Pile his plate high
It’s always “bad news for Democrats.” Even their victories. With Donald Trump planning to install a throne behind the Resolute Desk next week, post-election punditry that explains Trump 2.0 as stemming from what Democrats did wrong begins to sound like blaming rape victims’ for wearing provocative clothes.
If D.C. gossip is more than Trumpish bluster, the new regime will begin on Monday with some kind of Loan Cannon-ish “shock and awe” effort featuring a blast of executive orders. So far, it seems Democrats are not only unprepared, but actually surrendering in advance.
Screaming “this is not normal” and trusting norms upon which (unbeknown to most of us) much of Washington actually relied did not work the first time around. It won’t now either.
Trumpsters like Stephen Miller expect to Loan-Cannon Trump’s opposition “with a blitz of activity” he believes they lack the bandwidth to resist. Trump has spent his life over-promising and under-delivering. And getting away with it. Make him own it, suggests JV Last (emphasis mine):
First: Do not help Republicans. Not in any way. On any issue. Republicans can’t pass a budget, or raise the debt ceiling? Tough luck. Do not provide them any bailout votes on any issue. Period, the end.
Second: Make Donald Trump own every bad outcome that happens, anywhere in the world while paying special attention to areas where Republicans are particularly vulnerable. Like housing and Ukraine.
Trump the Ever-Innocent will point his stubby fingers at Democrats and insufficiently supine Republicans for his failures, but he’ll do even if his “opposition” doesn’t follow Last’s first principle of resistance.
Jason Linkins ofThe New Republic believes Democrats should go Last one better:
Rather than exert so much energy trying to thrust Trump out of the presidency, liberals would be well served to spend their time thrusting the presidency upon Donald Trump. Instead of searching for illusory quick fixes for the existence of the Trump administration, start demanding the Trump administration fix everything quickly.
Expecting our crumpled “guardrails” to restrain him proved ineffective in his first term. Help send his presidency into the ditch with all speed. Don’t give him more “witch hunts.” Give him more presidency:
To get there, liberals need to get into the business of identifying the problems that real Americans face (which honestly, is something they could stand to relearn how to do) and more forcefully blame Trump for those problems’ continued existence. They need to raise a hue and cry over everything under the sun that’s broken, dysfunctional, or trending in the wrong direction; pile line items on Trump’s to-do list, wake him up early and keep him up late. Every day, get in front of cable news cameras and reporters’ notepads with a new problem for Trump to solve and fresh complaints about the work not done.
Spocko will appreciate that the approach is not unlike the Star Trek TOS episode “Charlie X.” A socially awkward adolescent takes control of the Enterprise using extraordinary powers the crew has no way to resist. In response, Capt. Kirk overloads “the boy’s abilities by ordering all of the ship’s systems to be activated.”
For certain, Democrats can be grateful if he actually makes good on any of his “I alone can fix it” promises. (Or rather, they can take credit for having goaded Trump to get off his ass and do his job.) But as I’ve suggested before, in advice that Last echoes above, Trump should truly be left to solve these problems on his own. He’s claimed a mandate and congressional majorities, so let him (and his fellow Republicans) figure it out, with Democratic votes on offer only if massive policy concessions supporting Democratic Party interests are included.
Just the way congressional Republicans threaten to withhold disaster aid from California if it doesn’t come with punitive concessions. Two can play that game. I don’t expect Democrats to get it together enough to attempt this, but pretty much everything else they’ve tried has failed.