Feehery: 5 ways Democrats can beat Trump 

It now looks inevitable that Donald Trump will be reelected to the White House, mostly because the Democrats have done a terrible job of running against him. 

I would prefer Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) over Trump because he is more conservative. But in a match-up against President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom or just about any other Democrat, I would vote for Trump. 

Dysfunctional capitalists are better than fully functional socialists. That being said, let me give my Democratic friends five ways to beat Trump.   

1)    Beat him in the primary, not the general: The poll numbers don’t look good for Trump’s challengers, but things can change quickly. There seems to be a secret Democratic strategy to get Trump nominated and then beat him with whomever the Democrats nominate.  

That is not only hugely risky, because most of the latest polls have Trump either defeating or tied with Joe Biden, but it is also stupid. If you want to beat Trump, it is best to beat him with Republican voters. And that means that the Democrats and their media allies have got to stop running a campaign to defeat DeSantis. The Democrats and much of the media have a two-pronged strategy to beat the Florida governor. Lie about his record by calling him a racist/homophobe/anti-Semite, or ignore him. Instead, if they want to beat Trump in the primary, they should be honest about Desantis’s performance in Florida, and they should give him adequate media coverage.  

2)    Stop the persecuting prosecutions: Democrats believe Republican voters are going to turn against Trump because they will tire of all his legal mishaps. Instead, with each new indictment, the former president’s approval ratings go up. The reason is simple: All these indictments are seen as clearly part of a partisan witch hunt meant to stop the voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote for whomever they want in 2024. 

Most Republican voters also believe that these indictments are neatly timed to stop the media from covering the latest revelation about the Bidens. As Trump noted, one more indictment and he will have this election sewn up.  

3)  Praise Trump from the left: It might not be ethical to play in the opposite primary campaigns, but that hasn’t stopped the Democrats before. They should buy commercials praising Trump’s accomplishments, especially on issues that make many Republicans very unhappy. For example, Trump signed the First Step Act, which made it easier for convicted criminals to get out of prison. Sure, this might have been a compassionate and good policy, but many conservatives now hate it and have made the connection between that legislation and increased crime in the country. 

Trump’s administration was probably also the most gay-friendly Republican administration in history. That drives some conservatives crazy. Also, from the left’s perspective, the vaccines were the greatest invention since sliced bread, but they wouldn’t have happened without Trump’s Operation Warp Speed. Democrats should remind Trump voters of his continued support of this highly dubious medical intervention.  

4)    Attack Trump from the right: Many conservatives strongly disliked Trump’s performance during COVID-19. He never fired Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Until Scott Atlas came into the White House, nobody in the whole place started questioning the narratives put forward by Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.  

But Trump’s failures go beyond his COVID response. He did nothing to rein in entitlement spending. He failed when it came to repealing and replacing ObamaCare. Trump wasn’t much of a conservative. Democrats should point that out. 

5)   Stop talking about Jan. 6: Nobody cares, outside a few reporters and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). If you want to beat Trump, talk about his record. 

Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy, blogs at thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).