"Panic sets in at the White House over Trump's reelection prospects." That was the headline on a piece this week by Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, who we trust to tell the truth.
He said President Trump's advisers are, "sounding alarms. There's widespread panic and pessimism over fears the economic comeback will be derailed by surging coronavirus cases. The failure of the Tulsa rally to reignite momentum and seemingly continuous missteps like retweeting a video with the words white power in it."
Well, here's what I think about all that. There is no need to panic but there is an urgent need for a plan.
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Look, the president and his team have every reason to feel bitter and frustrated. -- The incredible economic revival that was killed by the virus. The record of achievement for African-Americans that's been eclipsed by the protests. The convention, the rallies they have been totally disrupted. Through it all an unbelievably hostile and dishonest media. The whole of the establishment against Trump.
I get it. But I've run election campaigns for 30 years. And here's the thing. You never get credit for past achievements, however great they are or however great you are.
Margaret Thatcher saved Britain from socialist disaster, but barely anyone thanked her at the time when she ran for reelection. Twice, she talked about the next moves forward. That was literally her slogan.
Elections are always about the future, not the past.
Here's what else I've learned as someone who's actually done it, not just talked about it. No one wins elections by just being negative.
What was Hillary Clinton's campaign? "I'm not Trump." Look how that turned out.
Do you think that “I'm not Biden” is enough to win in November? Forget about it.
People vote for things, not against things.
You'll never win an election just by ranting at the mob or Black Lives Matter. What's your positive alternative?
President Trump needs to give Americans a big, bold, positive plan for the future. That's how he won last time.
The media loves to call Trump negative and divisive. But actually, the winning Trump in 2016 was positive and specific. Build the wall. Drain the swamp. Make America great again.
These are positive messages. Not grumbling and grievance, but ‘can do’ optimism.
That's the Trump we need to see. We talk on this show about positive populism. Looking at what's going on in this country right now, all my experience tells me that the way Trump gets reelected is positive patriotism.
Across the nation, the silent majority, they're concerned about many issues, health care, crime, taxes. But there's one thing that rises above all of that. It's a fundamental fear that we're losing our country. That the incredible pioneering American spirit, practical and problem-solving, ambitious and optimistic, always working toward that more perfect union in the future, but still proud of the past – people are truly frightened that in a few short years, it’ll be gone.
That soon we won't even be celebrating July the 4th or anything else to do with America.
I feel it, too, and I've only just got here!
But as you know, the reason I started the process of becoming a citizen is because I admire and love this country as it is and for what it represents.
Of course, it can be improved and I hope I can make a contribution to that. But I want to be a citizen of the United States of America, this country, not some other place, not “Woke-istan.”
President Trump – who obviously loves America so much – the silent majority is crying out for him to lead the way with big ideas and a positive attitude, patriotism with a smile on its face, not an angry smile, positive patriotism. Be specific about it.
Here are five ideas:
1. Teach our kids to love America. The message in schools is that America is bad and evil. That's not education. It's leftist propaganda. We should teach the truth.
Yes. Including the bad things. But not just the bad things. Now, look, we believe in localism. We're not going to run every school from Washington, but we can bypass Washington.
Fund a national history program, put the courses online, include visits to places like the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where I took my sons. It's an inspiring place.
Landmarks like you see in Brian Kilmeade's wonderful Fox Nation show "What Made America Great." And give families an incentive to learn to love America together. We have a tax deduction for charitable giving. Let's have one for patriotic learning.
2. Make America self-sufficient. We talked about this the other week. We called it "Dump China." But Charlie Kirk put it more positively, self-sufficiency. And he's right.
The PPE and ventilator shortage prove we can't rely on foreign manufacturing. So bring manufacturing home. All of it.
If you want to sell it in America, make it in America.
If there's one country on Earth that has the scale and diversity of resources to be truly self-sufficient, it's America. That's positive patriotism with millions and millions of great jobs attached.
3. Make America a family again. Whatever problem you're trying to solve: poverty, inequality, crime, drugs, welfare dependency, you name it, the best single thing you can do is try and make sure children are raised in a stable, loving home.
When parents stay together, they dramatically increase the odds that their children will climb the ladder of opportunity. If a child is born in the bottom wealth bracket to a mother who's never been married, their odds of moving to the highest wealth bracket are just five percent.
It's about a quarter of what they are if the mother is married continuously. Around 70 percent of black children are born to unmarried mothers.
Of course, that's not a criticism of them. And many are model parents. But if we're serious about equal opportunity for every American, set a target to cut in half the number of boys without fathers. Make America a family again.
4. Make American cities great again. Democrats have let our beautiful cities be scarred by crime, disorder and educational disaster. They obviously can't fix it. And now they're making it worse.
Let's set up a Central Command to turn it around. Trump's new deal for cities. He's already done opportunity zones.
Build on that. But it has to include safety on the street and vitally school reform to break the stranglehold of the government school monopoly and the teacher unions that are crushing opportunity, especially for black families. And here's the thing that's so frustrating. If you look at what's going on in the cities with crime in schools and families.
This question of racial injustice. The answers are conservative.
We mustn't leave this to the left. And by the way, it's not about getting votes from black people. A big majority of all Americans – a majority of Republicans – want action on racial justice.
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The Democrats have caused many of the problems. But just saying that won't get you anywhere. Offer solutions, conservative solutions, school choice, safe streets, strong families. That's positive patriotism.
5. A Peace Corps for America. And here's our final idea. For now, that is, we'll probably throw out a few more before Election Day. This one I've talked about before: a Peace Corps for America.
Bring young people together from different parts of the country, different backgrounds to serve American community needs. A kind of nonmilitary national service. I'm telling you, this would be so popular and make such a big difference. It's a real winner.
We've got to get America's mojo back. It's all so low energy at the moment. Mean and sullen and angry.
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President Trump can turn it around. And that's what will get him reelected. Not all this negative stuff. Big ideas, bold action, positive patriotism.
We saw it from Trump in 2016. We saw it with his great economy.
We see it with space force going to Mars, Space X the other week.
Let's see it from the White House from now until November.
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Teach our kids to love America. Make America self-sufficient. Make America a family again. A new deal for cities. Peace Corps for America.
That's positive patriotism.