And I don't disagree that Trump faced a phalanx of opposition like no other (R) executive has seen, often from within his own party. There were more violations of Reagan's 11th Commandment from 2015-2021 aimed at Trump for several lifetimes. Few people could have handled that abuse, let alone help steer the country away from the abyss AND get three SCOTUS Justice who are (generally) good.
My point is that his personnel skills were...well...bad. I mean really bad. I'd hope someone used to dealing with cement guys in Manhattan could figure out that the Mooch would suck before giving him the mic.
Another example is when Bannon left...that was cringe-inducing. Yes, Bannon was an idea guy and not a policy/implementation guy. His freshness date ended 1/20/2017. I also heard he's a tough guy to mange and in some cases not loyal to agreements. But the Kardashian-like public breakup with, arguably, THE guy who put Trump's candidacy on a solid path in 2016, was perplexing AND unnecessary. And it likely detracted from implementing policy at some small level.
You can't always get what you want. Nobody is perfect. And we needed Trump in 2016. He delivered. But the drama with Trump, as entertaining and as cutting and dare I say as invigorating beyond the presidential term as it is, it's not as efficacious as putting numbers up on the board.
If we cannot get good personnel selections and efficient administration of MAGA from Trump but we get MAGA personality and 60% of the possible wins, it's not necessarily a deal killer. But if an alternative candidate gets us 85% of MAGA wins and 60% of Trump's F-U personality, that's a debate worth having.
Good points. I get what you mean, especially the observation that nobody is perfect.
In the face of all this, I try to keep in mind that Trump was being illegally crippled by branches of the government that had no business doing that (DOJ, FBI, CIA, etc) in concert with the Democrat party and people in his own party and even his own staff, all collaborating with the media and big tech.
I find it astonishing he got anything done at all, never mind those stellar economic numbers and ideological achievements such as the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, making NATO take on a larger portion of financial responsibility, the Abraham Accords, taking a tough line with immigration, standing up to China, and so on.
I personally want 100% of Trump’s FU personality. Straight up. We need it, because we aren’t going to magically “come together”. Trump is mercurial as the day is long, but I want someone who is going to go toe to toe on everything, not let a single thing pass.
He may not be the person to turn things around, but I feel that if he cannot do it, or at least get the process of turning things around more firmly entrenched, then nobody can, and we are running out of time as a nation.