NOVEMBER 27, 2020 – Just as a professor aspiring to tenure must worry as much about politics as about the quality of her/his scholarship, so must Biden/Harris, desirous of re-election and relevance, worry as much about politics as about policy success—otherwise, they will be remembered more for their contributions to Habitat for Humanity after leaving office than for historic accomplishments while in office.
So far, Joe Biden has performed admirably. His temperament, messaging, appointments, and issue-focus are ample evidence that he’s up to the job. But the sledding won’t be easy. The hill is steep, icy, and filled with trees. Over-shadowing the whole business is a continuing campaign of disinformation, manipulated by Trump.
If I were Biden’s political advisor with a 15-minute slot on the morning of January 21, I’d say:
“Joe, I know you’ve got the equivalent of 18 leftover Thanksgiving meals on your plate, but . . . Trump will be trouble well beyond yesterday. I’m gonna give you the ‘why,’ the ‘how,’ and the ‘what to do about it’:
“The ‘why’? He’s a pathologically bad loser and he needs money. Badly. And theoretically he’s worried about criminal prosecution.
“How does he make trouble? He continually shouts ‘fraud’ and blames ‘socialist’ Democrats for ‘stealing’ the election. He announces his re-run in 2024. Via rallies, rightwing media, and conspiracy freaks, he appeals to 74 million Americans who’ll think the earth is flat if Trump tells them so.
“What to do about it? As the Caterpillar advertising slogan ran, ‘There are no simple solutions, just intelligent choices.’ The first quandary to be faced by your AG will be whether to prosecute Trump and crew for misdeeds in and out of office. It’ll be a classic Scylla/Charybdis situation: prosecute, and the bad people will cry, ‘Witch hunt!’ and goons packing heat will go on parade during primetime (24/7) news; decide not to prosecute (or grant clemency), and you’ll empower those same goons and their enablers by signaling that in this country, if wrongdoing is big and bad enough, it goes unpunished. You know the damage that does to the rule of law—and decent, ordered society.
“Thus, I urge this: direct your AG to establish a special unit within the DOJ to investigate and prosecute crimes by Trump and accessories. Then launch a PR campaign to underscore three points: 1. The criminal investigation isn’t revenge but protection of the rule of law; 2. You won’t interfere in any way—except you’ve ordered that the process be established and managed with complete integrity—defined clearly and crisply as ‘fact-based, law-based; run by top-flight career people without a trace of partisanship in any of their records—including Twitter and Facebook accounts’; and 3. Your job is to serve and unite all Americans, Democrats and Republicans, and so . . . on to the mission of your administration: leaving the whole country better off than it was before you said, “[So] help me God,” on January 20, 2021.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
