Our Primary Political Task

For anyone concerned about the future of the American democracy, the primary political task for the next 265 days until November 5, 2024, is to prevent Donald Trump from regaining the presidency.  Like many political observers, I don’t trust electoral polls this far out, but it is disconcerting to note that all of the polls show Trump winning handily over Biden.  Trump’s chances in the swing states are even better. 

 It is incumbent upon us who are committed to democracy to continue to shine a light on the fact that a second Trump presidency would likely mean the end of democracy as we know it in the United States.

That is an apocalyptic statement from one not one normally given to apocalyptic statements.  But, in my defense, Trump has told us how he will act as president (in the unlikely event we re-elect him, more on that below).  He has acknowledged that he will:

·    weaponize the Justice Department to go after Joe Biden and other political enemies;

·    internally deport millions of undocumented immigrants to newly built detention centers in Texas;

·    act as a dictator “for day one” of his presidency to build a wall separating the United States from Mexico and renew oil drilling.

It’s easy to be misled by Trump’s sloppy proclamations, loose statements or refusals to deny his intent.  Witness the following exchange, as reported by the Guardian, with Sean Hannity, a Trump supporter, who leans over backward to give Trump a chance to exonerate himself.

“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked Trump in the interview taped in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday.

“Except for day one,” Trump responded. Trump said on the “day one” he referred to, he would use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.

Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”

As the Associated Press (AP) reports:

Trump has a long history of making inflammatory proclamations that spark outrage from detractors and generate a stream of headlines, without ever coming to fruition. Often they are made in a tongue-in-cheek manner that allows Trump’s allies to claim he was joking and cite the backlash as another example of a candidate skilled at baiting an out-of-touch press that takes him far too literally.

The problem with AP’s analysis is that this allows Trump to say exactly what he is planning to do while desensitizing his supporters and the press to the truly shocking nature of his schemes.

Trump’s enablers -- for instance, the creators of Project 2025: The Presidential Transition Project at the Heritage Foundation -- are not joking.  They are identifying hundreds, if not thousands, of conservative bureaucrats to be ready on Day One to effectively put Trump’s dreams into concrete action.

When Trump first assumed office in 2016, he seemed often starstruck, as if he had not quite expected to win and was shocked that the country’s A-listers were willing to work for him from the oval office.  These experienced politicians, military officers, and bureaucrats, in fact, protected the country from Trump’s worst excesses. 

Trump will not make the same mistake twice; this time he – and the Heritage Foundation – will be sure that those under him will do exactly what he tells them.

I do think it is unlikely that Trump will be re-elected.  Less than 40% of voters are loyal-for-whatever Trumpists.  If he is convicted on any of the 91 felony counts against him, a significant percentage of even these Trumpists will not vote for him.**  For re-election he will depend upon the few traditional Republicans left in the party and the independents who supported him before, at least some of whom have been paying attention and are unlikely to vote for him again.

Nevertheless, the two-party, hyperpartisan electoral system that dominates American politics assures a close election regardless of the candidates.  It is incumbent upon us who are clear-eyed about Trump to keep educating the public about the danger he presents to an ever more fragile democracy, and we must not allow the media to normalize Trump’s behavior or treat him as a legitimate candidate.  Trump is not a legitimate candidate; he is a populist demagogue who must not be allowed again to the pinnacle of power.

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** Many of those who vote for Trump believe the indictments to be politically motivated.  If he is actually convicted in public jury trials that make clear the evidence against him, some of that support will fall away.