Election Entertainment

Boring Democratic Primaries What if you invited the Press to come to a primary election and nobody showed up? Between the coronavirus and the Wall Street meltdown, there is no room left on the thousand cable channels or infinite Internet for the Biden/Bernie race.  Their poor ratings are likely due to the fact that former Vice President Biden appears to be running away with the nomination.  This is like the Super Bowl XXIV in 1990, when the San Francisco 49'ers defeated the Denver Broncos 55-10.  When the fourth quarter began, the 49'ers were ahead 41-10, and there was no point watching the rest of the game.  Speaking of blowouts . . . All eyes are on the global disaster resulting from something that is too small to see.   President Trump has finally met something he cannot insult away; nothing has less shame than disease.  His stock market bubble has burst, and unemployment may be heading to Great Depression level highs by November 3rd. If...

"We're All Gonna Die!" Campaigning   One's Disaster Is Another's Opportunity The stock markets crashed today, down 5,700 points in four weeks.  If the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped this many points at the famous 1929 market crash, it would have closed BELOW ZERO.  The 1929 crash was due to over speculation and excessive leveraging.  We know better than to do that today, right? Today's drop is probably due to (1) coronavirus fears and (2) a battle of egos between a would-be king and an oligarch.  The last time such a juxtaposition of egos and viruses occurred was just over a century ago, called World War One.  Between the 16 million killed by the war and the 50 million killed by the Spanish Flu, those losses are only rivaled by WWII. This is not the 20th century, and major powers no longer engage in open warfare.  Instead, we fight battles through proxies, engage in economic wars, and have begun cyber wars.  Diseases are m...

Damn the Coronavirus, the Campaign Must Go On! Showtime There's no business like show business, and nothing is more show business than a Trump campaign rally.  This latest one was in Las Vegas, a perfect venue.  Trump was the perfect mix of Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles.  He is so 'on' that he interrupted his own Coronavirus press conference to ask about the television ratings of that rally.   However, you are only as good as your last act, and most of The Donald's recent acts have been 2016 reruns.  Of course, this is primary season, which offers no consequence to the incumbent.  He can test his new material on local audiences before the general election campaign, just like Bob Hope did at state fairs and USO shows before taping his nationwide television specials. Based on the ratings (a.k.a., polls), the election looks like a horse race.  By Fall, the new television season begins, and fresh material with strong performances will...

The Empire Strikes Back There are now three candidates for POTUS - all white guys over 70.  Over 220 years of old, white guys, a new presidential election record by a mile.  These three amigos were born at the very beginnings of the baby Boomer generation, the generation who's motto was "Do not trust anyone over 30."  Baby boomers are now driving the 'do not vote for anyone under 72' movement.  Moreover, Boomers' distrust of the Establishment is now 180º to 'do not trust a radical' a.k.a., Bernie.  Therefore, it will likely come down to Old Joe verses The Donald.  That is 150 years of old, white guys, which makes Kennedy verses Nixon seem like a race for the high school class presidency. The Democrat Establishment is 100% behind Old Joe and, as with Hillary, should be able to push Bernie aside.  It may seem like a 2016 rerun, because it is.  However, it will be entertaining, especially to the Republicans. #electionentertainment

Lose Lose Election Who do you hate?  Extremism Smackdown The Wall Street Journal, a former independent business paper and now a part of Fox Corporation, published a 'lesser of two evils' op-ed piece about The Donald and Bernie, implying that either choice is bad.  Where can you find entertainment like that?  You cannot.  Entertainment requires good to be a part of the storytelling, which makes evil-only somewhat taboo.  Not a problem in politics, where you can tell a politician is lying if his lips are moving.  The Donald is superior to any politician because he can lie without moving his lips (tweet that). #electionentertainment