THREAD:

Donald Trump SHOULDN'T stop Tweeting in the same Trumpian fashion, and why it's a net positive. (Particular tweets can be bad. Which is why it's a net positive, not an absolute positive.)

1) The media and Democrats—tautology!—will attack him whether he tweets or not. -

- When they attack Trump over his Twitter, Trump has the ability to guide the attacks of his opponenents. He decides what they cover. He decides what they oppose. He decides what they deride.

If Trump wants his enemies to stop focusing on the particulars of—say—coronavirus, -

- all he needs to do is tweet some hilarious and absurd thing about Noble prizes and Paul Ryan Fox News. The media falls for it every time. Trump shapes the narratives with his tweets. Every time.

Shaping and controlling the narrative has political windfalls in many different -

- ways. For starters, it's a way to defend you from attacks by shifting your opponents into attacking something dumb. As an extension, it makes Trump's opponents seem as petty as he does when they attack ridiculous things he says on Twitter.

It's an unorthodox way of defending-

- himself, but it's also a more effective way of defending himself than the "cower, hide, and stick to my script" strategy of Bush, McCain, and Romney.

Bush, McCain, and Romney are all incompetent rubes compared to Trump. And this is partly why. His defensive strategy is far -

- more sophisticated.

Did I just say sophisticated? ABOUT HIS DUMB TWEETS? WHAT?!

Yes. Which brings me to reason number 2:

2) Tweeting is the chief tool for creating his "The Donald" persona

If you still haven't figured out that the Trump on camera and on Twitter isn't -

- the same Donald Trump that existed prior to 2015, I don't know what to tell you. With all the time you spend talking about the man, perhaps you'd just ONCE look into him and question your own ridiculous assumptions. But no. Nobody ever does.

"The Donald" is a caricature. A -

- greatly exaggerated version of himself which is done to achieve two political ends simultaneously:

1) Convince his enemies that he's really stupid. Which usually works just as well on his allies.

2) Seem relatable to the working class of middle America and America broadly. -

- Note: "likable" and "relatable" mean different things. Plenty of people who love Trump don't really like the tweets, but also don't attack him over them. And it's interesting if you dig into why. What do they always say?

They tell you he has every reason to be angry. They -

- say "yeah, but he's doing a good job" or they say "yeah, and he doesn't sugarcoat stuff!"

None of this is denying that his style of tweeting is a flaw. It's telling you "I could see myself being POTUS and having a similar flaw". Which makes the flaw in question more of a boon-

- than a detriment. The number one dream of a politician is to create a political persona which is simultaneously relatable and inspiring.

By being crass and poorly tempered, while simultaneously being determined and strong... Trump used his tweeting to create the political -

- dream scenario. Where even his flaws are helping him sell his persona.

Because no Republican President was ever going to get away with what Barack Obama did. Which is what Republican Presidents tried to do previously.

They tried to convince you they were all brainiacs. They -

- were all driven to show you just how intelligent and sophisticated they were. Just like Obama did.

Well, guess what? They might've been sophisticated. But they certainly weren't intelligent. If they were, they'd have realized one simple truth.

If you're a smart person in -

- politics, your first priority is to seem stupid. So let's circle back on why.

Why does Trump care that his enemies (and usually his allies) view him as some stupid and ineffectual ignoramus that twiddles his thumbs at the Resolute Desk???

BECAUSE NOBODY EVER KNOWS WHAT HE'S-

- DOING. EVER.

Half of Trump's policy wins were conducted in close to nigh-secrecy, then thrown into public view at the last minute. For a guy whose administration "always leaks", he never seems to have his biggest moments leaked. It's always petty nonsense that was probably -

- made up.

Democrats have no idea what to oppose. Because 24 hours Trump threw this policy out there, Trump said something exactly contradictory to this policy.

Democrats have no idea if they should oppose this sudden new policy, or their fancy new Ukraine Impeachment toy? -

- Policies usually cost political capital.

The media covers the policy, and if the public doesn't broadly support it, then it comes at the cost of the president's personal political capital. With Trump? It's all dirt cheap.

Because the media DOESN'T cover the policy. They -

- cover the absurd nonsense that Trump wants them to cover, and it costs him 0 political capital.

There's a longterm benefit to being seen as stupid and ineffectual, but constantly winning. This longterm benefit is the greatest Trump asset heading into 2020.

Democrats have -

- gone absolutely insane. At one time, they were lunatics with a sense for political strategy. No longer are they politically strategic. They've been driven nuts.

For one, they feel safe to expose themselves. "If Trump can do it, why can't I?" is their modus operandi, and it -

- never proves true.

For two, they become so rabid and furious that they CAN'T hide themselves as they're accustomed to doing. They've exposed themselves, because they've been driven insane.

It's always been a political fantasy for conservatives to rip the mask off of their -

- leftist opponenents. Trump did it.

You're welcome!