Fox News contributor Kim Strassel: Trump cannot win the presidency again because he alienates too many people
Strassel: “I'm not sure he can win a general election because he, for better or worse, he just so alienates a certain portion of the electorate”
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From the July 31, 2023, edition of the Salem Radio Network's The Dennis Prager Show
DENNIS PRAGER (HOST): Any -- any thoughts on the Republican -- I'll -- I mean, I know that this bothers many of my listeners, but I -- and I defended and enthusiastically -- the great four years, and I believe they were great four years, of the Trump presidency. But it is hard for me to see how he would win if he's the nominee.
KIMBERLEY STRASSEL (GUEST): Oh, I completely agree with you. And, by the way, look, I always feel the need to say the same caveat because it so riles people. I tend to look at politics from a very pragmatic perspective, okay? I'm not someone that gets all loyal one way or another to someone. I just analyze things. And it was a very good four years, mostly because of the Reagan-type policies that Trump implemented, or his people implemented, in terms of tax policy and deregulation, etc. Excellent four years.
But here's a couple of problems, I think, with a repeat. One, I'm not sure he can win a general election because he, for better or worse, he just so alienates a certain portion of the electorate. Two, I think this is something that a lot of Republicans fail to take in on board -- Trump, because of our constitution, can only serve four more years if he's elected. I think that that's a potential waste of an opportunity to get a younger Republican elected, one that can be reelected in four years time, because you're gonna need that long to unwind the damage from the Biden presidency. But three, again, like the book pointed out, this is a moment. If you get somebody who's charismatic, who has a message, and who can connect to people in the middle and those Democrats that don't like where their party is headed at the moment -- and there are a lot of them -- you can forge a new coalition. Don't forget the Reagan Democrats. Those were people who felt the party had left them behind. There are a lot of them out there again right now. We now call those people the Republican base. But you have to have a leader that can draw them in, and Trump is just very polarizing. I don't think he's that person.