Trump vs. Deep State

Trump has the opponent he needs.

Democrats need to watch out.   Trump is discovering that governing is hard.  Fortunately he has an excuse.  Blame the "Deep State."

In foreign countries the Deep State consists of the secret security apparatus, the folks who assassinate reporters and frame political opponents and do the dirty work that fuels the plots of TV shows and movies.  

Trump is preparing his defense

We know them from fiction and the news:  Secret agents.  Dirty cops. Leakers.  Confidential informants.  Fixers.  People who know people. People and money off the books. Holdover bureaucrats.  Favors. Handshake deals. Lobbyists.  Put in a word. Back scratching. Deal makers. Anonymous sources. 

The "deep state" is the ideal opponent for Trump.  They are mysterious, their powers unknowable.  Accusations can never be disproved.  Questions can be asked and re-asked.  The plan has similarities to the "birther" accusation in that Trump is raising suspicion about a dark conspiracy.  No document, no evidence, no "proof" that Obama could supply would satisfy Trump.   "Questions have been raised," Trump would say, correctly.  He raised the questions.  Therefore the situation was "questionable."

The Obamacare replacement is already shaping up as a disaster.  Democrats are calling it Trumpcare.  They got the memo.  Republicans are saying Obamacare was failing on its own.   Someone will get the blame.  Trump is deflecting it already with the "deep state" accusation.  Spicer:  "I don't think it should come as any surprise that there are people that burrowed into government during the eight years of the last administration, and, you know, maybe believed that agenda and want to continue to seek it."

The "deep state" accusation is perfect for Trump. Trump is accusing a ghost, an amorphous secretive villain which cannot be disproven.  There are, in fact, now and always, dirty cops,  secret agents, leakers, holdovers, and anonymous sources.   Democrats will fall into a trap if they attempt to deny the existence of a "deep state" defined as holdovers and leakers.  They are, in fact, real, which makes Trump's blame of them powerful as an excuse.  It fits the authoritarian style, too.  It justifies purging the intelligence services, demanding personal loyalty.  It justifies wiretaps.  It justifies investigations.

Democrats have already opened the door for this with their accusations of subversive Russian influence.  Trump is simply widening the search, looking for moles and subversives out to get him.

Trump's friends at Fox are at work, describing the deep state in the strongest terms, using in the attached short segment the following words:  "deep state operatives", "Obama imprinted operatives", "potentially treasonous", "enemy from within", "treachery", "Benedict Arnold," "elitist infrastructure", "Agitation, Barrack, Chaos", "radical death lobby."   Watch:  Click Here

What can Democrats do?  Reduce Trump's popularity, by trying to tie the failures to Trump.   Governing is hard and presidents became unpopular.

It may not work.  Trump will fight back in a way that Obama did not.  Trump has the secret enemy he wants.   If Trump appears to govern by the will of the people then Republicans will tolerate him and validate his excuses.   

McCain:  put up or shut up

Trump's weak spot is not the media and it is not Democrats.  It is Republicans.  His base is fragile.  This blog noted last week that the key to reducing Trump's power lay in the Republican Party, particularly its ambitious Senators and the Governors whose states expanded Medicare.  It is in their interest for Trump to fail and they can make opposition to Trump politically safe for Republican officeholders generally, plus acceptable to Republican voters.

Trump will be on safe ground politically when he attacks the Democrats and the media, but not when he attacks fellow Republicans.   Already lined up in opposition to him are Senators Graham, McCain, Paul, Cruz, Lee, Cotton, and Sasse.