Mediaboss Marketing

Since President Trump won election last November, some Democrats and pundits have argued that, despite his noxious rhetoric and promises, the new president deserves a chance, either broadly or on specific issues such as trade and infrastructure. Perhaps he would surprise people, and even if he didnt, Democrats would be hypocrites to obstruct right away after complaining about endless GOP obstruction. January has shown that a Trump presidency will be at least as bad as feared, yet too many Democrats still haventadjusted to reality.

Far from reaching across the aisle or ignoring the GOP establishment, Trumps presidency so far is a catalogue of campaign promises filtered through a screen of GOP orthodoxy. His Cabinet has a number of Washington outsiders never mind that a number of them are manifestly unqualified for the posts or that several of the so-called outsiders are billionaires and big-money donors. His administration is already implementing crackdowns on immigration, muzzling the Environmental Protection Agency on climate change, threatening commitments to the United Nations and unwinding the Affordable Care Act all red meat for his base and areas where Trump and the GOP establishment agree. The areas of least concrete progress an Obamacare replacement and an infrastructure program are the areas where his ideas most obviouslyconflict with Republican doctrine.

Oh, and he still hasnt released his tax returns, he speaks wistfully of another chance to take Iraqs oil, he has already created at least one crisis with a U.S. neighbor and he threatens the very foundation of U.S. democracy with falsehoods about supposed voter fraud.

ThoughDemocrats are talking tougher, too many are still acting as though old rules apply. Politico reports thatSenate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) has prioritized eight nominees rather than trying to gum up all the picks at once.All but four members of the Democratic caucus voted to confirm Nikki Haley as U.N. ambassador despite a complete lack of qualifications for the post. Every Democrat on theBanking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee voted to send similarly unqualified Ben Carsons nomination to the full Senate. According to Politico, senators believe they can inoculate themselves from the criticism of obstructionism often leveled at [Sen. Mitch] McConnell during Obamas presidency.

Thats not good enough. History shows us that presidents do, in fact, govern as they campaign, and Trump is doing just that. Add in his tendency to agree with whatever the last person he met with told him, and you have a presidency blending the policies of Mike Pence and Steve Bannon with the temperament and attention span of a toddler banging on his high chair not the kind of politician that Democrats can or should work with.Everyone knows that Democrats have very little voting power to stop Trumps mistakes, but that doesnt mean they have to implicitly smooth the way. Everything should be focused on limiting the damage Trump and the Republicans can do, using political leverage or at least refusing to rubber-stamp Trump nominees and actions to at least slow things down.

To be clear, a message of were not him is insufficient. Democrats should push their own agenda focused on good jobs and equal rights. Indeed, Schumer and others deserve credit for proposing a specific infrastructure plan that would create real jobs to contrast with the eventual Trump-GOP giveaway to big business. But whatever shape Democrats own policies take, Trump has already proved that he deserves no accommodation.

Visit link:
The case for 'giving Trump a chance' is dead. Too many Democrats are still holding back. - Washington Post (blog)