Messerly Column: Everyone has a plan to beat Trump until …

Published 2:45 am Friday, November 18, 2022

Political pundits have a lot of “today’s hot topic” opinions to share, but I’m not so sure about their long term memory skills, especially how it relates to Donald Trump and his unprecedented run during the 2016 election season.

I bring this up following a series of polls commissioned by the conservative Club For Growth immediately following the midterms showing the former president down by double digits to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and Georgia. The timing of the polls is not at all suspicious, the Club For Growth wants to strike while the iron is hot following the midterms elections proving the GOP nationwide performance to be less than anticipated … in some circles, far less than anticipated.

Email newsletter signup

Count the Club For Growth, among others, as blaming Trump for the election results.

On average, Trump trails DeSantis by 14 points in these polls. Obviously, the conservative organization doesn’t have much faith in Trump and thinks the double digit margin should weigh on his decision to run for president a third time.

Fat chance of that! Trump announced Tuesday evening he is running for president.

Maybe before publishing the polls across the media landscape, the Club For Growth should have asked Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Mark Rubio and other 2016 GOP presidential candidates how much their leads ahead of Trump mattered once Republican voters exited state polling booths?

Trump uses polls for two very specific purposes. On a positive spin, Trump points to polls as proof of his influence and control over conservative voters. On let’s call it a strategic note, Trump uses polls like a predator, laser focusing in on his next target.

Going back to 2014 — 2015, there were a number of Republican candidates for president who polled better than Trump. Candidates with rich political backgrounds and accomplished resumes from their time in government.

March, 2014 — Washington Post / ABC News poll: Bush 21%, Trump 13%

April, 2014 — NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll: Bush 23%, Trump 14%

June, 2015 — Reuters poll: Bush 12%, Mike Hukabee 12%, Trump 10%

Over time, closer to the primary elections, candidates such as Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio all had moments of glory on top of a poll or two and Trump never once flinched.

Trump targeted each potential threat to the 2016 throne and ground each of them into mincemeat. Bush was instantly overwhelmed, Rubio tried to return fire only to surrender as “Lil’ Marco” and Cruz did Ted Cruz things that continue to baffle voters and lawmakers to this day before he fell in line behind the eventual winner, Donald Trump.

The only candidate I remember Trump holding fire on was Ben Carson who later took a seat as Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

So here we find ourselves today, Trump announcing his candidacy for president and pundits, lawmakers and conservative organizations throwing DeSantis in Trump’s face as the new leader of the GOP and front runner for the nomination to be the Republican candidate for president in 2024.

Maybe so. However, I’m going to rely on the wise words of the baddest man on the planet, Mike Tyson, who famously said, “Everyone has a plan (to beat him) until they get punched in the mouth.”

We don’t yet know how DeSantis will handle it when he truly gets “punched in the mouth” by Trump. Trump hasn’t really started swinging yet, and a 14-point DeSantis lead certainly isn’t going to keep the former president from pulling any punches.

MICHAEL D. MESSERLY is the Publisher of The Daily Iberian and Acadiana Lifestyle