The Democratic political class cannot believe they might lose again to Donald Trump. “How could anyone vote for that man?” they complain. “He is just so gauche!”

In a way, they have a point. Trump is gauche. His recent perambulations about Arnold Palmer are the latest in a long line of baffling utterances and improvisations. But mixed in with the weirdness is some smart campaigning.

Trump’s McDonald’s stunt was a very sharp move (not genius, but pretty good for a standard political stunt). And of course, it sent Democrats on tilt at how undignified and cheap Trump was (again).

The Democratic elites are so appalled by Trump they cannot bring themselves to give him any credit for anything. But the fact is, the former president has good instincts at self-promotion, unlike Kamala Harris or Joe Biden. Trump’s delay, delay, delay legal strategy worked. Trump has the issue environment on his side. And Trump is currently the favorite to win.

At heart, Democrats' biggest problem is that their insularity is much worse than that of their Republican counterparts. Yes, both parties are living in their own ideological media bubbles. But it’s worse for the Democrats. Within their bubble, denial has reigned supreme as they have pursued their own hobbyhorses.

Instead of addressing voters’ concerns, the Democratic political class and their friends in the establishment media continue to focus on Trump’s threat to democracy, his odd behavior and their own supposed victim status. In short, the Democrats are running on issues they care about, not issues that voters care about. The Harris campaign has become comfort food for an anxious, bewildered political class.

None of this is news. The public is well aware of Trump’s strangeness........

© The Hill