An Open Letter to Donald Trump

Donald, it’s likely that you are going to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.  And if you are, it’s my intention to support you in your effort to defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall (assuming she hasn’t been forced out of the race due to indictment.)

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And if you’re going to have any chance of prevailing against your Democratic opponent in the fall, you’re going to have to step it up in a number of areas.  I know you haven’t asked for my advice (I don’t think we’ve ever met), but that won’t stop me from giving it to you anyway.  So here goes.

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First of all, the mainstream press is bound and determined to pedal the idea to the American people that your rallies are now a veritable bloodbath of violence and mayhem, and it’s all your fault.  Well as you know, there have been several instances of protesters being roughed up by your supporters (as well as your supporters being roughed up by protesters – although that doesn’t garner near the press coverage.)  The Chicago event that got canceled a few weeks back was, in my view, the fault of left-wing agitators like MoveOn.org, Black Lives Matter, and Bernie Sanders supporters.  These lefties were determined to shut you down and silence you, just as they have been shutting down and silencing conservative speakers on college campuses across America for the past few years.

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Now here’s my advice to you – stop saying thuggish things – you’re running for President of the United States – the greatest nation on the face of the earth.  I know you’re promising to make it greater, it says so on the hats that you wear, and sell.  Having hecklers try to disrupt your speeches goes with the territory.  Do not say the following things anymore: “If you see somebody with a tomato, knock the crap out of them.”  “I’d like to punch him in the face, I tell you that.”  “You know what they used to do with guys like that when they were in a place like this?  They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”  “Throw them out in the cold.  Confiscate their coats.”  And so on.  Donald, be dignified.  Show some class.  You can be strong, without being a bully – or being a jerk.

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Next, you’ve got some homework to do.  You need to read the Constitution – several times, from cover to cover.  Find out what powers the president actually has.  What can he do, and just as importantly, what can he (or she) not do.  For example, the president doesn’t get to suddenly decide that it’s too hard to sue the press for doing an unfavorable story, even if the story is untrue.  We have what’s called a First Amendment, and yes, it’s very difficult for a public figure to sue, and prevail, even if we don’t like what they’re saying, or writing, about us.

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And you really need to bone up on foreign policy.  Look, I’ve been a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for 20 years now.  I’ve been the Chairman of the Committee on the Middle East, and Chairman of the Committee on Asia and the Pacific.  It’s a big world and there are nuances and complexities relative to every country and every region of the world we deal with.  You need to spend time reading issues papers and consulting with foreign policy experts.

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When asked the other day by MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski who you were speaking with about foreign policy, you responded “I’m speaking with myself, number 1, because I have a very good brain.  And I’ve said a lot of things.”  Well, Donald, that’s just not gonna cut it.  If you say something like that this fall in a debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she’s gonna chew you up and spit you out.  And she’s about as flawed a candidate on foreign policy as Republicans could hope for, when you consider her debacle and lies on Benghazi; her complete failure to curb Russian aggression, including the loss of Crimea; and her support for an Iran deal which all but guarantees that not only will Iran have nuclear weapons in the near future, but it will receive billions and billions of dollars right away to support terrorism all over the globe.  So there’s plenty to go after Hillary on her record, but you’ve got to know her record inside and out.  And you’ve got to have a working knowledge of foreign affairs and foreign policy that goes way beyond building a wall, and torturing bad guys, and making great deals.

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Okay, a few more things.  You’ve got to unify the Republican party behind you.  Right now you’re getting ballpark 40% of Republicans who are supporting you, but that means 60% of Republicans are not.  Because of some of the stupid comments you’ve made about women, you’re at risk of some Republican women not voting at all, or worse case voting for Hillary.  You need to fix this now, or you’ll never win in November.

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And you need to make considerable inroads among independents.  Neither you nor Hillary is very strong among this swing vote group of Americans.  Since you’re clearly not an ideologue, there’s plenty of room for you to grow among this important group of voters.

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The good news for you is that you have a reasonable chance of peeling off a chunk of Democratic voters – white, working-class, non-college educated voters.  They think they’re getting cheated by the current system, and they think that you just might be the person to finally do something about it.  There’s some overlap of these folks with what used to be referred to as “Reagan Democrats.”  And if you add these Democrats, to a reasonable chunk of independents, to a mostly united Republican electorate, you could very well have just enough votes to defeat Hillary Clinton in November.

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But, Donald, for this to happen, you’re going to have to get better.  Your current shtick was enough to get you through the primaries (I know it’s not over yet, but I think you’ve basically won it, Donald) but it won’t be enough to elect you President of the United States.  Use the time from now to the Republican Convention in July to prepare to be a better candidate, and to be a President.  Talk less, and listen, read, and study the issues more.  Work that great brain you have.

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We’re counting on you.

(Since I wrote this week’s blog, it happened yet again – radical Islamic terrorists slaughtered and maimed scores of innocent people, this time in Brussels, Belgium.  Our Commander-in-Chief didn’t let it ruin his day however.  He was seen smiling, and doing the wave, and enjoying himself at the ballpark in Cuba, with his newest best friend, Raul Castro.  God help us.)

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