Looking beyond the personalities of former and future President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, their strategies tell the tale. Trump ran on the GOP standbys of tax cuts, economic growth, peace through strength and moderate-conservative social policies, as on abortion.
Harris ran one of the worst campaigns I’ve seen. She should have imitated Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election theme, “It’s Morning in America.” She should have pushed five positive messages: 2.4% economic growth, low 4.1% unemployment, a low and dropping 2.4% inflation rate, no Americans dying in foreign wars and moderate-left social policies.
Sure, she would have had to finesse the 20% inflation the past four years, the border problem and the switcheroo replacing President Joe Biden with her on the ticket. But imagine what Bill Clinton could have done with that record.
Instead, she mostly campaigned on a national abortion rights law and attacking Trump’s personality and perceived “fascist” instincts. Yet abortion was a brief, 2022 national issue after the Supreme Court threw it back to the states. Now most people are content with that.
On Tuesday, unfortunately to a pro-lifer like me, seven states voted to legalize abortion or expand access, while three states, Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota, turned back such initiatives. Two years ago, four states passed abortion rights measures, including California, and four others turned back restrictive measures. That’s a 15-3 record for pro-choice forces. Isn’t the “democracy” the Democrats always are harping about letting the people actually vote on the issues?
This effectively was a continuation of Harris’ 2020 campaign that failed even before the primaries. She’s just not an appealing candidate and her incompetent campaign staff showed voters how badly her administration would have been run. California’s awful national reputation also didn’t help. Are you watching, Gov. Gavin Newsom?
Trump’s campaign contrasted with his surprise, shambolic 2016 victory and his COVID-infected 2020 loss. This time it was a well-oiled machine ignited by Elon Musk’s rocket-fuel cheerleading and capped with Joe Rogan’s endorsement after interviewing Elon.
Americans have seen Trump for nine years examined with a political proctoscope. They like him or hate him. Nothing could change that. Trying to paint him a “fascist” was pointless. Voters wanted to know what Harris would do. Mostly, they got “word salad.”
Now comes the hard part for Trump: uniting a divided nation agitated by his rhetoric; installing a better economic policy; calming international crises Biden inflamed in Ukraine, in the Middle East and over Taiwan; and reducing the $2 trillion yearly budget deficits that have ballooned the national debt to $36 trillion.
For the latter, Trump is going to have to do better than in his first term, when he piled on $8 trillion in debt. To which Biden has added another $8 trillion. Trump is tasking Musk to find waste in government. If Musk can succeed, a balanced is possible if Trump also produces Reagan-era 7% growth by extending the 2017 tax cuts, adding new tax cuts and massively cutting regulations.
Also top on the list is a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, not only to end the horrific Ukraine War, but to restart arms control. Until Biden, who last met Putin in 2021, every president regularly has met with his Soviet or Russian counterpart. While the Vietnam War was raging in 1972, President Richard Nixon traveled to Moscow to sign the ABM Treaty and SALT Agreement with Soviet boss Leonid Brezhnev. In the late 1980s, Reagan’s epic summits with Mikhail Gorbachev wound down the Cold War.
The 2023 Durham Report debunked the Russiagate Hoax haunting Trump’s first term. Now Trump is liberated to meet Putin and practice the title of his book, “The Art of the Deal.”
In his victory speech, Trump, with his usual bombast, celebrated “the greatest political movement of all time … we’re going to fix everything in this country … we’re going to stop wars” and bring on a “golden age.” Seeking reconciliation, he promised, “Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future.” It’s not going to be easy.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at johnseiler.substack.com