2016 ELECTION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “No one knows better than President Donald Trump what worked for him in 2016, and now he’s going back to the well — trusting no one but himself — to stave off the threat of a Democratic rout in November that could cripple his presidency. At a rowdy rally in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday [7-31-18] night that invigorated a crowd that booed Trump’s enemies like it was a wrestling bout, the President showed exactly why he’s itching to get back on the road for multiple rallies every day ahead of the midterm elections. Trump will not be one of those presidents who only grudgingly tears himself away from the weighty affairs of state to campaign for party lawmakers. And if he suffers the traditional first-term bloody nose from midterm voters, it won’t be because he didn’t campaign hard enough…It was an anarchical moment that highlighted the comedy that is an underestimated ingredient of Trump’s demagogic technique. It helps bind him to supporters who feel bitter about Washington institutions they believe have cast them cruelly aside…But Trump’s rallies bathe loyalists in an alternative reality where things are going great with North Korea — despite reports to the contrary — in which he’s running the most prolific presidency in history and fact-based arguments to the contrary are just ‘fake news.'”
–Stephen Collinson, “‘Wild’ Trump revives spirit of ’16 — but can it work a 2nd (and 3rd) time?,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 1, 2018 1:08 am