As I wrote in a previous column, barring the unforeseen or unpredictable, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for President. I believe it’s all over, but the final coronation and every Republican needs to start lining up behind him and find answers to the ONLY crucial question, viz., how can he win in November? I wrote an article several months ago on building a Republican Party coalition to win this year (read it here), but I haven’t seen any action on it yet, nor do I really expect to. But I still think it’s a good strategy.
How can Trump win? Nothing else really matters. Let him choose whomever he wants as VP; I have my preferences, but his VP won’t be important if he can’t win. And we must figure out how he can win. As I previously admitted, I don’t know the answer, and it’s not my job to get him back in the White House. I’m not paid to do that. But let me consider some aspects of the upcoming election and what Trump faces, and maybe include a suggestion or two that I’m sure Ronna McDaniel will ignore.
1. The “bases.” History demonstrates that about 40% of the American population will vote for the Democratic Party candidate, whoever it is, and would never vote for any Republican—Trump, DeSantis, whoever. 40% of the people will vote Republican, whoever their candidate is, and will never vote for a Democrat. That is historically verifiable (read my column about it here). That means the 20% in the middle will elect the next President. How can we persuade the majority of them onto Mr. Trump’s bandwagon? That’s the challenge.
2. Are there any “Trump Democrats” out there? You old-timers remember the “Reagan Democrats”—those Democrats in the 1980s who could not stomach Carter, Mondale, et al, and voted for Ronald Reagan. Do any “Trump Democrats” exist today? There indeed may be some Democrats who are not “hard core,” i.e., not in the 40% who vote Democratic regardless (see point 1). They seem to be very disgruntled with Joe Biden, especially his open border, but also his horrible economy, etc. Will they vote for Trump? We can only hope so. Mr. Trump needs to go after these people with a vengeance. There are not enough Republicans in America—and certainly not enough conservatives—to put him back into the White House. He must convince some non-Republicans to vote for him, as he did in 2016, though even that year he got a minority of the popular vote.
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There were many “Reagan Democrats” in the 1980s. Again, do any “Trump Democrats” exist today? Indeed, the fear among many Republicans is that Trump is so despised among nearly all Democrats that he will inspire many, who are disgruntled with Biden and might have voted for another Republican (or at least stayed at home and not voted at all), to vote AGAINST Trump. They don’t like Biden, but they hate Trump, and they’ll vote for Biden just to prevent Trump from winning. That is a concern, a severe one, and something that Trump must overcome. I have no answers, currently, given the hole he has dug for himself the past few years, how he can do that. I hope that difficulty can be solved.
3. Independents. Mr. Trump will need to coax this collection of Americans to vote for him. They will decide who the next President will be. Emphasizing the good things he did as President, and comparing them with the last three years under Biden, might get most of these people on his side. The old “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” adage is as good as any to try.
4. The “cheat factor”. There is no question that the Democrats are going to do anything they can to win. They have no morals, no conscience, no scruples, they only love power, and they will do whatever they can get away with to win. That is inevitable. Mr. Trump must build a “cheat-proof” coalition to win. He must prepare for the Democratic Party’s “cheat” factor, and discern a way to persuade enough Americans to vote for him to overcome that factor. That is a monumental task for a man who didn’t even win a majority of American votes in 2016.
5. The “Deep State” and “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Here are two other groups Mr. Trump must overwhelm. The “Deep State,” which includes a substantial number of Republicans, does not want Trump to win. And it is a powerful clique, very influential. They will do everything they can to keep Trump out of Washington. The “Never Trumpers” were around in 2016, and they didn’t prevent him from winning, and probably cannot do so this year. But they are still a significant conglomerate, and have probably grown in number in the last few years. Trump must slay these dragons, and especially the “Deep State” gargoyle.
6. Foreign intervention. Russia won’t help Trump, but China will help Biden. How to offset the subtle Chinese influence in the election is something Trump and his handlers need to confront. Appealing to massive numbers of anti-CCP Chinese-Americans is one way to do that, but I’ve seen no movement or effort so far in that direction.
Mr. Trump faces a gargantuan task to return to Washington. However, the Democrats face some problems, too (more on that soon). Biden’s dementia and utter incompetence are Trump’s best assets, but too many Americans don’t care about that, just as most pro-Trump people don’t care about his character flaws. Trump’s path to victory is across the Himalayas. But we chose him as our candidate.
I haven’t painted a rosy, or easy, path to victory. But we solve nothing unless we face reality and the challenge ahead of us. No more infighting. Start working.
Subscribe to my substack mklewis929.substack.com for more on Leftism, our Founding Fathers, and true freedom. My “Story of the Bible” series will help you understand God’s Word. Follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl. Read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon.
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