What next?

Former President Donald Trump greets guests at Mar-a-lago on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Paul GleiserWhat's Next

This isn’t how it’s supposed to work. Everybody knows that the party out of power in a president’s first midterm election gains seats. We think of it as a given. Layer on top of that a president with historically dismal approval ratings, an economy that’s headed south, crushing inflation, rising interest rates, crumbling 401(k)s, rampant crime, millions of unvetted, uneducated and minimally employable illegal migrants flooding the country, an epidemic of death brought about by the Fentanyl that’s flooding in with them, an entire generation of school-aged children behind the academic eight-ball because of ill-advised COVID policies, and a rising tide of threat from adversaries like China and North Korea – take all of that and pile it on top of the history of first presidential term midterm elections – and the Republicans should have had a blowout Tuesday.

And yet…?

So, what next?

What next centers on Donald Trump. It’s safe to say that he thought he’d be riding a wave of euphoria over the GOP’s performance in the midterms. I think he thought an inevitable win by Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania would burnish his creds for a second presidential run. Dr. Oz lost to a guy who literally can’t form a coherent English sentence. That doesn’t help Trump.

I appreciate Donald Trump. We conservatives will always be in his debt. If Donald Trump hadn’t come along when he did, we would have had to invent him.

We’ve been led for decades by a small, inbred group of elitist Ivy Leaguers and they have made a pig’s breakfast of it. By this time in its history the United States should be substantially debt free, economically strong and well-capable of deterring the world’s bad actors.

Racial animus in America should be on the wane.

Prosperity should be making its way through every demographic group in the country. Today’s generation of black and Hispanic parents should be approaching their old age secure in the knowledge that their children will be better off than they were.

Today, none of those things is true.

Trump’s arrival caused the scales to fall from the eyes of people like you and me who once were excited about a guy like Mitt Romney. (How the hell were we ever excited about Mitt Romney?) Trump brought long overdue clarity. We owe him for that.

One Republican had a great night Tuesday. His name is Ron DeSantis. A stellar record as governor of Florida – driven in large measure by his steadfast refusal to allow the pandemic to take away the rights and liberties of his people – propelled him to the kind of lopsided victory in Florida that we were all hoping would play nationally.

There was a red wave in Florida. DeSantis won Tuesday night by more than a million and a half votes. He crushed former Republican and former Florida governor Charlie Crist.

Yet last Saturday Donald Trump gratuitously and with exactly zero provocation referred to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious.” Why?

Can he truly not help himself? And in light of Republican election night disappointment, can we still afford him?

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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33 Responses

  1. Ellen says:

    Will never vote for Trump again. He has yet to be honest this time about rape and incest as he was when he ran. Also, what is the deal about him knowing hings about DeSantis wife that Desantis doesn’t ven know. I’m a rape survivor and did not vote for Abbott
    or any Texan of his type. Am ashamed to be a Texan now and am a native

  2. Buddy Saunders says:

    Inexperienced as I was in the ways of the Republican Party, I admit I voted for Romney, but by the time McCain came along I didn’t vote for anyone for president. I had learned how to spot establishment shills.

    I grant that DeSantis is shaping up to be extremely good presidential material, but my preference is that he wait and follow a second Trump presidency. DeSantis will not be another Trump, but he will likely be the best we can hope for following Trump.

    The establishments on both sides of the political aisle, along with all the elites of the media, entertainment, and big business, are celebrating the election results, celebrating that the big red wave did not occur. They are celebrating because they see it as a public rejection of Donald Trump.

    The establishment above all else seeks to ensure that Donald Trump is never again President of the United States. To that end, they have and will tolerate election fraud.

    Millions of us still believe the last election was stolen and millions more believe it was stolen, but are afraid to say so.

    In today’s Wall Street Journal, I lost count after the fifth or sixth negative piece concerning Trump and those he endorsed. Karl Rove and others like him cast those endorsed by Trump as unqualified at best and idiots and nut cases at worst. Rove and other Republican elites are celebrating Republican losses if they can also be seen as Trump losses, so badly do they want to see their Trump nightmare eliminated.

    Pres. Donald Trump turns out thousands at his many rallies and he is bringing thousands of Blacks and Hispanics into the Republican Party. This should be celebrated but it is not.

    Paul, you fret and knit your brow over why the big red wave did not happen. Why did the party with a leader who could turn out millions at his rallies do so poorly against a laughably inept opposition that produces rallies with counts in the hundreds?

    Has it occurred to anyone that an answer might be found in election fraud? The elites better than anyone know that the last election was stolen, but they pretended it didn’t happen as their greater priority was eliminating Donald Trump, a threat to their control.

    Those who stole the election are unscrupulous, but they are not stupid. They marveled at how easily the theft occurred, and moreover, how easy it it was covered up by the many elite special interests who actively aided and abetted the theft. literally, more people who question the honesty of the presidential election have been raided by the FBI and jailed, than have those who stole the election.

    Given what has transpired, it is easy to see the advantage election stealers have over “election deniers.” AND given that 80% of Americans when polled say that the country is heading in the wrong direction, it is easy to see why further election theft was deemed necessary in the election just completed.

    Apart from blaming Donald Trump for the lack of a big red wave, how otherwise do we explain the odd voting behavior on the part of the American people in areas dominated by the Democrat Party and their cohorts?

    • C M Solomon says:

      Amen! Buddy, NO one has summed up better than YOU the elite/Marxist/RINO fools that would destroy this Nation in order to save their sorry butts and promote their goals of world domination, regardless of the destruction of Freedom and Liberty that they clearly DON’T CARE about! They WANT to be our slave masters, plain and simple, and yet they find willing fools that continue to follow their wicked duplicity.

    • C M Solomon says:

      Theft of elections is the stock and trade of the Marxist democrats. They have perfected this art since they can use the Nazi propaganda technique of blaming the Republicans for what they habitually orchestrate with impunity by pinning the “election denier” label on anyone that produces mathematical evidence of their guilt when it is convenient to do so. Too many COWARDS are reluctant to stand up to this LIE because they FEAR being condemned by THIEVES. Can you believe it?

      Are there any Patriots left in the so-called Conservative wing of the Republican Party to condemn these malicious attacks by fighting words of TRUTH to counter the LIES from the Left. I don’t hear much from the cowardly Republican Leadership. Do you? It is time that we learn the hidden truths of the term “controlled opposition” because we Conservatives are being defrauded by the Republican Party’s “talk” with little or no “action”. The 7 year persecution of Trump that goes uncontested by the usual suspects is all you need to know.

    • C M Solomon says:

      Buddy, Your question about the “odd voting behavior on the part of the American people” may be explained by the following opinion by Richard Moss of American Thinker, Nov. 12, 2022. I just found this article and it is a theory worth considering. It supports your opinion of these strange events. (I hope I am not wearing out my welcome from Paul to keep commenting on this subject: “What next?” which he has brilliantly raised.) Please see the following:

      https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/11/what_really_happened_in_the_midterms_and_why.html

    • Judith M says:

      exactly. The establishment hates him because he’s not a RINO, not owned, and he makes them all look really bad! The very idea that a non-politician could come in & run this country far better than all of them combined. NOBODY will do a better job.

  3. Richard Anderson says:

    My concern is this. Who is best able to lead The United States of America and fulfill his promises to “We The People” making our country a better place for all of us and our families to live?

    I believe that person is Donald J. Trump, as he has proven it during his first term even though being attacked without merit continuously by “the swamp” of Washington, D.C., deep state bureaucrats, et. al., during his time in office and even now. Why? The leftists* *i.e. the dems and “never Trumpers” are scared of him because they know he “cannot be bought” and will do the unthinkable.. he will actually work FOR The American People and their interest alone!! What a concept whose time has come!

    I like DeSantis also, but AFTER Trump has his second term that he should have had already but which was STOLEN from him. Yes, stolen.

    TRUMP in 2024 — he’s earned another chance “in my book.” I shall support him gladly should he pitch his hat in the ring.

    And for those who want to know what President Trump is really all about now and thinking..
    go to..
    https://gab.com/realDonaldTrump
    https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump

  4. MICHAEL MIDDLETON says:

    FOX: Daily for us: The Five; Watters; Carlson and Gutfeld when FAILLA…. FOX was VERY SMUG in their predictions WITHOUT qualifying “if everyone VOTES”!!! Their emphasis was more on election-night coverage!

    TRUMP?: back off! and let everything settle and soak in, particularly, the. GA runoff….

    Desantis is TOPS! BP: Candace, Kristi,

    Looking forward to JF packing Pappacitas Friday. Thanks for all you do

  5. C M Solomon says:

    Paul, your last week’s comments, “The Elites v. the Folks” was absolutely one of your best and nailed the entirely self-worshiping “elite” that would sell their Grandmother to the highest bidder and throw in the entire Conservative part of the Nation as a bonus in order to keep their self-appointed throne of a “mutual admiration society” founded in a self-fulfilling fantasy of grandiosity, incapable of changing a flat tire.

    The Elite can’t recognize plain facts based on common sense and simple observation of “cause and effect” in nature or in society. How anyone with an ounce of common sense could not recognize that Fetterman, the Cyborg, did NOT legitimately win against Dr Oz in one of the most corrupt state election systems, is beyond me. Every fraudulent election trick in the book is still running rampant in these United States and some States will NEVER allow the America first agenda and their candidates to win in key races. It is NOT the voter’s ballot that matters; it is the corrupt bureaucracy that COUNTS the votes that determine winners in the world of the Elite.

    These Leftists and their Elite followers are quite willing to force the “right wing extremists and conspiracy theorists”, now known as “domestic terrorists”, into gulag condemnation camps in order to save their stinking behinds. Furthermore, there is no amount of suffering in the general public caused by Marxist policies that will EVER cause them to publicly accept the common sense fact that they ARE the source of the misery being foisted on their fellow man. (Truth says to me that it is actually deliberate malfeasance in action).

    The Pandemic of Marxist Poison has found very deep roots in our society as promoted and funded by the Elites. Why have so many of the “old guard” Republicans (RINOs) remained silent about the destruction of American Society by the criminal Marxist Cartels in charge of our government that are trying to demonize the America First movement. Dare I name any suspects? Maybe they have already raised the surrender flag. Now, the fate of the Nation rests with those that fearlessly expose the Marxist corruption and their collaborators who are giving it safe passage to consume the last light of Liberty that still survives in America.

  6. Linda M says:

    Ron DeSantis is what EVERY governor should be and it looks as though Kari Lake is following in his footsteps. Kari has the fortitude to keep her promises and I am sure that having President Trump in office yielded a lot of benefits that we will only see in the future.
    One thing I have learned over the years is that the left never wins unless they cheat and NOTHING proves this more than fedderman or woman which ever he was told to identify with could win with his record and ideas…not to mention his stroke. I’m not crazy about Oz but how could people be so stupid to vote for someone like fedderman/woman? He is for releasing violent criminals back on the streets, for abortion, legalizing drugs. I know some people think this isn’t so bad. Guess we will just see, huh?
    Why don’t we go back to 2004 to the Gore/ Bush fiasco and how gore acted. He expected to win but didn’t…this is how the left does things. Look at how hillary STILL acts. She expected to win…just knew she had it in the bag! Even had her “victory” party all set up ready to start celebrating! Thank God for President Trump upsetting the apple cart for her.
    Explain to me how people “re-elected” aoc and omar when they were either booed off stage or people just didn’t show up! I could go on and on with examples. Gives one something to think about, doesn’t it? Thing is, and I have noticed this for a VERY LONG TIME… If something works for the left, they keep on doing it even notching it up each time. Sad part about it is that we keep ALLOWING it to happen! We had a GREAT example in President Trump and what can be done to better our Country and ourselves…do you see the same with biden???

  7. What we must ask of our Republican elected officials is a coherent message. One that is America First and family centered like I hear from Representative Matt Schaefer. But in my view it is important that we not allow the leftist progressive to define the argument. Ours should not be a discussion of liberal vs. conservative. The opposite of liberalism is fascism. Liberalism and conservatism are misunderstood – redefined like democracy by the left. Both the liberal and conservative advocate free speech, a free market without numerous and unintelligible government rules and regulations, and civil liberties of economics, politics, and freedom of movement. It is the rule, by the people, through elected officials as servants to the republic, and the general idea of “leave me alone” when it comes to government power. The modern progressives are not about progress, they are regressive, going back almost to feudalism. They hide behind terms like fair and equal and ignore the classic meaning of American excellence based in the power of the people. A proper definition of conservative is more about the middle way, able to look left and right and choose only the excellent parts. True Texans look to to the heroism of the Alamo’s defenders, it’s two-war namesake Battleship, and men like Stephen Austin, and Sam Houston for inspiration. May God grant conservatives everywhere the same vision. A prominent leftist progressive recently suggested this is a knife fight, to which they will bring a gun. The only response to that sort of language is the application of the Rule of Law, without emotion, without favor and to crush to idea of government by force and favoritism that prevails in today’s Whitehouse.

  8. Chuck says:

    It is very disappointing. His attempted monicker for DeSantis was an unforced error that will only confirm what many already believe about Mr. Trump: that for him, it is only about him. When the first royal starts to assassinate members of his own family, the rest of us have a problem.

  9. Jean Bammel says:

    I am so proud of Mr. Trump and his efforts to bring good jobs back, increase our energy production, get NATO countries to pay their share of their own defense and give us pride in our country. But, he sure makes it hard and now he needs to step back and let others step forwards.

    I am proud to have been born and raised in Texas and am very proud that Texas is a red state and getting redder!

    • Judith M says:

      There simply is not other that will carry forward and do the job that Trump started. He needs to finish what he started, and we need to back him. I don’t care for him so much as a person, but as a president, there is no better candidate right now. DeSantis might be the next best option after Trump, but running the country is very different from running a state. Our country was never better than it was under Trump, and we need him again.

  10. Jack says:

    Saying Trump is a drag on the party… amazing you sound exactly like the sellout Paul Ryan and other fake Republicans. In fact I am thinking you’ve made it big and are now part of the deepstate since that’s the message you are promoting.

    • Mike says:

      So you agree with leaders calling people (potential opponents) petty names? By Trump’s childish snips at DeSantis and Youngkin he lost my wife and I. Never mind his narcissistic interview of the loss of “His” candidates was not “His” fault. Trump needs to do a complete and total reset of himself; calm down, look forward, stop acting as a bully on the playground, and listen to his people. Is that too much to ask from voters? I know I am not the only person who thinks this way. Now is NOT the time for acting out as a spoiled brat. NOW is the time to be Stately, Presidential if you will; and convey a forward-looking persona. Trump is his own worst enemy that many of us have grown tired of the same old boring rhetoric.

      • Dave says:

        Mike, my wife and I are in the same camp for the exact same reasons. We need muscular conservative leaders without the arrogance and narcissism. DeSantis portrays that. I want to like MIke Pence, but, based on his ABC interview he comes across as a pious wimp. Pence talks about being ‘infuriated’ and ‘angry’ at the way Trump and the rioters behaved on Jan. 6th, but his placid emotion and demeanor doesn’t match the rhetoric. It’s a strange disconnect. No real passion. We need that. And DeSantis has it in spades, minus the Trump excesses.

      • Judith M says:

        I’ll take a mean tweet or two any day over what we have now. Nuclear war looming as well as unprecedented inflation etc… we need to get back to better times, and only Trump can take us back there. He is not running to make anyone feel cuddled.. he ran this country like a business, and business is not touchy-feely. He got things done. THAT is what we need.

  11. Chris Clarke says:

    Tribalism and emotionally charged issues like abortion helped to stem the expected red wave. How else can you explain Democrats continually voting against their best interests. Federman joins a long list of political misfits that are a disgrace to our country. The old saying of ” they could indict a ham sandwich” needs to be modified to “the Democrats could elect a ham sandwich”. In retrospect what did the Democrats gain with majorities in state and local government-more crime, more corruption and higher taxes.
    I don’t consider that a victory.

    • Mike says:

      Following up on your “ham sandwich” topic, the Dems did indeed elect a dead guy. The media blew that off as a joke; but it is anything but a joke. The Ham Sandwich is next to be elected OR appointed to a position of power.

  12. C M Solomon says:

    I really don’t understand why Trump has been brought up as the issue of the day since we are witnessing the systematic destruction of America by the Woke Marxist takeover of the largest academic, business, medical, military and government institutions that are having a DIRECT NEGATIVE influence on our lives as they try to steal yet another election and PRETEND it was “free, fair and secure”. This is a further insult of our intelligence and wisdom to detect obvious fraud.

  13. C M Solomon says:

    What next? If thieves remain unpunished and they are allowed to continue their debauchery, then why should they not EXPAND their evil enterprises? This was demonstrated in Democrat controlled cities and States including actual “petty” theft for property less than $700 and no arrests for criminal behavior by BLM, ANTIFA, etc. in the recent past.

    If the claim of the Marxistcrats holds true in that they will keep the Senate, now, as was rewarded by the COWARDLY Republican leadership and their weak opposition to the previously stolen election of 2020, then were they not correct to continue this scheme to conquer more territory in 2022 as well? These Republicans have refused to seriously investigate and expose this theft of elections in 2020 due to their hatred of Trump and their desire to “cross the aisle” and to keep their dubious benefits in the “controlled opposition” ranks as willing participants in BIG government growth and executive mandates

    It doesn’t take a lot of wisdom or intelligence to say that the Marxists will do ANYTHING to solidify their ill gotten power and to implement what they have already announced. For example, they will kill the filibuster, Nationalize elections, pack the Supreme Court, add additional States, and vastly expand welfare as they continue the elimination of the Nation’s borders and bring in 50 million newly minted illegal aliens with their criminal cartel sponsors. Then, why not convert the illegal alien population into a large block of voting citizens who are beholden to their Marxist benefactors who will have the power to make the Constitution irrelevant and consequently establish a one party Marxist dictatorship? At that point, who would dare claim to be a Conservative Republican (domestic terrorist) and risk what little freedom they still may enjoy? Communism always wins when faced with a vacuum of opposition.

    • C M Solomon says:

      Note that by refusing to become “election deniers”, the cowardly Republicans cleverly avoided taking ANY responsibility for investigating and exposing the 2020 election theft. Defense of Liberty is hard work and may cause the vaunted main stream media to crucify you, right?

      • Chris Clarke says:

        When will the election enablers be called out for their role in our “Democracy”? Both national and local media continue to lie about conservatives, ignore the border crisis and forget about the Jan 6 defendants still stuck in jail without due process.

  14. Josh says:

    I find it infuriating that you are starting to belittle the man that has saved this country. Donald Trump has sacrificed his reputation his businesses and his wealth. He is the man may the hero that this country needs. I believe He will sacrifice everything just to be able to better this country and save us the American people. I find your comments Paul Gleiser to be weak and shameful just like your back bone. How could you ask if Donald Trump would be fit for president again? The answer to that question is yes! Donald Trump i believe is the only man that can save this country and get us back on the right track! After Trump comes in and corrects all the wrong doing the Biden administration has done then yeah maybe Ron Desantis could be president. Trump has my vote! As long as he is still willing to fight for the American people he will continue to have my support not Desantis. Final comment every time I hear you on the radio I change the station now. Good day!

  15. Matthew says:

    I simply couldn’t resist, thought I’d take a look at what I’ve been missing, been a while. I’m sure i haven’t been missed. Sacrafised his business, wealth and reputation ? Really ? And did this to save our country? That’s is some serious accusations there, last I heard he’s steadily been raking in the donations mainly from ” MainStreet” America. Hasn’t spent a dime of his own money for all his legal fees that are piling up. As far as reputation, he’s never had a particularly good one that I’ve ever heard,many failed businesses over the yrs, not paying his bills, constantly suing people,using delay tactics in court to avoid accountability. Taking the 5th constantly when given opportunity to tell his side of accusations made against him. As he said himself, ” only guilty people plead the 5th”. Becoming President for him was simply another business idea for him,all the attention he’d get and the potential money he could make during and after, and it’s been very successful, so far,but…..oh yea, he did it all for the American people thats the best one of all, unbelievable!

  16. Barry Thistlethwaite says:

    Had Trump been running, he would have countered the blatant lies of “Democracy is on the ballot,” “Putin caused Bidenflation, not Democrat policies,” “Republicans will ban abortion nationwide,” and others that apparently many gullible Democrat drones swallowed whole and regurgitated in the voting booths. Trump taught us to stand up, speak out, expose the Leftists’ lies, and fight for American values. As much as I appreciate DeSantis’ demeanor, he’s not the aggressive fighter we need to win by destroying the Left’s false narrative.

    Donald Trump can do that. Nobody else in the public arena has shown the ability or inclination to fight, including Ron DeSantis.

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