Post 148, Bob McKnight's Florida Commentary
$150 million for personal golfing while letting unemployment compensation expire for millions until yesterday.
I remember so well my election night in November of 1978. I defeated two Senators--one former and one incumbent to win my seat in the Florida Senate, saying to my wife, "Can you believe 88,000 people voted for us tonight?" Her response, given playfully was, "Said another way 57,000 people can't stand you." Well, it was a little blunt, but at least a little true.
So now former President Donald Trump looks at his votes in the election he lost. It was over 72 million, of which probably 1/2 were hard core. So, you could say he has about 30 million people that will follow him and his recommendations almost anywhere. At least that is what the political pundits are saying today. So, what do I think are his plans for this base?
With help from his self described brainy son-in-law Jared Kushner, he will 'slice and dice' the 30 million into common interests including location, profession, hot button issues, likes, dislikes, and contributions. In marketing they call this "segmentation." It can be critical in opinion surveys. Trump then can use that data for personal interests or even sell it for untold millions.
The base can be used to test issues and even products for interest, potential changes, and general marketing research.
Between now and when Trump is expected to run again in four years, he will be able to leverage this 30 million base for election support and campaign contributions in various state and Congressional races. Those candidates then can allow Trump to expand his base with both the winners and losers he supports. This was how Richard Nixon went from a losing former Vice President to President in 1968.
With Trump's marketing mind, he will no doubt consider a lot of existing and new product and services to sell to the 30 million base for a huge source of income. He tried wine, steaks, education, gambling, and transportation before to no avail. Now he will be able to tailor the products and services to the specific needs and interests of his 30 million base. If you question this from an integrity standpoint, consider that his long string of law suits (all unsuccessful) were financed by a personal "Fund Me Account," that Trump can use for anything he wants. It is ironic that as of this writing while raising these funds for his personal use, has terminated unemployment compensation for millions of Americans (during a pandemic).
Knowing the immense value of this base, he will no doubt work very hard at increasing it so that if and when he runs again, he will not need that many new votes to position himself as the indisputable favorite to win.
There are dangers with one controversial individual, having questionable integrity, feeling he owns this much valuable data. But, with access and use permission from the base, unless he breaks the law, Trump is certainly within his rights to leverage his 30 Million Americans. Donald Trump may think that he was not the loser in the 2020 election.