State of the Union

Nothing befitted his Presidency like the leaving of it.

 

Indeed he doesn't. Lee Harvey Oswald saw to that. And Jack Ruby saw to him. As @nosborne48 said here:

Sure. Could happen - any time.

Some folks
Wake up every mornin';
Some folks
Live for no reason
"Some folks
Die without a warning." - (Some Folks -- Alice Cooper, 1975)

 

JFK was felled by a freak assassin's bullet not by his own character flaws. I don't know if you all remember the cult surrounding the man, his wife, his children and his Presidency. People literally had LP vinyl recordings of his speeches. The press referred to the Kennedy years as "Camelot". Even as a pre-teen boy I knew this was bogus.

 

I don't think it does. There are other reasons this slim (tiny) minority might choose to support him. Their presence doesn't really alter the overall dynamic.

 

Something neither of your other examples ever attempted to do.

 

True. Well, there were rumors about the Daley machine "finding" ballots for JFK. Politics isn't a gentleman's sport. And, of course, Bush II won fair and square in the Supreme Court.

 

From 8 years ago here's the "definitive" answer (hehe, not really) as to who would have won if SCOTUS had let the vote count continue. (Hint: in many ways, but not all ways, that you looked at it Bush probably would have won when the counting was done unless ...)

So, who really won? What the Bush v. Gore studies showed
quote:
The results: The two major conclusions here are that Gore likely would have won a hand recount of the statewide overvotes and undervotes – which he never requested – while Bush likely would have won the hand recount of undervotes ordered by the Florida Supreme Court, although by a smaller margin than the certified 537 vote difference.
https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/31/politics/bush-gore-2000-election-results-studies/index.html

 

Then there was the absolute scandal of 1876. Oh, no, we've been stealing elections for much of the country's history.

 

CEO makes good point. I think MAGA is not the same as Trumpism.
And it's a mistake to call them "Deplorables".

 

Only where they can hear you... Besides, there are worse words that come to mind. MUCH worse. "Deplorables" is pretty mild, considering the alternatives.

 

"No?" Johann said, impatiently. "Well, it sure ain't 'Bidenism.' Joe don't wear THAT hat. Donald DOES. I've seen him. It is what it is."

 

If not, it's irreversibly synonymous with him now. Ronald Reagan first used it in a political campaign in 1980.

"Originally used by Ronald Reagan as a campaign slogan in his 1980 presidential campaign, it has since been described as a loaded phrase. Multiple journalists, scholars, and commentators have called the slogan racist, regarding it as dog-whistle politics and coded language.[2][3][4][5]"

Quote taken from complete story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again#:~

In 2015, Trump published a book with the title "Making America Great Again." He also registered the name for his use with the US Patent and Trademark Office. He later claimed to be unaware of the slogan's previous use by Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

So - I think we can say Trump "owns" MAGA - and "is" MAGA, at least to a greater extent than any other individual. He "owns" the name and he espoused and promulgated the ideas connected with it. Good little vote-getter for his crowd.

 

Trump is the MAGA folks' Supreme Leader. (I think that's Kim Jong Un's title, as well.) They look to HIM for all things MAGA.
I have no trouble considering Trumpism and Maga-ism in the same breath. As close as Marx and Marxism.
But Trumpism is not Marxism, of course.

 

Oh, no. More than "Supreme Leader". Trump is their Messiah, their "anointed of God".