Bouncing Back

Politico published a thought-provoking article last week (link here) with the title "Why the Presidency Can’t Just Go Back to 'Normal' After Trump" and the deck title of "The 'norms and traditions' that Trump has incinerated aren't timeless features of American democracy; they're actually quite new — and brittle."

Specifically, the author speculates that things like White House news briefings, independent courts, nonpartisan law enforcement agencies, and a nonpartisan civil service won't automatically bounce back to the way they were at the end of President Obama's administration once Trump leaves office. The damage will take both a conscious effort and time to repair.

In my opinion, that process will be faster and more painless if Trump is defeated this November. That would mean he'd be followed by a Democrat who would likely return institutions back to the way they were. However, that process will be much more difficult if Trump remains in office for two terms and then is followed by a Democrat.

And it would be even worse if Trump was followed by another Republican. Since the 1950s, a political party has only once held the presidency through three terms.

After the Teapot Dome scandal of the early 1920s, America healed itself. The same happened again after Watergate in the 1970s. The country will recover from Trump, but the longer he remains in office, the longer that recovery will take.

Yet another reason to soundly defeat Trump on Election Day, which is now a little over eight months away.