Trump neither feared nor loved

[Pelle Svanslos]

Niccolo Machiavelli wrote that a ruler should seek to be both loved and
feared — but if a prince must choose one, he should opt for fear.
President Trump has managed the opposite: Among Republicans in Congress,
he is neither loved nor feared. Instead, at least when it comes to
legislation, he’s made himself almost irrelevant.

Last week, Trump called GOP holdouts to the White House to demand their
support for their party’s healthcare bill, a traditional exercise of
presidential muscle. None of them switched sides; they saw nothing to be
afraid of.

Before that, a pro-Trump group announced that it would run attack ads
against Dean Heller, a GOP senator from Nevada who had the temerity to
denounce the Trumpcare bill’s deep cuts in Medicaid. The Senate
Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, told Trump to stop the negative
campaign. Heller was afraid of Nevada voters, not the White House.

When a similar bill was in trouble in the House, Trump warned
conservative hard-liners that they’d lose their seats if they didn’t
vote yes. They ignored the threat, voted no — and Trump promptly caved,
supporting the changes they sought.

No Republican dissident has been punished for straying from the White
House. If anything, they’ve been rewarded.

So much for fear. What about love?

Since he came to the White House, Trump hasn’t enlarged the number of
voters who support him; he’s reduced it. His job approval rating has
slumped to about 40% and stayed there.

He’s still backed by more than 80% of Republicans, and that should count
for something. But he hasn’t even mobilized his own base to help the
healthcare bill.

The president is often described as a “master salesman,” but he’s not
using his talents much. He’s given no Oval Office speech telling
Americans why they should embrace this healthcare bill, made no
presidential tour to tout its advantages.

The bill isn’t in its final form, which makes it hard to sell the
details. But Trump hasn’t done much to promote its premises. That’s one
reason even Republican voters aren’t sure they support it, according to
recent polls.

When the president spoke at a rally in Iowa last month, he barely
mentioned healthcare — and instead of talking the bill up, he suggested
he still wasn’t happy with it. “Add some money to it!” he said.

Trump hasn’t done much to build amicable bonds of loyalty with GOP
members of Congress, either.

In a recent television interview, Trump criticized the House bill he had
earlier praised, calling it “mean.” The message to members of Congress
was jarring: I want you to cast a vote that could risk your career, but
don’t expect me to protect you from the consequences.

And on Friday, Trump undercut his chief negotiator, McConnell, by
suggesting it might be time to throw in the towel.

“If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now,
they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!” he
tweeted in apparent frustration.

That’s exactly what conservative holdouts would like — but it wasn’t the
solution McConnell was laboring for.

Part of the problem is that Trump often appears unaware of the content
of his own party’s legislation. According to one report, he didn’t seem
to realize the healthcare bill looks to many voters like a giant tax cut
for the wealthy.

That makes it harder for him to be an effective salesman, in public or
in private. When he does talk about the legislation, he describes it
breezily as “great healthcare,” providing better insurance at a lower
price. That’s a promise the bill, with its massive spending cuts, can’t
possibly keep.

There’s more at stake here than this month’s version of a Republican
healthcare bill.

Trump’s scattershot approach, his chaotic management style, his
inattention to detail, his failure to bring GOP dissidents into line and
his sagging popularity are all making it harder for Republicans to enact
their entire legislative agenda.

“The central challenge for Republicans is how to make it clear that they
are focused on the No. 1 issue — the economy, jobs and incomes,” David
Winston, a GOP strategist who has advised congressional leaders, told me
last week. “They’re spending a lot of time talking about other things.”

Including tweets? “Including tweets,” he acknowledged.

“They need to define the outcomes of their agenda items, including
healthcare, in a way that people will support them. And that’s not
happening.”

Five centuries ago, Machiavelli concluded that what a ruler needs most
is a quality he called, in Italian, “virtú.” The word doesn’t mean
“virtue” in our moralistic sense. Instead, it means something more like
“prowess,” a combination of boldness and skill.

Trump clearly owns the first half of that equation, boldness. But he has
shown little skill. If he’s ever read Machiavelli — an unlikely
proposition, to be sure — it doesn’t show. He’s neither feared nor
loved. As a result, whether he realizes it or not, his power as
president is already eroding.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mcmanus-trump-fear-love-20170702-story.html

Once an Apprentice, always an Apprentice.

[The Iceberg]

Most people love Trump cos he gave Saudi Wall St Hillary a good thrashing in the election!