Trump Sees 2020 as 1968. He’s Wrong.

“Law and order” campaigning and the perils of misinterpreted history.

President Trump is attempting to model his reelection campaign on President Nixon’s “law and order” message that was successful over fifty years ago.

According to the New York Times:

“Some in the president’s circle see the escalations as a political boon, much in the way Richard M. Nixon won the presidency on a law-and-order platform after the 1968 riots. One adviser to Mr. Trump…said images of widespread destruction could be helpful to the law-and-order message that Mr. Trump has projected since his 2016 campaign.”

President Trump is free to model his campaign on whatever messaging he so chooses, but he should be warned — he is not Nixon, and this is not 1968.

The most obvious disconnect between the two campaigns is that Trump’s the incumbent, not the outsider. The current unrest with which Trump seeks to utilize is occurring while he is in power. If Trump cannot handle the crisis now, why would voters believe he can handle it in the future?

Second, a successful law and order message would require a stable, steady leader with decisive and consistent decision making, qualities not normally ascribed to President Trump.