One of my favorite bits of ancient wisdom, which I have quoted many times over the years, is the Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu's adage that a battle is won before it is fought because it is won by choosing the terrain on which it is fought. Accordingly, as I noted in a column a few months ago: "If former President Donald Trump and other Republicans on the ballot this fall want to win, they must choose the proper terrain."
He who controls the narrative and framing necessarily controls the result. Every good trial lawyer knows this. And so should every good politician.
Although recent days have been more focused and suggest a possible turning of the tide, the electoral terrain for Republicans has generally been rather shaky ever since the bloodless Kamala Harris coup of Joe Biden a few weeks ago. Asking whether Harris -- the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants -- actually counts as "Black" for U.S. demographic purposes is fair substantive game, but it is certainly not fertile swing voter terrain. Even less compelling, and certainly less propitious, is incontinent friendly fire directed at the popular governor of a crucial swing state, Georgia.
Early voting begins in Pennsylvania, arguably this election's single most decisive battleground state, on Sept. 16. That is just around the corner. Can Republicans pull it together in time and successfully define the electoral terrain?
Republicans are not entirely themselves to blame for the current state of the race, which has seen the GOP squander much of its momentum from the former president's heroic survival of an assassination attempt and the party's successful nominating convention. The corporate media has aided Democrats every step of the way. After pretending to be real journalists for a few weeks and holding Biden accountable for his palpable senility, the Washington press corps immediately returned to regime-apologist form after party elites succeeded in their coup. Thus, the present spectacle of Harris not answering a single real question from the press for nearly four weeks. Funny how quickly the media went from probing to outright laconic.
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Republicans and the Trump campaign need to break through the corporate media's shameless attempt to shield Harris and prairie socialist running mate Tim Walz from any scrutiny whatsoever. Part of that strategy will necessarily entail utilizing alternative media sources, as Trump did earlier this week during his much-hyped X Spaces conversation with Elon Musk. But ultimately, there can be no substitute for hitting the physical campaign trail in the nation's core swing states -- for attending small-town rallies in Pennsylvania, leading local parades in Michigan, going on local news programs in Wisconsin, and the like. And it is imperative that in making the local rounds, Trump and Republicans define the proper terrain on which voters will make their fateful voting booth decisions.
It ultimately boils down to this: If Republicans can successfully frame the 2024 election as boiling down to the actual issues -- and above all, the economy, inflation, immigration and crime -- then they stand a strong chance of prevailing. But if Democrats and their media propagandists can successfully frame the election as a subjective "vibes" competition or a mere high school-like popularity contest, the GOP could very well lose.
Harris is already attempting to distance herself from Biden. Republicans must not allow her to do that. Harris has been Biden's (tongue-twisted and dim-witted) right-hand wingwoman since day one. Harris owns the Biden-Harris administration's abysmal record no less than Biden himself. And that record is decidedly unpopular with the American people: According to current polling averages, the Biden administration's approval rating is 20 points underwater on the economy, 21 points underwater on foreign policy, 29 points underwater on immigration, 28 points underwater on inflation, 19 points underwater on crime, and an astounding 34 points underwater on the war in Gaza.
Let's be blunt: The Biden-Harris administration's record is about as popular with the American people as venereal disease.
That suggests an obvious path to victory in November for the Trump-Vance campaign, and for Republicans as a whole: Stay disciplined and make the case on the leading substantive issues facing the American people. Now is not the time for self-indulgence. Now is not the time for needless distractions. Now is not the time to relitigate the past or to settle old scores. But now is the time for a ruthless, meticulous assault on the entirety of the fetid Biden-Harris oeuvre, and a concomitant positive case as to why a Trump-Vance administration will produce better results for a besieged and beleaguered populace.
The road map could not possibly be clearer. In fact, it practically writes itself. All that is left is to execute the plan.
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