If you want to identify the impact that Trump has made on our country and the world independent of his GOP affiliation, imagine where we would be today with President Rubio. It probably looks like this:
- Obamacare repeal might have passed. Trump wasn’t really the problem there, but he didn’t do anything to help, either. A little more effective leadership might have made a difference.
- The tax cut would have strongly resembled the bill that was approved, but would have been a bit more family-friendly.
- We would still be friends with our erstwhile allies. We would not insult them on a daily basis.
- We would be approximately where we are with North Korea, but there would be no danger of blundering into a war that no one wants through the misinterpretation of overheated rhetoric.
- There would be no Russia investigation.
- Our civil liberties would not be in danger.
- Corruption would not be an issue.
- There would be no discussion about a wall, about tariffs, or about abandoning NAFTA and the WTO.
- No one would have heard of Doug Jones.
- We might well still be in the Paris Agreement, although we probably wouldn’t be doing anything meaningful to implement it.
- Gorsuch, or someone like him, would be on the Supreme Court.
- “Fake news” would be something emanating from Russia or China.
In short, our country with a different GOP president would be far more respected around the world, and would be a better and safer place to live. On the other hand, the prospects for the Democrats in 2018 and 2020 would be significantly worse. How you balance those two is up to you.