Proving to be his own worst enemy, if the Republican party loses the White House in November, it’s because Donald Trump is its principal agent of failure. Never has a presidential campaign presented so fertile a field with respect to the stark differences between the two candidates, yet Trump is flitting away valuable time and energy talking about brain numbing trivia like Kamala Harris’s name, race, and birthplace. It is a mistake of epic and moronic proportion, but then again, one must consider the source. With the plethora of issues to home in on, rather than taking the offensive on the economy, Southern border, energy policy, crime in the streets and making the case about Harris’ lack of depth and experience, Trump is engaged in a delusional excursion into reconfiguring his opponent’s name, hurling political invective at key Republican supporters, and wishing Joe Biden was back in the race. If Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are elected, it will not because they offered a better and brighter future to Americans, but because Trump lacked the discipline to sell his own accomplishments to voters.

The 2024 election for president of the United States will be decided in a handful of states where voters are not interested in Donald Trump’s personal grievances against the political system or his supposed unfair treatment at the hands of the media. The race will be decided on whether people feel better off now than they did in 2019, and while one would think this is a no brainer, Trump seems incapable of or unwilling to discuss issues rather than personalities. This is incomprehensible, even for Trump Donald. He has all of the gift boxes in hand but is somehow incapable of delivering them. He was never a man comfortable with discussing the intricacies of legislation, or able to cogently present even the broad parameters of specific policy initiatives. No, his greatest weapon remains the humiliation, mockery, and vilification of others. His play to the crowd has never been anything more than the tactics of slash and burn. Now that he is being faced by a candidate who has generated unquestioned enthusiasm across the electorate, Trump is either unsure or unable of how to refocus attention back onto himself. Given that many would grant his term in office successful on many counts, it is beyond bewildering why he is allowing his present lackluster campaign to remain stalled in a mud bank.

As we approach the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century, the outcome of Election 2024 is going to decide what kind of a country the United States is going to be. Will we retain what are believed to be traditional American values of personal liberty and free enterprise, or will we move more toward a country lead by big government, globalist economic policy, open borders, and rule by the plutocracy? If Donald Trump has the conviction to discuss his policy achievements, specifically, how he has made the lives of Americans better, he deserves a hearing. This is what the voters are craving for, not that Kamala Harris decided to become Black of late, or that in some way she resembles Melania Trump. If Trump hasn’t enough confidence in discussing and showcasing his own record of accomplishment, he will neither advance his aspirations to another term in the White House nor help his party down ticket. If he is unwilling to be a ‘candidate,” rather than a whining victim, he should step aside for new blood and ideas, in effect, doing what we in the Bronx used to call, “Taking a powder.”