Trump blew it regarding masks.

Trump could have been the wartime hero and unifier.

He could have been pro-mask. 

    

 "We appeal to your civic patriotism to co-operate with us in our effort to STAMP OUT THE SPANISH INFLUENZA or "Flu" Plague in Portland by Wearing a Mask"

                     Poster, 1918

In a grocery store in a politically purple neighborhood in Medford, Oregon, about half the customers wear masks. In a farm/ranch supply store about five miles out of town, where the bumper strips are strongly pro-Trump, no customer other than me wears a mask. 

Masks are signals. Democratic Prius-driving, do-gooders are the ones likely to be wearing masks. It might be because of their public spiritedness, virtue signaling, or a desire to stay healthy. People in Trump-supporting areas mostly don't wear masks. After all, they hear the virus is an overblown hoax, that the governors are out of step with their president, that this is the land of the free and people should be able to do what they want, and because hardly anybody else wears one, so why bother?  

In World War Two citizens in coastal cities were told to use blackout curtains at night. The public was told light from the cities gave navigation aid to German submarines, and they created a silhouette which made merchant ships more visible. People complied. No public leader said not to bother. That was then. 

In America today compliance masks and distancing is spotty and partisan. Trump signaled that the scientists, Democrats, alarmists, and killjoys want people to do social distancing and wear masks, but he isn't. Supporters got the message. 

But imagine it had gone this way:

1. At first, no change from actual practice. When Trump first heard about the virus, he minimized it. We were operating in ignorance, after all. Sometimes bad things go away. Why upset the apple cart?

2. When news that the virus was spreading became undeniable, Trump signaled to Fox and the public that he was switching to this being a war on the virus. But throughout this period Trump gave mixed signals. Teleprompter Trump said the virus was a big deal. Extemporaneous Trump said to forget it.

Trump could have played it differently. He could have realized he had an incredible opportunity to flummox the Democrats and win in a landslide.  

Imagine that he put on a mask with an American flag imprinted on it, walked to the daily briefing microphone, told everyone to step back ten feet, said that we were going to defeat the virus so we can save the American economy. He would be wearing a mask around other people and he urged every American to wear one. Do it for America, the economy, the vulnerable, our beloved seniors, our health care workers. But especially the economy.  

He would have made wearing a mask virtue signaling for the political right. The political right values self-reliance and liberty, but wartime creates the exception to that ethic because it posits an outside enemy, and protecting ones team or tribe against outsiders is a moral instinct as well. In wartime that takes precedence.

In this context, I would imagine evangelical churches would not resist social distancing but would rally to support their team and president, doing it for God, America, and Trump. Liberal churches would comply because it reflects love-thy-neighbor virtues. 

3. Trump could have directed the government to produce hundreds of millions of N95 masks with American flags printed on it and distributed them free. They would be weapons of war, given to the front line of defense, American citizens. Better yet, make a show of making them available to non-citizens as well. Everybody gets them.

4. Imagine the distress and conundrum for Democrats. Democrats would not want to flout those rules or object. After all, Democrats are the community minded party, the ones oriented toward helping the disadvantaged. The fact that the virus bears most heavily on their core constituency of Black and Latinix means they have no choice but to echo Trump. Trump would have stolen their message and made overtures to their core constituencies. Because he would be doing it to restore the economy and for patriotism--conservative values--his base would not mind. No one wants to catch the virus, especially from people you don't like. It would be a cheap, demonstrable sign of recognition that those lives matter, at least insofar as it involves them spreading disease.

Democrats would have no choice but to give me-too support, and would look weak doing it, playing follow the leader. Win-win for Trump. Trump's strong-economy message wouldn't change. What would change is his signal on how to get it: Masks mean jobs. Every instinct of Democrats would be to oppose Trump, but they would be trapped. 

Trump could have done this. Now he risks the virus returning, and him being considered the leader who sabotaged the economy, and abandoned seniors to die, and foolishly ignored is own experts. The masks could have been a signal of Trump-the-unifier. Trump supporters would have worn them willingly; Democrats because they know they should. 

In the aftermath of the landslide loss, Democratic pundits would complain that Trump got lucky and was handed a gift by the virus, a gift that took away the Democratic message and let him coast to re-election. Instead, Trump blew the opportunity.

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