U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1971!!!), it put in my mind

recipe for world leaders (or even domestic politicians) to “deal with” Trump, and his unpredictable nature.

One of Ali’s most famous boasts during his boxing days was that he would “float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee.  The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”

What Ali was trying to impress upon the audience was that he would move so fast and gracefully that his opponent wouldn’t be able to land a hit on him, and that Ali, in turn, would “sting like a bee,” hit his opponent with the hurt in their confusion.

It’s that latter part that people “across the table” need to do to Trump.  Ignore the floating like a butterfly.  It’s important that Trump CAN see you…slug him right in the proverbial mouth.

I learned this years ago dealing with bullies.  Being the nerdy kid I was (but having the benefit of being a large nerdy kid), I came to realize that if someone is trying to get the best of you through classic bullying tactics, trying to intimidate you, trying to bulldoze you, the only way to end it is to “swat them hard.”

A recollection: Back in the days when I was a salesperson at Circuit City (yeah, I know) in Decatur, Illinois, there was another salesperson in another department that tried to bully people out of “her area,” would harass them for stealing “her customers,” and just overall make things unpleasant for anyone she thought she could push around.

Me being the generally polite, laid-back guy I am, normally ignored her.  But one day she tried really laying into me, and trying to get me to give her credit on one of my sales I “stole from her.”  Having had enough, I told her that she gets nothing, to get back to her department, and when she tried the “you can’t talk to me like that” bit, I told her “I’ll talk to you any damned way I please, now get out.”  That’s the really short version of it, at least.

I felt bad, in a way.  I always hate losing my cool (especially since I have so little of it to lose).  However, from that day on, guess who had a new “best friend.”  For the rest of the time I worked there, this same person was just buddy-buddy with me, would do anything I asked or would help with anything I needed help with, and just otherwise did a complete 180 from how she used to be.

I’ve had a couple opportunities to play that same move on other bullies since, and every time it works the same way.  They bully you, you have enough, you “sting them like a bee,” they become your new best friend.

So how do you make this work with Trump?  Easy.  In conversation, give him the same treatment he gives others.  Touch on every insecurity (and they’re myriad) he has.  Call him “Donny.”  Rag on how he’s spent his life playing with “daddy’s money.”  Don’t back down, even for a second.  If he has businesses where you are, start having health or building inspectors start showing up all the time.  Things like that.

Because once you sting him hard, once you cross lines that he thinks only he can cross, he’ll be your new best friend.  He’ll do anything you ask.  He’ll give you anything you want.

Schmoozing him only works when you have something he wants.  But right now, all any of his “opponents” have to offer him is politics.  He doesn’t want politics.  Heck, I don’t even think he actually wants to be president.  So that’s out.

That leaves one option that nobody seems to have taken on…hit him hard.  You’ll only need to do it once.

Because as the only other boxer with (almost) as many memorable quotes as Ali once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

The post If World Leaders Want to Get Anywhere With Trump, They Need to Learn to “Sting Like a Bee” appeared first on The Midwest Guy.

the wily political veteran Hillary

promised…something. 

not sure, to be honest.  But we were “with her,” yeah?  No?  Well…hm.

Okay, let’s rewind a little further.

The olden days of 2010.  Here in Wisconsin, what would turn out to be a battle for the soul of the Badger State was raging between two men who were practically neighbors.  In the right corner stood Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Executive, the first Republican to hold the post…probably ever, who knows.  But Walker promised Wisconsinites that he was going to “cut your taxes,” and “kill the train,” and “create 250,000 jobs!”  His opponent, in the left corner, Mayor of the City of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett.  Barrett, the former congressman cum city CEO got out on the stump and promised the people of Wisconsin he would…not be Scott Walker?

Are you noticing a pattern here?

What I just described to you, in a nutshell, is the reason Democrats have had such a hard time winning elections even though they have proven themselves to be the better party at actually doing the jobs we elect them to do.  They aren’t putting out a bold vision for anything.  And what little vision they are talking about is so damned nuanced and long-winded that nobody remembers what they’re promising by the time they get to the end of detailing the promise from the stump.

The frustrating thing is the grassroots of the Democratic Party isn’t just demanding bold action…they’re telling the party exactly what to do.  What’s worse is, while the Republicans are promising things that either can’t be done (build the wall, create 250,000 jobs) or shouldn’t be done (cut your taxes, kill the train), Democrats have a plethora of promises to pick from that can be done, and should be done.

The best example of how to do this as a Democrat actually comes from newly-elected Virginia State Delegate Danica Roem.  Roem, while she had every opportunity to play the identity card as a trans woman running against an anti-transgender “old boy,” or to parry every bigoted attack that was thrown at her from her opposition, instead, won on a simple message: “Fix Route 28.”

With those three simple words Roem knocked out a 28-year veteran Republican in a safe Republican seat.

That’s the kind of magic that Democrats need right now.  Why?  Because the Republicans are coming back.  Why?  Because the Republicans at least say they believe in something.  Something actionable.  Something affirmative.  Something everyone can understand (whether they support it or not).

So the Democrats have to fight simple, affirmative platform fire with simple, affirmative platform fire.

Connect every home!

Every home in the United States, urban or rural, east or west, north or south, should have a connection to at least 100 megabit broadband internet.  Not only will this be the economic equivalent of rural electrification in the 1930s, this could save rural America entirely.  Our small towns and counties have been hollowed out over the last 50 years.  Farming families are dying out, literally.  Massive agribusiness is taking over the small farms and folding them in, but not doing anywhere near as much for the adjacent towns.

But you know who seems to kinda dig rural life?  Millennial desk jockeys.  There’s an unusual entrepreneurial spirit in the 18-37 year old cohort (full disclosure: that includes me).  Possibly because the Great Recession hit right when a lot of us were supposed to be getting “real jobs,” so we had to find ways to create our own.  And, apparently, we want to do it on a small farm.  But we need a website for that small farm, and credit card payment processing at the farmers markets, and a VPN connection for the spouse to remote into work downtown, and don’t even ask us to live without our Netflix.

Connect every home and you save rural America.

Make work pay!

Meet “Ned.”  Ned is a nice guy.  Ned works at the local Sam’s Club food counter in Naperville, Illinois stocking shelves for $10/hr.  Ned works full time, and goes home to his 16-year-old son Charlie, 12-year-old daughter Melissa, and his wife Betsy who earns $12.50 an hour as a Certified Nursing Assistant.  Together, they gross about $49k.  Problem is, that’s about $10k per year short of being able to afford the average 2-bedroom apartment in Naperville.

So they get a small Section 8 voucher to help afford their place to live.  They qualify for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Neither one of them has ever been able to afford a new car, and the idea of “retirement” is something “rich people do.”

It’s more than just raising minimum wage.  Minimum wage has to go up and be set to automatically adjust every year or two to keep up with inflation.

But more is needed beyond that.  A tax penalty against companies that have a certain percentage or more of their workforce eligible for certain public benefits because the pay is so low.  Think about it…if a full-time worker is eligible for $5,000 in various forms of public aid, that means that person’s employer is getting $5,000 worth of free labor every year.  Either pay your people what they’re worth, or repay the taxpayer what you’re costing them.

Fix our country!

America’s infrastructure is so dilapidated it’s embarrassing.  And it’s not just our roads.  Our bridges are falling into the water.  The parts of our power grid that aren’t full-on failing are still vulnerable to cyber-attack.

But didn’t Donald Trump promise to fix our infrastructure?  Sure!  He promised to spend only $200 billion on a trillion-and-a-half dollar’s worth of work!  How?  Magic, apparently.  Oh, also, the plan is already dead.

No, a real plan, with real money, and real vision is needed.  Pledge to spend X-dollars within Y-years to create Z-results.  For example: “We’re going to spend $75 billion dollars here in Missouri to bring every road in the state up to spec by 2023.”

Make our own bank!

Here’s a cool idea: create a Bank of [State].  North Dakota did this eons ago, and it is helping that state weather bad times, and secure good times.  It makes every tax dollar in that state go a little further.  And residents can invest in it, getting a good return, and generating even better outcomes for North Dakota residents.  Why should North Dakota be having all the fun?

Clear out criminals!

You know what has really cheesed the American people off?  Watching people harm their fellow Americans and get away with it.  I’ve been a big fan of Barack Obama ever since I interviewed him back during his Senate race.  Still am.  But he really screwed up here, directing his Department of Justice to not prosecute those who broke the law in the Bush Administration, or who caused the Great Recession.

Americans need to be able to trust their government again.  And they will never be able to do that so long as those who are put in a position of public trust and/or power are let off when they break the law.  No more leniency for public servants or powerful people who violate the public trust.

Create a bunch of jobs!

Sure, Scott Walker made this promise and failed on it.  Hard.  But does anyone care?  No.  At the end of the day, so long as you’re in the positive on this category, you win.  Just throw a number out there.

There are plenty more ideas that can be summed up in three words.  So if you’re a Democrat running for office, either pick a few things off the menu above, or come up with your own.  Just make sure you can sum it up in 3-5 words, make it big, and hang your hat on it.

As one of the greatest Midwesterners in history, Daniel Burnham (the Architect of Chicago) once said: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood.”

The post The Democratic Party is Three Words Away From Screwing the 2018 Elections Up appeared first on The Midwest Guy.

misdemeanors,” such that he recommends criminal charges against

Trump in regards to his activities during

2016 election, Congress must

take it up, file Articles of Impeachment, and play the process out.

But what about in the meantime?

A lot of experts and analysts agree, the Mueller investigation is moving along more quickly than anyone expected.  Compared to the Cox investigation into Watergate, we’re practically moving at warp speed.

That may be why Trump just started work against the political side of the scandal investigation just last night.

“We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she’s going around saying ‘We will impeach him,’” Trump told a crowd at his anti-White House Correspondents’ Dinner rally in Michigan last night.

It’s no secret that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been playing for impeachment for months now.  And a Quinnipiac poll recently found that 70% of Democrats believe proceedings should be undertaken.

With Democrats keeping a 7-10% lead over Republicans in the “generic ballot,” and President Trump still hanging between 15-18 points underwater on his approval ratings in recent months, it’s not a crazy position to take.

But if Scott Walker’s past is prologue, it could be a strategic error.

As a quick recap, six years ago, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) made history, not just in Wisconsin, but in American politics.  Six years ago, Scott Walker became the first statewide politician to beat a recall.  And he did it with a clever tactic…

In early March 2011, just barely two months into his first term, having already convinced outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle (D-Wisc.) to cancel the Milwaukee-to-Madison high speed rail project he ran against, and having announced what would eventually become his infamous Act 10 against public-sector unions, polls were showing that Wisconsinites already regretted having elected then Milwaukee County Executive Walker over Democrat and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

As talk of recall ramped up, and eventually became an actual process that set up the real recall election, and it looked like Wisconsinites would get the Walker/Barrett rematch they wanted, Walker shifted tactics.

Instead of running against Barrett, Walker ran against the recall itself.  And it worked.

Walker’s team made the case to Wisconsin voters that recall should only be used for criminal acts, or other much more major problems, not for policy disagreements (even disagreements that were extremely unpopular and led to days of some of the most massive protests in Wisconsin Capitol history).  Wisconsin voters bought it.

That’s what President Trump is hoping for as well.

In playing the anti-impeachment-itself card, Trump is hoping that Democrats either will be too worried about the political implications to file Articles, or should they push them forward, will set themselves up for a heavy loss in 2020 should it fail to remove him from office.

Let’s be fair about something else as well: Impeachment is never politically, nor publicly, advantageous.  It didn’t do much for Republicans when they threw the book at Andrew Johnson, and it was politically disastrous when they tried it against Clinton (making him the first sitting president to gain Congressional seats in a second mid-term election).

So let’s talk strategy.

First off, Democrats should self-ban themselves from saying the word “impeachment” until the Mueller investigation concludes.  If Mueller finds evidence to support charges of conspiracy, fraud, or anything else along those lines, Democrats (or Republicans) must file Articles of Impeachment.

But…what if the strongest charge against Trump is Obstruction of Justice?  What if evidence Trump colluded with the Russian government isn’t strong enough to support chargesAt that point, it’s hard to say.  It may be more advantageous to raise holy hell over it, in hopes Trump resigns, or failing that, gets mudhole-stomped in the 2020 elections.  However, impeachment may not play well politically if Democrats can’t justify removing a sitting president for the first time in American history.

If evidence of conspiracy or fraud, as it relates to Russia, isn’t found, it will be a hard case to press that the investigation was worth having at all, undermining impeachment efforts resulting from it.  From there, it may be smarter for Democrats to just let Trump and his fellow Republicans wallow in their own mire they created for themselves, and crush them in 2020.

Impeachment, at that point, may not be popular enough to generate the kind of public support necessary to both see it through successfully (that is, with conviction and removal of Trump).

That’s because, just like the recall in Wisconsin, Trump and his (not all unintelligent) team will press his case against impeachment itself, and Democrats will be left holding the bag.

The post On Impeachment, Trump is Playing a Card from Scott Walker’s Deck (and That Should Concern Democrats) appeared first on The Midwest Guy.