I've said plenty of critical things about our next President, and I was quite wrong in my election prediction, so now I want to discipline myself to say ten good things about the man before his presidency begins. He certainly has some positive qualities, even if I couldn't bring myself to vote for him.
1. His immediate, reflexive response to being shot in Butler, PA was remarkable. He was strong and courageous in a moment that could not be faked. That fist pump of defiance must have come from deep within, and our country stands to benefit from it.
2. After years of being accused of being a racist and of stoking white nationalist sentiment, he won a significantly higher share of the black and Latino vote than previous Republican candidates. He is one of the few presidential candidates to have measurably risen above race politics.
3. His political savvy to connect with working class Americans is something future candidates must learn from. Something as simple and natural as serving fries in McDonalds, without tones of condescension, speaks volumes.
4. Harris is for they/them, Trump is for you. Absolutely brilliant. No lecturing about woke politics. No belittling of transgender people. Just a savvy take down of the progressives who have tried to force new language of virtue on a culture.
5. I love the Department of Government Efficiency initiative that was announced. I think we need both spending cuts and tax cuts, but the former is much harder and much more necessary. I hope Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can really be creative.
6. For an old man, he is still a quick-witted straight talker. He landed some devastating verbal jabs in his debate with Biden.
7. His wife and children were on stage with him during his victory speech. I have no insight into his family dynamics, but they say just showing up is half the battle. And they showed up.
8. I'm nervous about his America first foreign policy priorities, but it is undeniably a strong bargaining chip. Maybe it works. I don't believe he will abandon Ukraine, Israel or Taiwan, and the world needs a strong United States advancing peace and freedom.
9. He may lack Christian faith and virtue himself, but I don't doubt he has shown more respect for Christians' faith and virtue than Democrats have.
10. He clearly wants to be president, which is an honorable ambition.
I'm praying for his success.
I watched Trump declare his candidacy (for the third time) at Mara Lago at the start of the campaign. He never smiled. He looked angry and unhappy. I thought, “He can’t win. You have to smile.”
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