How the tables have turned.
Just days ago, Rachel Maddow was on top of the world, having brought her formerly so-so ratings to dizzying heights (by cable news standards) thanks to Donald Trump and Russiagate.
All the so-called respectables insisted that the walls were "closing in" on Trump.
And now?
Maddow is scrambling to cover for herself with contrived non-explanations for what could have gone so disastrously wrong, and Trump is running victory laps.
Your opinion of Trump is not what matters. He is a daily lesson in marketing. (There was a lot to be learned from Bill Clinton on this score as well.) He managed to get his message out and even get elected president in the face of a media that despised him so much that it would keep a phony story on the front page for two solid years.
Consider Matt Taibbi's point: if the inaccurate stories about Russiagate had been innocent mistakes, you'd expect half of them to swing one way (collusion did not happen) and half the other (collusion probably did happen). But they all went one way. Huh.
So what did Trump do?
He played the game on his own terms.
He went completely over the heads of people and institutions that couldn't stand the sight of him.
He used a free platform, Twitter, to get his message out.
He used rallies -- and videos of his rallies -- to stay in contact with and build his base.
He used his speech at CPAC to reconnect with conservatives, and he accomplished that in a big way: he's not the world's most talented speaker, but he kept a room full of mostly young people spellbound for two solid hours.
Some say he comes off as arrogant. The people he's looking to connect with see this as confidence.
And let's face it: that's what a lot of people wish they could have when they speak to a group. Instead, when they speak in front of even a small gathering, they're terrified.
Does that sound like you?
I have 20+ years of experience. Let me help you with a skill you will never, ever regret having:
(This is being taken down in 48 hours, so do click.)
Tom Woods