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Trump, GOP still battling

For almost a month, Donald Trump appeared the very picture of a disciplined politician, and then the old tendency to tweet led to his first slips since early October.

Led by Kellyanne Conway, a campaign to dissuade Mitt Romney from taking up an offer to become Secretary of State gave the impression that “the Donald” and his crew were in disarray. And once again it exposed major issues in the Republican party.

Both sides of the party were partially to blame. Republicans, never completely accepting of their nominee, tried to take over his administration in a post-election rush with former rivals giving themselves undeserved pats on the back for the victory. Even Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Trump in Cleveland, tried to make a case against Romney. Curious the only thing Cruz and Romney were equally in agreement over were their mutual distaste for Trump. Yet they desired undeserved pieces of the pie.

Trump, who seems fairly unfamiliar with his party, nevertheless did not fully appreciate the arrogance of his new allies. They were once “never Trumpers” who now expect spoils from a campaign that they did not lift a finger to aid. However, Trump appeared ignorant of how Washington works and in his confusion flirted with a more conventional way of governing. It certainly does not make for a promising start.

However, there might be a way for Trump to cooperate with Democrats. As was the case with Dwight Eisenhower, his roots with the GOP are not deep. Moreover, though he has reason to dislike the Democrats, their opposition was to be expected. Eisenhower, for much of his term in office, depended on Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn — the Democratic Congressional leaders. With the GOP as hidebound and ideological as usual, Trump might find that Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, could provide a lift for some of his stimulus proposals.

Certainly one of Eisenhower’s signature achievements was the 1956 Highway Act supported by Democrats. Also, he refused to abolish Social Security and, indeed, he added to the program. Let Ted Cruz become the nay-sayer, not Democrats. Indeed Ronald Reagan sent David Stockman packing when he tried to roll back New Deal reforms. Moreover, Democrats might be tempted to support some of Trump’s retreaded industrial policy, which began with their party in the first instance.

To encourage fratricide in the Republican party should be a priority for Democrats in Congress. This means encouraging Trump’s inner big government tendencies. The young fogies in the GOP are too out of touch with the lives of regular Americans, far more than most Democrats. However, the Dems, when steered in a pragmatic direction, could cause a great deal of mischief by finding common ground with Trump. Let the ideologues within the Republican party make themselves the odd men out. The primaries exposed them as muddled blowhards anyway. Maybe they will cover baseball with George Will in the spring.

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