a terrible and not terribly smart person.