As the quondam-and-coming president shifts toward governing mode, anxiety will mark Canadian commentary, as even this week an emergency first ministers’ meeting assesses the tariff-tip of the America First spear hurled northward by Donald Trump.
Before that though, and in this space often critical of President Trump, it is fitting to note the positive developments from his campaign and election. A fitting respect ought to be shown for the American voters who chose him. Three weeks out from the election some things have come into clearer view. Herewith, in no particular order, are some important positive developments.
Money matters less. Kamala Harris and the Democrats raised well over a billion dollars in a matter of months. They had and spent much more than Trump did, yet it was not decisive. That’s a modest step away from money-buys-all politics.
Messages matter. For all the distracting theatrics and off-putting crudeness of Trump’s style, he had clear campaign messages. You know what he thinks, even on subjects on which you would prefer not to know what he thinks. There is more respect for the voter from the candidate who states — clearly and confidently — his position than from the one who offers vacuous effusions of gaseous sentiment. It is patronizing to presume voters will be persuaded only by pretty words rather than policy proposals. Trump had precious few pretty words but ceaselessly spoke about his key policies.
For a quarter century Trump’s positions on trade and foreign policy have been remarkably consistent. And even on those issues where he has flip-flopped — he has gone from pro-choice to pro-life and back again — his new position is as clear as his old one was.
The messenger matters. Say what you will about Trump — and who hasn’t by now? — but he takes a stand and says his piece. Literally, he stands for hour-long-plus speeches. He takes friendly (often) and hostile interviews (occasionally). His interview on the Joe Rogan podcast was three hours long. There is no hiding in his campaign; he engages with voters, even inviting them up on stage. The contrast with Harris, so cautiously managed as to appear contrived, was stark.
Apparent authenticity matters. The contradiction at the heart of Trump’s rhetoric is that while his prevarications, fabrications, denigrations, vilifications and exaggerations are legion, he is remarkably, even singularly, authentic. He is who he is, and presented himself as such for decades. He wears a blue suit, tie and cufflinks every day. He doesn’t put on jeans and plaid shirts. When he donned the McDonald’s apron or the high-visibility vest, he publicly mused about whether he should remove his suitcoat. He was often funny, which is a sign of enjoying the people you are with, and his voters appreciated that he appreciated them.
Race matters less. Trump’s (slight) improvement with Black men and (significant) improvement with Latino voters is a good sign. Racial divides in voting behaviour are to be overcome, not perpetuated and Trump has contributed to that. Trump won the largest demographic — white women, comprising 40 per cent of the voters — by a margin of 53-46, while improving his standing in other groups as well. Americans voted less by race than they did before.
More states might matter. The election depended on seven swing states. Most Americans were effectively left out. Trump won all the swing states, and his big improvement in deep blue states offers the possibility that more states might be competitive in future. He lost Virginia (52-47) and New Jersey (52-46) by much narrower margins than expected, and even big Democratic states like Illinois (55-44) and New York (56-44) were less blue.
In six of the last seven elections, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin voted Democratic. It’s better now that those states are competitive. It would be better if there were more in the future.
Character matters less. That is not good news. President Bill Clinton hit the book circuit immediately after the election, promoting his second autobiography. The most quoted lined in the book is regarding Jeffrey Epstein, about whom Clinton recycles — certainly unwittingly — the line in Jody Wilson-Raybould’s memoir about Justin Trudeau: “I wish I had never met him.”
On tour Clinton laments Trump’s triumph, but he made it possible, in part, by advancing the argument that personal misconduct, even illegal misconduct, shouldn’t matter very much. He won that argument more than a quarter century ago. Trump benefits even now.
National Post