Trump’s Reelect Strategy is to Bring Out the Worst in Democrats So That They Will Defeat Themselves May 30, 2019 Vol. XII, No. 5 3:13 pm Trump learned from Roy Cohn In the court of voter opinion, Democrats are just as crooked as Republicans; an “indictment” does not have to be from a grand jury.
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Trump’s Reelect Strategy is to Bring Out the Worst in Democrats So That They Will Defeat Themselves
May 30, 2019 Vol. XII, No. 5 3:13 pm
Trump learned from Roy Cohn
In the court of voter opinion, Democrats are just as crooked as Republicans; an “indictment” does not have to be from a grand jury. A plausible accusation will do.
That’s why Democrats may want to wait until the next report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, on the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia collusion investigation, before trying to gain a 2020 political advantage by proceeded with impeachment hearings against President Trump.
The probe into FBI surveillance abuses, which began March 28, 2018, is due any day. Then, on top of that 15-month inquiry, Attorney General Barr has just named John Durham, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, to head an all-new investigation into “spying” on the Trump campaign.
Will these two investigations help Republicans build the case in 2020 for a plausible accusation that senior FBI officials were politically biased in obtaining FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign? That they relied on opposition research funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC?
That’s all Trump needs politically in 2020. A plausible accusation. An “indictment” against his accusers in the court of voter opinion.
Simply put, Democrats are not going to win an “indictment” fight with President Trump. He is the better street fighter. He cheats. He bites. He hits below the belt. He provokes reckless vengeance.
Donald Trump brings out the worst in his enemies, and then leans back in his chair and props his feet on his desk and watches as they destroy themselves.
Donald Trump’s mentor was Roy Cohn, Chief Counsel to Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s “red scare” era; the Roy Cohn who advised McCarthy to advance unsubstantiated claims of Communist spies in the State Department and homosexuals in the CIA.
It was Roy Cohn who taught Trump to always stay on the offensive; attack, attack, attack. Hit back ten times every time you get hit. Never, ever admit you are wrong. Truth is irrelevant. It’s the hyperbole that people will believe; that the press will print. The only bad publicity is no publicity.
It was Roy Cohn who infamously said, “I bring out the worst in my enemies and that’s how I get them to defeat themselves.”
Democrats likely to hold US House, unless doomed by impeachment
Democrats are risking the US House majority in initiating impeachment hearings against President Trump. Despite a solid majority (235 to 197 with 3 vacancies, including NC 3 and NC 9), and history on their side, their hold on the House is fragile because voters are fed up with Washington.
The good news for Democrats is the history of US House turnover.
According to The Cook Political Report, the U.S. House majority has not flipped twice in a row since 1954 (it flipped in 2018). And, Republicans need to gain 18 pickups when the net partisan shift in the US House has been a single digit number in 7 of the last 8 presidential election years.
On the other hand, there are 31 U.S. House Democrats representing congressional districts won by President Trump in 2016. That number includes 22 newcomers to the U.S. House who defeated Republicans in primarily suburban Trump districts in 2018.
There are three dangers I see for these newcomers in the House Democratic Caucus. One, there is a danger of being lured too far to the left by the fresh-faced liberals in the caucus who could never get elected with their issues in a district carried by Trump.
The second danger I see is that many will invariably make the typical freshman mistake of assuming voters chose them because of their superior intellect and leadership ability rather than because suburban voters, particularly white women, were disgusted with Trump or had given up on their Republican representative.
The third danger? Impeachment hearings.
Democrats already have their hands full for 2020. Whether it’s the 24 Democratic presidential candidates, the limited number of US Senate opportunities or the 31 US House seats held by Democrats in districts Trump won in 2016, Democrats have enough challenges to overcome without adding the challenge of a self-defeating impeachment trial.
Articles of Impeachment voted out of a Democrat-led US House will be seen as a partisan political move just like a party-line vote against the conviction of Trump in a Republican-led US Senate.
Voters are tired of the partisan rancor. They would prefer the Congress to focus on solving the problems of the day like immigration, healthcare, education, entitlements, military concerns, and the economy.
Impeachment hearings play right into President Trump’s 2020 reelection strategy of bringing out the worst in Democrats and letting them defeat themselves.
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