Right before the elections I saw a Red Wave as the bait that would lure the Orange Mammal into running in 2024. And it looked that way, both that there would be a big ol' red lure dangling in front of his dentures and that he would swallow it, hook, line and sinker. Trump announced that he would announce for 2024 next week, CNN put it at Nov. 15. I thought that the Red Wave would be the dawn of blue skies in 2024 for I have never thought Trump would beat Biden in 2024. I still feel that way, all of those ways above, but the pink mist outcome of the election has thrown my thinking into flux. Now it appears Trump may postpone his candidacy announcement until after the Georgia run-off. Now, well, these quotes are from a NYT article written by Maggie Haberman, et al:
Trump Under Fire From Within G.O.P. After Midterms
“Republicans have followed Donald Trump off the side of a cliff,” a longtime adviser said.
Donald J. Trump faced unusual public attacks from across the Republican Party on Wednesday after a string of midterm losses by candidates he had handpicked and supported, a display of weakness as he prepared to announce a third presidential campaign as soon as next week.
As the sheer number of missed Republican opportunities sank in, the rush to openly blame Trump was as immediate as it was surprising.
Conservative allies [I would put the American Spectator, excerpted earlier, in that camp] criticized Trump on social media and cable news, questioning whether he should continue as the party’s leader and pointing to his toxic political brand as the common thread woven through three consecutive lackluster election cycles.
Trump was seen as largely to blame for the Republicans’ underwhelming finish in Tuesday’s elections, as a number of the candidates he had endorsed in competitive races were defeated — including nominees for governor and Senate in Pennsylvania and for governor of Michigan, New York and Wisconsin.
“Republicans have followed Donald Trump off the side of a cliff,” David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser with ties to Pennsylvania, said in an interview.
Former Representative Peter King, a Republican from Long Island who has long supported Trump, said, “I strongly believe he should no longer be the face of the Republican Party,” adding that the party “can’t become a personality cult.”
The chorus of criticism, which unfolded on Fox News and social media throughout the day, revealed Trump to be at his most vulnerable point politically since the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
...
...at his home in Florida, Trump was privately spreading blame, including to Sean Hannity and the casino mogul Steve Wynn, for his endorsement of Mehmet Oz, the defeated Pennsylvania Senate candidate. He included his wife, Melania, among those he complained had offered poor advice, according to several people familiar with the discussions.
...
...Trump...has been teasing rally crowds for weeks with hints of another presidential bid — one that was meant to capitalize on the momentum gained by what he repeatedly predicted would be a towering Republican victory in Tuesday’s elections. That would allow him to claim credit for endorsing the winners, holding dozens of rallies to showcase them and, in a new spirit of benevolence, spending millions of dollars from his campaign treasury on advertisements to support them.
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On Wednesday, Trump was said to be furious with Hannity, to whom the former president often turns for political advice, and who was among several people who urged him to endorse Dr. Oz.
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“Almost every one of these Trump-endorsed candidates that you see in competitive states has lost,” Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, said Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It’s a huge loss for Trump. And, again, it shows that his political instincts are not about the party, they’re not about the country — they’re about him.”
[Christie had more stinging remarks about Trump:
['The only animating factor (for him) in determining an endorsement is, 'Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen or don't you?' 'It's not, 'Can you raise money?' 'It's not, 'Do you have an articulable vision for the future of your state or your district?' 'It's not evidence of past success in communicating to voters. 'It is a completely self-centered determination.']
...
Mr. King said the results showed that it was time for the party to move on, and he faulted Mr. Trump for sniping at political allies.
“His self-promotion and his attacks on Republicans including Ron DeSantis and Mitch McConnell were largely responsible for Republicans not having a red wave,” Mr. King said. “We can’t allow blind fealty to Trump to determine the fate of our party.”
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The New York Post, one of Trump’s favorite publications, devoted its cover on Wednesday to an election-night photo of [Ron DeSantis] the 44-year-old governor celebrating with his young family. The tabloid’s headline, “DeFuture”...
And so I'm of course torn. I fret that the midterms were so bad for Trump that he will at least delay announcement of candidacy and where there is delay sometimes the thing just goes away. I love that John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer and, and, and, won. I will be overjoyed if Kelly and Hobbs win AZ but at that point you're putting a lot of weight on the delay side of the scale. And if Trump ignores the advice he is getting and announces next week, that will affect the Georgia runoff and if Georgia is lost, agayne, by Trump, then I do think, whether he announced or announces subsequently, he is a dead man walking politically. Between Trump, the devil we know too well and DeSantis, the devil we know not well, I would choose Trump for Biden's opponent every damn time.