by John Carter, News From The Barsoom:

Does anyone have a good answer to this?

Note that I did not say ‘if’ the regime steals the election.

So far the 2024 election is proceeding according to the same playbook as 2020. Trump is touring the country, holding massive rallies that generate vast enthusiasm. He puts his foot in his mouth as often as he strikes rhetorical gold, making his online supporters oscillate wildly along the familiar it’s so over/we’re so back pendulum, alternately convinced that victory is inevitable and that their leader is determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by, for instance, declaring that he wants lots of immigration because AI is coming (no, that didn’t make sense to me, either). None of this matters to the base, who continue to turn out in their tens of thousands, regardless of what the big man says or doesn’t say. It’s all vibes.