In Federalist 71, Alexander Hamilton advocated for four-year terms for the president, essentially forwarding the notion that should a president do so much harm while in office, then the people would certainly turn him out after four years. In essence, Hamilton questioned how much mischief could one man create for our nation in just four years? In fairness to Publius, he had no way of envisioning social media and the threat that factions can bring to our constitutional republic as a result. The truth is we’ve seen how much mischief one man can do.
So why is it then, that over that last quarter century, we have changed out the White House every eight years? Why is it that after their first term, we returned these incumbents to the presidency? Some have told me that these post-first-term campaigns are all about winning over a certain segment of the population. It’s about attracting the voters who would rather vote for “the devil you know, over the devil you don’t know.”
Mitt Romney was made out to be a devil to 47-percenters but we didn’t know that much about how he would be as president. John Kerry was the swift-boat devil who threw his military service medals over the fence at the White House but we didn’t know that much about how he would be as president. Bob Dole was the devil that was going to fiddle with a booming economy (it was booming thanks to his own party in Congress) and, frankly, he was just an old devil when compared to the younger incumbent.
It will be interesting to see how President Trump is treated in four years. He is already demonized to the point of being the biggest devil of them all. This should give pause to the Left. They should examine the ramifications of how they’re treating him, because everyone will know this “devil” no matter whom they choose to face him in 2020. We don’t know a thing about that person. Note to the Urban Left: Perhaps you should dial back the riots and rhetoric a bit. It might help your future cause.
My question: Why is the devil involved in this at all?