Imaginary Friends<\/p>\n
When I was a small child I had an imaginary friend.\u00a0 We talked a lot, we played together, we had fun.\u00a0 I had real friends too, but early on, my imaginary friend was my best.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember his name, and I don’t remember when my imaginary friend left me.\u00a0 I just know that somewhere before I went to school, I left my imaginary friend behind.<\/p>\n
It was with some concern then, that I discovered President Trump seems to have \u201cimaginary friends.\u201d\u00a0I discovered it yesterday, when I listened to him at the White House, trying to roll back his faux-pas at the Helsinki press conference. Vladimir Putin said that the Russians hadn\u2019t hacked into American politics, the US intelligence agencies said he did.\u00a0 Trump said;\u00a0 \u2026\u201dI didn\u2019t see any reason why it \u201cwould\u201d be Russia\u2026\u201d Clearly his staff had written a statement for him to read at the White House, stating that he mistakenly said \u201c\u2026’would’ instead of ‘wouldn\u2019t.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House statement was meant to chill the crisis of confidence even Republicans were having after US agencies were tossed under the bus.\u00a0 But then the President ad-libbed an addition, saying the Russians did it \u2013 \u201cor other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr other people:\u201d maybe the four hundred pound guy in the basement that Trump mentioned in a debate with Hillary Clinton.\u00a0 Maybe the Chinese, or the North Koreans, or the \u201crogue\u201d Russians that Putin first mentioned.\u00a0Those three words \u201ctook back the take back\u201d of his statement.\u00a0 And today he went on a Twitter storm defending his performance in Helsinki.<\/p>\n
Maybe those \u201cother people\u201d are some of the very nice racists who marched in Charlottesville.\u00a0 Maybe \u201cother people\u201d are related to the \u201cmany people\u201d who agree with the President on issues like no global warming or MS-13 swarming the nation.\u00a0 They must be the \u201cmany people of higher intelligence\u201d he claims think he did a great job in Helsinki.<\/p>\n
In normal American politics, leaders find groups that agree with their policies, then use those groups for support.\u00a0 President Trump does this as well, with the Congressional Freedom Caucus fighting for him against the Mueller investigation, and political luminaries like Newt Gingrich standing for many of his plans.\u00a0 But when the President gets far out on a limb, he looks to his \u201cimaginary friends\u201d for backing.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the President\u2019s \u201cimaginary friends\u201d must be those who believe he can do no wrong, his loyal followers:\u00a0 the \u201cTrumpers.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Mr. Trump believes that they are highly underrated.\u00a0 This is based on the election of 2016, when early polling showed that Mrs. Clinton should win easily.\u00a0 Basically, the Trump theory is that many of his supporters wouldn\u2019t publicly admit to their support, but became \u201cTrumpers\u201d in the voting booth.\u00a0 No MAGA hats, on Trump signs or banners, no Facebook posts:\u00a0they quietly support his views without fanfare.<\/p>\n
Much like the Nixon \u201csilent majority\u201d of the 1960\u2019s, there is some truth to Trump \u201cimaginary friends.\u201d\u00a0Nixon tapped into a cultural backlash against the upheaval of the civil rights and anti-war movements that represented major change. He was able to eek out an election victory, winning by less than a million votes over Democrat Hubert Humphrey (seventy one million votes were cast.)<\/p>\n
President Trump tapped into a similar backlash in 2016, in an America that elected our first African-American President, was trying to provide healthcare to everyone, and looked forward to a nation where white people are no longer the majority.\u00a0 \u00a0While the Trump\u2019s election margin was not the majority, the strategic breakdown by state won him the Electoral College and the Presidency.<\/p>\n
The Democratic party of 1968 was fractured, with the liberal Hubert Humphrey facing a party where many felt he was not liberal enough. The Democratic party of 2016 was faced with a similar crisis, with the Sanders-wing not finding Hillary Clinton\u2019s views to their liking.\u00a0The hacked emails showing the National Committee support for Clinton over Sanders didn\u2019t help either.<\/p>\n
While President Trump\u2019s \u201cimaginary friends\u201d are definitely out there, it will be interesting to see if they are willing to accept an economy where the income divide is increasing, a US policy supporting Russia against the European Union, and children torn from their parents.\u00a0 And will Democrats continue their self-destructive division over the details of a Progressive agenda, instead of agreeing to disagree and working together.<\/p>\n
Those factors will determine whether Mr. Trump\u2019s \u201cimaginary friends\u201d are as powerful as he thinks.<\/p>\n
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