Someone once described a local politician to me as governing while looking through the rearview mirror. They weren’t talking about me and I’m not going to say who the subject was, but the phrase has stuck with me.
Sadly, President Donald Trump has his eyes on the rearview and his radio tuned to his own greatest hits. He returns again and again to his big crowds, his election victory, and “crooked Hillary.”
Trump nattered on at the CIA headquarters about his inaugural crowd size and he used his Independence Day speech to deride the “fake” media for supposedly trying to keep him from the White House. And he actually thanked the Boy Scouts for their votes and encouraged them to boo former President Obama!
The administration’s policies are formulated in the way-back machine, with particular emphasis on erasing every trace of the Obama presidency. From the Affordable Care Act to the climate change treaty, immigration enforcement to criminal justice, the current president is attempting to decimate the legacy of President Obama.
While Trump was obsessed with polling numbers during the election season, he doesn’t seem to care that Obamacare is more popular than ever and that most people don’t want a border wall.
Trump travels around the country speaking to friendly crowds, feeding on the applause for his sure-fire hit lines: “Crooked Hillary, fake media, failed Obamacare, build the wall…” These rallies are his own personal oldies radio station playing the only songs for which he knows the lyrics. And the people that are cheering him on are the only poll that he needs.
And as a boss? Here’s where my analysis may break down since the only phrase he can’t actually utter is his former catchphrase: “You’re fired!” But, of course, that was from his time on TV when he was playing a successful businessman named “Donald Trump.” In real life, he has left Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to fire themselves Sean Spicer-style. Or maybe Trump will give them notice on Twitter.
Even his campaign slogan was plucked from the past. “Let’s Make America Great Again” was first used by Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign. Trump dropped the first word and filed for trademark protection on November 19, 2012. He also copyrighted “Think Big” and “Kick Ass.” So far, he’s one for three.
While the rearview mirror is useful to see where you have been, it does nothing to help you get where you are going. Our country is being led by a visionless president who is influenced by the last person who talked to him.
The president and the Republican-controlled Congress are all in the way-back machine together along with the Heritage Foundation, the Koch Brothers, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (a conservative group focused on state legislatures), among others. Trump has outsourced the creation policy and strategy to them just as he and his family outsource their product lines to China.
Behind the curtain, the federal government is being hollowed out. Regulations are being rolled back in consultation with the lobbyists for the regulated. Health care is destabilized, not by the Affordable Care Act, but by the uncertainty the Republicans have created as they lie their way to tearing down Medicare to fund an enormous tax cut for their donors. Immigrants (both documented and undocumented) are terrified of government, including local police who want and need the trust of immigrant communities to keep them safe.
And what are we doing back here in our blue-state bubble? Well, even in a blue bubble there is work to do. There are local elections coming up and there will be legislative elections the following year. The Democratic city and town committees are revitalized and working together to support candidates and issues.
Immigrants need support and so do people living with low incomes. Our state Legislature will be taking up criminal justice issues that have long needed reform. And we can support and oppose elected officials in other states. We can pay attention to what is going on behind the curtain and fight back.
There is no doubt that the situation is dire. And it won’t help if we are also looking in the rearview mirror. Bernie or Hillary? That really doesn’t matter now. It doesn’t matter to that family that needs health care or that senior who needs fuel assistance. It doesn’t matter to that immigrant looking over their shoulder.
What matters is working together, agreeing when we can and finding a compromise when we can’t.
Clare Higgins, of Northampton, a former mayor of the city, is executive director of the nonprofit Community Action! of the Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Regions.