Friday Insights-September 13, 2024
Not a good week for the ex-president.
Today closes an eventful week of the presidential campaign. The week started with Democrats crossing their fingers that Kamala Harris would survive a debate encounter with Donald Trump and ended with Trump announcing that he is not seeking a rematch with Harris—a smart move on his part.
All week, I heard opinions on whether Trump’s losing performance on Tuesday would prompt him to avoid another round with Harris. Some said Trump’s ego would lead him back into the arena, while others concluded the opposite. Now we know.
What we don’t know is whether Harris’ debate win will win her additional support. I’m not sure it will. One friend who watched the debate parroted back Trump’s claim about unfair moderators. I’m not sure Trump supporters are able to see what the rest of us saw. Thus, any hope for large blocks of Trump voters “waking up” is naïve.
Following the debate, Trump said moderators David Muir and Kinsey Davis were so unfair that ABC should lose its broadcast license. That threat is scary. Trump believes he lost because of the moderators. That is who Trump is.
I was told by a friend that the big question of the week is whether the election is over. It is not. I still expect an October Surprise from the Republicans. (I expect creating one has become a top priority for Trump’s advisors.) Will they come up with something so shocking to change the polls? I don’t think so, but they will try.
And what about Taylor Swift’s endorsement? That is good news for Harris. Over 300,000 people used Swift's link to register to vote. Let’s hope most of them are in swing states . . .
The Apprentice movie.
The movie Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see, “The Apprentice,” will be in theaters on October 13. Trump and his allies tried unsuccessfully to block the film's release, which dramatizes Trump’s “apprenticeship” under ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn.
The film implies that Trump is a monster, going as far as to dramatize the rape of his first wife. The takeaway from the film, however, is the three lessons that Cohn taught his apprentice:
1. Attack, attack, attack.
2. Deny everything.
3. Claim victory even if you lose.
“The Apprentice” will likely get widespread attention in the coming weeks. Unfortunately for Trump, the three lessons Cohn taught him, prominently displayed since Trump’s disastrous debate performance, are likely to be talked about and read about by millions of voters, even by people who will never see the film.
Polaris Dawn.
This week also saw the launch of the Polaris Dawn mission, a private spaceflight aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The mission is scheduled to end this weekend following what may be called two dangerous stunts. First, the spacecraft orbited further from Earth than any flight since 1966 except the Apollo missions to the moon. The high orbit exposed the four-person crew to high levels of radiation.
The flight also included a spacewalk in SpaceX-designed spacesuits. Had the suits failed, the crew could have been killed.
Polaris Dawn supposedly had “research” objectives in mind for both the high orbit and the spacewalk—to test equipment. But had something gone wrong, the entire space program would have been set back, and the debate on whether it is necessary to send humans into space would have reopened.
I have mixed feelings about “space tourism.” Billionaires have a right to spend their money on exotic trips, but somehow spending over $100 million for a five-day flight into the heavens prompts me to think about income inequality and whether the money might have been better spent on something else.
Thank you.
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Enjoy the weekend. I will be back on Sunday with Sunday Issues.
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