So far, the Democrats have done a fine job of picking their opponents. The Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno looks like 24’s Dr. Oz. Their money joined Trump in nominating the weakest candidate. Of course, the crown jewel is nominating Donald Trump over more electable Republicans. Drowning him in questionable lawsuits, especially in New York, made him sympathetic to the Republican base while ensuring the ex-president dominated the news, sucking all the oxygen from his opponents. They got their man; now they only have to make him unelectable as an enemy of our Democracy.

However, they may be overplaying their hand. Ever since the Charlottesville, VA riots in 2017, the Democrats and their media allies have misquoted Donald Trump for saying “there were good peple on both sides'” when he was talking about people arguing about where to place the Robert E. Lee statue. He condemned the Nazis.

No matter, Biden used the Charlottesville misquote as his reason for running for president and used it to his advantage in the presidential debates. 

Having such success misrepresenting Trump’s words, it must’ve seemed a gift from the gods when Trump used the phrase bloodbath linked to a reelection failure. Democrats and their media allies couldn’t register their disgust and fear fast enough. The implication is clear: Trump threatened a “bloodbath” if not returned to the White House. The condemnation raced around the world.

Oops. Trump’s words were about forcing the auto industry to convert to electric vehicles (EVs) and facing cheaper Chinese autos imported from Mexico. The video of his actual remarks, readily available online, makes this abundantly clear. Rather than having pictures of torch-carrying Nazis marching through the University of Virginia Campus mudding the waters, Trump’s meaning is crystal clear; the Auto industry is in for a bloodbath if he isn’t elected.

Not only is Trump crudely taken out of context, but the Electric Vehicle (EV) fiasco is brought front and center by focusing attention on what he said. As I’ve pointed out, converting transport to battery power makes little sense. Now that the public knows EV shortcomings and costs, EVs are piling up on dealer lots.

By making or controlling all the inputs for this type of vehicle, the Chinese have a substantial price advantage over our domestic producers. Only by placing a steep tariff on Chinese autos, such as Trump’s suggested 100 %, are they prevented from sweeping our auto market. Of course, such a high tariff would mean an inflationary high price to American consumers.

While this gives Trump a solid issue as the public turns away from Evs, it brings the whole Biden “Green Agenda” into question. What do we have to show for the trillions committed?

With the real threat to the Auto industry, Michigan, one of the five tossup states determining our next president, faces significant job losses. This fear only adds to Trump’s appeal.

This misstep comes at a time when the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, and a lower court judge saddled Trump with an enormous fine that seems to have no rational basis. By forcing the ex-president to post a bond equal to or greater than the outlandish judgment to even appeal to a higher court, New York appears to be infringing on basic constitutional protections. These actions increasingly offend Americans’ sense of fairness.

It takes a lot to elicit sympathy for Donald Trump, but the Democrats are finding a way. By obviously misquoting the ex-president about an issue of importance to an auto-loving public and saddling him with a fine, the public increasingly sees it as unfair; the Democrats are on the verge of doing what most thought impossible: making Trump a victim.

The Democratic Party powers better tell their supporters and media friends never to mention Trump and Blodbath together again. Someone needs to get on the phone with Attorney General James and tell her a million-dollar bond would be fine, as everyone deserves the right to appeal. When the fine is reversed or substantially lowered, quietly accept it and end this politically losing case. Those pressing the other New York and Georgia cases against Trump would also do well to follow this advice.

The whole idea is to ensure that the Democratic presidential candidate runs against Donald Trump, who has never garnered much over 45% approval. Hitting him with a wave of lawsuits prompted the Republican base to rally around him, but now, even many independents don’t like what’s happening.

With a Democratic administration underwater on most critical issues, concentrating on Trump’s unlikability among most voters and the theme that he is “a threat to our Democracy” is the only path to victory. Drawing attention to EV mandates forcing people to buy cars they don’t want at a time when other options, such as hybrids and hydrogen vehicles, look increasingly attractive is a loser. Australia’s major hydrogen pipeline project shows that people are interested in using gas as an alternative to battery-only transportation.

If it’s a race against Donald Trump, who is unpopular with most Americans, the Democrats can win, maybe a landslide, depending on who they run. Donald Trump, the victim of an unfair media and legal system, is another matter. Denying anyone their 5th and 8th Amendment rights might be considered a more significant threat to our constitution than Trump himself.

 The result could be what the Democrats fear the most: a contest on the issues. Having played their hand with skill until now, the Democrats stand a chance of losing everything by overplaying it. I always thought only Republicans could “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” but maybe the Democrats are developing the knack. After all, they ran Hillary Clinton in ’16.