Communism, Trump said at Mt. Rushmore on July 3, has been dealing death and destruction for thousands of years. The only way that makes sense is to include all enemies of democracy in the category, making Trump himself a communist.But this one’s more than Trump’s stupidity and lashing out. Actual tactics lie behind this talking point. For the passage in the speech on communism, you can tell someone had actually been on Wikipedia. A few leading Democrats call themselves socialists. Trump’s politicos obviously think they can stave off disaster in the November midterms by painting the whole party red.
Canny candidates needn’t worry. Any of my neighbors at last night’s Independence Day celebration in Arcadia with roots or relatives in Russia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Central America, or Indonesia know what communism is. They won’t be fooled by Trump. Besides, the Cold War is ancient history. Most younger Americans don’t actually have a clue.
Yet whether to tilt left or center is Democrats’ constant preoccupation. If their hearts are in the right place, it doesn’t matter. I invite them, as well as Republicans and independents, to think first of all not about their ideological impulses but what their constituents want and need. We want our jobs and neighborhoods safe, our prices under control, and our civil rights respected. At our best, we want our neighbors’ rights respected as well. Even if your impulse is to transform society according to some ethical or ideological ideal, start off by modeling decency, compassion, and self-sacrifice and see if people will follow you. This is the politics of the golden rule.
If a politician’s first instinct isn’t to love, it must at least be to listen. This gift Trump has in abundance. The 2024 election showed that economically anxious voters will always spurn the incumbent party, even if the alternative is practically the worst person in the world. Trump listened. His lies about immigrants and inflation were the drug that JD Vance correctly said in 2016 were all Trump had to offer. Voters now see that he isn’t making things better for anyone except the tech bros and himself. So let him make his desperate attacks on imaginary communists. Accusing him of being Hitler didn’t help his opposition in 2024. Acting like Joe McCarthy won’t save him in November.