Editorial: Donald Trump’s Re-election Strategy is Recklessness

With less than two weeks until the 2020 presidential election is over, Donald Trump doesn’t have a clear strategy for increasing his chances of re-election during this home stretch, unless he counts recklessness as a strategy. It seems that the lower his prospects, the more reckless his non-strategy becomes.

As Trump goes from rally to rally, in person before large crowds of maskless, cheering supporters, his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, has been observing public health social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines, conducting drive-in rallies. Trump, meanwhile, like the middle school bully, makes fun of Joe Biden for wearing a mask, and frames Biden’s drive-in rallies as “failures.”

Americans have made known that their chief concern right now is the coronavirus pandemic. They have also indicated that they haven’t been impressed with the way Trump has managed the pandemic, or the way he has continued to downplay the virus, even after he himself contracted it.

Nevertheless, Trump keeps the gaslight fueled by claiming, over and over, that no one has done a better job of containing the virus than he. Trump continues to scoff at those who follow public health guidelines, and tries to discredit the public health experts who promote them, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and prominent member of the phantom White House Coronavirus Task Force, whom many Americans have said they trust more than they trust Donald Trump. They are a reminder of Trump’s miserable failure at managing the spread of the coronavirus, which rages on, and has now taken more than 221,000 American lives.

Trump prefers to try to create an alternate reality in which he has not only successfully conquered the coronavirus (which is “rounding the corner” and on its way out of town), but he has also has more for Black people than any other president besides Abe Lincoln; everything he touches turns to the finest gold imaginable; and he’s been victimized by everyone, including the media, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Democratic governors, the Debate Commission (and the debate moderators), and all of the people and organizations he can include as part of a generic “they.”

The only place where Trump’s alternate reality plays well, however, is at his rallies, where he can stand before thousands of MAGA hat-wearing supporters who are willing to give their lives to COVID-19 as they shout, cat call, and howl their agreement and adulation at whatever Donald Trump says. If Donald Trump has any re-election strategy at all, it’s one of bullying, obstruction, denial, and voicing of grievances, which his base appears to enthusiastically identify and empathize with.

“His fragile ego compels him to attack those who expose his failures and bask in the adoration of those who don’t see them,” tweeted CNN’s John Harwood on October 21.

Trump already has the commitment of his base, though, and what he needs is to garner support beyond his base in order to increase his chances at re-election. Many voters outside his base are turned off by Trump’s constant hostile rhetoric. They are disgusted byTrump’s unwillingness to distance himself from white supremacists and other hate groups, and from the absurd and unfounded QAnon conspiracy theories. They are appalled by his lack of regard for truth and integrity. They have taken note of the many prominent Americans, including high-ranking military officers and National Security officials, who have warned of the threat to democracy that Trump’s presidency has been. They are alarmed at his frequent erratic and angry tweets. And yes, most of all, they are filled with fear, worry, and pain at the way he has mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic, and at his unwillingness to accept any responsibility for it.

Trump’s campaign messaging has been less “what I can do for you,” and more “what ‘they’ have done to me.”

Though he has always lashed out at those whom he has seen as a threat, Trump has shown an increased inability of late to control his attacks. According to a CNN report, in the past few days, Trump has publicly lashed out at 60 Minutes host Leslie Stahl, Dr. Anthony Fauci and science, Hillary Clinton, CNN, and even toilets and showers (not enough water pressure, which threatens Trump’s hairdo).

Donald Trump has demonstrated that what is most important to him is not to govern the country for four more years, but simply to win. He likes to sit behind the Resolute Desk, playing president, signing things, and reminding people how he beat “Hillary” in 2016, but when he has really needed to do the job of governing, he has not risen to the task.

Ordinarily, a weak and ineffectual president might be surrounded by competent cabinet members and expert career officials who would advise him, or at least prop him up, protect the country’s security and relationships with its allies, and head off most of the potential damage. But Trump is threatened by anyone who appears to have more credibility, expertise, or popularity than he does. Many of those competent cabinet members and expert career officials have left or been fired for disagreeing with Trump, or for causing him to feel inferior or threatened in some way. Of those who remain to advise him and protect the country from his impulsivity and corruption, as well as protect him from himself, many aren’t able or willing to rise to the task, either.

When Donald Trump stands before his supporters at a rally, however, Trump is the revered Leader. He is the alpha male, and the savior who “alone, can fix it.” He is worthy of military parades. People proclaim their willingness to wield combat weapons, take to the streets against peaceful protesters, and intimidate voters for Trump’s sake— for the sake of a leader who has no idea what he’s doing as the leader of the free world, and who would easily lead his armies off a cliff.

He has done nothing during his presidency to unite the country, broaden his base of supporters by softening his rhetoric, or show genuine empathy for Americans who are in pain. His only interest has been to seek validation by surrounding himself with those willing to nourish his ego and by vaporizing those who threaten it. Donald Trump’s campaign strategy is not so much a strategy as a pathology.

Trump Vs Biden: Candidates Adopt Polar Opposite Campaign Strategy in Battleground States | ODN On Demand News [2020-10-19]

Trump Attacks Fauci On Call With Campaign Staff | NBC Nightly News
 [2020-10-19]

 

Editorial: Voter Intimidation and Suppression are Illegal, and Our President Openly Encourages Both

Voter intimidation and suppression are illegal, as is election tampering. Yet our current president continues to openly support and encourage all three, evidently in fear that those are the only ways to ensure that he wins re-election. In few areas are Trump’s authoritarian ambitions more apparent than in his efforts at voter suppression and intimidation, as well as election tampering; and even if some guns, harassment, or violence happen to be in the mix, so be it.

Donald Trump has insisted that the only way he will lose the 2020 presidential election is if the Democrats cheat. Having already nursed his supporters’ distrust of anyone but himself and those associated with him, Trump has also persuaded his base to believe his narrative about election results. Trump’s desperate crafting of such an outcome expectation has set the stage for his supporters to refuse to accept any election outcome other than Trump’s re-election. This, in itself, is election tampering by Donald Trump. Cheating, even.

When it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would stretch beyond the summer and into the time of the presidential election, it also became apparent that polling venues would be risky places to be on Election Day. Consequently, many states decided to make it easier for their residents to vote by mail in order to protect them from contracting the virus while voting, as well as make voting generally more accessible for every voter.

Donald Trump has used the situation as another opportunity to meddle with the election by insisting that voting by mail leads to widespread voter fraud. Though it’s true that more Democrats than Republicans vote by mail, both Republican-led and Democrat-led states have successfully carried out past elections that were largely by mail-in ballot, with negligible voter fraud. Trump, however, continues to try to promote mistrust in voting by mail, and his administration has initiated several lawsuits to try to stop voting by mail. If more voters vote (and more mail-in voting ensures that more voters will vote), it is a threat to a Trump victory.

Over the summer, as if to reinforce his scheme to prevent successful mail-in voting, Trump appointed top campaign donor Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service. DeJoy soon issued “cost-savings measures” that included reductions in service; decommissioning of hundreds of mail sorting machines; removal of numerous blue mailboxes across the country; and abolishing the overtime needed to ensure that all of the day’s mail is processed and delivered in a timely manner. DeJoy’s actions brought into question whether he would, intentionally or unintentionally, prevent mail-in ballots from arriving in time to be counted in the election.

Following challenges by Congress and by consumers, DeJoy pulled back on his plan to continue decommissioning postal machines and removing mailboxes. By that time, however, many machines had already been taken out of service, and many mailboxes had already been removed. Further, many Americans’ faith in the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots on time had been eroded.

For those who will not be casting their votes by mail, the polling places have begun to open for early voting. As evidenced by the hours-long lines of voters waiting to cast their votes, Donald Trump’s efforts have not squelched voter enthusiasm, nor have they prevented votes from being cast in any fashion.

As Donald Trump has seen that nothing will deter voters from voting in the 2020 election, he has now called for an army of his supporters to deem themselves “poll watchers,” and go to voting places to “watch very carefully” as voters exercise their right to vote.

“I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully because that’s what has to happen,” Said Trump at his first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. “I am urging them to do it.”

Sean Morales-Doyle, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s voting rights and elections program, has said that many states have laws that dictate who is allowed to be in a polling place at a given time, including who is permitted to be a poll watcher, and what a poll watcher is allowed to do.

“There are laws like this in many states,” says Morales-Doyle. “Regular citizens can’t just take it upon themselves to engage in this kind of poll watching, and for good reason, because it opens up the possibility of voter intimidation, of vigilantism, which the president is seemingly encouraging. But it is illegal.”

Many Democratic leaders and election officials, including Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, also fear voter intimidation, and particularly, suppression of Black voters and other voters of color. Ford tweeted that Trump wasn’t referring to standard poll watching, but instead was calling for “voter intimidation.”

“Voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted,” said Ford.

“The President is openly urging his supporters to congregate at polling places, go inside, and ostensibly harass and intimidate voters,” said Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. “While there are authorized ‘poll watchers’ who monitor polls on Election Day, their duties are clearly laid out, and they do not include what President Trump has suggested.”

During early voting at one location in Fairfax, Virginia, a group of about 50 Trump supporters gathered, waving Trump 2020 banners, wrapping themselves in American flags, and shouting, “Four more years! Four more years!” Though the group hadn’t violated any election laws, some voters felt threatened, and requested escorts into the building.

In Michigan, fearing that unauthorized “poll watching” by Trump’s supporters could turn violent, the state has banned open carry of guns at polling places on Election Day, as well as at places where absentee ballots are counted.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that the Michigan directive prohibits the open carry of firearms “in a polling place, in any hallway used by voters to enter or exit, or within 100 feet of any entrance to a building in which a polling place is located.”

Donald Trump would like to abolish “liberty and justice for all” by using his supporters, the very people who claim to wield their guns in support of “liberty and justice” (at least for some), to help him accomplish his goal. He has shown that he would do anything to prevent an election result that is not in his favor, including stopping the mail, and even postponing the election (which can’t be done without an act of Congress).

Trump may fantasize about winning re-election, no matter what, and he may fantasize even more about being an authoritarian leader, but Americans in large numbers have shown how dogged they are when it comes to the standing up against the attempts by the president and his enablers to prevent them from casting their votes in this election.

After all votes are counted, may the total be against the one who wanted to suppress and intimidate voters, and may it be in favor of the candidate who will work for “liberty and justice,” not just for some, but for all.

Trump’s “poll watcher” comments raise concerns about voter intimidation |
CBS News [2020-10-06]

Trump Supporters Disrupt Early Voting in Virginia | Now This News
[2020-09-22]