We are at the precipice, the us versus him moment. The people, protected by a military that is more faithful to the Constitution they have sworn to uphold than is their commander in chief. And him, the president, threatening to use that military against his own people.
We already know who will go over the edge. President Trump has no more understanding of the document that enshrines the right to peaceably assemble in protest than he does of that Bible he held upside down on one of the darkest days in American history.
If the election were next Tuesday, we’d throw him out. But this moment will pass, and too many will forget, or get distracted.
You would think an impeached and terrified president who bungled his way through a pandemic that has killed more than 107,000 people in America and left 40 million out of work would be a lock to lose in November.
But don’t fool yourself: It will not be easy to remove this awful man. As nice as it was to hear Joe Biden sound like a president this week, it is going to take a heavy, hard and persistent pounding of Trump to oust him. For that, Democrats can learn from the people who know his people best — the Never-Trump Republicans.
“Washington transformed into a war zone for this coward.” So went the latest salvo from one such group, the Lincoln Project. “This is a time for choosing: America or Trump.” The ad is blunt. Brutally effective. And the best way to beat a bully who cowers in a bunker.
Trump is on the ropes. He’s always been unpopular, but this spring he’s testing the lows. That wall he promised to build is finally going up — around the White House. He tweets LAW AND ORDER, then dangles pardons for criminal cronies. Imagine four more years of the last four weeks.
Democrats may be tempted to stay high while Trump finds new ways to go low. This week, Biden sounded the kind of historically resonant notes we want from a leader. He showed empathy, clarity of vision, appeals to our better angels, on top of the most progressive policy agenda of any Democratic nominee since Franklin Roosevelt.
Donald Trump Jr., on the other hand, posted a meme on his Instagram suggesting that Biden was a pedophile. The campaign has bought Facebook ads implying that Biden is senile and demented. Don’t be surprised if Trump blames Biden for the car accident that killed Biden’s wife and child.
Nice ain’t going to cut it against a gangster presidency. There is no bottom in the basement of this White House. And nobody knows this better than the Republicans who refuse to follow a tyrant.
Consider “Mourning in America,” another ad from the Lincoln Project, a political action committee of prominent Republicans whose leaders include George Conway, the husband of Kellyanne Conway, a presidential adviser, and Steve Schmidt, a former strategist for John McCain and George W. Bush, among others. Over dystopian images of body bags, shuttered stores and the fog of despair, a somber narrator says, “Under the leadership of Donald Trump, our country is weaker and sicker and poorer.” When the low-budget ad ran on Fox News, Trump went ballistic — exactly the high-budget response that the Lincoln Project was trying to solicit.
Lovers of civility and nuance may be appalled by this kind of whack to the head. Democrats, being Democrats, will fight over policy, identity and no small number of nonsensical slights. Republicans will chant “Lock her up,” until a majority is convinced that their opponent is a criminal.
This is not to say that Democrats should mimic the say-anything Republicans; let’s hope that mob-rule cohort gets buried with Trump in November. But the best way to win is to make the election a referendum on Trump and his legacy of American carnage.
“This is a race of Trump versus Trump,” Rahm Emanuel told The Times. “And Trump is losing.”
In desperation, Trump is trying to frame the election as law and order against “anarchists, looters and thugs.” It won’t work, unless the violent fringe gets out of hand. The majority is with the protesters — 54 percent in favor, including almost 40 percent of Republicans, against 22 percent who oppose, in one poll.
It’s time to keep the foot on the pedal. Trump registered as a voter (where he cast his ballot by mail), in Florida, but listed his residence elsewhere. Isn’t that voter fraud?
Trump has baselessly smeared an MSNBC host and former Republican member of Congress, Joe Scarborough, all but accusing him of murder. Isn’t that the bearing of false witness prohibited in the Bible revered by his evangelical supporters?
Trump has suggested that people inject household disinfectants to fight off the coronavirus. Isn’t that using the presidential podium to promote poisoning?
And now Trump has had a park full of peaceful protesters cleared by violent force for a photo op. Is there any bigger or more emblematic desecration of his office, and the People’s House?
If Trump were a Democrat, every voter would be aware of the toxic malignancy of his character. That’s the great task of the next five months: Just show voters Trump being Trump. Then pound and repeat.
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Timothy Egan (@nytegan) is a contributing opinion writer who covers the environment, the American West and politics. He is a winner of the National Book Award and author, most recently, of “A Pilgrimage to Eternity.”
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
