I have never been in either the “always-Trump” or “never-Trump” camps. After many years of either watching politics or participating directly in them, I concluded that politics is transactional.

Politicians want power, and we need certain things to be done. It isn’t a love affair or a marriage. It’s a loose contract with a service provider who likely won’t deliver what they promise, but may still leave you better off than you would be if you contracted with somebody else.

If you fall in love with a politician, chances are you are a sucker. You can love what they do for you, but never fall in love with them.

They certainly aren’t in love with you. You are a vote or a contributor, not a buddy.

I was extremely skeptical of Trump when he ran in 2016, and feared that he would betray his voters once elected. I was wrong about that. He actually was a very good president despite the vicious attacks and obstructionism he was forced to endure. I enthusiastically voted for him in 2020, even though I never warmed up to his personality.

But ever since losing the 2020 election, Trump has become a smaller and smaller figure. Trump’s entire persona is that he is a winner, and he hasn’t been able to digest the fact that he lost. Losing in itself isn’t shameful, but clearly it sticks in his craw and has prevented him from forging a forward-looking path.

So he is flailing. And it is a bad look.

When I say flailing, I mean performances like this:

WATCH: Donald Trump praises governorships of Charlie Crist and Rick Scott in video addressing DeSantis

"Florida was doing fantastically. You had a governor named Rick Scott who did a very good job. Even Charlie Crist, a Democrat, did a good job – and he had very good numbers." pic.twitter.com/KMB0nF1AKV

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) March 13, 2023

Donald Trump, because he is forced to compete with Ron DeSantis, has reduced himself to praising one of the smarmiest politicians in America. Floridians were able to choose between Charlie Crist and Ron DeSantis, and they made their voices heard loud and clear.

Their judgment is apparently that Trump is quite wrong about Crist vs DeSantis.

It’s a pathetic attack, really. While Trump is not wrong that Florida has some advantages that make it attractive regardless of who is governor, the same can be said–and more emphatically–about California. California is, in natural beauty and climate, much more attractive than Florida. What it is not is well governed, and is losing population despite its natural assets.

Trump looks pathetic because he appears obsessed with DeSantis, while DeSantis appears strong because he clearly is not obsessed with Trump.

None of this means that DeSantis has the inside track on the nomination and Trump’s chances are necessarily shrinking. Trump’s base is about as hardcore as they come, because for them the case for Trump is not transactional in the least. It is based upon personal loyalty. They clearly love Trump and see him as their champion.

I understand why, but it is a mistake. Trump was a successful president in most respects, although he will never get any credit for it. But his ultimate downfall was his failure to do the one thing that would have ensured his continued success: drain the swamp. In his battle with the establishment and the bureaucracy he was never really on the offense, and they eventually beat him.

He did so many things well, but he lost focus on the one thing he promised most often and that would have given him a second term: draining the swamp. He flailed, he yelled, he accused, and he insulted. But in 2021, when he left office, the elite were stronger than when he went in.

Rather than aiming his fire and his ire at them, he is attacking the most successful Republican politician in America. One who is, actually, draining the swamp in a swamp-ridden state. It’s a bad strategy on Trump’s part.

It may or may not get him the nomination, but it certainly will harm the cause and the Republican Party.