A recent article in Politico enlisted political analysts from each side of the divide to advise their opponents on how to, respectively, beat the other sides’ candidate in the general election.
www.politico.com/…
The conservative contribution contained about the worst advice I have ever seen on how the Democrats should approach the general election. The so-called “advice” from conservative pundit Matt Latimer boils down to:
“You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Putting aside the trolling nature of the “advice,” (Latimer’s piece is larded with back-handed shots at Democrats) and just focus on this one sentence. Let it sink in. Then we can see how wrong-headed it is.
1. FIGHTING THE LAST WAR
The Republican Establishment, such as it is, finds itself in a position akin to that of Germany’s early opponents in WW2. Trump seems to have upended the rule book of political warfare. He has run roughshod over their cavalry with his tanks. He has outflanked one Maginot Line after another. He seems to have magical powers of strategic insight and an ability to raise masses of new followers out of the ground like Dragon’s Teeth. The analogy is apt, but for a different reason.
More recent historical scholarship of Germany’s early Blitzkrieg wins indicates much of Hitler’s success was as much enabled by the weakness of his opponents. For example, France was riven by internal discord and had, by poor choices, failed to adopt the air defense methods that enabled the RAF to win the Battle of Britain several months later. This left French troops largely at the mercy of the Luftwaffe. This is not to discount the advances made by the Wehrmacht in tactics or the advantages they had, for example, in issuing automatic weapons in greater abundance to their troops. But item by item, German technical/tactical advantages alone could not explain the outcome. France actually had as many armored vehicles as the Germans, some of them of superior quality, which they simply failed to properly deploy. In reality, before the 1940 campaign started, many German generals and troops were greatly dispirited, expecting another reprise of the Great War. Anti-Hitler coup rumors were rife.
After the dust of the 1940 conquest of France had settled, an exaggerated idea of Hitler’s great powers helped his defeated opponents explain away their own failures.
So it has been in 2016 for the GOP primary. Instead of hitting Trump early, the huge field of contenders went after each other, expecting Trump to fail of his own accord. By the time they realized what was happening, they tried to put into action advice like Latimer’s “unlearn what you have learned.” Jeb and Rubio tried to trade insults with Trump. Cruz tried (and is still trying) to get to Trump’s right. Kasich tried (and is still trying) to get to Trump’s left. All are driven by the same short-sighted mentality of “seizing the news cycle” and “creating a narrative.” All the campaigns seemed to admire — and some tried to emulate — Trump’s Gumby-like ability to say one thing one day and then the opposite the next. The modern GOP, lacking in any original ideas, itself reduced to a contraption of stitched-together constituencies, was left with the one enduring asset from the 1968 Southern Strategy — white conservative anger at a changing America.
Latimer’s advice is not just a roll-call of bad advice. It is unintended evidence of what the GOP cannot, will not, acknowledge — that Trump is fundamentally a Frankenstein that their own hollowed out party created. Trump is the virus that grew from a rotten carcass of a party that had been festering for decades, that had long-since sold its soul to Limbaugh, Hannity and Coulter.
2. STOP TELLING ME WHAT LEE IS GOING TO DO AND THINK OF WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO
In the spring of 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant began the climactic Overland Campaign — the greatest attempt by the Army of the Potomac yet to end the US Civil War and take the Confederate capital of Richmond. Grant was a newcomer to the Army of the Potomac — a general who had won his spurs with victories out west. Many “eastern” Union officers resented President Lincoln putting Grant in charge instead of one of their own.
In May 1864, Grant’s Army of the Potomac advanced south. His troops collided almost immediately with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under its great general RE Lee. Superior Federal numbers could not be brought to bear in the dense forest of a battlefield that would come to be known as The Wilderness. Grant suffered very heavy losses in the first day of battle. Union generals and troops expected him to order a retreat that night. After all, this was what the Union had done before after a defeat. They greatly feared that Lee was about to spring even more devastating tricks that would destroy their entire army.
Grant’s response was pithy and to the point. Stop worrying about what Lee is going to do and think about what WE are doing to do.
Orders were given to continue the advance. History records the dramatic moment as Union troops, roused for a nighttime march, reached the crossroads — and were ordered south, not north. As they realized they were not retreating, the Union soldiers cheered and broke into song.
It would be nearly another bloody year before Richmond would fall. But it fell.
The point here is the same.
Assuming Hillary will be the nominee — that is still unsettled, but let’s just assume the article’s premise — she has particular strengths. Doggedness and resilience. A policy wonk’s grasp of the issues. An ability to lead by bridging differences.
Bernie, were he the nominee, would bring his own sets of strengths.
We need to stop worrying about what Trump is going to say next time he open’s his mouth. Take him seriously, of course. Don’t discount him. But don’t become his puppets.
Consider this. Regardless of whether Hillary or Bernie win the nomination, we all feel confident they will unite at the end. And that Hillary or Bernie will each wish the other well, and work their hearts out to elect him or her to the Oval Office.
Now picture that Trump press conference with Chris Christie standing glassy-eyed behind him. Or Senator Lindsey Graham “drinking the poison” to support Sen. Ted Cruz.
That about sums up the differences between us and them right now.
IN CONCLUSION
The point is that progressives should not sell ourselves short. Trump has seized control of a GOP in turmoil through selling their souls.
Have faith in who we are. Remember the inner strengths that brought us here. That enable us to greet each day joyfully as another chance to move the ball down the field.
We are the party of FDR. Of Truman and Kennedy. Of LBJ and Obama.
And yes, of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Who among us has not swelled with pride at how the Democratic debates have outshone the GOP ones in substance? In basic dignity?
We are blessed with candidates who can take that stage and honor it. Who realize that their candidacies are about bettering the lives of real people. And whose supporters are engaged not out of hate, but out of love for this great country and what it can be.