FLASH
Shkruar nga Julian Zelizer
Trump is reaping success even though the US has never had a candidate with such a large 'baggage' of legal problems.
In an opinion on this year's presidential election, the CNN network wrote that the Democrats may again make the mistake of underestimating the Republican Donald Trump as happened in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton was the Democratic candidate.
After Trump's strong showing in the New Hampshire primary where he nearly eliminated former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, his critics are desperately looking for good news.
They cite the fact that as a former president he did not receive as many votes as other former presidents, who usually have recognition and fundraising capacity in a re-election bid.
Trump has most of these but Haley still received a significant share of support.
Critics add that Haley managed to get the votes of independents who might prefer Joe Biden to Trump in the fall.
But these arguments underestimate the threat that Trump poses to Biden as, despite his many accumulated problems, he has managed to create this threat.
Trump is reaping success even though the US has never had a candidate with such a large 'baggage' of legal problems.
He is also a president defeated after one term, accused of trying to overturn the election he lost and has been indicted four times on charges of abuse of power (which he denies).
Meanwhile, two states have disqualified him from running on charges of rebellion (for which he is appealing), while there are also lawsuits for sexual assault, defamation and tax evasion.
But the problems appear to be adding to his popularity, and if he wins he may continue to defy traditional political norms.
Trump has continued to insult his rivals as if he were in a boxing ring and continues to behave like he did in the 2020 and 2016 campaigns.
There is no doubt that these skills bring him media attention as he is known for his skills as a 'showman'. Trump knows television well and gets attention from his provocative performances, as he did after predictions of victory in New Hampshire.
Instead of the standard victory speech, Trump attacked Haley with vindictive remarks, including commenting on her outfit.
This, according to analysts, was not to do with Haley but to draw attention to herself, just like the 24-hour social media chatter about Trump, which diverts attention from everyone else.
Trump lives by the maxim that 'any publicity is good publicity' and will certainly create problems for Biden by attracting national attention.
Also, according to the indicators, Trump has broad support in the Republican party, and it is not clear that others will not change their minds to vote for him in November, when Trump launches attacks on Biden, describing him as a "Karl Marx" of second.
When people vote on Nov. 5, they may think that tax cuts and conservative justice are more important than the worries that a second Trump presidency could bring.
Despite the legislative success of the Biden presidency and positive economic indicators, Trump benefits from the fact that Republicans consider the pre-Covid years the best, when they are now looking at rising prices, major wars and border chaos. For them, the "American butchery again" has returned.
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