In 1974, Muhammed Ali had one of his most epic and well-known bouts (at least to those of us who are old enough to remember) known as The Rumble in the Jungle. In it, Ali defied all convention and boxing gospel by executing a completely novel and totally unexpected strategy. George Forman, a devastating "power puncher" was a 4-1 favorite, and boxing experts posited that Ali's only chance was to leverage his superior speed and reach, and very early in the fight. Ali came out throwing nothing but right-hand punches, without the standard left-hand lead, immediately throwing Foreman off his game. Then in Round 2, Ali shocked the boxing world with a totally new tactic: he backed up and leaned against the ropes, protecting his face with his gloves and his ribs with his forearms and elbows, and taunted Foreman to hit him with body blows. Foreman obliged, and for several rounds he ineffectually pounded away at Ali, who was passive 90% of the time. What Foreman did not know was that for months Ali had been strengthening his abs until they were like concrete, and sparring for hundreds of rounds letting his sparring partners pound his exposed middle. Then, in the eigth round, with Foreman moving slowly and punching weakly, completely worn out from the heavy punching, Ali sprang from the ropes and loosed a barrage of lightnig-quick blows, culminating in a five-punch combination that ended with a devastating left hook that put Foreman on the mat and ended the fight.
The point of all this is that a successful combatant must know the difference between strategy and tactics, whether the contest is in sports, politics, or even the negotiation of purchase prices, as in my career. Ali's strategy was to let Foreman burn himself out so he would not be so dangerous when Ali made his move. His tactics were to come out with unconventional sequences, followed by the passive tactic he dubbed the "Rope-a-Dope".
Joe Biden expertly executed the modern political version. Within ten days after his disastrous debate performance, it was clear to him and his inner circle that his bid for reelection was over. The dilemma was: How to gracefully exit the campaign while simultaneously weakening the Republican position, not strengthening it? With the Republican National Convention imminent, his strategy was to make sure that the Republicans would focus soley on Biden and his damaged status in his party. Trump and the Republican party took this bait immediately, just like Foreman in 1974. Joe's tactic was simple: shout to the rooftops that "I'm not going anywhere". He received an added boost from the sheep-like news pundits, who breathlessly reported both Biden's intransigence and his party being in "panic mode" 24/7.
The results at the RNC were better than the Democrats could possibly have hoped. What was billed as the "unity convention", turned out to be, as the honest and insightful David Axelrod dubbed it, the "surrender convention." The embarrasingly fawning speaches of Trump's former harshest critics (Nikki Haley, Ron DiSantis, Ted Cruz, etc.), the WWF/UFC final night, and the arrogant and hubris-inspired absurdly awful pick of J.D. Vance for VP were a democrat's dream. (In Vance's case, he offers absolutely no Geographic or demographic aid to the campaign, and is highly likely to cost Trump tens of thousands (if not millions) of women and independent voters.)
The best evidence of this success is the reaction of Trump himself following Biden's exit from the race. Not only did he complain, but he floated the crazy notion that the Republicans were owed a "refund" for all the cash they burned slamming Biden, since the Dems "knew all along" that Biden would exit. The consummate con man knew that he had been conned.
Joe, Ali would be proud.
Dresden, Saxony, Germany
July 27, 2024
