Here are some quick thoughts after yesterday’s election:
Obama had a fairly short honeymoon in 2008 – 2009. Trump will have no honeymoon.
Don’t believe polls. Polls matter to bettors – losing bettors in this case – and to those who want to know the result before the day of the contest. The rest of us can wait. If we didn’t have polls, no one – not even the candidates – would be worse off.
Clinton’s calls for unity are courteous and civil. They show good sportsmanship. They are also pro forma, in that Democrats have no more intention of uniting behind President Trump than Republicans would have had if Clinton were elected.
On the question of unity, observe behavior of congressmen – senators in particular – in the upcoming congress. Democrats have complained for eight years about how obstructionist the Republicans are. Now it’s their turn to obstruct. Each party regards its own obstructionism as virtuous.
Advice to Hillary Clinton during your retirement: whatever else you do, get your daughter out of the family business. No crime family aspires to burden the next generation that way. Remember Don Corleone’s last words to Michael, when he expresses regret that Michael would not become a senator.
Observation from David Brooks, who on PBS could not believe what he saw as Trump won large state after large state: “Whatever else happens, I hope this election doesn’t give Trump a big ego.”
Wuthering Heights
Advice to Trump, as you move into the White House for four years or more: keep your mouth shut, your zipper up, and your hair combed. If you were ever to adopt the Bernie Sanders look for your hair, it would accelerate your impeachment proceedings by at least two months.
Prominent agenda item to drop instantaneously from the Republicans’ agenda now that the election is over: the wall.
Less prominent agenda item that ought to rise to the top of Republicans’ agenda just as instantaneously: get rid of the ACA’s mandatory requirement for health insurance. Address the rest of health care reform after that.
Advice to Republicans in Congress: give Paul Ryan a chance to lead. Advice to Paul Ryan: have lunch or coffee with President Trump occasionally.
One more look back: if fifty-six percent of people say “Yes” when you ask whether the president is doing a good job, think about changing the question. To get better results, ask instead what they think about the ACA.
Hillary Clinton should never, ever have tied her political career to President Obama’s, essentially saying she would give the nation Obama’s third term. Al Gore made a mistake when he did not ask President Clinton to campaign for him in 2000. Hillary Clinton made the opposite error.
That’s twelve items. You notice that except for Trump’s hair combing practices, I don’t have a lot to say about our president-elect. To quote David Brooks again, who commented when an interviewer asked about Sarah Palin: “Every thirty seconds we spend thinking about Sarah Palin is thirty seconds we’ll never have again.” The same goes for Donald Trump. Think about something worthwhile.
The Jeffersonian 