Democrats will regret their pyrrhic legal victory against Trump  

Everywhere or nowhere. Donald Trump should be either eligible to be on the presidential ballot in all 50 states or he is disqualified.  

Either the 14^th Amendment is applicable to the former president or it is not. The United States is not an opt-out confederation — an issue decided by the Civil War. Fortunately, the narrowly decided Colorado ballot decision will likely be heard by the Supreme Court, which will hopefully make a final decision. 

It’s worth noting that the 14^th Amendment was ratified in the wake of the Civil War, when elected federal officeholders and serving military officers formed an alternate government, raised armies and fought a bloody war to permanently detach their states from the Union. To equate the ragtag, freakshow riot of Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump’s convoluted pleading with Mike Pence and his slippery rhetoric with what originally spawned the insurrection clause in the Constitution is patently ridiculous. 

In addition, there is an active criminal case yet to be decided (which does not include insurrection charges). To make a decision without the benefit of the full weight of evidence that will be presented in Trump’s March federal trial is irresponsible in the extreme. If the left wants to stop Trump through the courts, they should lobby for laws that prevent ANY convicted felon from appearing on a state ballot — which all states should do anyway. 

The benefit of this ruling is that it will surely be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Even the most minimalist justice would have to agree that a situation where a major party candidate can be disqualified via a patchwork of state decisions opens the door for intolerable future mischief. The best result would be for the nine justices to agree that any ruling needs to be unanimous with one opinion. 

A similar conundrum faced the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Then-Chief Justice Earl Warren knew that overturning discrimination that was legalized in the absurd Plessy decision required a Supreme Court speaking with one voice. A divided court with dissenting and concurring opinions would have been disastrous. So it is with deciding for the first time in American history whether to bar a major candidate from the presidency. In this case, the Colorado court deciding in a split 4-3 decision is worse than the decision itself. 

I have said repeatedly in this space that the prosecution of Trump needs to be an open-and-shut case. An acquittal instantly propels him back to the White House. A murky result — conviction on some grounds or a mistrial — would severely exacerbate division in politics and call into question the integrity of the Justice Department. Plus, Trump could still win, as the GOP’s current frontrunner. 

The effort to legally bar Trump from the ballot is the final admission that the progressive left is not “defending democracy” in any way, shape or form. That’s a cover story for grabbing and keeping political power. Curious that the progressive left, a faction that has staunchly opposed the concept of states’ rights, is suddenly enthusiastic now that the principle serves its purposes. 

That a legal effort to remove Trump from the ballot exists at all is an indictment of the Democrats, not of Trump and the Republicans. Defeating Trump should be easy pickings for the Democrats. They should not need to use the courts to win an election that should be in the bag. 

Trump is not and never has been popular. According to the RealClearPolitics averages, his favorability has been net-negative since the day he announced his candidacy. Even today, he is remarkably unpopular, scoring just 40 percent favorable and 55 percent unfavorable. Only 32 percent of the voting public wants Trump to run again, against 56 percent opposed. Every demographic is opposed to more Trump. 

Joe Biden should be cruising to re-election. 

Of course, Biden is not and that is on him and his party. In control of both chambers of Congress for two years and now facing a fractious, self-sabotaging Republican House, Biden and the Democrats have passed sweeping legislation and imposed a welter of new rules and regulations pushing their agenda. 

Facing inflation, an uncontrolled border and the most chaotic and violent international scene in over 75 years has taken its toll. Biden has managed to slip behind Trump in favorability — a seemingly impossible task. The incumbent president is at an average of 39 percent favorable to 56 percent unfavorable. Even fewer Americans are pleased at Biden on the ballot, with 61 percent opposed to his candidacy against just 24 percent in favor — including just 41 percent of liberals in favor. 

Biden is losing on the ballot test to Trump, nationally and in key swing states. Morning Consult/Bloomberg scores Trump ahead in all swing states — and in some by large margins. If current polling holds, Donald Trump would win the popular vote and easily win the Electoral College vote in 2024.  

Given these polling results, what the progressive left tries to present as “defending democracy” looks a lot like stealing an election. 

The Democrats may well have created a no-win situation. If Trump wins his appeal at the Supreme Court — particularly if some or all Democratic appointees vote to overturn — he has more wind in his sails. It is very possible the court compromises and sides with Trump on ballot access but goes against him on his expansive presidential immunity appeal. 

This entire escapade may become an albatross for the left. If Trump can dodge his legal troubles, this attempt to circumvent voters will likely boomerang, gaining the former president votes. If Trump is knocked out and an alternate Republican like Nikki Haley is the nominee, she will likely be the overwhelming favorite to win. 

Keith Naughton, Ph.D., is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm. Naughton is a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant. Follow him on Twitter @KNaughton711.