By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Politics is an endless challenge, but you must adapt to the curves to navigate the road
The course correction.
Everyone needs ‘em at one stage or another. The best laid plans don’t always work out the way we envision them. Adaptability is one of the most important abilities every leader should possess and hone.
The topic has come up quite a bit recently in regards to President Donald Trump, a forward-looking policy-setter who wouldn’t dream of settling for leading from behind. But Trump’s rapid pace also has some folks having a tough time following where he’s leading to.
Trump’s willingness to meet with and answer questions from the media puts him in the top echelon of approachable and accountable leaders. But his capacity to change course might also be tested in the months ahead, especially in his quest to balance his agenda and still keep the Republicans on track to maintain majorities in Congress.
Can it be done? In an article titled, “Reconsider Your Failing Strategy, Mr. President — Intentional ambiguity won’t serve Trump well during the upcoming midterm elections.”, Jason Riley wrote at The Wall Street Journal last week:
“It’s likely that the Trump administration’s mass-deportation efforts have affected the voting patterns of Latinos and other minority groups, but it’s also true that Mr. Trump’s restrictionism has been the constant in both terms. If the president’s hard-line immigration stance is scaring away minority voters, why was he able to win them over in the first place?
“Mr. Trump’s appeal to minorities has always been more about his stewardship of the economy and less about his border policies. As inflation has continued to take its toll on wages, and affordability concerns have heightened, minority support for Republicans has become more tentative. According to last month’s jobs report, the white unemployment rate has remained stable over the past year, while it has increased for blacks, Asians and Hispanics.
“Yes, the president needs a new homeland security secretary. He also needs a new strategy.”
Political observers have offered the same or similar counsel as Riley’s for as long as Trump has been in politics, suggesting that the candidate, then president, must alter his focus and viewpoint in order to influence constituencies x, y and z only to be proven wrong – time and again – by the voters at election time.
Surveys tend to reinforce Riley’s theme, the same way Fox News’s Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham use poll results to argue their different points-of-view. The only thing that’s real is the fact the election is still eight or so months away and no one really knows what it will be like later this year in terms of voter attitudes and preferences on many topics.
What is inherently predictable is the notion the economy will play a major factor in Americans’ attitudes. I’ve argued this perception until I’m blue in the face and I haven’t changed my mind on the necessity to emphasize it once again.
The only strategy switch that seems necessary at this juncture is for Trump to concentrate more on the cost-of-living-type indicators. The president doesn’t necessarily have to do this at the expense of all the other pressure points, but he’s going to need a better rationale for why the Iran mission had to take place right away – either that, or cease the bombing runs at the instant it’s possible.
What will constitute victory in Iran? For Venezuela, the American military captured the rogue nation’s dictator and his wife right away. Democrats suddenly ran out of things to gripe about when there weren’t any more Venezuelan drug boats to weep over when they were blown to bits somewhere out on the ocean surface.
With religious and regional complexities, Iran is much more complicated, and will take more time to resolve. Contradictory statements from Trump on the progress of the Iran mission haven’t helped Americans understand what’s going on over there. It’s the same with Immigration, etc., with Trump touting the success of closing the border and ICE’s task of removing criminals while domestic strife raged in certain spots.
Right-thinking people appreciate the effort, but the only things that grab headlines these days are when leftist kooks receive an excessive amount of force from federal agents. We don’t get breaking news from non-sanctuary jurisdictions, do we?
Kristi Noem became the first Trump cabinet member to be replaced, which hasn’t brought about storms of protests from MAGA adherents. A cabinet secretary’s first duty, in many respects, is to manage the PR operation in their department. Noem didn’t do it well. Making a change at DHS appeared to be the right thing to do.
But it could also be said that Trump, through his focus on foreign affairs and defending his portfolio of policies, has lost his focus on the job voters hired him to do, which was fix the home-based matters that got so screwed up under Biden.
Trump’s “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” approach isn’t necessarily a winning political strategy for pols other than himself. Try being a Republican candidate in a competitive district or state and feeling a need to defend Trump’s ever-evolving tactics in the Middle East. Yes, Iran deserved what it got, and it looks like the U.S. is winning, but the voters want to hear about what can be done to pay for stuff, not how long gas prices will remain elevated due to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz being blocked.
They’re hit with the answer every time they go to the gas station.
While it’s always a good thing to try to get into the heads of your adversary – be it an opposing foreign leader, dictator or general, or simply your political antagonist, or even Kamala Harris (if this is possible), President Trump should redouble his efforts to decipher the Democrat point-of-view these days.
Trump appears to have settled on a philosophy that revolves around himself, namely, that the only thing Democrats want is for him to be gone so they can have their turn as lead kid in the proverbial sandbox again. In thinking this, Trump would be mostly right, considering Democrats have demonstrated an uncanny ability to RESIST! everything he advocates for.
It’s in Democrats’ very natures to assume a contrarian stance to a Trump originated position. We saw a physical manifestation of this phenomenon a few weeks ago during Trump’s State of the Union speech when Democrats couldn’t/wouldn’t bring themselves to stand and visibly (or audibly) support the president’s parade of true American heroes he highlighted in the oration.
Trump could’ve claimed something like, “Jesus himself favors letting Americans keep more of their hard-earned dollars through lower taxes,” and Democrats would’ve remained glued to their seats.
Democrats are irrational. But we still must try to understand them in order to single out their weaknesses and attack them. Politically, of course.
It’s been demonstrated over the past several decades that Democrats will do and say anything to win elections. As an example, “Chucky” Schumer commented last week when the February inflation report was released – saying that the CPI held steady at 2.4 percent – that consumers wouldn’t be happy, because, “People want costs to go down, not to stay where they are.”
The Democrat mindset won’t allow for admitting something could be positive about inflation holding firm under Donald Trump because it destroys the “affordability” narrative they’ve tried so earnestly to sustain.
The Iran mission has influenced world oil prices and will continue to do so until Iran’s military capability is thoroughly asphyxiated. This isn’t like in Iraq, where Iranian IED’s plagued the U.S. military for years because local militias used them to kill Americans. Trump must’ve surmised that he could silence Iran’s leadership by dominating the skies and blowing up everything else.
Understanding where Democrats come from won’t help counteract their unfathomable arguments, but it should help Republicans tailor their message – especially on the economy – to reach persuadable voters. Every Republican running in this year’s general election must be prepared to defend the Trump economic record.
And hopefully Trump himself will assist them by campaigning hard for victory in 2026. If there’s a course correction called for, it’s convincing Trump to limit distractions after the Iran mission is concluded.
I was once told that advice is worth what you pay for it, and in the case of Donald Trump laying out value for tidbits of commentary, he doesn’t accept others’ opinions often. Trump trusts his instincts first and the philosophy has served him well. Understanding what Democrats are after will only help him make good decisions for this year’s elections.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .