“A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.” —Dan Quayle
“Polls? Nah... they're for strippers and cross country skiers.” —Sarah Palin
“Polls are fake! (pause and then…) They just came out with a poll. The most popular person in the history of the Republican Party is Trump! Can you believe that? Rarely do you see a poll that's very far off.” —Donald Trump on 7/30/24
We all say stupid things sometimes but politicians historically have said stupid, dismissive, contradictory and unfortunate things and gotten clubbed over the head with them in the past.
“There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.” —President Gerald Ford in 1976 in his debate with Jimmy Carter (That classified as stupid).
“It depends on what the meaning of the word IS is.” —President Bill Clinton in 1998 when questioned about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky (This one was nonsensical).
“Read my lips: no new taxes.” —President George H.W. Bush in 1998 at the Republican Convention (An epitaph?).
Running for office and then being elected puts you under a permanent high powered public and media microscope. Now that most of us are carrying in our pockets or purses a means to catch and expose any verbal or other kind of egregious misstep by a candidate, we actually have the potential to change history as slim as that chance might seem or DO WE?
“Gotcha” as a term and now a word has a long history going back to 19th century England and has meant understanding— as in “I got it!” or catching someone at something and achieving a surprise or a triumph like maneuvering for and receiving a kiss under the mistletoe. Today, “gotcha” is also perceived antagonistically as a deliberate and partisan act by journalists attempting to embarrass notable persons and especially politicians by asking them questions that might be considered unfair or even inappropriate but are not necessarily.
With the presence of Donald Trump in our lives the “gotcha” landscape, indeed the “gotcha” universe has been altered. Trump, as he has in other significant ways, lowered our standards of what’s acceptable in behavior and discourse in American public life. He has been and will continue to be a self inflicting “gotcha” machine or at least would have been in the past.
If Ronald Reagan was “teflon” when it came to explaining why nothing negative seemed to “stick” to him, then Donald Trump is lead, encased in the only material that shielded Superman from the kryptonite that could destroy him.
From physically mocking a disabled reporter at the very start of his campaign for president in 2015 to questioning whether Kamala Harris is Black two weeks ago along with too many other outrageous false claims, crazy conspiracy assertions, meandering incoherences and bigoted inferences to list without using up substantial memory on my computer, Trump would have been banished from consideration for holding elective office let alone our presidency just a few generations ago.
Is there anything Trump could do or say that would cause his base of supporters to turn their backs on him now? Is there any “gotcha” that could be the end of Trump?
Ed Muskie’s tears that he claimed were caused by snowy weather and not his emotions doomed his chances of gaining the Democratic nomination for president in 1972.
Howard Dean’s scream in 2004 that was heard only through the recording of his microphone and not by any of his applauding supporters in the room where he was campaigning ended his presidential quest.
Looking back on what derailed a politician’s run then and won’t put a dent in it now makes our country feel pretty unrecognizable today.
Forget about any verbal faux pas, unabashed lie, guilty verdict or his actually shooting someone in the middle of 5th Avenue removing Donald Trump from American life at this point. I think it’s a safe bet that if Kamala Harris’s poll numbers continue to rise, Trump will descend even lower than he has. He always manages to find a way.
I’ve been to the lowest point on the earth’s land— the Dead Sea. Its water is 10 times more salty than the ocean and so buoyant that a human being can’t sink in it. But for one person there’s no place too low he can’t sink, even the bottom of the Dead Sea.