The time is right for a palace revolution. The peasants are at the gate, and the royals retreat to their tower. All the king’s men are arrayed against the people, and the fight for the kingdom rages. The weapons of war are unleashed, and for the next twelve weeks we’ll hear the roar of cannon, the blasts of the trumpet, and the clash of arms. Who said politics wasn’t fun?
Come November we’ll see if the star spangled banner still waves. In the mean time, buckle up. Lee Atwater is back, and he’s tougher and meaner than ever. Steve Bannon is my kind of guy. He’s fearless, smart, and the love of Old Glory burns within him. Hell, I was starting to get turned off by this whole campaign. No more. Trump’s got some ads he’ll be running soon, and Donny Deutsch of With All Due Respect predicts that they will be a Bannon Production, and mean as hell. I think Donny’s on the money, and I can’t wait to see them. I’m kind of jealous. I’d love to be in the room when they’re kicking around lines of attack. This is the part of politics I like best, and have always done best, going all the way back to the Hammond campaign in ’78. I learned from a master, Bob Clarke, a hired gun out of Chicago who Hammond hired to fix an absolutely dire political situation. We won by 97 votes, and I never had so much fun in my life. The guy we beat, Wally Hickel, hated my guts and did what he could to stop me politically. It’s a tough business.
Kelyann Conway said they wanted to focus on issues. She’s right. The campaign is about the issues, which all favor Trump. But the TV ads are separate. They’re really not part of the campaign. Peace and prosperity. Those are the two issues.
As far as prosperity goes, we need to stop borrowing from our grandchildren. We need a balanced budget amendment. The BBA is the most agreed upon reform we have in this country. 65% of Democrats are in favor of it. The language of the actual amendment will be worked out with Ryan and McConnell, and Trump could influence its contents to suit him. This should be the subject of a major speech, with teleprompters. And if he wins, and Congress won’t pass the BBA, everyone will realize we can get it through Article V.
If Trump wants to win this thing he should take a look at the first Romney/Obama debate. It was absolutely brutal. Is he capable of doing to Clinton what Romney did to Obama? It would take a lot of debate prep. It would be work, drudgery. I don’t know if he’s up to it.
One ad I always liked would be Paula Jones in a sixty second spot, looking directly at the camera. Sixty seconds is long enough. Just tell her story, and end by telling how she was branded as trailer trash for being brave and standing up for herself and all women. I think a lot of women would identify with Paula Jones, not just working class whites. What she did required extraordinary courage. It was her courage that finally exposed Bill Clinton as a serial sexual predator, and his wife as his chief enabler. It’s like out of a TV script. The ad writes itself. And the thing is, I think Steve Bannon would do it.
I could go on. I’ve got a good imagination. But so does Steve Bannon. He just may be smart enough to catch the wave. The tide that I felt turn three years ago still runs. Until Bannon came along I thought Trump was an obstacle to the flow.
Let’s see what he’s got.
The wildest election ever is about to get a little wilder.
reaganproject.com 