It’s like the old joke about the two animal experts in the African savannah: Suddenly, a huge, ferocious lion charges towards them.
The first guy starts running away as fast as he can. He’s not in great shape, but he’s giving it all he’s got.
“Are you crazy?” hollers the second guy. “Lions can reach a top speed of 50 mph! You can’t outrun a lion!”
“I don’t need to outrun the lion,” huffs the first guy. “I just gotta outrun you.”
That’s the blessing and the curse of binary decision-making: Unless perfect is on the ballot, whoever the voters choose will have flaws.
It’s a curse for good governance, because it means the process itself is inherently flawed. Its features and bugs are one and the same; it’ll always be an arduous, inefficient, slow-moving system. (Which, in all honesty, is often a positive.)
But it’s a yuuuge blessing for candidates, because having flaws and character defects isn’t fatal. It’s just par for the course: In a garbage-in, garbage-out political system, all the candidates are gonna smell like trash!
Which means, voters must explicitly choose their regrets.
In 2024, Donald Trump — the thrice-married, twice-impeached, self-aggrandizing billionaire — won a landslide electoral victory over his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump didn’t win because he’s perfect; yet again, perfect wasn’t on the menu.
He won because he was the better option.
Donald Trump is a known commodity. At this point, he’s probably the most instantly recognizable human on the planet. Given the population boom, it’s likely true that no one in world history has ever been known by more people — within their own lifetime — than President Trump.
And he’s not famous for being perfect!
He’s the epitome of the Tennessee Williams line, “If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels,” because the qualities that make him so appealing often come with a cost. He’s a man with rough edges.
Because Trump is so famous, his flaws are famous, too.
He’s also famously difficult to poll. More than any politician in recent memory, polling almost always exaggerates Trump’s weakness and underplays his strength, leading to “surprised Pikachu” faces on Election Day. Part of the reason is the MAGAverse’s distrust of pollsters, but it runs deeper than that.
If you give voters a choice between a known commodity with flaws — and then offer them a blank slate — they’ll choose the blank slate every time.
It’s sales psychology: We project our own biases onto unknown commodities. When we want to like something, we assume the best — and in our imagination, the blank slate could very well be everything we’ve ever dreamed of. So, we fill the gaps with positive assumptions.
And we’ll cling to this belief until we’re forced out of it.
According to relationship expert Dr. Orion Taraban, this sales psychology is how and why most men blow the first date: They yap so much that they ruin the fantasy the girl built in her head.
If a woman agrees to a [first] date, she can’t really be interested in you because she doesn’t really know who you are. She had very little information on which to base that decision one way or another. …This is something that is really important to understand: She’s there on the date not because she’s attracted to you, but because she’s attracted to the idea of you. [emphasis added]
Guys don’t realize this, so they overshare:
In the act of trying to impress a woman, you will inevitably reveal more and more details about who you actually are and how you actually are and how you actually live, and the likelihood that any of those details will actually correspond with the fantasy of any particular woman has in her mind about who she wants you to be — or hopes you could be — are functionally zero.
It’s the exact same phenomenon in binary politics: Once the mask is removed and identities crystallized, those idealized fantasies go out the window.
Turns out the “blank slate” has plenty of flaws, too!
With the 2026 midterms approaching, the GOP must nationalize the election, forcing voters into a binary choice: Donald Trump’s side — or the Democrats' side.
Because that’s a contest the Republican Party will win.
ABC News released an eye-popping new poll on Feb. 22, partnering with the Washington Post and Ipsos. If you’re Team MAGA, there was plenty of bad news: Nearly two-thirds (65%) disapprove of Trump’s inflation policy; 64% disapprove of his tariffs; 62% say he’s using the presidency to enrich himself; 58% disapprove of how he’s handling immigration; 57% disapprove of his handling of the economy; and 56% say he lacks the “mental sharpness” to be president.
And oh, by the way:
[A]n even larger share of Americans -- 7 in 10 -- say Trump is not honest and trustworthy, tying a high-point set in January 2024. Biden never got close to that level during his presidency, peaking at 55% saying he was not honest in January 2024. Today, majorities of Democrats (96%), independents (80%) and non-MAGA Republicans (74%) say Trump is not honest and trustworthy, while more than 8 in 10 MAGA Republicans say Trump is honest and trustworthy.
It’s catastrophic news. The Republican Party is “dead man walking” in the 2026 midterms: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!
Or maybe not.
Because, when you read the poll closely, a curious undercurrent emerges:
The American people keep saying the economy is getting better and better — and on EVERY major issue, voters trust Donald Trump more than the Democrats.
I’m not going to pretend that the poll was all sunshine and rainbows for the GOP: When 64% of voters say President Trump is out of touch with the concerns of the average American, that’s not a good thing.
But on the other hand, 64% of Americans also say the Democratic Party is out of touch, too!
And remember, perfect isn’t on the ballot. This is a binary choice: Republicans versus Democrats.
Back in October, a majority of voters (52%) said the economy had gotten worse under Trump. Today, less than half (48%) think so.
Which means, the economic numbers are moving in the right direction.
There was even better economic news: More voters are beginning to feel the positive growth of the economy — and Trump’s numbers are higher than Biden’s numbers. Back in October, just 18% of Americans said they were “better off” under Trump; today it’s 22%, with less than 1 out of 3 saying they’re “not as well off.”
So 66% of Americans say the economy is staying the same or getting better.
As ABC News noted: “That rating is higher than Biden enjoyed throughout his presidency on the same measure.”
When compared directly to the Democrats in congress, Trump swept all three issues:
- “Who do you trust to do a better job handling our country’s main problems?” Voters went 33% for Trump, 31% for the Democrats.
- “Who do you trust to do a better job reducing the cost of living in the U.S.?” Voters went 32% for Trump, 31% for the Democrats.
- “Who do you trust to do a better job handling immigration?” Voters went 38% for Trump, 34% for the Democrats.
No, Donald Trump isn’t performing like the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. There’s vast opportunities for growth, and as more Americans feel the positive effects of the economy, Republicans should reap the political benefits. Tuesday’s State of the Union speech is the perfect time to reset the narrative.
But on the other hand, the Republicans don’t need to perform like the 1995-1996 Bulls — because the Dems certainly aren’t playing like the 2016 – 2017 Golden State Warriors.
They’re playing like the Washington Generals.
About 259 years ago, Voltaire wrote to Étienne Noël Damilaville:
I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.
Trump and Voltaire must’ve shared a hymnbook.
After all, in a binary race, you don’t need to outrace a lion. You just gotta be faster than your opponent.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First: It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battlelines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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