The Right Resistance: Public Relations genius Trump excels at the ‘fun factor’ in the 2024 race

Even Donald Trump’s enemies should concede that he’s a master at recovering from setbacks – and looks like he’s having a grand time in the doing so.

With campaign 2024 winding down to the end and Election Day just a little over a week away, Trump seems as fresh and confident as he was before the campaign officially launched. Further, as the “big day” nears, Trump appears to have caught not only his second wind, but his third, fourth and forty-seventh rejuvenating breath as well.

Recent Trump public appearances have given him confidence that he can pull off what would amount to the political comeback of all time. Meanwhile, Trump’s instincts and talented campaign advisory staff have consistently put him in position to never seem out of place. Now more than ever, Trump’s “every man” relatability is paying dividends in poll trends that would carry him back to the White House with a mandate much larger than the one he had in his first go ‘round.

Trump makes it look like he’s having fun, while poor cackling Kamala Harris is getting louder and shriller in her desperate attempt to regain a semblance of relevance. Looks can be deceiving – but they also can be revealing.

In a well-reasoned piece titled “The ‘Fun Rule’ Would Suggest Kamala Is Toast”, the always on-point Scott McKay wrote at The American Spectator last week:

“What makes politics fun is belief. The people who come out to rallies, who do the grunt work of a campaign, whether that might be phone banking, putting up yard signs, grinding out fundraising calls, and all the rest, had better believe that either their candidate is a great guy or gal worth having in office or else that their party will bring policies they earnestly want to see made into reality. Or preferably both.

“If neither are present, it isn’t going to be fun. And attempts to make it fun are going to come off as petty or pathetic, or probably both.

“Believers have more fun. And believers generally win. And candidates who can do things to make the grunt work of politics enjoyable for their believers, particularly when those things can generate a palpable difference in enjoyment vis-a-vis the other side, will win every time if all other things are equal. Sometimes they can win even when all the other things aren’t equal. There has never been an underdog who won an election without a huge difference in fun.”

Sounds like a simple concept, doesn’t it? In his piece, McKay reasoned that Trump won in 2016 because he out-funned Hillary Clinton, while came up short in 2020 because COVID sapped all the enjoyment out of his first reelection effort. Looking back on those years, the American Spectator writer has offered up a good point.

And while it hasn’t seemed like “fun” at all times this year, judging by his recent behavior – and brilliant public relations moves of late – Trump’s mojo has most definitely returned. Trump is trouncing the faux “joyful” candidate as the end nears – for her – and there’s no stopping him now.  The “fun” race is most definitely over. Will McKay’s theory prove salient again?

There was a time – not too long ago, actually – that it appeared like campaigning wasn’t any fun any longer for the Republican nominee. For example, right around the (first) time Trump was targeted for assassination, the drudgery of the trail seemed like it was getting to Trump. Sure, his rally crowds were huge and enthusiastic, but putting his best spin and performance to each gathering was becoming monotonous, even for Trump.

Then would-be assassin number one showed up in Butler, Pennsylvania, trudged around the grounds uninhibited by the Secret Service, mounted a close by rooftop and fired however many rounds at Trump, one of which buzzed his right ear because he just happened to turn his head and look to his right at the critical moment, a motion that almost certainly saved his life.

Trump includes the immigration graphic that was on a big screen at that moment in every one of his presentations, now, and refers to it as though it were his best friend.

The fact that the wound was so slight – by gunshot standards – and he was able to continue with his campaign, select J.D. Vance for his running mate and then preside over a vastly successful Republican convention seemingly brought new energy to Trump’s 2024 effort. But then came senile Joe and cackling Kamala – and the rest of the gleeful, gloating Democrats – to dampen the energy, once again.

Those who regularly followed politics, myself included, were astonished that simply pushing Biden’s decrepit body to the side injected such a new burst of pride to Democrats, allowing them to anoint an absolute mental empty-brain like Kamala Harris as their nominee – and turn the polls around on a dime. Democrats went from dejection to delirium within the span of hours, or so it appeared.

Not only that, but formerly downtrodden Democrats took the lead in the race for “fun”, too, as Harris’ cackling laugh was heard just about everywhere – or at least in the canned establishment media reports that couldn’t wait to feature some snippet of her “service” in the Biden administration as filler for news reports.

Even at the beginning, Democrats recognized they could only portray Kamala as “joyful” and full of… vibe… by hiding her from snooping reporters wondering what she really believed and how much it contrasted from her past advocacy and rare statements as vice president. All of this allowed Democrats to present the appearance that the psychological burden had been lifted – and everyone concerned was having a great time, where just a few weeks prior, they were waiting in line at the pharmacy to refill their Prozac prescriptions.

For the Trump side, not even the addition of Vance to the campaign or the unstated feeling of relief that Democrats were dumb enough to elevate Kamala Harris to be their nominee – and the subsequent addition of the truly hideous, nails-on-a-chalkboard-irritating Tim Walz – could restore the post-assassination sense of optimism for Trump’s backers.

But, as I’ve often argued, Democrats always go overboard with their reactions, and their ever-present and misguided belief that they’re always right disguised what was really happening just below the surface. They may have looked content and satisfied, but they weren’t having any fun. Persistent questions about Kamala’s lack of media availability were instilling doubt in a lot of people’s minds. You mean American voters weren’t just going to determine a winner based on how much they hate Trump alone?

The September 10 fact-checking ABC debate moderators temporarily soothed Democrats, again. Harris showed that locking herself away in a hotel room studying binders full of Democrat “facts” and a generous amount of tutelage from the best debate preppers produced 90 minutes of material for the woman to spout. Plus, she received pointers from people who knew how to get Trump distracted. The 45th president didn’t have a lot of fun that night.

But since early September, momentum has shifted back to Trump. Democrats expected that Kamala’s “performance” would’ve equated to the killer blow to Trump’s campaign, simply because the normally upbeat and forward-looking Trump wasn’t on his game that night. The candidate who customarily brings a truckload of levity to each public appearance wasn’t himself at the debate.

The polls didn’t go Kamala’s way, however. And a few weeks later at the vice presidential debate, the very steady and confident J.D. Vance ran circles around hapless dunce Tim Walz, who was even forced to admit he lied about his background, specifically in reference to his experiences in communist Red China. This was perhaps the first moment Democrats’ belief began to erode.

For his part, Trump had remained confident, figuring he’d seen it a couple times before and lived through late-breaking scandals that would’ve brought low a less talented political performer. Not even Hillary Clinton’s array of sleaze kept Trump from pulling off an unanticipated win in 2016. There was no reason to think that the American public wouldn’t eventually get wise to how big of an imbecile that cackling Kamala Harris is.

Beyond the nuts and bolts of the current race, does McKay’s “fun” theory hold up? It could easily be alleged that both of Barack Obama’s national campaigns featured a winner who was having markedly more fun than his opponent. John McCain faced considerable economic headwinds in his battle against Obama, but the crotchety old establishmentarian seemingly enjoyed acting like a killjoy. Add the fact McCain poopooed bringing in America-hater Jeremiah Wright to the campaign, and there was a virtual guarantee that Obama’s “Hope and Change” party atmosphere would carry the day in 2008.

Similarly, there was nothing about plastic and boring Mitt Romney that screamed “fun” in 2012. What was his message, anyway? If Trump promotes “Make America Great Again,” what was Mitt’s – vote for me and the 47 percent will start paying taxes?

Romney’s campaign was where fun went to die. No wonder he chose Paul Ryan to be his running mate.

Trump instinctively understands likability and the role relatability plays in appealing to American voters. Based on his un-favorable numbers, there’s no question that Trump’s “act” doesn’t appeal to everyone. Liberals don’t like fun – or they want it to be of the phony variety, like men pretending to enjoy being at a baby shower – or the looks on Democrats’ faces during Trump’s roast at the Al Smith dinner. Displeasure shows. No one’s that good of an actor.

The 2024 election won’t be determined solely by which candidate is having the most fun, but it’s clear that Kamala Harris isn’t appreciating what she’s doing these days. With only a week to go until the country votes, it won’t be easy to change the impression that Democrats are terrified of losing. Try not to enjoy it too much, conservatives. Like my parents always used to say, “Work comes before fun.”

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