The argument for Trump taking a step back from the limelight | Glading

By Dale Glading
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As America – and specifically, the Republican Party – enters the uncharted waters of the post-Trump era, the imposing figure of the 45th President of the United States still casts a large and looming shadow over the political landscape. Will he or won’t he run again in 2024? For that matter, will Congress even give him the chance to make that decision for himself… since the Democratic majority seems hellbent to unconstitutionally convict a former chief executive who no longer holds that (or any) elected office?

My purpose in this short treatise is not to judge or regurgitate the pros and cons of Donald Trump or his administration. Suffice it to say that I am on the record as consistently supporting his policies and equally consistently abhorring some of his childish behavior. However, all of that is now water over the proverbial dam. What remains to be decided is what is best for Donald Trump, the GOP, and the future of the Great American Experiment.

And so, without further ado, here is my unsolicited advice. Take it for what it is worth…

If I owned golf courses all over the world – including Turnberry in Scotland, which is on my personal bucket list – I would gladly spend the next four, fourteen, or forty years playing links golf. So, my first piece of advice to the former president is to tee it up again, and again, and again.

More importantly, if my wife and kids had been the subject of round-the-clock public scrutiny and blistering media attacks for the past six years, I would do everything in my power to shield them from future such abuse… at least until they had had time to decompress and recover their equilibrium. That means lots and lots of down time in places shielded from the media glare.

That being said, Mr. President, you started a political movement that now lacks a leader. More than anything else, you taught the Republican Party how to fight for its ideals, which is a character trait it has been missing for at least a generation. However, if MAGA was indeed a movement about principles and not personality, it is bigger than you, me, or any single American.

One of the hardest things for a business entrepreneur or a political pioneer to do is to let someone else take the baby we birthed and raise it to full maturity. But that, Mr. President, is exactly what I am recommending that you do. It won’t come naturally and it won’t come easily, but I am convinced that it is necessary if the MAGA movement is to survive and flourish.

Good, bad, or indifferent… you have become a lightning rod for those who hate American history, American exceptionalism, and American ideals. Step to the side and these blowhards can huff and puff all they want, but their hot air will lose its steam in relatively short order.

Don’t get me wrong, Mr. President. I am not asking you to totally disassociate yourself from the political arena. On the contrary, I am merely suggesting that you maintain a low public profile for the immediate future… and here is my reasoning.

The Biden Administration, which from Day One was simply a stalking horse for radical Progressives and Obama holdovers, will soon collapse under the weight of its own ineptitude. History has shown us that, given access to unbridled power, the Democrats invariably overreach and subsequently, implode. Let their intraparty squabbles begin… with an octogenarian speaker vainly trying to fend off incursions from her left while futilely attempting to placate her right.

As fuel prices soar, the economy tanks, and a recession inevitably settles in, Americans will fondly recall the not-too-distant days of $2/gallon gas, record-low mortgage rates and record-high investment portfolios. Likewise, President Biden’s perceived weakness is sure to embolden America’s enemies abroad. The resulting conflicts – armed and otherwise – will clearly juxtapose with the four years of continuous peace during your administration.

Remember, sir, that Harry Truman left office with historically low approval ratings. Today, he is ranked in the upper echelon of modern U.S. presidents. All it took was time… and some comparatively poor successors.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, you could be helping to identify a new standard-bearer for the GOP. Nature hates a vacuum and so do political parties. My guess is that – given time and opportunity – a new generation of Republican leaders will emerge from the ashes.

They will be bold, principled, articulate… and electable. And that, Mr. President, should be the goal of every true American patriot like you.

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Dale Glading is an ordained minister and former N.J. Republican candidate for Congress.

Dale Glading
About Dale Glading 95 Articles
Dale Glading is an ordained minister and former N.J. Republican candidate for Congress.