Party or Country?

During his four years in office Donald Trump has had a major political success. He has reinforced the view within the Republican Party that the effectiveness and viability of the party is more important than sustaining and affirming the viability of American democracy. Two weeks after Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the presidential election, days after all outstanding possible vote challenges have been denied, elected Republicans, for the most part, refuse to disassociate themselves from President Trump. They are willing to permit the President to lead them through the muck and grime of absurd allegations. So many leading Republicans remain unable to acknowledge publicly that Biden has won; that the future of the nation demands that the transition proceed.

Aside from his own ego, there are two reasons for Trump’s behavior and the GOP leaders’ failure to stand up to him. First, many Republican party faithful believe that if they abandon Trump and his outrageous shenanigans, it will disillusion large number of voters in Georgia. It will deter a sufficient number of Republican voters in the two Senate run-offs so that the Democrats still could gain control of the U.S. Senate. For Senator McConnell this would be a nightmare he is not ready to consider. The Majority Leader himself is prepared to continue as the President’s sidekick on his sick ride if only hopefully to secure the two Senate seats on January 5th.

The second equally outrageous rationale for continuing to accept the President’s maneuvering is that the Republicans are willing to continue to be complicit until Trump’s final day in office in his scorched earth policy of governing. For four years President Trump challenged every possible action by previous presidents, but especially policy initiatives of President Obama. He conducted a relentless effort to attack and undermine all policies which his predecessors had achieved. In addition, Trump consistently sought to attack and undermine the institutions of American democracy wherever and whenever he could.

President Trump has now switched this ugly behavior from the past to the future. Since Election Day, the President has reverted to a conduct which seeks to create roadblocks and challenges for the new Biden Administration in every sphere of Government. Donald Trump wants to do everything in his power to impede any initiatives that the President-elect might wish to accomplish. (Trump also has implied that he would bring his own support to bear against any Republicans who now challenge him.)

The most obvious failure of the President since the election is unwillingness to permit the incoming Administration to understand firsthand what the Trump Administration is doing to address the exploding second wave of the coronavirus. Biden’s team has had no access to the current strategy to fight the pandemic nor what options have been considered for the distribution of a vaccine. For President Trump as well as all his acolytes, human lives are a mere commodity to be used and traded for political success. Unnecessary deaths are trivial when measured against what will develop into political failures for the Biden Administration.

Similarly, providing economic relief and benefits for the American people who remain unemployed and in dire straits since their financial assistance ran out several months ago is irrelevant. The President is totally comfortable in allowing any relief package to be negotiated by the Biden team with the new Congress next year. Trump especially does not want to help many of those in need, most of whom he believes do not support him. As for his own followers who could benefit from an economic assistance package, Trump believes that he could tell his base that blue is red, or that the moon is the sun, and they still would trust him. He can spin his way out of this by continuing his never-ending blame game.

Politics was once a profession where people gave of themselves for the people and the country. Office holders perceived of elected office as an honor and they accepted the responsibility to serve with humility and commitment. In an address at a convention of the American Political Science Association, Paul Simon--member of the House, Senate, and eventually presidential aspirant-- remarked on the dilemma faced by elected officials. He explained the tension between prioritizing voting for what was best for his party or what was in the best interest of the people. Simon explained that the day he placed party over his constituents was the day he should be removed from office.

There are many people in Washington and throughout the country who would do well to go back and re-read Simon guidelines.