Donald Trump Before Gettysburg

Donald Trump Before Gettysburg

By

R.E. Prindle

Hello Stranger, how do you do.

I’ve got something to say to you.

You seem surprised I recognize

I’m no detective, I just surmise

That you’re from Dixie, I say from Dixie,

Well, I’m from Dixie too.

--Jack Yellen

 

I’m surprised that no one recognizes what a brilliant political strategist Donald Trump is.  The way he organized his campaign was pure genius, daring of a very high order.  From the start he discarded the entire New England, New York and the Pacific States that he knew were out of reach.  They included the two largest States, California and New York, with 90 electoral votes between them.  All conventional pols said you had to be able to take them.

He knew he couldn’t win the cities anywhere or college towns and if he didn’t lose all of them there were few missed.  In Texas, for instance, he lost all the large cities save Forth Worth, where the West begins, yet he won Texas and the other States.  While most people consider his campaign as seat of the pants he must have done serious population studies to know the more rural counties could override the cities.  In Missouri he lost KC and St. Louis County and City, the university town of Columbia and swept the rest of the State and won.

He followed the strategy of securing the solid South which he managed to do with the exception of Virginia where he was over powered by the cities.  Building on that base and being secure in the heartland he then went after the rust belt, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The linchpin of his campaign was the State of Pennsylvania.  His plan would fail without that State.  It was tricky because the major city Philadelphia, a Negro city, was a stronghold of the Democratic coalition, it didn’t fail them.  Also Pittsburg, the second city, went Democratic so Trump had to win and win big in every other county and he did.  It was hair raising.  Philly posted first and it looked like a lopsided victory for the Dems.

I saw his strategy and prayed his calculations weren’t too far off.  So like Lee before Gettysburg Trump was charging uphill against seemingly impregnable numbers. If he failed as Lee did then the war was over and the Dixie Empire would be a mere mirage.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Pennsylvania crumble and those twenty votes were his.

Ohio had fallen earlier and as the remainder of his strategy was going his way, pink on the board, it was a matter of praying that the last elements fell into place.  When they did as Wisconsin fell.  Neither Caesar nor Napoleon could have conducted any more brilliant or breath taking campaign.

As I say, the whole election was gorgeous.  Trump played into their prejudices to disarm the pols, who fell all over themselves laughing; then while they weren’t watching he sprang the trap.  Trump didn’t break any rules, if anything he made them.

I’m sure that he will do the same as president.  Only the sick or paranoid need worry.  Obama can go fishing in his Canadian home.  The country is in good hands.  Trump does not like to lose.