In recent columns, I’ve predicted that the Democrats will win the House of Representatives in November and that next year the House will once again impeach President Trump. Senate Democrats (with the possible exception of Pennsylvania maverick John Fetterman) will no doubt support Trump’s ouster. But whether enough Senate Republicans also vote to remove him will depend on Trump’s public opinion ratings at the time of his impeachment. The more popular he is, the less likely that enough Republicans will join with the Democrats to oust him. To maximize his popularity, Trump should take new approaches to handling the issues of deportations and the economy. But by continuing to pursue proof of voter fraud with the obsessiveness of Captain Ahab pursuing the Great White Whale, he risks political self-destruction as well as causing grave damage to the Republican Party.
Trump may well be on the verge of improving his deportation and economic policies, to his political benefit. Border Czar Tom Homan, taking over ICE operations in Minneapolis, seems to be making progress in reducing tensions and restoring public calm with his strategy of prioritizing the deportation of dangerous criminals already caught by local law enforcement agencies. He’s not emphasizing the mass arrests of people who are here illegally but not otherwise causing problems—at least not for the time being.
And Trump himself is beginning to effectively address the issue of affordability by cutting tariffs. After all, tariffs are sales taxes imposed on imports, thereby making imports more expensive and hence less affordable. Conversely, cutting the tariffs will make whatever has been taxed more affordable. Moreover, while Trump is doing this he can also bask in the good numbers the economy is generating—more jobs being created, a lower inflation rate, a decline in the deficit, a booming stock market. All this will make Trump more popular and GOP senators less likely to desert him next year.
But Trump is nonetheless risking his popularity, and therefore his presidency, with his continuing obsession with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, especially in Georgia. His ongoing attempts to discover election fraud and “nationalize” Republican control over the upcoming midterms—as evidenced by the FBI raid on Georgia’s Fulton County (the most populous and Democratic county in the state) and its seizure of ballots and voting records, which may hurt him and the GOP in at least three ways.
First, he’s diverting precious time, effort, and energy from the all-important tasks of refashioning the deportation and economic issues on which his popularity, and hence his political future, depend. Since a rational deportation policy and a prosperous economy will go a long way to increasing his popularity and thus reducing the likelihood of Senate Republican support for his removal from office once he’s impeached, he must devote his energies to these issues rather than to refighting the 2020 election.
Second, should he succeed in “nationalizing” the 2026 election, he will set a precedent by which the Democrats will be able to more easily “nationalize” future elections for their benefit and to the detriment of the GOP as well. Indeed, the Democrats have already been doing so for years: They’ve promoted same-day voter registration and mail-in voting, while opposing Republican-backed proposals to require proof of citizenship and photo ID requirements (admittedly, GOP attempts to influence election administration). Both parties should remember that “What goes around comes around” and that “You should be careful what you wish for; you may get it.” The wiser course of action for both parties is to promote nonpartisan or bipartisan regulation of elections as long as equal voting rights for all are guaranteed.
Third, the obsessive pursuit of proof of election fraud in the 2020 election may lead to political self-destruction and grave damage to the Republican Party. The tale of Captain Ahab and his pursuit of Moby Dick, the Great White Whale, offers a powerful example. In his pursuit of Moby Dick, Captain Ahab not only failed in his quest to destroy his supposed nemesis; he also destroyed himself, his ship, and his crew (except for Ishmael, of course, who caught a ride on a floating coffin after Moby took out the Pequod).
Trump already did enough damage following the 2020 election. He provoked Impeachment 2.0, and the erosion of his Republican support as seven GOP senators joined with their Democratic colleagues to vote to bar him from ever again holding federal office.
Moreover, Trump may have helped lose two GOP-held Senate seats and, with them, the entire Senate as well. In 2020, the voters of Georgia had to vote to re-elect or replace one Georgia Republican senator running for another six-year term, and to vote for a second Senator to replace one who had resigned. Under Georgia law, to win the senate seats, each GOP senator—the one seeking re-election and the other appointed to fill the unexpired term—had to win a clear majority of the popular vote. Their failure to do so necessitated a January runoff. By then, Trump’s relentless attacks on Georgia’s Republican Governor and Republican Secretary of State for failing to “find” enough votes to give Trump Georgia’s electoral vote, and his claim that the state’s Republican leaders wouldn’t permit an “honest” election in Georgia, may well have suppressed enough GOP voter turnout to let the Democrats capture the two seats and thereby flip Senate control to their party.
Exactly what Trump hopes to accomplish with the FBI’s raid and how he plans to do so are not altogether clear. But given his past record of inflicting unnecessary harm on himself as well as on Georgia’s Republican Party and leaders, one cannot help but think that further damage to himself and the GOP may be in the offing.
So if Trump wants to maximize his chances of remaining in office and minimize more damage to the Republican Party, he should work more on deportation and economic policies and drop his chase of voter fraud proof. Otherwise, he and the GOP may well meet the same fate of Captain Ahab, his ship, and its crew.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018, and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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