Donald Trump is a friendly boss; he lets his top aides freelance.
asserted
aides → let → ?
Two of those aides, James Blair and Chris LaCivita, are spending most of their time spearheading midterms spending for Trump’s PAC.
asserted
Two → spend → PAC
But last week, they both managed to find time for a quick trip to the Balkans, where—the New York Times reports—they have each been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to consult on behalf of the pro-Russian sub-national government in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
asserted
hundreds → manage → Bosnia
So it makes sense to be hopeful.
asserted
it → make → sense
But it’s surely the worst of administrations.
asserted
it → ’ → administrations
So it makes sense to be alarmed.
asserted
it → make → sense
On the hopeful side: The blue wave shows no sign of abating.
asserted
wave → show → sign
Democrats are doing a decent job of getting out of their own way.
asserted
Democrats → do → way
Meanwhile Donald Trump is traveling around the country and doing his best to make the election about himself.
asserted
election → travel → himself
According to the polling aggregator FiftyPlusOne, President Trump’s job disapproval stands at 61.9 percent, compared to 35 percent approval.
uncertain
disapproval → accord → approval
There’s a simple lesson here: The more this election is about Trump, the better.
asserted
election → ’ → Trump
The more the generic ballot numbers move towards the presidential approval numbers, the better.
asserted
numbers → move → numbers
The more Trump visits competitive states for rallies that are all about himself, the better.
asserted
that → visit → himself
The more ads we see that feature Trump, the better.
asserted
that → see → Trump
Yesterday morning, stung by media reports that his rallies aren’t what they once were, Trump posted:
My Rally crowds and enthusiasm are unbelievable!
asserted
crowds → sting → reports
Nobody has ever seen anything like it.
asserted
Nobody → see → it
We are flipping races all over the place.
asserted
We → flip → place
It’s all happening!
asserted
It → happen → ?
The Dumocrats [sic, needless to say] never counted on this.
asserted
Dumocrats → say → this
About an hour and a half later, Trump had a further thought to share, this time in ALL CAPS:
MY RALLIES ARE SAVING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AGAIN!!!
Lots of Republicans would beg to differ with the leader of their party.
asserted
Lots → have → party
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, for example, apparently has decided not to join Trump’s rally tonight in San Antonio.
asserted
Abbott → decide → Antonio
After all, as Abbott explained, “Because of my schedule, where I go to multiple cities a day doing events like this, I already have events like this scheduled that day and will not be able to make it.”
asserted
events → explain → it
It will be amusing to see what important event Abbott’s attending that couldn’t have been rescheduled to make room for the president.
asserted
that → see → president
And it will be interesting to see if Trump takes offense at the slight.
asserted
Trump → see → slight
A little intra-Republican squabbling in these closing weeks couldn’t hurt Democrats’ chances, either.
asserted
squabbling → close → chances
As for the Democrats, they’re doing a pretty good job of riding the wave of voter discontent.
asserted
they → do → discontent
They’re keeping the focus on the Trump administration’s failures and corruption, and on the Republican Congress’s complicity in them.
asserted
They → keep → them
They don’t even seem to be over-thinking things and tying themselves in knots nearly as much as they normally do.
asserted
they → seem → knots
Their biggest problem may be that many of their big donors and key operatives don’t seem to realize what a historic moment this year could be.
uncertain
year → seem → donors
They’re being cautious when their party has a golden opportunity to win senate seats and governorships that have long appeared to be out of reach.
asserted
that → have → reach
Democrats have a chance to turn a shrinking map into an expanding one.
asserted
Democrats → have → one
The implications of a Democratic senate majority of fifty-four seats would be very different from getting to fifty-one.
asserted
implications → get → one
And as for governorships, six of the ten most-populous states now have Democratic governors, and Democrats seem unlikely to lose any of them this November.
asserted
Democrats → have → them
If Democrats win, say, two of the four, they’d govern eight of the ten largest states, and twelve of the largest fifteen.
asserted
they → win → fifteen
This would affect the character of our politics going into 2028 and beyond.
asserted
This → affect → 2028
The main reason is obvious: Trump and his loyalists will control the levers of executive power over the next two years.
asserted
Trump → control → years
You’d have to be crazy not to be alarmed by what they can do during this time—to our nation’s well-being at home and to its standing abroad, to our civil liberties and civil service, to any remaining guardrails against corruption and lawlessness.
asserted
they → have → corruption
So Donald Trump and JD Vance, Todd Blanche and Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller and Russell Vought in positions of great power remain a clear and present danger to our constitutional republic.
asserted
Trump → remain → republic
As do their collaborators outside the government.
asserted
collaborators → do → government
The public has moved pretty decisively in the right direction over the past two years.
asserted
public → move → years
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
