Trump formally opens his 2020 campaign.

Well, that headline is quite misleading.   Trump actually filed papers to run for 2020 re-election the day after he was inaugurated in January 2017 -- and he's been holding campaign style rallies regularly since then to keep his base fired up.

Hoping to eliminate some of the hysteria surrounding this Trump campaign kickoff event, I did not watch it on TV;   and then I turned to a British newspaper account for a summary in The Guardian.   Here's some of what they reported, under the heading, "President kicked off his bid with lies, attacks on the press and claims a Democrat president would 'shut down your free speech":

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". . . . [T]he president formally launched his campaign before a capacity 20,000 crowd in a sports stadium in Orlando . . . demonstrating that his base, at least, remains as fervent as ever.

"Trump spent little effort offering a vision of the future.   He and his supporters were most energised by his greatest hits:   grievance politics, demonising opponents, raging against perceived injustices.  There was even a reprise of attacks on Hillary Clinton . . . complete with furious chants of 'Lock her up?'

"His vicious, often fabricated, attacks implied that while a referendum on his record would likely end in defeat, his campaign believes that whipping up fear of a Democrat in the White House could yet save his skin. . . . 

[Referring to Democrats as "this angry leftwing mob," he claimed they "would shut down your free speech."]   "He added, without evidence:   'They would strip Americans of their constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants in the hopes it will expand their political base.' . .

"'A vote for any Democrat is 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream,' Trump said. . . . He falsely and wildly claimed that leading Democrats favour 'open borders' and oppose measures to prevent the execution of children after birth [the right's latest misnomer for rare, late-term abortions.]   The most divisive president for decades argued it was Democrats who want to divide Americans into factions and 'shred the constitution' . . .

"He showed how he intends to weaponise the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference.  'What did they come up with?', he asked.   'No collusion and the fact that led our great attorney general to determine no obstruction.' . . . 

". . . 'For the last two and half years we have been under siege,' he said.  'They are really going after you.  That's what this is all about.' . . . 

". . . There was the usual litany of Trump exaggerations and lies.  The man who pulled America out of the Paris climate accord and slashed environmental regulations announced:  'Our air and water are the cleanest they've ever been by far.'

"He said of the economy:  'It's soaring to incredible new heights.  Perhaps the greatest economy we've had in the history of our country'. . . .   Trump also falsely claimed the biggest tax cut in American history.

"When he did look forward, the promises were vague and invited mockery."

[After a comment about the enthusiasm and positive excitement inside the arena, The Guardian also commented on the opposition outside.]  "Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters applauded and took photos when a 20 ft blimp of a Trump baby in a nappy [British for diaper] was inflated near the arena.

"Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders gave an immediate rebuttal to Trump's speech, summarizing it as 'lies, distortions, and total absolute nonsense.'  He criticized Trump for barely talking about the climate emergency, or that 'half of the people in the country are working paycheck to paycheck.'"

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Well, at least that's done -- and perhaps will be the high point of Trump's re-election campaign.   A couple of observations and thoughts:

1.  I'm still worried about Trump's ability to whip up negative fervor in his base by telling these lies and distorting the truth about what's happening in the world.

2  At least by this account, there was no mention of foreign policy -- or the very dangerous game Trump is playing in the Middle East.   Is he really trying to goad Iran into some attack that he will then use to start a war with them?   I've always feared war will be his political tactic if he thinks he's losing the election.

3.  I'm worried that the Democrats won't get united and that we won't win in 2020.   The top-ranking Democrat, until the Democratic presidential candidate becomes obvious, is Nancy Pelosi.   And, although she is a tough political strategist, she doesn't have the wide range of support that our leader needs at this point.

4.  So, yes, voters need some time -- and some debates -- to coalesce around a front-runner and then a standard-bearer candidate;   but Republicans already have that in Trump.  And the longer we go without our leader, the more ground we have to make up later.

Ralph