President Donald Trump can win re-election if he focuses on the task of rebuilding the country, emphasizing the things Americans can do if we work together, and reminding the voters that Democrats have rejected cooperation at every turn.
At the moment, Trump faces an uphill battle. The coronavirus pandemic caused major damage to the economy, and the ongoing unrest and rioting, accompanied by “woke mobs” purging dissent, have many Americans scared for the future.
None of it is Trump’s doing — and there is an argument to be made that he managed both crises well.
Trump steered the country through the pandemic with a uniquely decentralized approach that succeeded in producing necessary medical supplies like ventilators. He also provided stimulus checks and emergency loans to American workers and businesses.
The disorder continues in Atlanta and Seattle, but Trump’s “law and order” approach gave more timid governors and mayors space to call out the national guard and crack down on violence and looting, while allowing peaceful protests.
Trump has also avoided the two big mistakes past Republicans have made in moments of crisis, which made them one-term presidents.
George H.W. Bush won broad support for the Gulf War, but then lost it quickly when he appeared out of touch with Americans’ economic needs. Before him, Herbert Hoover — the last one-term Republican president before Bush (not counting Gerald Ford) — seemed reluctant to use government to rescue the economy. No one could accuse Trump of that. He has kept the U.S. out of war, and provided generous government assistance.
Still, the instability makes Trump’s argument for re-election in the fall more difficult than it otherwise would have been.
Democrats, however, have not provided an alternative. Joe Biden continues to hide in his Wilmington, Delaware, home. His own divisive record on race relations is leavened only partially by the fact that he served with Barack Obama.
Worse, a majority of Democrats have embraced the “defund the police” concept. The Democrats on Minneapolis’s city council voted to disband their police force; Los Angeles is cutting funds by roughly 10% and promising to redistribute the money in “communities of color.” While 55% of Democrats agree, 64% of Americans oppose “defund the police.”
The Biden campaign offered a rather feeble statement of opposition to the idea, but the rest of its platform is almost just as radical. Biden has had to shift to the left to appease the radical left-wing base of his party, and is now pursuing the “revolutionary” agenda that he once criticized, adopting many of the goals of former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
That was true even before the Democratic presidential primary ended. Biden joined the other candidates at the very first presidential debate in Miami in raising his hand when asked who would offer free health care to illegal aliens. In a country suffering double-digit unemployment, where unemployed American citizens are at risk of losing their health insurance, the idea of creating a new entitlement for anyone who crosses the border illegally is political kryptonite.