The conventional political wisdom is hard to define sometimes. Usually it's one of those things that's just there, like your body temperature. You feel it but don't notice it. And then, bam, you feel hot, you get the chills, and that's the moment you know you're getting sick. Something has shifted, and suddenly you notice this thing you rarely think about.
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That's how this week felt with regard to the conventional wisdom. A week ago, Donald Trump was the clear favorite to win in November, and of course he may yet—the polls are close and will remain so. But also, a week ago, Trump had a lot of wind in his sails coming off his smashing Iowa win, and Joe Biden was a doddering old man with a mixed-at-best economic record.
There was no huge sea change this week. But there's also no question that those scripts started to flip, in two important ways.
First and most important, Trump is now the one doddering his way toward dementia. He has been for a while, but the Nikki-Nancy moment, and Nikki Haley's subsequent attack on Trump, finally forced the media to make Trump's mental state into a running narrative. The column I wrote Monday about this did monster traffic, which I note not to boast but by way of observing that the readership means that a lot of people were obviously thinking the same thing.
On Morning Joe, cable's most influential show in setting the conventional wisdom, they've been just merciless about Trump's addled brain. The Biden campaign put together a very funny ad mocking Trump. And over the rest of the week, Le Grand Orange (apologies, Rusty!) did not disappoint. There was that nutso social media binge against E. Jean Carroll—37 posts in two hours, Wednesday night. Then there was his ridiculous testimony at the Carroll defamation trial, where he was on the stand for three minutes and managed to defy the judge's instructions twice. Then there was his absurd whining Thursday as he left the courtroom, repeating three times, “This is not America.” No, asshole, this is actually the best version of America. A courtroom is the one place where your lies and slander don't fly.