Since the election, many Democrats have been filled with fear, dread and even a sense of doom. This is understandable, given the serious problems with President-elect Donald Trump (as I’ve discussed on the podcast They Stand Corrected, hosted by frequent AJC contributor Josh Levs). Each time Trump announces another choice for a top post, alarm bells go off.
Perhaps nowhere is the election loss as poignant as in swing states, where Democratic activists worked so hard to try to stave off Trumpism. Case in point: Georgia. Despite metro Atlanta remaining solidly “blue,” the state turned “red,” along with other battlegrounds.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
But having learned to take a long view on politics, I can say that the picture is not as dire as it might seem. There are strong reasons for Democrats to remain optimistic. In the Thanksgiving season, I hope this will inject some positivity into your celebrations.
For starters, Trump is not going to remake America in his image. He might disregard the basics of democracy and want to undo them, but he has never succeeded at any big goal beyond getting support for himself. His business career has been a long series of failures and bankruptcies. Reality TV producers had to work hard to invent a fake image of a man capable of achieving big goals in business.
Yes, Trump can make a mess of the government. But he has never shown the tactical abilities, clever thinking, or institutional knowledge to achieve anything permanent on a wide scale. He is a natural salesman selling an image of himself, not a leader with the knowhow to undo structures of democracy.
His judicial appointments might have a lasting effect, as do the appointments of any president. Reversing that damage might take many years — but even that can be done. The courts’ decisions don’t need to be seen as a death knell.
He’s also physically and mentally diminished. Though he spent years slamming President Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe,” Trump himself has long been disconnected from reality. This is a man who spontaneously complained about sharks at a rally and repeatedly referred to Hannibal Lecter as a real person. He launched into nonsensical descriptions, insisting that California has a faucet the size of a building that dumps water “aimlessly into the Pacific.” His references to Arnold Palmer’s genitalia triggered a rebuke from the late golfer’s daughter.
He will surely be disconnected from most of whatever goes on in he White House. And as anyone in business knows, when the CEO is disengaged, everything goes downhill. Goals and plans fall apart.
Next, Trump will be a lame duck. This is basically always the case in the second half of a second term. But in his case, since his only focus is on himself and there’s very little left for anyone to offer him, he’s likely to be a lame duck right away. Republicans will finally start thinking about life after Trump and hedge accordingly, unwilling to risk the unpopularity he brought the party last time — a level so extreme that his party was clobbered in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections.
Many people are worried about Trump’s team. But the people he surrounds himself with are unlikely to get much done either. They’re scandal-prone grifters, self-promoters and fellow egomaniacs who neither like nor trust each other. And they all have reason to know that he’ll throw them under the bus any day.
With minimal experience and knowledge beyond playing to a right-wing echo chamber, and with no intention of working together, this group will probably fall into chaos. It’s very hard to orchestrate big societal changes anyway, but doing so amid chaos and infighting is near impossible.
Even if all the above were not true — even if the opposite were true — Republicans would still fail in their goals because the ideas they have sold to the electorate are in conflict. You can’t have massive unfunded tax cuts, increase defense spending, impose tariffs, build a massive deportation program and protect social Security and Medicare without driving up deficits, inflation and interest rates. Either something will have to come off the table or inflation will come back with a vengeance. Both are politically toxic. For a sign of this, just look across the pond. This is what happened to Boris Johnson and the Conservatives in the United Kingdom.
And here’s perhaps the best part: There is no Trump second act without Trump. The phenomenon surrounding him is a cult of personality — a type of cult that does not simply transfer to another individual. There’s no reason to believe that Vice President-elect JD Vance or anyone else will inspire as many devotees.
Yes, there will be damage. But Trump’s track record should help Democrats dial down their fear. If he actually achieved the things he says he will, it would be a first.
Vaughan Emsley is a marketing specialist and political commentator. He’s on Bluesky at @vaughan45.
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