Don't Do It, Democrats!

The return of good old-fashioned American common sense is not upon us. That’s no surprise in one way. The Trump base simply doesn’t care about Russian peccadilloes, any more than they cared about crotch-grabbing. They know what kind of a man he is. They’re after something bigger.

The legitimate portion of what they want is attention to their real economic needs. That’s linked to the less defensible desire for retribution against the political forces that abandoned them personified by Hillary and Democrats generally.

The part that is shocking to the conscience is their refusal to assess and protect their self-interest. Be it health care or tax cuts or dirty air and water, the actual Trump agenda will cause disproportionate suffering to the Trump base. How long until they notice?

That’s impossible to know. But eventually, they will focus on their self-interest. Even the Republicans understand that. Democrats also know that they can bang away on the loss of health insurance and job creation to good result, eventually.

But the temptation for Democrats to jump into Russiagate is as strong as it is dangerous. It gets you on TV and it fires up the base. Stay the course, folks, the road to victory is paved with discipline and patience. In the end Trump can melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West without affecting what happens to the country.

We will need a coherent, simply stated social and political message, beyond what we’re against. New message. We will need empathetic and credible spokespeople who connect with our base and the Trump base. New faces.

This is not rocket science to be sure, but the understandable glee over the emails and lies and investigations shouldn’t obscure the essential elements of a return to power. Trump will not disappear because of these hoo-hahs. Good old-fashioned American common sense will be slow in coming and hard-earned. The struggle is just beginning.