In Nick de Semlyen’s book The Last Action Heroes, a stellar survey of late 20^th century Hollywood’s musclebound, killing-machine megastars who blew up bad guys as often as they blew up budgets and box office receipts, the author includes this vignette regarding Sylvester Stallone’s comedy bomb, Oscar:

Stallone’s first pure comedy since Rhinestone wasn’t a great match for his talents, requiring him to hustle relentlessly around a mansion set, upstaged by a succession of scene-stealers… When the high-energy farce test-screened in early 1991, reaction cards put an end to any wishful thinking that this would prove to be another Twins [an Arnold Schwarzenegger hit]. One viewer scrawled in pen on their card: ‘Why didn’t he take his shirt off and kill anybody?’

The moral of this Tinsel Town story?

First: life is short, so don’t watch Oscar.

Second: it is better to meet than to subvert the public’s expectations.

This is an important lesson for those seeking public office in today’s topsy-turvy political world. The public has experienced momentous tumult in terms of issues ranging from illegal immigration to abortion and has even seen in a chaotic matter of days the attempted assassination of a former president, the end of an incumbent president’s reelection campaign, and the ostensible nomination of his vice president to lead his party’s ticket. The very last thing the public needs is more surprises.

Following the attempt on his life, many of his supporters and even some of his detractors anticipated a “new” Trump, one who would appear more humble and less bombastic and, in their minds, more “relatable” to undecided voters. Initially, there were indications this may be the case, but Mr. Trump’s convention speech and subsequent appearances proved there would be no “new” Trump. While many lamented the fact, Mr. Trump was fortunate not to fall into this trap.

Despite the heinous assassination attempt, if Mr. Trump had suddenly become someone unrecognizable to the electorate, many in the public would have wondered if he had a personal conversion of conviction or a political conversion of convenience. Further, many of his supporters would have been disappointed had Mr. Trump become melancholy or milquetoast. After all, in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, Mr. Trump’s instinctive reaction was a raised fist and a call to continue to “fight!” It was not a call for quiet contemplation upon the vicissitudes of fate.

In resisting the calls for a “kinder, gentler Trump,” the GOP nominee retained the singular character trait that has availed him well on his 2016 rise to the White House—perhaps less so in 2020—but which leaves him well positioned for victory in 2024. Indeed, it is a trait that not even his enemies deny and instead base every one of the scurrilous slanders upon. Namely, it is Mr. Trump’s authenticity.

While many believe the lack of a “new” Trump harms his current candidacy, there is stronger evidence that the “old” Trump’s authenticity is attracting new voters among minorities and blue-collar voters to the GOP and MAGA standards. They are attracted and can relate to a person who retains the courage of his convictions and refuses to be silenced by the machinations of his opponents, who often use the selective, coercive enforcement of the state’s police powers against him. To turn into a muted version of himself, Mr. Trump would not only risk alienating both these new voters and many of his old supporters. Their expectations subverted and disappointed, these voters could not help but wonder whether Mr. Trump’s post-assassination demeanor was a personal conversion of conviction or a political conversion of convenience. Of course, all the while, the left would incessantly argue to the public that it was the latter, just another Trump trick to steal an election.

Yet, by remaining himself and meeting public expectations, Mr. Trump has put the focus on Democrats’ Achilles’ heel regarding “authenticity.” In collusion with their media cohorts, the Democrat establishment’s handpicked, undemocratically nominated candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, is hurriedly being “reintroduced” to the electorate. It makes sense, as for her 2020 run for her party’s presidential nomination, she received little support among her fellow Democrats and has continually garnered unfavorable ratings throughout her tenure as V.P. Given she is the second highest-ranking elected official in an administration whose disastrous domestic and foreign policy failures are legion, there is much to be “reimagined” (i.e., “rehabilitated”).

While the “retconning” of Vice President Harris transpires, the left will assume it has little to lose since the original version has fared so poorly in terms of popularity. But even poorly made original movies can be made even worse when remade. For what the original possessed was its authenticity, and while it may be a poor movie, its authenticity can render it entertaining—a “flick so bad its unintentionally good.” But the even lesser remake is often just a cynical, hubristic attempt to fool the public into paying for hot garbage that stinks so badly that it is not remotely entertaining but just plain awful.

Consequently, by retaining his authenticity, Mr. Trump is meeting public expectations and campaigning hard for the presidency. Meanwhile, the Democrat establishment and their media cohorts are recasting Vice President Harris in the lead role in a woke retcon of Oscar.

Do you really want to pay to sit through that?

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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003-2012, and served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee. Not a lobbyist, he is a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars and a Monday co-host of the “John Batchelor Radio Show,” among sundry media appearances.