Remember What Trump Just Said?

As expected, Donald easily trumped the midgets in Iowa. Here’s Tom Luongo’s short take:

Tom Luongo (Head Sneetch) @TFL1728

Breakdown of #Iowa results.

Trump is still a hit with normal people

Nikki Haley appeals to Democrats who think they are Republicans

DeSantis couldn’t find a group to identify as his people

Vivek is Trump for Young People

https://cnn.com/election/2024/primaries-and-caucuses/exit-polls/iowa/republican-caucus/0…

9:27 PM · Jan 15, 2024

One can quibble with portions of that, particularly re Haley. Her third place finish is an indication of how few people truly identify as Uniparty—a very good sign.

All of that was pretty much according to the script, so the real action is for the VP spot—and none of the above appear to be on the inside track. Which brings up Trump’s statement of not too long ago—that he has already picked his VP. So recall, also, that some time back we ran several posts speculating about Tulsi Gabbard’s political future. I’m not a Tulsi fan, per se, but I agreed back then with Luongo that she may well have a future. She has the tools, although she recently made a somewhat inexplicable misstep. Luongo covers this angle today. It’s certainly a possibility worth keeping an eye on. Tulsi is one of those rare politicians who appears to have the ability to walk back her missteps and still sound convincing—she’s done it in the past and could probably do it again. I take it as an indication that she may have lingering pangs of conscience that get the better of her political calculations from time to time.

What’s that you say? Kari Lake? Either would be quintessentially Trumpian picks—photogenic females, instead of Mike Pence. Kari would appeal to the true believers, but is that what Trump needs in a VP? The question might be, Could Tulsi bring in a new demographic? That’s where her recent misstep takes on some real importance, because the new demographic that Trump should be targeting is definitely anti forever wars. Tulsi could undoubtedly appeal to the anti Deep State, anti Woke crowd. Why she went out on a limb re genocide is puzzling. Could she walk that back?

At any rate, Luongo see Tulsi as someone who could broaden Trump’s appeal:

Tom Luongo (Head Sneetch) @TFL1728

She's been angling for this spot for a while now. Stone is just saying out loud what makes a lot of sense.

While I was disturbed by her full throated support for Israel's attack on Gaza, she still has the right pedigree here.

The operatives will hate it. The libertarians will as well (and I have to swallow hard on this one now). But, the center of the electorate will see her as someone who can tame Trump's darker impulses and balance out the ticket.

All in all, Gabbard is a good choice.

Collin Rugg @CollinRugg

NEW: Roger Stone suggests Donald Trump should pick Tulsi Gabbard as his Vice President pick for 2024.

"I like the idea of a Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard ticket."

"An Iraq combat veteran… a championship surfer... a former member of Congress, a former Democrat, now an independent, someone who crushed Kamala Harris in the debates."

Gabbard has been a vocal defender of Trump against the Biden ‘Justice’ Department.

Over the summer, Gabbard blasted her former party for weaponizing the legal system against political opponents (video below)

If you listen to enough Tulsi clips you realize that her message isn’t really a politically coherent one—it’s herself. But she does it well. She cares, she oozes sincerity and concern. That’s why she’s been able to repeatedly walk back seemingly specific positions. For example, her take on anti-Trump lawfare will definitely resonate with the Trump base and get them to forget some of her other messaging. Will she be able to do that for other demographics regarding the Middle East?

Here’s Tulsi five months ago going after the Zhou regime lawfare against Trump—the first minute or so is the key:

Now here’s her latest Middle East messaging, which sounds, at first listen, like pretty much run of the mill Neocon stuff—she’ll have to walk some of this back at some point, as events head south. But note the clever things she does. She touts her military background, criticizes policy decisions that are largely in the past, but focuses on competence, consistency, avoiding wider war. Current concerns, common ground against the Zhou regime. And, despite Laura hanging the low growing Israel fruit out for her, Tulsi ignores that to stay on the more generic message. It just might be a good message to reach out to suburban women who are sick of war, and then to pivot to that groups currently more urgent concerns.