Here’s the truth: Donald Trump has many infirmities that have been evident since the 2016 campaign and account for the chaos that characterizes his presidency. Poor temperament, a lack of knowledge about the function of American government, a belief that he can run the White House as he ran his family-owned company, very little knowledge of policy, and other longstanding flaws have considerably damaged his presidency.
But candidate Trump also had one unique strength that offered the possibility, however remote, that he could deliver on his promises and rectify a very real flaw that has plagued our politics over the last decade. As a businessman without an overarching ideology, who got elected in spite of opposition from his party’s power brokers, he was poised to become the bipartisan dealmaker that he for so long bragged about being. He had an opportunity to cut through partisan gridlock while maintaining the loyalty of his base and addressing America’s pressing issues.
On that count, however, he has failed abysmally, fumbling away opportunity after opportunity, — most recently with the unveiling of his plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs last week — either because he failed to recognize the possibilities presented by his unique political freedom — transcending polarization and gridlock, having a positive impact on Americans’ lives and accordingly boosting his own popularity — or because he has ensconced himself in a right-wing echo chamber which has skewed whatever pragmatic instincts he might have. While it may be too late, undoing this mistake might be the only way for Trump to save his presidency.
While Trump mouthed standard conservative positions on issues ranging from abortion to gun rights during the campaign, his greatest appeal to his uniquely loyal base stemmed from right-wing populist positions on trade and immigration. The toughness he projected and his willingness to take it to smug, politically correct liberals also attracted many Americans and helped propel him to victory. Appealing on these relatively narrow grounds, combined with the fact that Trump had already proven that he could navigate both a primary and a general election without support from the conservative political establishment, gave him a great deal of latitude to cut deals on other issues and play to the center in a way another Republican president likely could not.
Yet, for much of his first year in office, Trump allowed Congressional Republicans to seek to achieve priorities like dismantling Obamacare and enacting tax reform using special budget reconciliation procedures. These rules allowed legislation to pass with a simple majority in the Senate, but poisoned the well and ensured these efforts would focus on unifying Republicans, not constructing the bipartisan coalitions Trump would need in the future.
In late January, however, with tax reform successfully enacted, Democratic Senate Leader Charles Schumer gave Trump an opportunity to pivot over a lunch of cheeseburgers, offering the president a deal on DACA: full funding for his signature border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children.
It was an ideal opportunity for Trump. Protecting Dreamers had widespread support among Americans, and seemed to be something that Trump himself favored. The deal proposed by Schumer also would have allowed the President to go before the cameras and declare victory. He could have said something like “They told you Trump would never get the money for his wall. Well, we got the money, and we’re going to have the wall.” The deal would have placated the center most because Americans saw Dreamers in a sympathetic light while also pleasing Trump’s base by making him look like a man who could deliver.
While he initially appeared receptive, later in the day, Trump rejected the offer, leading to a short government shutdown. Subsequently, he offered a proposal that included protections for Dreamers but coupled the wall funding with several hardline immigration provisions that made any sort of a deal impossible.
continued
Here’s the truth: Donald Trump has many infirmities that have been evident since the 2016 campaign and account for the chaos that characterizes his presidency. Poor temperament, a lack of knowledge about the function of American government, a belief that he can run the White House as he ran his family-owned company, very little knowledge of policy, and other longstanding flaws have considerably damaged his presidency.
But candidate Trump also had one unique strength that offered the possibility, however remote, that he could deliver on his promises and rectify a very real flaw that has plagued our politics over the last decade. As a businessman without an overarching ideology, who got elected in spite of opposition from his party’s power brokers, he was poised to become the bipartisan dealmaker that he for so long bragged about being. He had an opportunity to cut through partisan gridlock while maintaining the loyalty of his base and addressing America’s pressing issues.
On that count, however, he has failed abysmally, fumbling away opportunity after opportunity, — most recently with the unveiling of his plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs last week — either because he failed to recognize the possibilities presented by his unique political freedom — transcending polarization and gridlock, having a positive impact on Americans’ lives and accordingly boosting his own popularity — or because he has ensconced himself in a right-wing echo chamber which has skewed whatever pragmatic instincts he might have. While it may be too late, undoing this mistake might be the only way for Trump to save his presidency.
While Trump mouthed standard conservative positions on issues ranging from abortion to gun rights during the campaign, his greatest appeal to his uniquely loyal base stemmed from right-wing populist positions on trade and immigration. The toughness he projected and his willingness to take it to smug, politically correct liberals also attracted many Americans and helped propel him to victory.
Appealing on these relatively narrow grounds, combined with the fact that Trump had already proven that he could navigate both a primary and a general election without support from the conservative political establishment, gave him a great deal of latitude to cut deals on other issues and play to the center in a way another Republican president likely could not.
Yet, for much of his first year in office, Trump allowed Congressional Republicans to seek to achieve priorities like dismantling Obamacare and enacting tax reform using special budget reconciliation procedures. These rules allowed legislation to pass with a simple majority in the Senate, but poisoned the well and ensured these efforts would focus on unifying Republicans, not constructing the bipartisan coalitions Trump would need in the future.
In late January, however, with tax reform successfully enacted, Democratic Senate Leader Charles Schumer gave Trump an opportunity to pivot over a lunch of cheeseburgers, offering the president a deal on DACA: full funding for his signature border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children.
It was an ideal opportunity for Trump. Protecting Dreamers had widespread support among Americans, and seemed to be something that Trump himself favored. The deal proposed by Schumer also would have allowed the President to go before the cameras and declare victory.
He could have said something like “They told you Trump would never get the money for his wall. Well, we got the money, and we’re going to have the wall.” The deal would have placated the center most because Americans saw Dreamers in a sympathetic light while also pleasing Trump’s base by making him look like a man who could deliver.
While he initially appeared receptive, later in the day, Trump rejected the offer, leading to a short government shutdown. Subsequently, he offered a proposal that included protections for Dreamers but coupled the wall funding with several hardline immigration provisions that made any sort of a deal impossible.
But candidate Trump also had one unique strength that offered the possibility, however remote, that he could deliver on his promises and rectify a very real flaw that has plagued our politics over the last decade. As a businessman without an overarching ideology, who got elected in spite of opposition from his party’s power brokers, he was poised to become the bipartisan dealmaker that he for so long bragged about being. He had an opportunity to cut through partisan gridlock while maintaining the loyalty of his base and addressing America’s pressing issues.
On that count, however, he has failed abysmally, fumbling away opportunity after opportunity, — most recently with the unveiling of his plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs last week — either because he failed to recognize the possibilities presented by his unique political freedom — transcending polarization and gridlock, having a positive impact on Americans’ lives and accordingly boosting his own popularity — or because he has ensconced himself in a right-wing echo chamber which has skewed whatever pragmatic instincts he might have. While it may be too late, undoing this mistake might be the only way for Trump to save his presidency.
While Trump mouthed standard conservative positions on issues ranging from abortion to gun rights during the campaign, his greatest appeal to his uniquely loyal base stemmed from right-wing populist positions on trade and immigration. The toughness he projected and his willingness to take it to smug, politically correct liberals also attracted many Americans and helped propel him to victory. Appealing on these relatively narrow grounds, combined with the fact that Trump had already proven that he could navigate both a primary and a general election without support from the conservative political establishment, gave him a great deal of latitude to cut deals on other issues and play to the center in a way another Republican president likely could not.
Yet, for much of his first year in office, Trump allowed Congressional Republicans to seek to achieve priorities like dismantling Obamacare and enacting tax reform using special budget reconciliation procedures. These rules allowed legislation to pass with a simple majority in the Senate, but poisoned the well and ensured these efforts would focus on unifying Republicans, not constructing the bipartisan coalitions Trump would need in the future.
In late January, however, with tax reform successfully enacted, Democratic Senate Leader Charles Schumer gave Trump an opportunity to pivot over a lunch of cheeseburgers, offering the president a deal on DACA: full funding for his signature border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children.
It was an ideal opportunity for Trump. Protecting Dreamers had widespread support among Americans, and seemed to be something that Trump himself favored. The deal proposed by Schumer also would have allowed the President to go before the cameras and declare victory. He could have said something like “They told you Trump would never get the money for his wall. Well, we got the money, and we’re going to have the wall.” The deal would have placated the center most because Americans saw Dreamers in a sympathetic light while also pleasing Trump’s base by making him look like a man who could deliver.
While he initially appeared receptive, later in the day, Trump rejected the offer, leading to a short government shutdown. Subsequently, he offered a proposal that included protections for Dreamers but coupled the wall funding with several hardline immigration provisions that made any sort of a deal impossible.
continued
Here’s the truth: Donald Trump has many infirmities that have been evident since the 2016 campaign and account for the chaos that characterizes his presidency. Poor temperament, a lack of knowledge about the function of American government, a belief that he can run the White House as he ran his family-owned company, very little knowledge of policy, and other longstanding flaws have considerably damaged his presidency.
But candidate Trump also had one unique strength that offered the possibility, however remote, that he could deliver on his promises and rectify a very real flaw that has plagued our politics over the last decade. As a businessman without an overarching ideology, who got elected in spite of opposition from his party’s power brokers, he was poised to become the bipartisan dealmaker that he for so long bragged about being. He had an opportunity to cut through partisan gridlock while maintaining the loyalty of his base and addressing America’s pressing issues.
On that count, however, he has failed abysmally, fumbling away opportunity after opportunity, — most recently with the unveiling of his plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs last week — either because he failed to recognize the possibilities presented by his unique political freedom — transcending polarization and gridlock, having a positive impact on Americans’ lives and accordingly boosting his own popularity — or because he has ensconced himself in a right-wing echo chamber which has skewed whatever pragmatic instincts he might have. While it may be too late, undoing this mistake might be the only way for Trump to save his presidency.
While Trump mouthed standard conservative positions on issues ranging from abortion to gun rights during the campaign, his greatest appeal to his uniquely loyal base stemmed from right-wing populist positions on trade and immigration. The toughness he projected and his willingness to take it to smug, politically correct liberals also attracted many Americans and helped propel him to victory.
Appealing on these relatively narrow grounds, combined with the fact that Trump had already proven that he could navigate both a primary and a general election without support from the conservative political establishment, gave him a great deal of latitude to cut deals on other issues and play to the center in a way another Republican president likely could not.
Yet, for much of his first year in office, Trump allowed Congressional Republicans to seek to achieve priorities like dismantling Obamacare and enacting tax reform using special budget reconciliation procedures. These rules allowed legislation to pass with a simple majority in the Senate, but poisoned the well and ensured these efforts would focus on unifying Republicans, not constructing the bipartisan coalitions Trump would need in the future.
In late January, however, with tax reform successfully enacted, Democratic Senate Leader Charles Schumer gave Trump an opportunity to pivot over a lunch of cheeseburgers, offering the president a deal on DACA: full funding for his signature border wall in exchange for a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers who were brought to the United States as children.
It was an ideal opportunity for Trump. Protecting Dreamers had widespread support among Americans, and seemed to be something that Trump himself favored. The deal proposed by Schumer also would have allowed the President to go before the cameras and declare victory.
He could have said something like “They told you Trump would never get the money for his wall. Well, we got the money, and we’re going to have the wall.” The deal would have placated the center most because Americans saw Dreamers in a sympathetic light while also pleasing Trump’s base by making him look like a man who could deliver.
While he initially appeared receptive, later in the day, Trump rejected the offer, leading to a short government shutdown. Subsequently, he offered a proposal that included protections for Dreamers but coupled the wall funding with several hardline immigration provisions that made any sort of a deal impossible.
