If Democrats Want Some Bad Advice About Trump, Paul Begala Has Some Of The Worst
Who’s paying this guy?
Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president (again), is a confirmed rapist and a convicted felon. Apparently, most Democrats don’t think it’s sportsmanlike to mention that a jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll and then repeatedly defamed her. You’d think that Democrats would consider Trump’s felony conviction the political equivalent of “discovering plutonium by accident,” but they are still struggling with whether it even matters.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said that Trump’s conviction will probably “have an effect, but a fairly small effect” in the key swing state.
“I don’t think we can count on it,” he said. “We’ve got to get out and win the election talking about the things that are important.”
It is actually important that someone who can’t legally own a gun in New York could have access to the nuclear codes. Americans are pretty cocky about our standing in the world, but Democrats should point out that the leaders from functioning democracies might chafe at hosting state dinners with a rapist criminal.
During the 2020 Democratic primary, centrist Democrats and major donors reportedly had “therapy sessions” over the prospect that Elizabeth Warren could win the nomination. They worried that her “uncompromising liberalism” would “alienate moderates in battleground states.” However, although Warren is a woman. She’s not a felon. Democrats like Rendell freaked out when it seemed like Bernie Sanders might defeat Biden. They thought this would result in a total down ballot wipeout. Democrats couldn’t win Florida with a nominee who once mildly defended Castro’s brutal regime. Yet, Democrats brush off actual dictator-loving Trump’s conviction. Better to just focus on the rising price of soap.
Seriously, what’s with these people?
Thursday, CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked Democratic political consultant Paul Begala, “What do Democrats do when it seems many Americans — and I know there’s certainly a question about if enough care — but many of them, they just don’t seem to care that Trump is a felon.”
Begala could have responded that it was only a week since Trump’s conviction. That’s barely enough time to know what voters truly believe about anything. It’s Democrats and the mainstream media’s job to cut through the right-wing propaganda and disinformation machine. He could’ve challenged Keilar — as Republicans would do if the situation were reversed — and pointed out that when she states as fact that Americans “just don’t seem to care” if Trump’s a felon, she’s acting more like a MAGA surrogate than a journalist.
Instead, he accepted her flawed premise and ran with it.
“Right,” Begala replied. “And I think that’s why the Democrats have to make this about your life, not Donald Trump’s. I mean, it’s always, you know, I was politically raised by Bill Clinton and he would always say, you know, elections are about the voters’ lives, not ours. And Democrats need to take this to that message, of, ‘We’re here for you.'”
Many Americans, especially members of marginalized groups, won’t have much of a life if Trump returns to power, but Begala wants to pretend it’s 1992 again. The stakes are much higher than an economic agenda. Yes, voters respond better to “I feel your pain” and “hope and change” than “the other guy sucks.” However, Republicans dominate in certain parts of the nation, some of which were once solidly Democratic, and that’s because they’ve convinced those voters that Democrat aren’t on their side. Trust is everything in politics. It’s more important than specific policy positions. You’ve likely trained your kids to understand that while they might enjoy ice cream, they shouldn’t accept free scoops from creepy guys in vans.
So, yes, it’s relevant that Trump is a scumbag who cares about no one but himself and has unrestrained contempt for the justice system and the rule of law. He wasn’t just convicted on 34 felony counts. He was repeatedly issued gag orders because he kept attacking the judge and witnesses. O.J. Simpson behaved better in court, and he was also unfit to serve as commander in chief.
Begala recommends that Democrats treat the convicted felon, gross rapist candidate as if he were any other normal, lousy Republican. I don’t think the reason Mitt Romney lost is because he wasn’t a felon.
“[Trump] was in bed with big oil,” Begala said. “There’s been reporting that he met with all the big oil executives, asked them for $1 billion, and told them in exchange for that he waived all of our environmental laws for them. Now, that’s something that affects you and me. So, I’m not very interested in Mr. Trump’s personal problems. I’m interested in the lives and families of the American people.”
This is perhaps the worst political advice anyone could give. You’d almost think that after this interview, Begala pulled off his Mission: Impossible mask and underneath was Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.
I personally doubt that many swing state voters care all that much that Trump promised to make life awesome for rich creeps if they flooded his campaign with much-needed cash. Voters probably assume (correctly) that politics work this way across the board. However, a convicted felon who a jury also found liable for sexual assault is more uniquely terrible. How can political professionals not understand this?
The Democratic National Committee did pay for a billboard in Las Vegas that reads, “Trump was a disaster for Nevada’s economy. Now he’s back. A convicted white-collar crook. Coddling billionaires, leaving workers behind.”
The issue here is that “convicted white-collar crook” minimizes Trump’s actual offenses. Martha Stewart was convicted of “white-collar” crimes and served five months in federal prison. That was hardly career-ending. She launched her long-running talk show just a few months after her release. Hell, I’d vote for Martha Stewart, because I don’t consider her particular stock-related transgressions disqualifying. Besides, her stacked eggplant parm recipe is amazing.
Conversely, Trump’s crimes are overtly sleazy. He cheated on his wife, who’d just given birth to their son, with an adult film star who he later paid off to keep silent so he could con his way into the White House. He’s repeatedly lied to voters about the affair and never apologized. Most white Americans who regularly attend church voted for Trump in 2020. That’s a key demo for him. Yes, white evangelicals see Trump as a blunt instrument against the people they hate, but it’s still worth reminding them that their nominee is trash.
Last week, ABC News’ David Muir asked President Joe Biden how important he thought Trump’s conviction should be in this election. It was an idiotic question. You don’t sacrifice your journalistic objectivity if you acknowledge that Trump’s crimes are disqualifying. Republicans rely on the media enabling their moral relativism.
Biden responded that it’s for the “public to decide” whether a confirmed rapist convicted of criminal election interference is fit for the presidency. Technically, that’s true, but Democrats shouldn’t shy away from stating that there’s only one moral position.
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I don't think the fact that he's a convicted felon matters, what matters is the case. And the case in which he got convicted is a nothing-burger. He slept with a porn star while married? Meh, everybody knows he's the kind of guy who would do that. It's obvious people don't care. He paid hush money and falsified business records to cover it up? So what. Everybody knows politicians are corrupt, and campaign finance laws are a mess ("corporations are people", etc.). The last time anyone has been surprised or genuinely put off by this kind of behavior might have been around the time of Bill Clinton.
There is nothing in this case that cannot be shrugged off.
The case where he stole confidential documents and did all kinds of shit in regards to that, that's the important one. If the details of what he did became common public knowledge, and he got a conviction out of it, that might bury him. Sadly, he's got the best ally he could have wished for in the judge, and there'll be no trial until it no longer matters.
Paul Begala spent years playing whipping boy to Tucker Carlson on “Crossfire.” He’s still behaving like Republicans are normal and Trump is a real candidate and not a deranged ass clown. Go lay down, Paul — Hillary was never the problem. You, and men like you, were and are.