Contributed by Joe Montero

Anyone who thinks Donald Trump is facing justice through the legal system and finished as a political force are dead wrong. The reverse is true. He is on a new ascendency, and the Democrats and Joe Biden have contributed to it.

The run into Washington’s parliament on 1 January 2021 had a negative side, in that is sought to nullify an election result. There is another side, and this is that the action taken by thousands of Americans was one expression of the rise of the nation’s distrust of the political system. It wouldn’t have happened without the gulf that exists between the people and political representatives that exists today.

By ignoring this reality, the Democrats Fail to provide an answer by offering an alternative. The genitive of 6 January is hyped up and Trump made the central issue. Trump has also had to face a series of investigations and indictments. All this serves as a distraction that allows the Democrats to evade making commitments to offer anything other than business as usual.

This is why these cases haven’t hurt his political prospects.

Trump on 2024 campaign trail amid legal woes

Video from CBS Chicago

The Democrats are fractured and ultimately under the control of big donors who don’t want to change the way things are.

Donald Trump’s forte is an ability to manipulate distrust and anger to his own advantage. This is why during the 2016 election he railed against Wall Street and the corrupt political system. It drew a section of the American public towards him. They were hurting, wanted jobs and a decent standard of living. They wanted a future for their kids. They knew that their political leaders were not delivering and were angry about it. Trump understood this. His rivals didn’t.

Trump never offered a genuine alternative. He is part of the Wall Street that he railed against. This was really about a growing factional division. The one he represents sees its interests best served through a shift towards authoritarianism and less concern about the niceties of conventions and the democratic façade. They channel discontent in the direction of American style fascism, which, broadly speaking, means a closer integration of the state and big business, with the discipline of the workplace imposed on society. The vehicle for the transformation is a political movement of uniquely American characteristics.

It is the mix of anger, a certain interpretation of history, and the promise of change, which is sustaining the Trump bandwagon.

The Wall Street faction allied with the Democrats sees its interests best served through continuing business as usual and the keeping the failing illusion of democracy intact. The weakness here is that many Americans don’t want business as usual and no longer see their political system as particularly democratic.

Knowing this, this faction and the Democrats deflect attention from their weakness by raising the Trump bogeyman. They hope that enough Americans will look away from the offer of nothing and just vote against Trump. It is a dangerous strategy that has a very good chance of backfiring.

Trump is putting everything into consolidating his faction’s control over the Republican Party and is already campaigning to be the next president in 2024. He is being repackaged as a martyr to the cause, a torch leading resistance against an elite taking away the freedom of the American people.

Reliance on judicial process by his Democrat opponents has converted them into Trump’s best public relations unit. If he is imprisoned or even barred from standing for election, the election process will lack legitimacy in the eyes of the big Trump political base. Punishing Trump will lift the political instability of the nation. The Democrats can’t afford to do this.

Nor can they afford to treat him lightly. If they do so, Trump will look like he vanquished them, and this will inspire his political base. either way he is the winner and well placed to become the next Preside. Facing up to an inspiring and incompetent Joe Biden just adds to his advantage. And if Trump wins, the United States will be far worse for it.

If Trump is prevented from standing, 6 January might be nothing compared with wat is waiting in the wings.

The best answer to Trump would be to put forward a range of polices that will bring about major changes that will improve the lives of ordinary Americans. This requires rejection of business as usual, bringing in major change, and winning the hearts and minds of the people.