LEARNING FROM TRUMP?

 

Although he lost the twenty twenty election, Donald Trump did get more votes than his first run in twenty sixteen, and he did not do as poorly as most polls predicted.  Amazingly, he actually increased his numbers in non white voters.  There are a number of theories about why that happened, but the one I find most interesting is the simplest: when the first round of stimulus checks were sent out in the beginning of the pandemic, Trump's name was on the bottom of each check in big bold letters.  For voters who don't follow the news much, seeing that name with that check gave them a positive feeling towards Trump, who was, predictably, taking sole credit for something that was accomplished by a bipartisan group of congress people passing a bill before he signed it.  That positive feeling may have been what led to more votes for Trump in twenty twenty.

This kind of grandstanding was nothing new for our former president (who would've taken credit for the sun coming up each  morning if he could).  But the ability (and willingness) to blow one's own horn is a skill a lot of Democrats could do well to learn from him.

Back in two thousand and nine, shortly after Barack Obama took office, he passed a stimulus bill to help pull the country out of a recession he had inherited.  One of the provisions of the bill was that ordinary workers were refunded a small amount of money in their paychecks.  The theory from the administration was that it was better to give workers a small amount per paycheck rather than a lump sum.  The problem from a political standpoint  was that most workers didn't notice the increase, and the Obama administration got no credit for it.  Even worse, when the stimulus spending brought factory and business openings, there was little to no acknowledgement of how the stimulus money made that possible.  No signs pronouncing that this was what the stimulus was all about, or even a picture of the president to hold up at the ribbon cutting ceremonies.  When  Solyndra, a solar panel company, got stimulus money and then went bankrupt, the Republicans were quick to point out the wasted money.  But why didn't the Democrats respond by showing just how much good the stimulus did?  While many economists now think that the Obama stimulus bill should have been bigger, it did succeed in helping to lift the economy out of the recession it was in.  But Obama and the Democrats got little credit for it, and their perceived failure to fix the economy was part of why the Republican party did so well in the twenty ten midterms.  When the stimulus plan passed congress, there were only a handful of Republican house members that voted for it, and zero members in the Senate.  So the Republican party did nothing to help the economy, and then benefited from the perception that the Democrats didn't do enough!

Here are some other relevant facts: most Americans are pro choice, support gay marriage, believe that climate change is real and something needs to be done about it, think that the rich don't pay their fair share  in taxes and that marijuana should be legal.  Add to that a recent New York Times article that pointed out that  since the year nineteen thirty three, economic growth under Democratic presidents has always, on average, exceeded that of economic growth under Republican ones.  So on the issues, most Americans side with the Democrats, and Democratic presidents have stronger economic growth.

Given all of that, why is it that Republicans ever win elections?  Partly because they know how to work the system, how to use gerrymandering, voter suppression and the electoral college to gain an unfair advantage.  Also, there's a right wing media that mostly ignores big issues to focus on smaller, cultural ones to anger their audience (like the so called "war on Christmas").  But I think another reason is that Republicans are just more openly boastful about successes (or perceived ones), than the Democrats are.  Although I don't want the Democrats to swagger like Donald Trump and George W Bush, a little more bragging about what they've done right wouldn't hurt.

Which brings us to Joe Biden's stimulus plan; unlike Obama, Biden is not spending as much time negotiating with the Republicans, seeing as how he remembers how Obama's attempt at bipartisanship resulted in a weak bill that the Republicans still didn't like.  The important thing is that when that Biden bill is passed and helps the economy get back on track (which most economists think it will), he and his party should not be afraid to take credit where credit is due in the twenty twenty-two midterms.  The public should be reminded that is was Republicans in the White House and congress who botched the pandemic response and the economic fall out it caused and that it was Democrats who helped turn the country around.  And yes, go ahead and put Biden's name at the bottom of the stimulus checks.  He's earned it.