As a former Republican who has pointed out the Democratic Party’s flaws for decades, I view the current Democratic panic over President Biden’s debate performance with a mixture of bewilderment and nostalgia.
It’s puzzling that a single night of poor performance has left so many Democrats unsupportive of a wildly successful president, but it’s also a reminder of why Republicans have beaten Democrats in so many elections that Republicans should have lost.
Donald Trump won one presidential election, with about 46 percent of the vote. (Mitt Romney lost with about 47 percent.) The Republican Party lost its mind and decided that this one victory invalidated everything we knew about politics. But that wasn’t the case.
One debate is not going to change the course of this election, and all the talk about Biden’s poor performance will be forgotten about Trump missing a golden opportunity to reassess his candidacy and significantly strengthen his position.
Trump lost the popular vote by 7 million votes and needs new customers. He could have offered a positive economic plan to appeal to middle-class voters feeling economic pressure. Instead, he touted tax cuts for billionaires.
Trump could have reassured voters terrified by the idea that after Roe v. Wade died, girls impregnated by rape would have to endure two generations of extremist politicians trying to criminalize their constitutional rights. But he oddly found himself detesting Roe v. Wade in a country with a majority that supports abortion rights, and praising his own role in replacing individual choice with the coercive power of government.
He could have said he would accept the results of the next presidential election. He refused.
Trump launched into a virulent 90-minute anti-American tirade, describing his America as a violent, post-apocalyptic hellscape where “people are dying all over the place” and sounding more like “Mad Max” than “Morning in America.”
Is this how Americans see themselves? Should we feel shame, not pride, when we see the American flag raised at the Paris Olympics? When Ronald Reagan was president, he believed that to be born in America was to win the lottery of life. Now, in Trump’s America, are we the victims, the fools, the losers?
I don’t think so. Trump is having a hard time expanding his base because most Americans are still proud to be American. Most Americans don’t wake up angry at the world or afraid to go outside their homes. What do they hate most? Record-high stock prices or low unemployment?
At the Lincoln Project, we’ve found that one of the most effective weapons against MAGA is to ask voters, “Is this who you are?” Hold up a picture of Marjorie Taylor Greene, red in the face and screaming. Do you see this as who you are? Do you want to be the guy in a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt storming the Capitol? Do you want your kids to think that being a convicted sex abuser and felon is presidential quality?
The Republican Party is fighting the modern world and they are losing. What happened when they attacked Nike for their endorsement deal with Colin Kaepernick? Nike made a ton of money. How can they take on Disney, the happiness company? This party was already struggling with issues with women voters over Law’s death, yet they thought it would be a good idea to attack Taylor Swift. Really?
Before Thursday’s debate, the presidential race was about the past versus the future. After the debate, it will be about the past versus the future. And it will be the same on November 5th.
A bad night for Biden doesn’t change the fact that Trump opposes mandatory vaccinations for public school students. Do Americans really want to experience more polio, measles and whooping cough epidemics?
It’s easy to side with him on the good nights, but it’s not worth it. The real challenge comes on the bad nights.
The most disappointing and annoying of all the Democratic pearl-clutching are the Barack Obama insiders who can’t do for themselves what Biden did for their former boss: watch Biden’s back and fight for him. For them, politics is a “love story,” a true and pure love when they were young and had a bright and full of possibilities ahead of them. Any candidate other than Obama will forever be a fourth marriage, a series of regrets and dissatisfaction.
California Governor Gavin Newsom showed Democrats how to fight after the debate: “We’re not going to turn our backs on them after one performance. Is there any party like that?”
Unfortunately, at this point, it’s mostly the establishment Democratic Party. Many of the same people who abandoned Biden after his crushing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire in the 2020 Democratic primaries. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina refused to panic and stuck by Biden, helping to salvage the race. Let’s emulate his courage and steadfastness. My only plea to my new friends who have abandoned Biden is simple: hang in there and fight. It’s not going to be easy.
Stuart Stevens is a former Republican political consultant who has worked on numerous federal and state campaigns, including the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. He is an advisor to the Lincoln Project and author of “The Conspiracy to End America.”
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