April 16, 2020--On Wisconsin

Under the radar, while understandably all attention has been focused on the coronavirus, the presidential campaign is gearing up. 

Trump's rambling press briefings have dominated the news as the death totals soar and the evidence accumulates that he wasted as much as two months denying there was a danger lurking.   

What concerns him is not the pandemic. To Trump that's a distraction from his real agenda--his reelection. It is also a mirror into what's important to him as well as what he fears.

Three things, directly related, terrify him--

(1) He might lose his reelection bid;

Which means (2) he would be vulnerable to criminal prosecution and, if so, could wind up jail; 

Then (3), always on his mind is money. Defending himself would require many millions while the Trump Depression is costing him a fortune in lost income from his real estate and entertainment empire.

No better example of the political trouble he is facing are the results from the recent Wisconsin elections.

For him there were at least two scary outcomes-- 

At the national level, though Wisconsin Republican leaders did all they could to suppress the vote, tens of thousands turned out, many risking their lives while having to wait up to two hours in packed lines to cast their ballots. 

The virus did not deter them nor did the fact that Republican election officials opened just five of nearly 200 historically available statewide venues for in-person voting.

Biden won in a landslide--he received 62.9% of the vote while Sanders attracted just 31.8%. Turnout was high even though a Biden victory was all but certain. 

Between the two candidates nearly 1.0 million votes were cast, about the same number as four years ago when the race between Bernie and Hillary was hotly contested.

This signaled to Trump that Democrats are fired up and willing to assume bodily danger to vote him out.

But, creating much more agita for Trump were the results of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court election.

In spite of a huge infusion of out-of-state money to support his reelection, ultra-conservative judge Daniel Kelly was trounced by more than 10 points by Democrat Jill Karofsky.

Wisconsin may turn out to be 2020's Florida. Whoever carries the state is likely to become president. And with Biden well ahead of Trump in the polls, it is no wonder Trump is unraveling.