To be clear, if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee I will vote for him in 2024 … but I would vote for any viable and capable candidate who could defeat the Democrats. Simply put, a candidate must emerge from the primary election soup who is able to stop President Biden and the radical-liberal cabal that is running things now from destroying the United States and the American way of life.
President Trump has the unique ability to identify the most important problems facing our country, and he is not afraid to take whatever actions that are needed to fix them. I agree with most of his ideas and his vision for the country. However, I have questions about whether he should be the Republican candidate.
It is still early in the runup to the 2024 presidential election. A lot can happen before a new president is elected. Presently, however, the leading Democratic candidate is President Joe Biden. The Republican frontrunner is Donald Trump. President Trump has a large and very loyal following among conservative voters. It appears at this time that he will be able to prevail in the Republican selection process. The question that troubles me, however, is whether he can gain enough support to win in the general election? Time will tell, but if the Democrats are not soundly defeated in 2024 I fear for the future of the country.
Donald Trump has liabilities that might make him unelectable. These include problems with likability, personal conduct, legal issues, campaign style, and doubts about his ability to govern.
Like it or not, American politics is a popularity contest. It is important for candidates to be “likable.” Donald Trump is an abrasive, egotistical, name-calling, “my-way-or-the-highway” kind of guy. He is intensely liked by his loyal following, but he turns a lot of other people off.
As much as I would like to see somebody “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. a president needs to be able to persuade congress to pass laws that codify his program for the country. A president can’t do that by alienating the very people he needs for support. President Obama governed by executive orders. They are temporary. When President Trump took office he trashed all of Obama’s executive orders. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan blocked Donald Trump from getting his agenda through congress, forcing him to govern by executive order as well. The Biden Administration consigned most of Trump’s executive orders to the rubbish heap, and reenacted most of Obama’s executive orders. This pendulum is inherently disruptive and destructive, and nothing lasting is accomplished this way. A president must be able to “play well with others” to achieve permanent change.
I oppose much of what
Lyndon Johnson did during his presidency.
To his credit though, no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has been
able to move legislation through congress the way Johnson did. Consequently, his Great Society programs
changed American government and society in ways that became institutionalized
and are still some of the foremost influences on governance today.
We need to elect a conservative president in 2024 who can move his or her agenda through congress and right a badly listing ship of state. Donald Trump’s agenda could be just as transformative as Lyndon Johnson’s, but he cannot do it alone. Even if by some miracle America’s voters give her or him Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, our next president must find a way to enlist their support. Without it, changing things in a way that lasts is not possible.
President Trump’s personal conduct should not be an issue in the election, but his enemies may try to make it an issue anyway. Unfortunately filing spurious civil and criminal cases has become a tactic in our political process. Governor Sarah Palin was forced out of office in Alaska by political opponents who filed legal actions against her until she was no longer able to afford the cost of her defense. President Trump is so rich that there is no risk of that happening in his case. However, his opponents can keep him so busy defending himself that they diminish his ability to campaign and govern, especially if his personal conduct provides them with one opportunity after another to do so.
In 2016, we found Donald Trump’s willingness to speak his mind refreshing. Most of us were sick to death of the mealymouthed double talk we get from most politicians whose political handlers coach them to avoid controversial statements. Unfortunately, “The Donald” is prone to spout off recklessly about anything that pops into his little pumpkin head. His ill-considered remarks may endear him to his loyalists, but they leave him open to attacks from his opponents in politics and the press who use them to characterize him as an extremist, megalomaniac, white supremist, or reincarnated Hitler. These accusations are not true, but apparently the truth doesn’t matter anymore in politics.
President Trump’s campaign style is focused on appealing to his base of support. To win in 2024, the Republican candidate must also work hard to win the support of Independents, disillusioned Democrats, women, minorities, the trade unions, and other groups that often vote for Democrats. Will Donald Trump be willing to modify his style of campaigning to reach out beyond his base? If he doesn’t, he can’t win.
In the 2022 midterm election, the polls seemed to show that a majority of American voters felt that the country was “going in the wrong direction” under the leadership of President Biden and the Democratic majority in both houses of congress. Nevertheless, the predicted decisive Republican victory did not materialize. In particular, candidates who were endorsed by Donald Trump or who ran on the Trump agenda did not do as well as expected. In 2024, the Republicans must persuade a majority of voters (Republican, Independent, and Democratic) to vote for the Republican vision for the country. Can they do that by nominating a candidate must also overcome the liabilities we have discussed?
As I said, if Donald Trump
is the Republican candidate in 2024 I will vote for him. Will others do the same? Now is the time for you to decide the answer
to that question for yourself.
