Should GOP Ape Dems One Last Time?

One of my many big complaints about Donald Trump and Republicans who follow his lead is that he is fundamentally no different than a Democrat.

For example, see "Harris and Trump Offer a Clear Contrast on the Economy" (but don't be fooled by the title) for a good summary of the candidates' superficially different, anti-freedom economic positions. The blurb put it much better: Both candidates embrace expansions of government power to steer economic outcomes -- but in vastly different areas.

Trump's similarity to the left emphatically includes being a thin-skinned, petulant, self-pitying whiner, as he has been ever since he lost in 2020, and now seems in danger of doing again this time around. Were I running against him, I'd label him the Orange Snowflake, and it would stick.

Yaron Brook contrasts how Trump ran in 2016 with how he's running now.

As I post, John Stossel's Election Betting Odds site rates Trump's and Harris's chances of winning at 46 and 52 percent, respectively on a razor-thin Electoral College margin. This is in large part because Trump, rather than allowing Harris to paint herself as the nutty radical that she is, is allowing himself to be flustered and bloviate about it, rather than making a case to persuadable voters or even simply zipping his lid.

Dan Hannon of the Washington Examiner says this far better than I, in "Instead of Sulking, Republicans Should Ditch Their Own Dud Candidate":

To accuse former President Donald Trump of being petulant is like accusing a cow of being bovine or a butterfly of being flighty. His toddlerlike self-absorption, for reasons that continue to elude me, does not bother his working-class base. But even his supporters generally recognize that a certain boastful sulkiness is part of his brand.

Even so, the tetchy way in which he has reacted to the replacement of President Joe Biden by Vice President Kamala Harris is spectacularly self-defeating.

In his rambling interview with Elon Musk, Trump peevishly referred to the removal of Biden as "a coup," echoing his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has repeatedly used the same phrase. [links omitted]

Upon noting the misuse of the word coup, Hannon suggests that, rather than complain about the Democrats changing course, the Republicans ought to do the same, and offers the following worthy (if not compelling) rationale:

[In 2016, Trump won] against a spectacularly hopeless Democrat -- and even then, he lost the popular vote.

Sure, Trump might turn out some people who would not vote for other Republicans. But we are looking here at the net impact, the ratio of soccer moms lost to bearded mountain men gained. When you compare Trump's figures to those of downballot Republicans, there is no doubt he is a drag on the ticket.

The reason the betting markets are now predicting a Harris win is they can see what Trump supporters won't, namely that, while his support has a high floor, it also has a low ceiling.

...

Now, you might argue that Harris is far from being a normal Democrat, that her fringe views and inability to string a sentence together put her in the unelectable category. I wrote here last month about her far-left economic opinions.

Her radical stances on identity politics would take up another entire column. This is the politician who backed gender surgery for minors, who refers to Hispanic people by the hideous term "Latinx," and who urged her supporters to post bail for Black Lives Matter rioters.

But that is precisely the point. Against any other Republican candidate [save Vance --ed], Harris would be toast. On some level, almost all Republican strategists know it. But they quail before their primary voters, refuse to defend their principles, and, in the last analysis, turn on those who, such as Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney, stand by the convictions that all Republicans used to profess. [links omitted, bold added]

Hannon all but says what I have thought even before Harris was nominated.

This election would be a golden opportunity for a decent, pro-liberty candidate, but the parties seem intent on betting that the other is so horrible, that its trash candidate can win, anyway.

My advice: Do what the Dems did, just this once -- and forevermore offer a real, pro-liberty alternative to the American voter.

-- CAV