The lull before the storm, Part Two

In response to my post about the left’s relatively subdued reaction to Donald Trump’s impending presidency, a friend and Ringside reader offers two excellent observations

First, as Holman Jenkins at the Wall Street Journal has emphasized, what made Trump 1 so chaotic was, n fact, the witchhunt. If the Dems had not attacked Trump as illegitimate as a Russian plant, he probably would've had a perfectly normal presidency and would've had debates over tax policy, foreign policy, etc. Instead, they attacked Trump's legitimacy.

Do you notice how quiet Trump has been since the election? He's just taking care of business. I think it is reasonable that's what his first Presidency would've been if he hadn't been attacked the way he was.

I agree, and would note only that, in my opinion, the abnormality of Trump’s response to his defeat in 2020 can’t be attributed to the Democrats’ witch hunt.

Second, don't underestimate the influence of Trump whipping them so soundly. That he won both the electoral college and the popular vote and both houses of Congress. I think Dems are stunned. I think it is reasonable to interpret this as a thorough repudiation of the tactics they have used--lawfare, censorship, dishonesty, etc. Every time they try to float a new Trump hoax it is demolished within minutes on social media.

I always said that one of the worst things that ever happened in America is that the attack on Robert Bork worked. Because Dems have been running that playbook of personal destruction on nominees ever since. If lawfare and these other tactics had worked, they'd be doing the same thing this time. But I think it is possible they got the lesson.

The problem is they don't really have any other strategy, so the Dems may fall back on this simply because they don't have anything else.

I agree with this, too. My only caveat is that the Democrat’s over-the-top reaction to Trump’s first victory, including the witch hunt, was followed by success in 2018 and 2020.

All the more reason to expect a resumption of this strategy once the Democrats and their media allies regain their bearings.