
In The Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead discusses America’s potential Jacksonian turn should Donald Trump be reelected. He writes:
Saturday’s events made America more Jacksonian and gave Mr. Trump an unbreakable hold on Jacksonian America. On the one hand, the assassination attempt reinforced the sense that Jacksonian America is under siege. On the other, Mr. Trump’s fist-waving defiance and determination quieted any doubt about his personal courage. Attacks on him from the political and journalistic establishments will only boost his standing with his followers and inflame Jacksonian hatred of elites.
The more Jacksonian America becomes, the harder it is for Democrats to win elections and to govern. Team Biden sought to tamp down the Jacksonian fires, but the most important fact about American politics in 2024, even before Saturday, was that these efforts have fallen short.
Democrats hoped that the superior wisdom of elite-guided policies would generate results that would convince the peasants to lay down their pitchforks and torches. Bidenomics would make Americans feel more prosperous at home as an enlightened foreign policy—wise, focused on alliances—would make the world safe again. In that atmosphere, Team Biden hoped, Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and promise of disruption would resonate with fewer voters and alarm more. The strategy was failing even before the debate. Bidenomics isn’t having the desired effect. Inflation and the high interest rates required to suppress it have infuriated voters, as have the administration’s controversial stands on immigration, gender, crime and climate change. The sense of growing international danger has made Mr. Trump’s attacks on the administration weakness resonate with worried voters who don’t see a world returning to stable normalcy.
The Butler, Pa., attack exposed another problem with the Biden strategy. Making Mr. Trump toxic has been the core theme of Democratic campaign rhetoric all year. Comparing him to Hitler and calling him a coward, a traitor and an existential threat to democracy have been Democratic talking points. This strategy boomeranged in spectacular fashion as, post-Butler, Democratic anti-Trump rhetoric looks like irresponsible demagoguery recklessly pushing the nation into crisis to serve President Biden’s political ambition.
After Butler, America has suddenly become a more Jacksonian nation. The shadow of Old Hickory looms larger than ever, and Donald Trump stands taller as his undisputed heir.
Action Line: Keep your eye on the future of America. Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.