Way too early for this kind of stuff, but I had been thinking that there was no way Donald Trump would be re-elected.

He was elected to shake up Washington, and he’s certainly done that. But nothing is getting done and his superficial leadership is much to blame. After four years of having a Tweeter-in-Chief, surely the American people would want some stability from their president.

My anticipated scenario went like this: After three years, Trump declares victory. Announces that America is now great again, and his job is finished. Lesser mortals, such as Mike Pence, can take it from here.

So, he’s not running for re-election.

The left blames everything on racism

Of late, however, I’ve revised my outlook. I now believe that the left will re-elect Trump. The ruction over NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem illustrates the point.

The left has talked itself into believing that Trump’s alleged appeals to white racism were what put him over the top.

More astute psephologists have pointed out that the actual difference was made by people in industrial states who previously had voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but switched to Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Hard to attribute those decisions to white racism.

Nevertheless, the left now interprets all of Trump’s actions through the prism of perceived appeals to white racism. If Trump were to tweet, “It’s a lovely day in Washington,” the left would denounce it as a dog whistle to white supremacists.

Which brings us to the NFL ruction. Players began kneeling during the national anthem reportedly to protest what they regard as racial injustice in the United States. Trump denounced them in Trumpian fashion.

According to the left, since the players were protesting racial injustice, Trump was endorsing racial injustice by criticizing them. There goes that dog whistle!

Actually, NFL protests are about the flag

To most Americans, that’s nuts.

I’m not much of a flag waver. And I’ve never really understood why sporting events begin with the playing of the national anthem. Doesn’t seem a particularly apposite occasion for a display of patriotic fidelity.

But it is part of American tradition. And traditions matter.

You don’t have to be a racist to find galling the spectacle of pampered athletics, making millions of dollars playing a game, hosted in taxpayer-subsidized stadiums, benefiting from an antitrust exemption, ostentatiously exempting themselves from the traditional display of fidelity to our country.

The argument by some that the protest isn’t really about the flag and national anthem rings hollow. If you do it during the national anthem, it is about the flag and the national anthem.

People have a constitutional right to refuse to say the pledge of allegiance or stand during the national anthem. Contrary to what some commentators have said, the owners couldn’t require the players to stand. And it is doubtful that the owners could fire them for failing to do so.

Keep playing the race card, and Trump wins

Of course, the owners would never even give a thought to doing that, and they shouldn’t.

Instead, the owners have signaled solidarity with their protesting players against Trump.

What is bewildering is that the NFL and the left seem to believe that they are winning this fight with Trump.

Let’s see. Honor the flag and the national anthem. Or not.

Yep, Trump is certainly on the wrong side of that issue.

MY TURN:NFL is winning in fight against President Trump

A reaction against political correctness was certainly part of what propelled Trump to victory. Most leaders on the right flinch from it. Trump is impervious, even contemptuous, of it.

There are small pockets of white supremacists in the United States. They are unimportant.

Generally speaking, white Middle Americans aren’t racists. They don’t long for a return to Jim Crow. They’re just sick of having identity and grievance politics thrown in their faces all the time.

If the left continues to tell Middle Americans they are racists, Trump will be re-elected.

Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com.

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