The cold hand of Brad Parscale, social media guru and manager of the Trump campaign, is all over the Internet. On Twitter, and particularly on Facebook, he is pushing the Trump narrative.
Here’s my Facebook “feed” first thing on Saturday morning.
- “Commonwealth of Virginia now says it’s not constitutional to make someone have an ID to vote. I need an ID to get on a plane, buy guns, alcohol and cigarettes, but not to vote.”
- “China made the corona-virus as paybacks for Trump taking a strong stand against them after the last Presidents have let China walk all over us.”
- “Why are people ‘implementing’ voter fraud? If we can shop in grocery stores right now, we can go to the polls in November.”
- “COVID death rate is significantly LOWER than reported.”
- An image of Trump – he can rebuild our country – an image of Pelosi in Nazi SS Uniform – Minister of Propaganda
- Meme – Let me get this straight – you are hiding from the virus now, but in a few months you’ll let them inject you with it.
- How to Legally Decline a Vaccine – a list.
Strategy
The new COVID-19 strategy marks a huge change for the Trump campaign. Before the virus hit, the goal was to make Joe Biden look as “bad” as Trump. It was the tactic that led to impeachment, with Trump willing to risk his Presidency to push Ukraine to investigate Biden. That plan still has a little life; Attorney General Bill Barr and the Senator Ron Johnson haven’t quite given up on trashing Biden’s reputation.
And, of course, the President could have run on the best Dow Jones Average in history. The Trump campaign depended on the old James Carville phrase for the Bill Clinton strategy: “it’s the economy stupid”. But COVID took care of that. The Dow fell 10,000 points. Even with a mild recovery, with the Dow back up 4,000, it’s not the glistening achievement Trump depended on. And an unemployment rate zooming up to near twenty percent makes Trump vulnerable to “it’s the economy, stupid”.
COVID has changed everything. Getting the economy back on track by Labor Day is a Trump essential. To do that, people have to “go back” to their old lives. The restaurants have to be crowded, car dealerships flush with sales, planes full of tourists. That won’t happen overnight, Trump needs the economy to “re-open” by June to even have a shot at Labor Day.
Nonfeasance
To get that done, states have to drop their “shelter-in-place” orders, and let business resume again. But there’s one problem: the only scientific evidence we have is that the shelter-in-place orders are only way to keep the virus in some kind of check. South Dakota shows what happens without any restrictions. They had a 12% increase in cases, the highest in the nation.
If the President steps forward and demands states relax restrictions and the infection rates soars, his elections chances will plummet. If the President doesn’t get the economy going again, his chances will still fall. How can he avoid both?
There is a series of legal terms: malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance. Malfeasance is to intentionally do something illegal while holding office. Misfeasance is to do something wrong, but not necessarily intentional. Nonfeasance is to fail to act, when an action is required. The President has a “nonfeasance” position regarding US actions during the crisis.
Strong Leaders
He has claimed the power to deal with the crisis, but then sidestepped action and allowed state governors to determine individual responses. There are governors like Cuomo in New York, Inslee in Washington, Whitmer in Michigan and Newsome in California who have been aggressive in controlling their states and demanding more national action. We also have governors like DeWine in Ohio, who is quietly taking the necessary actions to protect his constituents, but avoiding political fights with Washington. And then, there are governors like DeSantis in Florida and Noem in South Dakota who seem unable to respond to their state’s needs.
Now that those governors are dealing with the problem, the President is quietly undercutting them. He publicly said that, “…some governors are getting carried away.” His Twitter feed called for citizens to “liberate” Virginia, Minnesota and Michigan, encouraging armed protests against state interventions. And he demands that states re-open, but steps back and fails to take responsibility for the viral consequences.
All Credit, No Blame
The Trump campaign strategy is to claim all the credit, and take none of the blame. If governors find they cannot “open” their states without fanning the flames of COVID-19, it’s their fault. If they can, it’s Trump’s success.
And the Trump campaign continues their same old plan: destroy trust in American institutions, the press, the courts, and most importantly, the non-partisan structures of government. The “deep-state” attack continues, not just against the intelligence agencies, but now against those departments we depend on to protect our health. It was no mistake that Trump’s twitter repeated a call to “fire Fauci”, and that his media followers at OANN and FOX have continually attacked the creditability of government scientists.
And when Trump voters don’t like what the scientists say as they stand on the podium beside the President, then the Trump message on social media is go ahead and ignore them. It’s a plan to win the election, even if it will assuredly cost thousands of vulnerable lives.
And what about Joe Biden? He’s presenting a clear Presidential strategy to deal with the crisis, detailed and straightforward. So the Trump campaign must somehow blame the Biden as part of the Obama administration, and now seems to be trying to tie Biden to China.
This election should be about competence and accountability. If it is, then Donald Trump will be a one-term president. He’s depending on the cold hand of Brad Parscale to change the narrative, and alter the outcome. After his successes in 2016, nothing can be taken for granted.
