June 16th is a big day for multiple reasons to the President of the United States. It marks the four-year anniversary of then-candidate Trump riding down the golden escalator behind his wife, thumbs up, ready to become President. It happens to be Father’s Day this year, a nice touch for Americans that will certainly be made by leftist media to represent the oppressive patriarchy or something like that. It will also be the day the President officially launches his reelection campaign.

A report this morning by Axios notes that this date may be more symbolic than anything else. Rallies will start before (some have already been held) and after the day many Americans spend with their dads. “In conversations, Trump makes it clear that he thinks of the official kickoff as June 16 — four years to the day since he rode down the gold escalator in Trump Tower to announce his improbable 2016 run.”

Whatever the official day is doesn’t really matter. Reelection is already at the top of mind. The difference between now and his 2016 run is that instead of worrying about stock prices and real estate deals, he’ll be running this campaign against the backdrop of a trade war with China, aggression with Iran, turmoil at the border, and need to keep the economy humming.

He won’t have to worry much about primary season this time, though. Even though Bill Weld is technically in the race, his name has barely been mentioned since he announced his candidacy.

Letting the Democrats eat each other

A huge part of the equation for Trump’s campaign team will be keeping him attacking the right people for the right reasons. Being an incumbent who likes to attack his competitors puts him in a peculiar situation because his attacks can actually help someone emerge. As he continues to hit former Vice President Joe Biden and has softened on attacks against Senator Bernie Sanders, their numbers are heading in the opposite direction. It’s as if his attacks on Biden are fueling Democrats to want to support him more.

His team will have to be strategic in how he uses his tremendous punching power, particularly on Twitter. The last thing they want is for any one candidate to run away with the nomination early. They need to keep the Democrats attacking each other for as long as possible. As long as two or more candidates are close to the top, they’ll not only be prolonging the nomination process and burning through money going after each other, but they’ll also be giving ammunition for the President to use against the eventual nominee.

In less than a month, the President’s team will be in full-blown campaign mode. It also means now is the time for conservatives to start honing our message against the socialist wave of ignorance that his competitors are already starting.

One of the favorite tactics for both major political parties is to paint opposing candidates as extremists. This is particularly true when it comes to presidential candidates; if you don’t recall, every Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan has been painted as a bigot by Democrats. But whether or not the people fall for the extremism play is usually based, at least to some degree, on reality.

That may not be the case in the 2020 election as both media and the expressions of the people seem to be favoring extremism as a reality rather than just a label. The President is a far-right bigot in the eyes of Democrats while every Democratic candidate (with the possible exception of Joe Biden) is a far-left socialist in the eyes of Republicans. Meanwhile, mainstream media is engaged in confirmation bias to appease their audiences. One need only look at coverage of the Mueller report to see how this is unmistakably true.

On the issue of abortion, the Democratic candidates have made no attempts to appeal to the middle. As each is either asked for or volunteers their perspective on abortion, invariably they are pushing no restrictions whatsoever. This is a far cry from the days when the Clintons thought abortions should be safe, legal, and rare. Today, abortions are to be embraced as far as Democrats are concerned, and any attempt to push for adoption or to fight for the rights of the child in the womb is considered bigoted. One by one, every Democratic candidate is adopting abortion extremism as their stated stance.

But President Trump did something yesterday that makes sense from a political perspective. I may disagree with his stance, but it’s a winning strategy for his reelection campaign. He said he is pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. This stance was once considered to be an extreme position for the right, but with the Alabama abortion bill removing exceptions for rape and incest, the President has the luxury of being closer to the middle than any of his opponents (again, with the possible exception of Biden – we’ll find out soon enough).

Thankfully, the President of the United States has very little they can do when it comes to abortion other than pick pro-life judges and act as the leader of their party. Executive orders on abortion would be certainly struck down regardless of what they say, so it comes down to ideological purity. With Democrats taking on abortion-on-demand as their stated radical stance, it’s hard to argue that the President is the extremist when even he doesn’t directly support the Alabama bill. He didn’t call it out, but by stating his personal position he established that he’s not as far to the right as the Democrats are to the left.

Today, the Democrats must embrace their primary voters, many of whom are the radical progressives “shouting their abortions” and pushing for a socialistic Dystopian future for America. Meanwhile, the President has the luxury of being more pragmatic with his approach since he’s already in general election mode. He doesn’t need to appeal to his base very much because they either stand behind him out of adoration or they fear the Democrats too much to consider going against him. Even most #NeverTrumpers are having a hard time reconciling their hatred for the President with the current batch of hardline hyper-leftists vying for the Democratic nomination.

We can argue the nuances of being pro-life and having exceptions, but as long as the Democrats are all onboard for on-demand abortions, the President’s less extreme stance on abortion will help him next November.

Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) gained much of his nationwide fame after surviving a shooting by a Democratic domestic terrorist. Now, the President wants the 11-year Congressional veteran to leave Capitol Hill and lead Louisiana as Governor.

This comes from two sources on Air Force One where the President talked to the Congressman earlier this week. According to Axios:

Opinion

Perhaps Scalise’s brand of Republican politics will translate better at the state level in the executive branch than it has on Capitol Hill. He scores a dismal 33% Liberty Score, second only to the lone Democrat in the state for being the least conservative. He’s clearly popular there, so getting him to take the reins while someone more conservative heads to Washington DC seems like a win-win for everyone.

Personally, I like Scalise, but his politics have been lukewarm from he start.

Quote

“Scalise seemed flattered by Trump’s pitch, but politely dismissed the idea, according to a source with direct knowledge. The election is in October and the deadline to enter the race is early August.” – Jonathan Swan

Final Thoughts

It won’t happen, but it’s good to see the President thinking about more than DC politics. Gaining more control of the states is essential for conservatives as we enter an era in which DC overreach shows no signs of slowing.