So, Michael Avenatti wants to run for president.
He could win.
No, I’m not being facetious. While polls suggest that Avenatti isn’t familiar to the vast majority of the American public – and that people who do know about him are split on him – Avenatti does have something other Democrats don’t: an unbridled passion for trolling President Trump. Yes, President Trump was rich and famous for decades before becoming president; yes, he’d flirted with running for president for years. But other rich and famous non-politicians have run for president before (see Forbes, Steve), and none of them picked up serious momentum. Trump did because of one characteristic: he loves to punch.
Well, let’s look at the other Democrats. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) likes to think of himself as a puncher, but he comes off far more like a crazed whiner than like somebody ready to brawl with Trump; Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) poses as above-the-fray; Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) would be too easy to drag through the mud for Trump. Why not a self-professed knife fighter with a history of dogging Trump and drawing Trump’s ire – and a man who is already seen by large swaths of the Democratic base as the greatest hope for stopping Trump? Avenatti’s client, porn star Stormy Daniels, has already been cheered wildly on Saturday Night Live for calling for Trump’s resignation over a one-night stand for which he paid her off years ago. Why would it be shocking for Democrats to embrace Avenatti’s #Basta routine? Haven’t they already embraced “Auntie” Maxine Waters (D-CA)? Haven’t they given money to Peter Strzok’s GoFundMe? Haven’t they even granted strange new respect to Omarosa Managault?
If all that matters in Democrat-world is opposition to Trump, Avenatti’s the guy. And Avenatti enjoys insulting Trump. He looks like he’s the only guy having fun out there on the Left – because he is. He’s come from nowhere, the media have given him hundreds of thousands of dollars of airtime, and he’ll be able to brag about how he’s the only person on stage who has actually taken on Trump personally. If anger is the motivating drive for Democrats, Avenatti should be taken a lot more seriously than Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). What better revenge on Trump than electing the lawyer for the porn star he once screwed?
This is politics in 2018. And no matter how much the broader public may itch for a return to normalcy, it isn’t in the offing from primary voters anytime soon.