A week ago, the country was dazed by the incumbent, Donald Trump's, superb performance against the threat of a landslide victory by Joe Biden, Joe Biden was seen as starting his administration in a weak, unenviable position, and Trumpism was unquestionably a political force to be reckoned with. What a difference a week makes.
Last Saturday I wrote an essay entitled, Don't Cry for Me Mar-a-Lago: How Democrats Cemented Trumpism and Gave Mr. Biden a hollow win at best. The article centered on the idea that although Mr. Trump may have lost a battle, he was definitely winning the larger war. This supposition was based on several truths about politics and the nature of power; things like"implied authority" and "strength of ideas;" tried and true girders that are usually welded onto the framing of a lasting political movement.
Of course, I understand as well as the next guy, that Donald Trump is no politician. Not only is Donald Trump no politician, he prides himself on not being a politician; its part of his stock-in-trade; his branding as it were. What's far more intriguing to me is the self-apparent fact that no one else near the president seems to be a politician either (or at least a political scientist) to keep him from pushing the dreams of his movement right off the nearest cliff.
Before I get into the specifics of that cliff push, I would like to present an alternative narrative of what could have happened last week if saner minds had prevailed. In my alternate reality, when several states came up painfully short (and certainly worthy of a second look as is Mr. Trump's legal right) I would have taken to the airwaves, congratulated Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris on their excellent performance during the campaign, and calmly explained that due to many irregularities that had been reported to the campaign, Mr. Trump owed it to his millions of supporters (as well as to all Americans) to explore every concern and investigate every irregularity before conceding the race.
What we got instead was a fusillade of irrational people screaming"FRAUD" at the top of their virtual social-media lungs. One could almost see the folks with torches and pitchforks snaking their way up the path to the nearest courthouse, poorly prepared legal briefs clenched in sweating fists, ready to do battle with China, Russia, software companies, the vast right-wing conspiracy, the vast left-wing conspiracy, Satan, the U.S. Postal Service, Joe Biden, and the Galactic Empire.
Meanwhile; Joe Biden; a nice enough fellow with more baggage then my sister going on a weekend trip; a man who despite predictions that he would sweep into the White House taking the Senate with him, cure cancer, part the Potomac, and generally make doves land on his shoulders with nary a glance out of his basement window, was suddenly thrust into the enviable position of being the adult in the room; a unifying statesmanlike presence with a mandate to rule, this despite lukewarm results, a restless left-wing within his own party, and half the country against him. I'm sure that if I were Mr. Biden, I would be inclined to channel Bill Murray in"Ghostbusters" when his EPA nemeses is dragged from the mayor of New York's office. "I'm going to miss that guy. I'm going to send him a nice fruit basket."
Levity aside, the longer Mr. Trump's supporters pursue rational concerns via irrational means, the more they discredit their own movement and its ability to act as a viable counterpoint to Bidenism. And this is a serious concern. As the week progressed, China, the EU, and parts of Latin America were already salivating at what a strengthened Biden could give them. If Trumpists (I won't even refer to them as Republicans anymore) want to curtail this threat to their legacy, they need to grab onto a root or two and pull themselves back over the ledge. And it is not too late to do that either; not really.
The first step is to find a non-Trump Trumpist to take the mantle, and preferably one that is not completely loathsome to the other half of the country. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida comes to mind. He has experience, is a naval veteran, and brings a lot of credibility to the table. Whether this takes place within the Republican Party or in a new party (my preference) is immaterial. What is material is that if Trumpists like their leader and his vision for America, they have to separate he and his family from the movement as quickly as humanly possible, for the movement's own good. This may seem counter-intuitive, but really its not. In the past week, every epithet ever thrown at Donald Trump, whether true or false/real or imagined, has come home to roost. Words like"tyrant" and "narcissist," and concepts like "cult of personality" are very difficult to discredit when the head of the movement is acting like narcissistic tyrant and his followers are attributing to him the indispensability status of a Cult of Personality demigod.
A wise and thoughtful Mr. Trump (certainly not attributes normally associated with him) could save himself, his legacy, and his party in a sweep, by doing what he does best; licensing his brand. If Mr. Trump used his influence in what remains of this unique moment in history, to say that Trumpism is now bigger than he is; bigger than his family, and that he was going to spend the rest of his life; his fortune; and his sacred honor (to steal from Jefferson) in the pursuit of making America put her interests ahead of all other counties. Well: there we would have something.
(And in a purely cynically aside, it wouldn't hurt his attempts to ward off criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits either, since he would now be the founder of a movement in exile and any further action against him would only look even more politically motivated and obsessively excessive than it does now.)
But I'm afraid that won't happen. Because whatever noble intentions Mr. Trump may have started with, he now seems like a wounded beast sulking off to find a place to die. That is not the behavior of a patriot. That is the behavior of a coward. And whether this is because of ego or vanity, or just the natural disorientation of loosing when your whole essential being is presupposed of winning, the former president is fighting the wrong fight and someone needs to tell him this before it's too late.
Over the four years of his term, I gave Mr. Trump credit where it was due and criticism where it was due. I soundly chastised the opposing party for wasting our time and money on political witch-hunts and legislative frivolity. If the Trumpists want a bit of their own back, they need to have moral certainty and a compelling narrative; neither of which is founded in vanity, ego, or venality. Living well is always the best revenge, and you can't do that with a torch in one hand and a pitchfork in the other.
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