by Thaddeus G. McCotter
The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has led his supporters and some, though not all, of his opponents to gain a broader perspective on the most vital things in life. It has also led his supporters to a broader appreciation of what is not necessarily vital in the current campaign. This is a hearty development for the Republican Party and the Make America Great Again movement. Mr. Trump continues to lead and is, once again, its presidential standard-bearer. But if not properly channeled, the resulting enthusiasm could breed overconfidence among the campaign and its supporters.
The temptation to be overconfident is all too human. For a long time, Mr. Trump has been persecuted as below the law by the left’s pernicious lawfare cabal and has been cast as a threat to democracy that Democrats and their sneering media have deemed to be a threat to be eliminated. After the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, his supporters and all decent people expressed effusive gratitude that his life had been spared. After witnessing the turn of events that allowed Mr. Trump to be saved and to continue living and running, two potentially controversial GOP political events had far less potential to spark divisive intraparty disputes.
First, criticism of the Republican Party platform has become much more muted. Given the bitterness that has persisted between supporters of the various candidates challenging Mr. Trump in the primaries, crafting a unified policy document would be a challenge, and that challenge would necessarily have to be in addition to the traditionally divisive issues that the platform has historically addressed, such as its pro-life plank. But in this case, there has been an understanding that the party’s platform is not a binding promise but an outline of possibilities. Moreover, an event in Butler, Pennsylvania, has clearly demonstrated how events can and often do overtake and render moot many of the platform’s plans. One potential crisis has thus been averted.
Second, given the assassination attempt, as well as his age (though he is clearly hearty and resilient), Mr. Trump’s choice of vice presidential candidate could potentially be even more controversial than usual, as it already was, since Mr. Trump unceremoniously replaced his former vice presidential candidate and running mate, Mike Pence. Nevertheless, thanks to his astute voter-pleasing choice of Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his vice presidential candidate, another potentially controversial issue has been deftly resolved.
With those two issues firmly in hand, the unified GOP convention in Milwaukee nominated Mr. Trump and Senator Vance and confidently launched the campaign for the Democratic nominee. But are they doing so too confidently?
After initial prayers and gratitude that Mr. Trump had survived the assassination attempt, many of his supporters and warm pundits began to believe that the election was effectively over. The electorate (well, those who do not suffer from the hateful affliction of Trump Derangement Syndrome) would now see the former president as a sympathetic figure and, apart from his past political successes and the failures of his successor, would vote for Mr. Trump. To assume this is a grave mistake.
First, the opposition has a voice. Tens of millions of votes, in fact. And it has worked tough in key swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania to permanently implement its “emergency” extralegal voting procedures into their constitutions and/or statutes. As such, every vote will be needed, and every vote collected and counted, to defeat the Democrats’ well-oiled ballot harvesting operation and private money contracted with certain secretaries of state and local officials to disproportionately drive out Democratic voter turnout, and that’s on top of President Biden’s executive order directing his administration to encourage the same voter turnout.
Second, America remains a politically divided country. To win the presidential election, there will be very few truly undecided voters who can be persuaded to vote for Mr. Trump. While the events in Butler may lend a hand to win over those voters, as we have seen, a day is a lifetime in politics. There is no telling what the future holds. Indeed, it is not even certain that President Biden will ultimately become his party’s nominee. [as of time of writing]. Politically speaking, you can never predict what the next twist will be.
Even polls that may currently seem favorable to the Trump campaign can change quickly; and the Trump campaign’s claims about them should be taken with a grain of salt: they are supposedly intended to intimidate the opposition, not to pump up his supporters’ overconfidence. Democrats, on the other hand, will reports to instill fear in his supporters, to make them work harder, and to encourage Trump supporters to become overconfident, to make them work less. To shut them down and focus on the task at hand. Today, while Mr. Trump finds up-to-date, sympathetic ears, tomorrow those same ears may prove capricious and listen to another candidate’s arguments in order to win their vote, probably for some currently unforeseen reason.
In the end, it’s best to remember that the only things we can truly control are our actions and our efforts. Now is the time to focus, put your nose to the grindstone, and continue ground game which will bring to a vote and return Mr. Trump to the office of President and Senator Vance to the office of Vice President; gain majorities in Congress in both houses; restore and expand the gains of the Republican Party at the state and local level.
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American Greatness contributor, Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (MC, Ret.) represented Michigan’s 11th congressional district from 2003 to 2012 and served as chairman of the Republican House Policy Committee. A non-lobbyist, he frequently speaks and conducts public policy seminars and is co-host of Monday’s “John Batchelor Show” among various media appearances.
Photo “Donald Trump and Supporters” by Daniel Scavino Jr.
