A swath of Republican election officials have been held up as examples of how Trumpism has spread across the country to infect state and local government. But that discussion has been about the rhetoric, not the execution of their public responsibilities. Their message has been consistent. “We are a new breed who will shake up the establishment.”
Shake it up they did. When it came to politics, they kept every promise on which they rode into office. Fear of the other. Allegiance to big lies about democracy, the press and anyone who did not share their desire to bring back an American that as Margaret Mitchell wrote was, “Gone with the Wind.”
However, this is all noise to mask the true legacy of the protagonist of last four years. On this day which will become the de jure end of the Trump era (as opposed to January 6th which was the de facto end), I am more hopeful than I should be about the reunification of America. The reason? Because one political axiom, above all, is more valid than ever. GOOD GOVERNANCE MAKE GOOD POLITICS.
The legacy Trump and all the mini-Trumps leave behind is not division and chaos, it is incompetence. More importantly, incompetence when it matters the most. The past four years are riddled with the inability to translate rhetoric into action. However, no visual tableau could expose this incompetence more than the 200,000 American flags on the Washington mall.
Americans understand this is in stark contrast to what Joe Biden brings to the Oval Office. Donald Trump will be the first chief executive since the Gallup organization began tracking the president’s approval rating never to have reached 50 percent. On Monday, Gallup reported Biden held a pre-inauguration approval of 68 percent. That is 16 points higher than his percentage of the votes just two months earlier. Why? Even respondents who did not vote him for him said they were impressed with how he was handling the transition.
GOOD GOVERNANCE MAKES GOOD POLITICS. Nothing Biden says from the West portico of the U.S. Capitol will make a difference over the next four years. If the team he has assembled can usher in a new era of competence and professionalism, verbal attacks against “the establishment” and “academic elites” will cease. Congressional debates will be about policy, strategy and tactics, not constitutional principles. The primary mission of the press will return to informing, not fact-checking. And the darker elements of the American psyche will be exposed, not as patriots, but non-believers in Madisonian democracy.
As Donald Trump journeys back to Mar-a-Lago, he will likely still be focused on how he could possibly lose to someone like Joe Biden. The answer is simply. When you are an outsider, it is easy to challenge those in power. But as an incumbent, the metrics change. Good governance, not slogans and rallies, make good politics.
As I am writing this post, I am watching the sun rise over the White House. It is figuratively and literally a new day. And I am optimistic. As Ziggy said, “We call today “the present” because it is a gift.” And though, under the circumstances, there will be no party, there is much to celebrate.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP