Trump's 'weirdo extremism' remains within striking distance for re-election: analysis

Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump by five points nationally, according to a recent poll, and her favorability jumped since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, but the former president still stands a good chance of winning a second term.

Trump remains within the margin of error in recent polling, despite voters' largely negative views on his personal qualities, and Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton threw cold water on the excitement felt by the vice president's supporters.

"The race remains very close and it's hard to understand how that can be after everything that's happened over the past nine years of Trump dominating our politics," Parton argued. "In fact, it's downright disorienting."

Trump's campaign insists their polling shows he's pulling ahead in battleground states, but Parton said his lack of enthusiasm betrays his lack of confidence.

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"The good news is that he has, for the first time, said that he won't run again," Parton wrote. "Of course, he's not exactly a man of his word so I wouldn't take that to the bank. If he loses this time and disputes the results and continues to run a shadow government from Mar-a-Lago I'd say the chances are pretty good that even at the age of 82 he'll be primed for another comeback, especially if the GOP is still drowning in weirdo extremism."

The former president isn't even holding as many rallies as he did in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and his fans have been streaming out early, as Harris pointed out much to Trump's chagrin during their debate earlier this month.

"The MAGA magic isn't what it used to be," Parton wrote. "And Trump isn't the candidate he used to be."

But it would be foolish to count him out, Parton wrote.

"As Harris said in the debate, he's having a very difficult time processing that he should have been disqualified from the presidency and would have if the party had been willing to take responsibility and convict him in the second impeachment trial," she wrote. "Democrats know that despite Harris's slight lead and the fact that her campaign is operating smoothly while the Trump campaign is a chaotic mess, Donald Trump could win this campaign."

"Considering all we know and everything that's happened, how in the world is it even possible that it's this close?" Parton added. "Even if Harris wins and Trump finally shuffles off into obscurity, that's the question that will haunt us as a country for many years to come."