GUEST COLUMN, Dick Morris
The conviction of Donald Trump by a New York City jury will have no effect on the election.
There may be some short-term trend against Trump, but the public fully understands the nature of this verdict and the partisan bias behind it.
Judge Juan Merchan has guaranteed that this verdict will be perceived as a manifestation of judicial bias. His daughter’s employment by the Democratic Party as a fundraiser, and his biased rulings throughout the case make his bias evident.
Undoubtedly Democrats will attempt to make this verdict the linchpin in the election.
But they will be wrong to do so.
Voters have decided to support Trump because of the issues that affect them such as inflation, energy prices, crime, and immigration.
No amount of democratic posturing that Trump is a convicted felon can change that.
Indeed, the main impact of this verdict will be to assure that Biden will indeed be the Democratic nominee and his campaign will be infused with sufficient optimism that he won’t pull out even though he should.
If the Democrats try to make this election about the verdict, they will be making a huge mistake.
This case reminds me of the facts surrounding Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. By wrapping their whole campaign around the president’s malfeasance, the Republicans erred fatally in 1998.
Voters felt that they were ignoring the real issues by only focusing on the president’s conduct instead of talking about the real problems they faced in their own lives.
But of course, we need to see how far the Democrats are willing to take this charade of due process. If judge Juan M. Merchan chooses to imprison Donald Trump or restrict his ability to campaign, that will become the only issue.
And it will redound to Trump’s benefit.
Big time.
