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You Made Me Defend Him
If President Trump wins re-election in November I think the thing that will push him over the top is the American notion of fundamental fairness. Does President Trump act “unpresidential?” Yes, and he acts presidential as well. Unlike his predecessors who no doubt had private (unpublished) moments that were not in keeping with the current notion of how a president should act, Trump has been the least private, most published president in our history. He truly seems to want all of America (and the world) to know what’s on his mind currently and all of the time. This communication style is different. This is not something we are used to. And we may be unsure as to whether or not we want to become used to it.
All of his quirks would work against him except for two things: (1) that which he does officially is at least as lawful (if not more so) than that which his predecessors have done, and are fully within the norm of executive leadership of the country as well as being generally effectual and providential, and (2) his critics are so over-the-top in their “counter-Trump” strategies that they have actually succeeded in convincing a lot of people that Trump is saner and more normal than his opposition.
The conventional wisdom is that the economy will win or lose the election for Trump. While I agree that if the economy remains strong in November there is no credible message that the Democrats can mount to convince enough voters to abandon Trump, it is also unclear whether a poorer economy will defeat Trump. The novel coronavirus is going to impact the US economy in a negative fashion. For Democrats, this must seem to be a gift from G-d (in Whom they do not believe) and will deliver the nation into their hands. But that will only be true under the following conditions: (1) voters assign blame to Trump, and (2) voters believe that the Democrat candidate will do a better job in restoring the economy.
And herein lies the elements of the Trump re-election message: Democrats lie. They have made serial slanders against Trump that have been demonstrably false but repeated endlessly. The public did not ultimately support Russia Hoax 1.0, Ukraine Hoax 1.0, and Russia Hoax 2.0. All of the claims about what a disaster Trump would be never came true: no plundering by him or his family of the federal fisc (unlike Biden), no concentration camps, no reporters jailed, no favorable treatment for Russia or any country other than America. Trump has hours of video with known false claims against him to replay to the voting public. So if all of that was a lie, why wouldn’t the “Trumpvirus” also be a lie?
And the second element is the theme Trump pitched to African Americans in 2016: What do you have to lose by voting for me? Trump’s policies since 2016 un-throttled restrictive elements that prevented people from making a good economy on their own. Economies heal when people are free to invest, produce, and consume. Command economies fail — slowly if restrictions are fairly loose, quickly if the “experts” hold a tight grip on the steering wheel and gears. If we are down economically in November 2020, what is the best way to bring us back up? We were down in 2008 and not much better in 2016. During Trump’s presidency until the novel coronavirus pandemic our economy was surging and recovering at an incredible pace. Would returning to Obama’s economic and global policies be the best path out of a global pandemic economic slump?
These are two good (and I think convincing) messages. But what puts it over the top is that the Democratic campaign in the fall will only be about one thing: smearing Donald Trump with all the old and repeated claims trying to make the Big Lie stick this time. I don’t think it will work, because it is nakedly untrue and thus unfair. We have seen this play run over and over again. When you go down the list of over-the-top machinations against Trump, or anyone associated with Trump, you understand who and what you empower if you vote for the Democrats in November.
You made me defend him.
Published in General
My Lefty friends (of whom I have none) assure me that Trump is saving all that for his second term. In other words, after the election he’ll have more flexibility.
I know KW is no longer a Republican, but Trump campaign needs to be ready to disseminate this to any and all readers OVER and OVER.
KW?
I think KW means Kevin Williamson.
Rodin, I think this is the best possible projection for pro-Trump folks, but what if the converse it true? Suppose Biden continues babbling about Corn Pop rubbing his hairy legs at campaign rallies, the economy muddles through and we still have relative peace and prosperity, and Trump still gets drubbed, potentially taking the Senate with him? Would you then concede the NeverTrump Remnant had a valid complaint all these years?
Henry Clay, 1839: I’d rather be right than President.
Bill Kristol, 2019: I’d rather be right than have Trump be President.
I know this was directed at Rodin, but would a loss in November invalidate four of the most conservative years we have had in a generation? All the successes and court appointments and too many other conservative advances to mention here? Also, if the NT Remnant had their way, we would be coming off four years of Hilary Clinton this fall, potentially facing four more. That thought alone invalidates the NeverTrumpers before the argument even gets going. In electoral politics, the enemy of the good is the elusive perfect candidate. The last election was a choice between the lesser of two evils – just like every other election before and since.
Quoting this just to say I wish I could “like” it more than just once.
Also, if Trump loses, all it does is justify my general contempt for the electorate.
@pettyboozswha, in that event I would concede that the American electorate was aligned with with the NeverTrump Remnant. It is always an A/B election as Peter pointed out in 2016. You can always wish for better choices, but you only get 1 vote in the selection process. Blaming the guy who actually won in 2016 for not being the guy who wins in 2020 (if he doesn’t) will no doubt be satisfying to the NeverTrump Remnant. But your supposition is that things still go along pretty well. I am not confident that validating Democrats with the damage they have done to due process and constitutional norms will result in things going along pretty well.
Is that what all this caterwauling is about? That Trump wasn’t a two-term President like, Jeb! woulda been? At what point in fantasy-time are we going back to? Remember these are the self-same people who promoted losers McCain and Romney, declared the possibility of a Trump win absurd, and speculated, that Hillary might only be a one-termer with little harm done, and that some white-knight Republican, I dunno, Jeb or Marco, would take the country back in 2020.
Is it that he won but didn’t play the game well enough, by not listening to Nevers sage advice, to win again? He couldn’t stop tweeting! Otherwise, he woulda won! These people who have been exposed as single-issue frauds who have never made an accurate political prediction are going to be vindicated when Joe Biden wins?I am just laughing….
That youse guys still haven’t admitted how spectacularly wrong you were about 2016, now hoping to get some admission from Trump supporters that we might have been wrong depending on some outlandish fantasy of Biden winning despite his flaws, is very rich.
Rodin, I think you forget two other elements that make Trump successful. He is genuine and he is not elitist. Joe Biden tries so hard to appear genuine but if you have to try you aren’t. And he’s definitely an elitist.
As I said in the Post on the KW article, the best line of attack against Biden is the graft. It shows just how he fails at being genuine.
Bill Kristol would rather be socialist than Trump be president, and if I ever find my old cache of love beads and patchouli oil, I’ll send them right over. Bill’s got a lot of catching up to do.
Patchouli oil doesn’t expire, does it?
I’ll get my shots in, too.
If what you say comes to pass, the cause won’t be that Trump was so terrible that he ruined “the brand.” The cause will be the combination of Democrats throwing every bit of mud at Trump they can find, and the NeverTrump Remnant helping. We will not say “Oh I guess you were right!” We will say “You are at fault!”
The question back to you is what happens if Rodin is right, and Trump wins a second term, keeps the Senate and maybe even makes gains in the House? Will you then concede that the NeverTrump Remnant’s complaint was about as valid as hoarding toilet paper?
Some folks seem to think that if the Democrats win, it’s back to old fashion politics, back and forth, and it’ll work out fine. They haven’t been paying attention. Just look at the size and reach of the Federal government over the past several decades, indeed the entire last hundred years. We were different, ground up and it made us different and by itself was the reason for continued Western prosperity. We’re still highly diverse and spread out, but the Federal government has reach and uses it and it will continue to grow, deepen its reach and power and gradually we’ll end the way every civilization has ended. The founders whole design was designed to avoid that outcome.
Great points, but we don’t need any of them to “concede” anything , they have zero credibility and they haven’t even conceded how wrong they were about previous predictions.
I’m going to wait for the pivot. They planted their flag on undermining Trump. The money has to continue post-Trump. Both Remnant and Bulwark rave about hitting projections. Plenty of people on the right would love a Nikki Haley candidacy, I’m sure the Bulwark will be on the scene with the “She worked for Trump, so she’s probably Trump” hit piece.
they’re not looking to expand their base towards us. They’re looking at the WaPo/Atlantic/NYT “thoughtful” crowd.
You know, the kind David Brooks could take out for a sandwich. The Upper West Side conservative who thinks they’re not talking about you when they say those things.
Trump said he’d cut spending last nite in a FOX town hall, I predicted he’d cave on that flub in short order. Within 12 hours, he’s backpedaling as hard as he can. Poor guy, he let his guard down on FOX. Stick to Hannity and the morning shows, buddy.
No concentration camps? Ah, silly me. I was so so wrong about Trump.
Thank you for playing.
I’ll say it, the NeverTrump Remnant have valid complaints about the President. I also think if the President was judicious in his use of Twitter–and developed the ability to remain strategically quiet for longer periods of time, the numbers of vocal Never Trumpers would decline precipitously.
I have never criticized anyone that held their nose and made a binary choice in 2016. What has driven me to TDS is the goosestepping sycophancy [at least in public] of so many that know better. If we had told Trump we will support you when you appoint good judges and allow real Republicans to deregulate, but we will never bend the knee to your awesomeness, I would have been happy, Trump would have been miserable and probably would have resigned, definitely would not have run again. And the Republican Party would not have lost House seats in Charleston, SC or Oklahoma City or Omaha, squandering most of the gains we made under Obama.
Hmmm. @pettyboozswha, if you are referring to politicians, will you trust them when they are engaged in “goosestepping sycophancy [at least in public]” for the next president of which you approve? And how exactly have you not described most politicians in a party system?
And if you are referring to Ricochet members, please be specific.
Hmmm. @pettyboozswha, if you are referring to politicians, will you trust them when they are engaged in “goosestepping sycophancy [at least in public]” for the next president of which you approve?
My favorite Senator, Ben Sasse, was bludgeoned into submission by Trumpkins because he didn’t want to bend the knee. I think less of him for groveling but understand why he did not want Trump to mobilize his mob to get him thrown out of the Senate. My Senator, Thom Tillis, was Speaker of the House in North Carolina before he was elected to the Senate. He believes in the legislative process and said Trump should not embezzle emergency funding programs to build the wall. He said this for about 12 hours, then he backed down because of Trump’s bullying. Right now Trump is trying to humiliate Jeff Sessions for not being a good enough Trump Republican.
These are not the acts of a leader, they’re the acts of a petulant demagogue. I don’t think any other President in my lifetime would have attacked members of his own party like this for having impure ideas about the 100% awesomeness of his majesty.
No other President in your lifetime was attacked and lied about on this level by the opposition party. That makes one a little sensitive about keeping your own forces in line and not looking kindly at fragging. I recognize that the reason you will not agree with my statement about “fragging” is likely because you do not see the threat to the constitutional order by the progressives as justifying extreme measures. Would you have seen Lincoln as being a bit tyrannical with his suspension of habeas corpus? or would you have seen it as necessary in the context?
I will never bend the knee to Trump being awesome. He’s the guy who makes the classes of people I don’t like angry. It’s like watching Groucho Marx enter a high society situation and watching Margaret Dumont get upset.
Jonah Goldberg loves saying that he has no issue with the binary choice crowd, but then it certainly sounds like the next 20 minutes, he has a problem with it. I was a Cruz guy. Same people who are now hating Trump were whining that Cruz is too much of a agitator because they really wanted Jeb Bush. Same people.
Republicans could have deregulated from 2017-2019 to their heart’s content and Trump would have approved it. Trump didn’t lose the House without help, Republicans had nothing to run on but fear of Democrats. They didn’t have the replacement for ACA. Tom Price’s leadership turned out to be a total fraud. Then the media started scaring them. Paul Ryan quit. A lot of people just decided “oh man, we have to actually lead now, I’m out of here.”
These sad sacks need to take Trump’s passion and get out there and do it the “right” way. He’s the only energy this dead party has other than clowns like Matt Gaetz. The burbs are filling up with Obama youths growing up and still hating Republicans. Watch the rallies and go “yeah, more of that energy” instead of watching the media class worry about the dangers of white populism.
I don’t think the opposition had to lie, they just pointed out Trump’s manifest unfitness and it was perceived as a new level of attacks. Democrats ran ads against GW Bush saying his treatment of hate crimes was like dragging a black man behind a pick up truck. That was a lie. Saying Trump did not see thousands of Moslems dancing on the roofs of Jersey City during 9/11 was not a lie, and would not justify extreme measures like violating habeas corpus.
Agreed, so why aren’t other people leading more?
The proper response is “the President can pound sand” instead of either quitting the party like Amash or sulking or mealy mouthed word salad. No Republican dressed down by Trump gives it back. He can’t fire Senators. Bullies need to be punched in the face not ignored.
I also think Trump is right on the recusal. I understand Sessions’ need to seem fair minded. He needed to show some willingness to hold his ground. They’re killing Barr right now too.
Ben Sasse is going to be turned into Simon Legree too if he decides he wants upward mobility and the Dispatch crowd prop him up to make him the anti-Trump/Haley choice. If he thinks Trumpkins bludgeon him, just wait.
I gained a measure of increased respect for Sasse. He did not grovel. Nor was he bludgeoned into submission by so generic Trumpkins. The so called Trumpkins that he listened to were the vast majority of Republicans in his home state. He was responsive to his voters. I find that respectable
You are probably right, sometimes I’m a little too florid in my opinions. I read and heard that Trump had the power to motivate his fervent supporters in Nebraska to take Sasse out in a primary, and that Sasse pulled back with his criticisms in order to avoid Trump doing so. He was originally the voice for the Dispatch/Bulwark crowd, but has since shut up and let Romney take point.
@pettyboozswha, thank you for playing.
I don’t think you can add A and B and get C.
If Trump became more Twitter judicious and strategically silent, I would be very pleased. So would Andrew “there are no Es in” Klavan. However, the reduction in the quantity of Never Trumpers would be roughly equal to the number of times the Texas Rangers have won the World Series.
Of course not. But it would be nice…