Unprecedented effort by Democrats to bring down Trump could backfire – Discern Report

(Daily Caller News Foundation)—Not long ago (2002), bemused Minnesota Democrats transformed a memorial service for Sen. Paul Wellstone (killed along with his wife, daughter, and three campaign staffers in a plane crash) in a partisan campaign demonstration.

One of the afterthoughts of the day was the specter of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott being booed as he entered the service, while well-known Democratic attendees were applauded. But that wasn’t the half of it: Wellstone’s campaign treasurer turned his praise for the beloved senator into a rallying call to elect a Democrat to fill his seat, ([to] “Redeem the sacrifice of his life if you help us win this election for Paul Wellstone.”

A grieving audience made their collective displeasure with the show known through a barrage of negative reviews on television, radio and newspapers, this being the dark ages before social media.

The historic nature of the self-inflicted wound would come to light days later, when voters in the reliably blue state rejected their favorite son and former vice president Walter Mondale in favor of Republican upstart Norm Coleman.

At the time, the issue of Senate judicial elections was all the rage in Washington, DC. Consequently, supporters in attendance were terrified at the prospect of a new GOP senator helping to place more conservatives on the federal bench. Therefore, the performance. But without success. Score one for bad behavior punished.

Now think back to early 2017 and the arrival of Donald J. Trump (aka “The Menace”) at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This was interpreted as another existential threat to the Democratic establishment. And so the performance was soon repeated.

First there was the contest of electors in the Electoral College (Where have we seen this before?). Then, the introduction of the Statutes of Impeachment during his first year in office.

But this was all just a stage set for the multi-year, multi-level media and disinformation campaign by Hillary Clinton and the executive branch about how the twice-elected President of the United States was actually a Russian agent in cahoots with Vladimir Putin.

Here was an attempt to prove the unthinkable, which in the end proved to be… unthinkable BUT quite useful and effective as the guy who spent most of the 2020 campaign in his basement got 80 million of votes to defeat The Menace.

Bottom line: The antagonists got their scalps, even if it took years of innuendo and half-truths and media manipulation to do it. Score one for rewarded bad behavior.

Now comes Act 3. These are four (actually five, counting the civil action in New York against Trump, Inc.) lawsuits filed against Mr. Trump by three different prosecutors.

That two of the prosecutors literally campaigned on a “Get Trump” platform (is that even ethical?) is of no concern to Trump’s antagonists. Along the same lines, the fact that even left-wing pundits have been unimpressed with the substance of Stormy Daniels’ criminal counts (especially the corporate records / “cover-up”) is equally inappropriate.

You see, the whole exercise has only one goal: to end The Menace’s career, by any means possible, and don’t mind the details.

Thus began a campaign of relentless legal prosecution in order to: (1.) Bind The Menace to courtrooms for the next year, and (2.) Generate at least one guilty verdict, somewhere and of somehow

To recap: Minnesota Democrats acting inappropriately cost Senate Democrats dearly about 20 years ago. An even more baffling but ultimately successful campaign of character assassination bought the fruits of victory in 2020. And now, the third act unfolds before our eyes every day, this time in full force and effect of the government prosecutors they have launched.

How will it all play out? Will the threat be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of litigation instigated in a range of inhospitable venues?

Or will the unprecedented excess transform The Menace into a sympathetic enough figure to tip the scales on Election Day?

No one knows the answers, of course. But recent surveys they reflect a much more difficult path than the antagonists could have ever expected.

Sound off on this story The Liberty Daily Substack.

Bob Ehrlich is a former Maryland governor, member of Congress, and state legislator. He is the author of five books on American politics and opinion pieces that have appeared in major U.S. newspapers and periodicals. He and his wife, Kendel, can be seen and heard on their weekly podcast, “Bottom Line with Bob & Kendel Ehrlich.”

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available at no charge to any legitimate news publisher who can deliver a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, the name of our reporter and their affiliation with DCNF. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us [email protected].