Trump’s Got Nomination in the Bag

Donald Trump is the dude. He is the Supreme Republican Candidate and will capture the Republican nomination, according to this inaugural 2024 Power Poll Nashville.

The survey numbers weren’t even close. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis seemed to be after-thoughts. It’s all Trump all the time.

Meanwhile, in other dispatches from the grab-bag of questions in this January Power Poll:

• A majority of Nashville Power Pollers say Biden should not have run again.
• The gravest threat facing the world is not global warming (second place), or artificial intelligence (third place), but a looming World War III between Western democracies and authoritarian, dictatorial regimes (e.g. China and Russia).
• Mike Vrabel should not have been fired as Titans head coach.
• And finally, the winner of the Super Bowl is anybody’s guess. Power Pollers just don’t know.

Participation in this month’s survey was nearly record-breaking. 922 members responded for a 43% participation rate.

Here are the specific questions and answers to this Power Poll:

Context 1: The Ongoing, Continuing, Ever-Dominant Trump Magnanimity

Donald Trump in Power Poll vanquishes his opponents. 89% say he will be the Republican nominee. That’s a commanding prediction.

DeSantis appears to be roadkill. Almost no Power Pollers think he has a path. Haley is holding on to a 10% possibility that she will eke something out. Not likely, however.

Trump controls the Republican Party. He IS the Republican Party. A chance for another candidate at this stage of the game to claim the nomination is close to non-existent.

Context 2: Joe Biden, You Should Have Quit Already

Power Poll is yet further evidence that Biden’s age, even among as civil and establishment a crowd as Power Poll, is going to be a very big negative for the presumptive Democratic nominee. That said, it may cut both ways, inasmuch as Trump is no spring chicken either.

Context 3: And Now for the Bleakest Power Poll Question of All Time

A friend of mine—white, mid-60s, male, pretty much just like me—sat down and started talking to me the other day. “You know I don’t really recall a time in my life when there seemed to be so many huge problems facing the planet, all of which could doom us. There’s AI. There’s global warming. And there’s this threat to democracy from all sides, which could very well lead to World War III.”

And then he backed up a bit: “Either I’m looking at this correctly and we’re really in trouble, or I’ve officially just become an old, cranky white guy.”

While it is possible to be both, it’s also true, I think, that there are indeed quite a few large, existential threats to humanity. It’s mind-boggling. Stop the world, I wanta get off.

Were one in a position to influence the affairs of the world and go about fixing these problems, it would be worth knowing which are the most severe. According to Power Pollers, it’s democracy vs. authoritarianism and the potential for widespread military action. As of this day, Ukraine and the West are fighting Russia and its allies. The U.S. is bombing the Houthis. Pakistan and Iran go at it. China threatens Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the planet just keeps on getting warmer and warmer. And various futurists claim we’re soon to be overtaken by forces of our own invention, that being AI machines. How’s the play anyway?

Context 4: Maybe Miss Amy Shouldn’t Have Shown That Titan the Door

Mike Vrabel brought a hard-nosed, plain-spoken, pound-it-out style to the Titans that fit like a glove. And the city showed him love and respect in return.

News of his firing caught many unprepared. It was a shock to the city’s system. Controlling shareholder Amy Adams Strunk decided to go in a different direction—and Vrabel departed.

We do not precisely know the reason for the firing. Like most other firings usually are, this one was probably not about just one thing. People will still root for the Titans next year. But if Vrabel gets another head coaching job somewhere else, a whole lot of Titan fans are going to have a number two team they root for.

Context 5: The Super Bowl Is Anybody’s Guess

Sure, San Francisco and Baltimore and Kansas City earn high picks among Power Pollers predicting the Super Bowl victor. But truth is, most people in our survey say they don’t know. And you know what? It’s fluid in the NFL. Power Pollers are right. Nobody knows.