OPINION

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE MESSENGER

How to Put Democracy First and Defeat Donald Trump

Published 01/19/24 09:00 AM ET|Updated 01/19/24 02:38 PM ET

Peter Fenn

The results in Iowa show that Donald Trump is on a roll with his Republican base, winning over 50% of the vote in a multi-candidate field.

Trump accomplished this by doubling down on his MAGA message and repeating his falsehoods about the 2020 elections and January 6. In fact, nearly two-thirds of all Iowa caucus voters said Biden did not legitimately win the presidency in 2020. Trump’s victory was by no means due to tacking towards the middle — appealing to moderate Republicans. If anything, his rhetoric got more strident and extreme.

Edison Research, which surveyed Iowa caucus voters in 2016 and 2024, showed the only major demographic where Trump lost support from 2016 to 2024 was among Republican moderates. He dropped from 34% to 20%, a loss of 14 points.

Trump may be on a roll with Republicans, but he may get rolled by mainstream voters as the campaign progresses. 

Trump’s frontal assault on “rigged” elections, the courts, the rule of law, and democratic values may turn out be his Achilles heel. 

Here’s why: a vocal, united and bipartisan voice for democracy is growing throughout the country as Trump’s nomination becomes increasingly inevitable. This will be one of the longest general election campaigns in American history, starting in March and extending for eight months. Trump will not be able to escape the scrutiny of such a long campaign. As the existential threat of a second Trump presidency is seen as a real possibility, more leaders and voters may find it unacceptable. 

Here’s an example of how the issue of preserving and protecting democracy may undercut Trump’s message. In the summer and fall of 2023, a poll was conducted of nearly 300 former members of Congress on issues related to the 2020 Presidential election, the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and political violence. The poll was sponsored by the Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) and done by the University of Massachusetts. Similar questions were asked of a national sample of the American public.

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What was remarkable in the polling of former members was how alike the views were of the Democrats and Republicans and how former Republican members differed from current members and Republicans in the general public.

Democratic former members were nearly universal in their view that Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate, but surprisingly over 80% of Republican former members also agreed. Among national polls, only about 30% of voting-age Republicans believe Biden legitimately won in 2020.

In addition, about two-thirds of Republican former members believe Trump’s efforts to claim he won the 2020 elections threaten democracy. Yet, around 20% or fewer of voting-age Republicans generally said the same. Few current Republican members are willing to call out Trump, but the same may not be true for former members.

The question this survey raises is whether former office holders across the country,

Republican or Democrat, are concerned enough to confront Trump in 2024. A strong argument could be made that former local officials who are respected in their communities and have no political ambitions ahead of them would participate in an organized effort to influence the 2024 presidential election and deny Trump four more years. 

In an unprecedented action last fall, 13 Republican and Democratic presidential libraries from Hoover to Bush and FDR to Obama signed a strong statement to warn of the fragile state of American democracy and to recognize the importance of dealing with widespread rejection of our election results, attacks on our judicial system, and propensity for increased violence. This bipartisan effort, of nearly a century of American presidents, sent a clear message outlining the threat we face.

What would be the impact of a 50-state project to bring together ex-elected officials who are free to speak their minds, regardless of party?

In addition to former members of Congress this could include state legislators, former statewide office holders (governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, etc.), former mayors, city council members, school board members, and other local officials. These would be women and men who care deeply about their country, who are respected in their communities, and who will take a stand as we approach November of 2024. In short, these would be people who are willing to reject the politics and persona of Donald Trump for the sake of preserving democracy.

Yes, it would take courage for many, but it is a cause worthy of the calling.

The key would be to build up this opposition, involve them in grassroots activity, get large amounts of press attention, use their networks, and form a bipartisan coalition to influence soft Republicans and independents. Ads, literature drops, rallies, blitzing news outlets, get-out-the-vote activity — March to November is plenty of time to get it done.

Peter Fenn is a long-time Democratic political strategist who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was a top aide to Sen. Frank Church and was the first director of Democrats for the 80s, founded by Pamela Harriman. He also co-founded the Center for Responsive Politics/Open Secrets. He serves on the board of the Frank Church Institute. Follow him on Twitter @peterhfenn.