I tend to agree with National Review editor Rich Lowry that Donald Trump’s main appeal always has been his (generally) unspoken seven-letter campaign platform, which begins with an “F” and ends with a “U.” But Trump promised something else in 2016 that appealed in a trans-partisan way to many Americans: competence.
It seems preposterous in retrospect — and, indeed, appeared preposterous to many of us at the time — but Trump’s reputation as a businessman and a getter-done-of-things was critically important to his story in 2016. The Trump proposition last time around was that what Washington really lacks isn’t creative new ideas, which can be had for a dime a dozen at sundry think-tanks and wonk-shops, but a strong, shrewd leader who can evaluate those proposals, apply an intelligent cost-benefit analysis, put together a leadership team and a solid business plan, and get stuff done. Ross Perot offered a similar promise, but Trump had the marketing sense to run the Perot campaign inside the Republican Party rather than in competition against it.
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