A message for those who believe support for Trump is a trap...

The idea of the Trump trap is a popular position among conservatives. Both from never-Trumpers and those who wish to look pragmatic and strategic in demanding the GOP nominate anyone but.

Let me start with a very simple reality: Donald Trump is the last person that Democrats want to see anywhere near the White House again. They will do most anything to stop this.

So they are not being clever here by doing what they are doing against Donald Trump. They are not throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Trump because they want to see him nominated and one step closer to becoming President again. They are doing what they are doing because they want to prevent him from even getting a chance to run in the first place.

Read what the liberal hacks are actually saying. They are pushing for trials in the middle of the nomination process. They desperately want to see him convicted of a crime and pretty much lose their $#!t when it is suggested that he might get these trials postponed till after the election. Even if they fail to get him convicted, they are literally concocting other ideas about how to disqualify him from running. In the past week I have read articles demanding that the indictments alone disqualify him or that he violated the oath of office by starting an insurrection and therefore is ineligible to become President again. These are not crazies pushing stuff on Social media, but real liberal "scholars" pushing opinion.

Let's be honest. They do not want to see him on the ballot. If there was even a 10% chance he could win, that is an unacceptable bet to make. They would rather see a different Republican on the ballot even if that Republican had a better shot. Anyone but Trump is not just a conservative mantra anymore. The most Democrats are in that same place.

So the real trap here is being set by those on the right who do not support another Donald Trump run and have come up with the hypothesis that nominating Donald Trump would play into the hands of the much more clever Democratic strategists. I don't buy it.

Well c'mon Coldheart, you say. There has to be a better option?

So what if the Republicans ran a moderate candidate who had a history of bipartisan outreach and possibly even promised to bring the country together by pledging to put together a bi-partisan cabinet. Is this the "smart move" that would ensure that the GOP would win the next election? Bring in a moderate with better "appeal" to the independents and moderates of the country?

No. Republicans tried that in 2008 and got their asses beaten by a man who voted 99% of the time with his Party as a Senator and pledged nothing but to shove liberal policies down the throats of the American public. Moreover, once the media got done with the previously well respected (if not loved) John McCain, he was just another Hitler loving racist Nazi who was looking to lynch a few black people on his way to blowing up an abortion clinic with some white supremacists all carrying assault rifles. Exit polling suggested that those who wanted to see a "moderate" in the White House backed the partisan liberal and got exactly that in the White House.

Facts don't matter.

Who can the GOP nominate who would be given any sort of pass or come out looking better? DeSantis? The attacks on him started before he even announced his candidacy and he is already another fascist racist Hitler in the eyes of the media and many Americans. He might get it worse than Trump. Ramaswamy? You think an openly anti-woke candidate has any chance to get a fair shake in 2024? Plus he is only 38 years old and already made 625 million dollars in various business ventures making him a corporate sell out who no doubts hates the poor. You think he can define himself before he is defined? Tim Scott? He's just an Uncle Tom, and likely hates black people in spite of being black. No chance that one flies.

The reality is that no matter who the Republicans nominate, that person will be treated the same way that Trump has been treated by the media. The question is whether any of them can withstand the attacks and fight back like Trump has done. Most any other person would have crumbled into a thousand pieces by now if they were treated like the former President has been treated. Yet, Trump is still standing. Just like Elton John. That counts for something folks.

Moreover... and to some degree I hate to point this out... the cold hard reality is that there is literally no polling right now that suggests that any other Republican polls better than Trump. In fact, if the polling is correct at this point, Trump would win in a rematch over Biden and probably fairly comfortably. He is polling five to seven points ahead of where he polled in 2020 where he lost the three states he needed by less than one percent. Good bad or indifferent, we cannot suggest this about DeSantis or Ramaswamy or Scott or Haley or anyone else. They simply do not carry the same weight or bring the same game as Trump. Sure, some of that weight might be baggage, but it is the baggage that everyone knows. It's built into the market.

Perhaps if the Democrats dump slow Joe for someone else, we might see a different set of polls. Maybe if things get reset, there is a chance for someone else to move into the forefront. But like it or not... there really isn't a "good" reason to believe that either. Other Democrats are polling lower than Biden is and they have the same problem. Who do they put up? Harris? Newsome? Kennedy? They are all dwarfed by Biden in the nomination polling and none of them poll very well in a potential general.

As crazy as it sounds, the best bets for both Parties seem to be the same two people who ran in 2020. In fact, it may be a forgone conclusion.