Trump campaigns on fear, bullying and applause points.

I hate to say it, but the only way you're going to beat him is to play his game back at him.

It is far too early to accurately discern whether anyone will be able to pose a credible threat to Trump's re-election. 

If Trump does win re-election, it will not be for lack of a strong alternative.  It will be because those opposed to him fail to coalesce around the Democratic nominee and waste their votes on vanity candidates, or fail to vote at all.  Trump enjoys (at best) the support of about 40% of the American people, and that is unlikely to change.  The only reason he will be re-elected is if enough of the other 60% vote stupidly or not at all (which certainly is possible, but not a given).

There's never been any evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to affect the 2016 election.  There's never even been any evidence that anything Russia did or anything Russia is accused of doing actually affected the 2016 election.  Yet for two years, people have been promoting a kooky conspiracy theory to undermine the legitimacy of a democratic election and millions and millions of people believed them.

Now, COLLUSION!!! is getting flushed down the memory hole and replaced, without missing a beat, by OBSTRUCTION!!!  And it's supposed to be the Trump supporters' mental and moral fitness at issue?

Mike

Information from the Mueller report - especially where it indicates that they want to say there was no criminal action or collusion, but cannot do so - isn't all out yet. Once the unredacted report is released, or when Mr. Mueller starts testifying to Congress, I think we'll all be in better position to make reasonable conclusions.

Right now, it seems that there is enough evidence for either side to claim some type of victory... but I'm waiting for the facts.

Replaced? Obstruction was always an issue. Recall that the Special Counsel was appointed in response to the firing of James Comey. Recall the early punditry with regard to Flynn and Comey that the coverup might have been worse than the crime. That the entirety of the investigation was about collusion between Trump and Russia is a strawman put forth by Trump supporters.

The primary goal of the Special Counsel was to investigate Russian Interference in the 2016 Election, which included any possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign within its scope. The Mueller Report confirms that there was interference.

For the sake of argument, let's concede that there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump continually tried to shut down an investigation into election interference from a foreign power because it was politically inconvenient from him. He dismisses intelligence stating that there was election interference from a foreign power because it was politically inconvenient from him. Shouldn't he, as President, be working toward stopping election interference from a foreign power?

-C!