In conclusion, the tax results are not going to change much in the short term, but they will affect Trump's long term. While they won't do much to change the minds of voters (almost everyone is decided at this point), they will lead to his demise in about two to three years if he is voted out. Any attorney worth their salt could easily prosecute Trump at this stage, and we don't even have the full bulk of the evidence yet.
In the short term, I am encouraged. I think the Democrats are going to do exactly what I predicted they will do. Trump's enemies will continue to publish damaging stories about him. Look for damaging stories to come out just before October 7 (Harris's and Pence's debate), October 15 (Biden and Trump's second debate and around the time that many states will start early voting, including Tennessee), October 22, 2020 (Biden and Trump's third debate), and October 31 (the weekend before the election, as well as a "full moon." Ha ha!) Trump's enemies, if they are smart, will continue to publish stories around those times to upset Trump and put him on the defensive. And because Trump's enemies have been waiting years for this moment, they are saving the best for last.
In short, the stories about Trump will get much, much worse. Remember, the last two stories have affected Trump with members of his base (his disrespect of the military with the military base, and his tax returns with hardworking, blue collared voters). Trump is already suffering loses with the elderly, considering his response to Covid-19. So who is left?
Yep. The evangelical vote.
Methinks that if Trump's enemies has something truly terrible about Trump (examples include paying his mistresses to get abortions or forcing immigrants at the border to have abortions), they will show it on or about October 15, just when many red states will start their early voting. And then another story will come out on or around October 31, 2020. This will hopefully demoralize the red voters and make them less likely to come to the polls in force on November 3, 2020 (which is what the Republicans are hoping for, seeing as how Democrats are beating them through the mailing votes.)
Now, a final prediction. The tax story is a signal for Trump and the Republicans. They know that if the tax information was the worst information about Trump that was in the Democrats' hands, then they would have released it much closer to the election date.
Conclusion: there are a lot more stories that will come out against Trump. And they will be much, much worse.
Now, I am going to make a prediction based on my analysis of Trump's character. As I stated before, he does not like to fight, despite his image. In almost every single court case he has been involved in, his strategy has always been to run out the clock. He either gets the other side to give up because they don't want to waste any more time or money in their case or he quietly settles with his opponents and then tries to spin it as a win. Rarely, if ever, does he engage in a battle to it's bitter end if he feels he will come out as a loser.
This is not a court case. This is an election. It ends on November 3, 2020. And despite his efforts to the contrary, Trump can't change the election date and he can't delay the results inevitably. Some of the swing states that he is seeking to discredit (Wisconsin, Michigan, etc.) have Democratic governors and thus Democratic Secretaries of State. As they will be the ones responsible for counting the votes in their states. So while Republican states like Georgia and Florida will probably depress the voting count (aka discount Democratic votes), states like Michigan and Wisconsin won't, which will be enough to swing the electoral vote in Biden's favor.
If Trump is losing to Biden by double digits (say, between 10-15 points) a few weeks before the election, (estimated time-between October 15, 2020 through October 22, 2020), then I predict that Trump will seriously consider resigning from office before the election. Yes, I know he is stubborn, but he fears being labeled a loser more than anything else. By resigning, he can claim an undisclosed health issue (aka bone spurs are acting up again) and say that if the "evil liberal media" has been so unfair to him. But he would rather quit and live with the memory of winning in 2016 (and consoling himself with his lies about how he could not finish out 2020) than to be completely rejected and humiliated at the voting polls in 2020. So if Trump is losing badly a few weeks out, he may seriously consider cutting his losses and then trying to spin it as a win for him.
So if Trump decides to resign and have Pence pardon him for his crimes, Trump thinks he has won. He can claim that the Republican losses wouldn't have happened had he been able to continue (but he couldn't, but that wasn't his fault!) He will claim that the Republicans were not loyal enough, so the voters punished them by putting Democrats in office. It was the Republicans fault that they lost, because he was no longer on the ballot, so they can't blame him! (Remember, Trump cares about winning more than anything else.)
If Trump is able to see he will lose by a landslide, then he will quit. Better to whine and complain that the game was rigged and you refuse to take part in it as opposed to see exactly what the American public thinks of you. Better to say that your departure doomed the Republicans than that your mere presence is what caused the Republicans to lose. It is all about image for him.
The big question is whether Trump can continue to live in his fantasy world. If he finally realizes he will lose "bigly," a few weeks from now, he will resign and keep his image as a winner intact. But if he can't see the reality of the situation, he will go down in defeat and probably suffer a nervous breakdown. So if he has any sense left, he will resign before it gets to that point. Hopefully, Trump's enemies will continue to release damaging information and cause Biden's numbers to rise. We can only hope.
When I pulled tarot cards on Trump (which have been right on so far), my last were Hierophant + Six of Swords. he's definitely leaving, and it does look like he's trying to escape consequences in doing so, so I could see him going that direction.
Well,well,well .... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/hope-hicks-covid-19-reports-trump
and traveled on the plane with him.
@allyn. Your prediction that Trump will resign before the end fits different visions I've had about his demise:
12/28/18 After an election defeat, Trump will see the writing on the wall, that he resign or get out before he is prosecuted.
7/23/20 Trump leaves early, in December.
I totally agree. I flashed on Jared. I believe several of them are infected.
Drew a tarot card which screamed "an exit" to me. Hope Hicks will obviously, who has demonstrated symptoms. But several others. It will be an convenient exit.
The house of cards is falling. As I've stated before, all of their devious efforts will work against them. We have been awakened. Their time is over.
Remember I saw T exit out the door?
@lawrence I think Hicks having Covid and Melania's Eff Christmas tape are some of the final lynchpins being pulled out. I'm with Jeanne - I can't see him there past Christmas. I think he's ill with something else but he may have COVID as well.
The end feels like it's coming. And as I said that I had a vision of Putin cutting a black ribbon with oversized scissors. I'm not sure what that means, but I think maybe Putin feels he's not getting his money's worth. That could be very bad for all the Trumps. DJT, I think, isn't the only one in his debt. The dirtiest one always felt like Ivanka.