Besides the fact that the GOP is now running an angry, elderly felon against an optimistic, joyful woman, they face other challenges, such as finding a winnable issue. No, arguing over crowd sizes isn’t it, and many in the GOP are begging Trump to shut up about that. (Apparently Trump is losing his mind over the thought that he could lose to a black woman, two things he hates. This is not new. ) The two main issues the GOP raises often are, of course, lies.

The economy is doing terrible! Actually, unemployment is at its lowest, real wages have risen sharply, the world-wide inflation problem didn’t hit us as bad as the rest of the world (and is now very low), overall the stock market has boomed, mortgage rates have fallen… Sure, it’s not perfect, but it never is.

Illegal immigrants are destroying our country! Okay, let’s begin by pointing out that this is largely an appeal to racists who hate the idea that brown people are coming here, because they never object to immigrants from Western Europe. But the fact that these people are illegal is simply because we made them so, and we could easily make them legal just like it was for many immigrants last century. And many are refugees, legally arriving and asking legally to be let in. (Also illegal border crossings are much lower than they were under Trump.)

But the fact is that, unlike Trump claims, these immigrants commit less crime than citizens. They pay their taxes, they want to work, they’re coming here for a better life, and they’re nothing to be scared of unless you are a white supremacist who worries that in the future, you will be the minority in America and then the majority will treat you as terrible as you have been treating them for generations.

Democrats and Republicans worked on a bipartisan plan to help immigrants and to make sure they all come in legally, but Trump told his cult not to vote for it because he needed to blame Biden for not fixing the problem. So if illegal immigrants are destroying our country, we can blame Trump for ignoring a solution.

They are trying to hide their positions on abortion and gay rights and the other extreme things in their Project 2025 because they know their views on these issues are hated by a majority of Americans. Their plan was to win and then force all that on us against our will, like they have always done.

I’m more optimistic now that we will be able to hold these liars back, but it will require everyone to vote, because you know the MAGA cult always will.