Liberals created and keep fueling the MAGA movement
Donald Trump’s third straight presidential run has conservatives split between “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) die-hards and those singing Bob Seger’s “Turn the page.” Liberals uniformly oppose Trump for a litany of reasons. Many liberals see Mr. Trump as Frankenstein’s monster. These liberals fail to realize this makes them Frankenstein. They created Trump, nurtured him, and continue eight years later to feed, fuel and motivate him and his MAGA movement.
Understanding Trump’s initial rise requires returning to 2011. Governor Mitt Romney cleaned President Barack Obama’s clock in their first presidential debate. The Obama team realized a positive reelection campaign like Ronald Reagan’s 1984 “Morning in America” or Bill Clinton’s 1996 “Bridge to the 21st Century” would fail during tough economic times.
Romney was like Mr. Rogers, only nicer. Obama’s team successfully painted polite Midwesterner Romney as a racist, sexist, heartless, plutocratic vulture capitalist who enjoyed firing people. Obama verbally decked Romney and punched his way to a second term.
Romney and Senator John McCain before him pulled punches out of fear of blowback from criticizing America’s first partially black president. With Hillary Clinton in 2016, Republicans faced the same quandary.
Republicans needed a street brawler. Rudy Giuliani underperformed in 2008. New Jersey’s Chris Christie underwhelmed in 2012. Both opted out in 2016. Only Donald Trump remained.
Republicans overlooked Trump’s behavior because he was a ferocious counter-puncher. No blow was out of bounds. Rosie O’Donnell started a feud with him for laughs. He made her cry.
Trump’s campaign was also a fist in the eyes of smug late-night comedians. Seth Meyers roasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling him a “joke.” John Oliver dared Trump to run. Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel ridiculed him. They stopped laughing after he won.
Yet the biggest gift American liberals gave Trump was a clear policy lane. His undisciplined personal style aside, Trump was remarkably disciplined on policy. Voters felt economic angst, and Trump repeatedly hammered the same two themes of trade and immigration he had addressed for over 30 years.
Democrats focused on social issues. Voters understood at the time that abortion was legal and gay marriage was law of the land. Climate change registered at the bottom of opinion surveys.
On election day, Trump campaigned in Wisconsin. Hillary partied with A-list celebrities. Trump’s victory equated to “Caddyshack” Rodney Dangerfield defeating Ted Knight’s Judge Smails. The slobs defeated the snobs.
Eight years later, many Democrats still have not learned. Some prop Trump up under the belief he cannot win. More plausibly, they cannot ignore him. The more President Joe Biden’s approval languishes, the more Democrats frighten voters with “Orange Man Bad.”
Democrats mock Trump, his policies, and worst of all, his voters. Indicting Trump and raiding his Mar-A-Lago home under flimsy charges emboldens him. He successfully paints his critics as wacky conspiracy theorists who insist he is a Russian spy. His supporters rush to defend him when he claims, “They’re not after me. They’re after you. I’m just in the way.” Most Trump voters are not racists, sexists, conspiracy theorists or insurrectionists. They just want a better life.
Democrats created MAGA by condescendingly dismissing Trump voters as society’s filthy dregs. Trump reminded these voters that their lives also matter.
With spiraling inflation, food and fuel prices, and crime, Democrats need better answers than blaming Trump. Even those questioning his policy prescriptions concede that at least he has them. Democrats attacking voters as Gaea-killing transphobes give Trump his opening.
Had Democrats sacrificed Obama’s identity politics, Romney may have served two very moderate terms. Flaming culture wars would have been on the back burner of a quiet, non-controversial technocratic administration. Trump would have spent a decade building bigger, better golf courses.
A 2024 Trump win would again be by default. He can win if enough voters believe Democrats, as in 2016, remain indifferent to their survival.