A poet friend called Jesse alerted me to the concept of thinking inside the box. He's a rap guy, so his box is: it's gotta rhyme
The box for politics is that it's theatre. It's gotta engage the audience - in the age of the internet. It's Reality Internet.
The box's rules are: Don't fuck up the economy if you do get into power

That's spot on. I think this all became a reality with the Nixon Kennedy debate. It was, I believe, the first televised presidential debate, and it sunk Nixon due to his 'shifty eyes'. He was a bad actor. It's little surprise that actual actors started playing a larger role in politics after that debate. Regan was an actor. Trump was a TV celebrity. It's as though if you want to run a country, sell soap first.

Inside that game, you need your frontman to have charisma. Kennedy had it, Clinton had it, Obama had it, but the machine rose on their backs & started to strangle the very thing that made the party a success.

I'd argue that Harris also had it. She clearly has more charisma than Biden. But the economy and other realities have gotten so difficult for many that mere charisma is not enough. Voters now need promises of a complete escape from reality such that Trump delivers. He'll end war in a day, end inflation overnight, and, the one we all know, make America Great Again. He won't do any of that, but it's what people want to hear.

What colonial superpower has ever, in the history of the world, ever recovered from its decline? None I can think of.

But have at it, Trump, you fucking halfwit. But, you do have charisma. I'll give you that.