Policy Trumps personality.
Former president Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (Photo © 2024 Paul L. Gleiser)
There are people who claim to be Republicans but who steadfastly refuse to vote for Donald Trump. That number may have been greater in 2016 and 2020, but it is still a significant number.
Significant enough to perhaps constitute the critical difference in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
I have a good friend who is a perfect example. “What’s your problem with Trump?,” I ask him. “Character matters,” he says. “Donald Trump just isn’t a good guy.”
To which I say neither was Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson or Bill Clinton. I don’t disagree that character matters. But with respect to the presidency, policy matters more.
The republic has suffered little lasting harm from the philandering of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Clinton. Though Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal did much to destroy the news industry, the Constitution nevertheless emerged intact. We survived Lyndon Johnson’s brutal crudeness. (Stories of Johnson summoning his secretary to take dictation while sitting on the toilet are not disputed.)
On the other hand, Jimmy Carter is one of the most decent men of the 45 who have ever held the office. Yet today’s boiling cauldron of trouble in the Middle East that is bringing us uncomfortably close to World War III is a holdover of Carter’s manifest weakness during the Iran hostage crisis – weakness that paralyzed American foreign policy while embarrassing the nation.
Roosevelt’s infidelity isn’t his legacy. His legacy is his New Deal that let the Big Government genie out of the bottle. The New Deal paved the way for ruinous social welfare policy that has, among its most pernicious effects, destroyed the nuclear black family – all while entrenching rather than reducing poverty.
The fact that Lyndon Johnson had to give up on reelection in 1968 was not because of his crudeness. It was because of his morally bankrupt Vietnam War policy that snuffed out the lives of 58,000 U.S. servicemen toward the accomplishment of no good purpose.
Donald Trump has personal deficiencies. I have expressed my concerns about them many times in this space.
But I would also offer that those deficiencies aren’t nearly as great as a hostile media relentlessly makes them out to be. And I’d further offer that Trump’s presidency was by and large a policy tour-de-force. The economy boomed, the border was secure and foreign adversaries minded their manners. All three have taken a 180 degree turn since Joe Biden took office.
My concerns about Trump’s personality flaws have always been driven solely by my concern as to their impact on his electability.
From a governance standpoint, I’d argue that Trump’s strong personality is more of a feature than a bug. Trump the Mega Alpha going toe-to-toe with Xi Jingping is an altogether more comforting thought than a similarly situated Kamala Harris.
The presidency is a tough job always but a particularly tough job now. The times, they are a cryin’ out for someone tough to hold it.
No one can argue that Trump isn’t tough.
Well said, Paul. And I still say that I would 1000 times rather have an ugly champion than no champion.
Paul, I have been so busy with my business that I simply have not had time to do more than read your column in recent weeks, but I had to take the time to comment on your current column. As always, you hit the nail squarely on the head. Trump is no president for sissies. He is one tough character, imperfect but we all are. Trump and his family epitomize honesty, especially when compared to the Biden crime family that has pocketed millions of dollars from foreign countries hostile to our country. Apart from the crimes manufactured by the Democrats out of whole cloth, what crimes has President Trump committed?
Kamala Harris will in no way be another Jimmy Carter, either morally or intellectually. She and her running mate are communists to the core. We need to pray for honest and fair elections, and that the voting public doesn’t turn out to be a moron majority.
Always good to hear from you, Buddy.
O.K. let’s talk personality. Who would deliver pizzas to firemen and go to a fast-food place; while being unjustly prosecuted, to mingle with ordinary people or our first responders? Trump does this all the time. He calls, consoles, and organizes financial help for those who lost love one’s or needs help a.k.a those who were killed by illegal aliens, those shot at his rally, and those hurt or killed in the line of duty. The man genuinely is concerned for the American people. Biden and Kamala don’t do squat for anyone but themselves. They care not about anyone who opposes their power and arrogance. Trump gives a darn about America and what our Republic represents. He IS NOT a career politician; thank God. His policies are for the betterment of America’s people.
The Marxist fear this man and are doing everything in their evil powers to get rid of him. We have said this many many times, WAKE UP AMERICA AND SMELL THE COFFEE BURNING ON THE DEMOCRATIC COFFEE POT. Trump is 100% correct in that all that stands between these animals and us, is him.
Very good comments here!
One thing is missing here with people today…they look to MAN to cure everything for us when they should be looking to our CREATOR. Yes, President Trump is a flawed man, no doubt about it. But WHO isn’t? I’m sure not qualified to cast the first stone.
Who could endure the things President Trump has and lasted two minutes? kamala would run as fast as her legs could carry her. Her cackling reveals more than you think, it shows that cackling is when she can not or will not let the truth come out of her mouth and I will tell you this…if she had been shot in the ear, she would have been DONE. But President Trump rallied and is fighting for us! Think about it!
I look at President Trump as a Pitbull. I have rescued many pitbulls in my life and never regretted doing so. My last Pitbull saved me TWICE. He kept me from being snakebit and he alerted me to an old battery that somehow had caused some leaves to catch fire. This not only saved me but kept our house from catching fire! People who do not know how loving and protective these dogs can be are looking at President Trump in the same light! All they see is the bad part, not the good. Unfortunely, my dog has passed away from cancer three years ago. You never know when someone or something will save you and President Trump has proved his worth and ability. Just as people look at Pitbulls as undesirable, they see President Trump in the wrong light. You never know who or what God will send to save us!
I am on the same train as you guys are!
The Democrats and media allies will hammer away at those ” character issues” but Trump needs to avoid those loose cannon moments that only serve to reinforce those perceptions. Rather, he should confront his critics with that timeless question Ronald Reagan offered in is debate with Jimmy Carter which is simply- are you better off now than you were four years ago? The full context goes into economic and national security issues and is even more relevant in 2024.
This is the best article I’ve read on the topic of Trumps electability and why he should be. And I really like the comment, Trump isn’t for sissies. (Thank you Buddy Saunders.) We must get our neighbors to vote, and hope the Republicans get something done about illegal voting. I’m suggesting some our folks should spread the idea of going to vote with a circle of friends then going to lunch. Any social activity that gets more people who would welcome the company and the opportunity. WDE