[This is a continuation of my “Political Lessons From President George W. Bush” series, in which I discuss some political lessons Republicans could learn from the second term of President George W. Bush. Briefly, I believe that that it is important for a Republican president to avoid the second-term political collapse that happened to President Bush and that, to do so, a Republican president, e.g., Donald Trump, needs to follow a bifurcated strategy to keep his polling support up among both the GOP party base and with independents. You can read Part 1 and Part 2, here and here, respectively.]
Surrendering on the Political Battlefield
One of President Bush’s biggest mistakes was his decision to cease fighting over important issues, which he did sometime after 2005. This created a situation where the Democrats/MSM ran with constant slanders against him, including a vicious attack that he lied about weapons of mass destruction to trick the U.S. into the Iraq War. There was little to no pushback from the conservative side (only Fox and some other GOP politicians stepped into the breach), which, in turn, resulted in the eventual public collapse of Bush’s support.
President Trump will never have this problem. As we all know, Trump won his initial primary victory in 2016 largely thanks to his expressed willingness to fight over anything and everything. In other words, to be the Republican version of Bill Clinton. There is no evidence that in the nine years since then, Trump has become any less energetic in fighting for himself or against his opponents.
The one thing Trump probably needs to do, however, is to be more careful about whom and what he is punching (back) against. Some fights are counterproductive, and some people just aren’t important enough to be targets. For example, is Taylor Swift really worthy of any attention? While it is true that because of the hysterical overreaction to every Trump utterance by Democrats and Never Trumpers, Donald Trump developed a partial political immunity during the 2024 election – the swing voters were more concerned about the economy and the chaos than his “mean tweets” – for the next few years he probably shouldn’t waste his energy and resources involving himself in such fights, which could tire out even members of his base.
NEW: Trump Sees Huge Polling Boost in Swing States As Race Enters Final Stretch, Harris Campaign Panics
Interestingly, Bill Clinton had this problem, too. As some may remember, Clinton felt the need to push back against even the semi-serious criticism that he was too enamored with McDonald’s, by parsing his words to say that he didn’t “visit” the fast-food restaurant; while this was technically true, he had the food brought into the White House.
Falling for the Sweet Nothings of the MSM and the Democrat Establishment
It is a well-established rule that for most people, the longer they live in the Beltway, the more they (usually) hope to be invited to and flattered at the ‘Georgetown dinner parties.’ (I was always too introverted and too ornery to be part of this crew.) The easiest way to do this is to embrace the policies, and the people, who make up this elite, which largely lean Democrat.
As I have already written, for a Republican president, this is a dangerous trap. A Republican senator or congressman can make a career out of “going Washington” and “growing in office,” as the Democrats/MSM will give him/her plenty of positive attention in their media, which (in some areas of the country) will make reelection easier. But for a Republican president, this is not a possibility, as the Democrats/MSM need to run against him or her, and nothing he or she says or does will ever be celebrated by them. So, all that president will accomplish by “going Washington” and “growing in office” is showing a weakness, which will inspire any opponents to redouble their attacks, and dispirit POTUS’ base.
Of course, in this case, it is hard for the Democrats/MSM to woo Donald Trump, when they are constantly screaming obscenities at him and calling him Hitler. Recently, during the Joint Address to Congress, the Democrats refused to clap for any individual singled out for praise by Trump, including a small boy stricken by cancer who wanted to be a police officer (and who was made an honorary Secret Service Agent by the president). And these Democrat members well represent their party – according to one poll, 64 percent of registered Democrats want their party to “oppose everything” that President Trump is doing.(The Democrats, as I have said before, are still falling down their Doom Loop.)
WATCH: Dems’ Excuses for Why They Didn’t Stand During Trump’s Address Show Just How Lost They Are
Falling for the Sweet Nothings of the GOP Establishment (and the Liberal Republicans)
The portion of those attending the Georgetown dinner parties that are not Democrats are, of course, Republicans (there are no real independents in this town). They have similar, but not identical, political beliefs. The key word for them is always “moderation,” which often means to act Democrat-lite on the issues, to slow down on a controversial action, or to avoid certain impolite issues. One issue of crucial importance to them has always been illegal immigration, which they believe requires “compassion” and “a path out of the shadows” to legalization for illegal immigrants.
Once again, as I said above, a Republican president should be very careful of such people. The establishment GOP has their uses – they know how the federal government works – but it is important to realize their biases and not fall prey to them. Caving to them only slows or stops a president’s accomplishments and never leads to any new respect from non-allied independents or the Democrats.(If Trump wants that new respect, he will have to wait until he is retired or dead, so that the new and more dangerous, Hitleresque Republican president can be compared, unfavorably, to him.)
So far, there is little evidence of Trump falling for the usual sweet nothings of the GOP establishment. He seems unlikely to retreat on deporting illegal immigrants, which is his signature issue. He has stood firm on government spending cuts and firings. He has not catered to their International First Foreign Policy Agenda.
And now, what about the independent Trump supporters?
To be continued in part IV.
