Donald Trump is a one-trick pony; the only thing he knows how to do is to throw red meat to his base. He’s continuing to roam the country, holding rallies in red states and talking about locking up Hillary Clinton, because that’s how he got elected. If he wants to move his agenda, he needs to figure out a way to get beyond that and reach the more moderate members of his own party, but building coalitions is just not part of his DNA, and it certainly isn’t as much fun.
It is likely that some of his style will rub off on the Democrats, but will we ever see a successful left-wing imitation of Trump? Will we ever get to “Lock him up!” I don’t think so, because:
- The Democratic victims coalition is much more heterogeneous than the Republican Reactionary base. If you’re throwing red meat to African-Americans, for example, where does that leave women and Hispanics?
- Every poll I have ever seen suggests that the Democratic voting base prefers compromise and results to ideological purity.
- One would hope that the reaction to bombast would be quiet competence.