Forget October; John Bolton to Drop ‘June Surprise’ on Trump Reelection Campaign

American elections have a rhythm.  It may skip and hiccup and be in need of some defibrillation, but it’s a predictably chaotic noise,  not unlike the camshaft gurgle of a 70’s muscle car eating gasoline and spewing vroom.

We begin these journeys agitated and frantic, looking for a needle in a haystack even though we already know that we’re going to be stuck with some compromised, middle-of-the-road candidate on account of the fact that we need to get all of the votes.

Then, once we have our two contestants, we begin dissecting them and we do it slowly, that way each side can sit back with their dirty laundry, prioritizing when and where to “leak” something to the press.

The next era is their head to head battle.  We’ll see both candidates on stage, in real time, doing their best impression of their opponent’s antithesis.  This is when polling becomes the sharpest tool in the drawer.

And, finally, almost without question, we’ll have an October surprise.  Sometimes it’s a political scandal exploding the ethical character of the challenger; sometimes it’s an armed conflict internationally inflating the strength of the incumbent.

Given just how long these first few months of 2020 have been, it seems as if former national security adviser John Bolton is moving up the October surprise to June.

John Bolton is forging ahead with plans to publish a memoir about his time in President Donald Trump’s White House and is in negotiations with network television channels to promote the book, according to people familiar with the talks.

Bolton, who served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019, plans to publish “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir” on June 23, after embarking on a media tour to promote the book the weekend before, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Bolton has indicated that the book will be released regardless of whether or not it is officially approved by the national intelligence agencies who are currently reviewing it.

Many on social media are blasting Bolton online, however, reminding users that Bolton refused to testify against the Trump administration some months ago, and is now seeking to profit from that private information.