My advice for Republicans
Donald Trump is running for president 鈥� again.
In case you hadn鈥檛 noticed, he never stopped running for president. Even when he was president.
I鈥檇 like to take this time to offer a few words of advice to any Republican candidate who plans to follow Trump蘑菇视频 MAGA playbook.
Go right ahead.
Feel free to mount whatever campaign you run with all of the strident speechifyings you can muster. You鈥檒l certainly be appreciated among your fellow MAGA devotees.
What do you have to lose?
Please make sure you repeatedly say that the 2020 presidential election was personally stolen by Joe Biden.
Go all in on conspiracies.
Question every outcome of every election.
Claim the 2024 presidential election is already rigged.
Always make sure to question the patriotism of your Democratic Party opponents.
At first, call them Socialists. Then, when your campaign revs up into high gear, start calling them Communists, because that sounds so much worse.
Where would any Republican political candidate be without a couple of strawmen?
You should blame Joe Biden for everything.
He蘑菇视频 the single most destructive force in the history of America 鈥� you should say.
Despite inflation raging all over the world, make sure you accuse Mr. Biden of being the force behind it.
That $50 steak you bought at your supermarket. Biden personally marked that one up.
Keep saying that, until the crowds at your ever-growing rallies convulse into fits of rage.
Politically, you should endeavor to never expand your political base.
You already have enough people supporting you. You鈥檙e a MAGA Republican. You should be able to win without liberals, moderates, or independents, or people of color, or college-educated suburban moms, or folks from the LGBTQ community.
You鈥檒l be just fine catering only to white males over 95.
Whenever there蘑菇视频 any kind of violence, anywhere 鈥� blame Biden for it.
He蘑菇视频 the collective bane of our existence, you鈥檒l always make sure to remind us.
It always helps to mention that obscure thing that somebody said, somewhere about 鈥渄efunding the police,鈥� or the 鈥淕reen New Deal,鈥� as if every Democrat is hard-wired to them.
Throwing the words Black Lives Matter into any conversation should help bolster your support among many of your potential voters. Those are the folks who鈥檙e glued to the false belief that members of Black Lives Matter are naturally against people who claim that 鈥淲hite Lives Matter.鈥�
That蘑菇视频 not true. But it sure will get your core supporters in a lather.
Don鈥檛 forget to keep those scare tactics about the Democrats鈥� (supposed) fondness for late-term abortions in the forefront.
Lay it on thick.
Imply that Democrats would, if they could, allow abortions months, even years after babies are delivered.
It could help you greatly if you and your campaign make illegal immigration the most important issue facing every American.
There are hundreds, strike that, thousands of folks ready to automatically vote for any Republican who蘑菇视频 ready to clearly state that the fate of Western civilization rests in the possibility that their opponent would nix a wall on this nation蘑菇视频 southern border.
If you plan on running for any office as a Republican, make sure you claim: there are kids using litter boxes in classrooms because they identify as cats; drag queens are overrunning all of our schools; that there are schools all over the country teaching Critical Race Theory.
You should make sure to get your potential voters to turn thumbs-down on anything to do with climate change, vaccinations, masks, and mail-in ballots.
Oh, those mail-in ballots. Ask your potential voters to pledge to vote, but only on Election Day.
All of these things should secure an easy victory for you and any of your fellow Republicans.
Mr. Trump used that playbook. And you see what happened to him, don鈥檛 you?
Of course, this has been satire.
Donald Trump with his MAGA mentality has left pitiable debris all over the Republican political landscape.
In short, Trump keeps running 鈥� and Republicans keep losing, or eking out narrow wins 鈥� when they could鈥檝e been in powerful positions.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.