Happy Boxing Day.
We servants of the Republic get to give direction this day of the year. So here goes. (Spoiler alert: My new book “The Fourth Way: A Conservative Playbook for a Lasting Republican Majority” makes most of these arguments at greater length.)
First, don’t delay the nomination for the vacancy on the Supreme Court until Sen. Jeff Sessions is confirmed as attorney general, as he will be. In fact flood the zone with the new justice’s name and the 14 nominees for the open seats on federal appeals courts and do it soon.
Better to put lots of targets in the air and force the left to coordinate — which they do poorly — and prioritize their target. It won’t be Sen. Sessions (who cannot be beaten given his exemplary credentials and fine relations with his fellow senators.) Conventional wisdom says go slow and one at a time. The servants on Boxing Day say “blitz.”
The servants also suggest the president-elect engage the partisan press of the left as President Obama never engaged the partisan press of the right. President-elect Trump’s confidence and experience in the broadcast one-on-on format allows this to happen. Lefty interlocutors will punch themselves out on tax returns and conflicts of interests to which the president-elect can simply respond: “My lawyers are working on it. It’s very complicated. Not many journalists understand the complexity of real estate transactions and the duties owed, to name just one issue, owed limited partners. So I understand, most of your colleagues don’t understand but we will figure it out. By the way, do you known what IRR means? No, well that’s what I mean. Why don’t you ask me about things you and your colleagues understand?”
Next on this Boxing Day, I’d like to recommend assistants to the president — all of them — meet regularly on the record with the press. Try small groups of reporters from across the spectrum, a lefty from the New York Times and a conservative from National Review etc. Get rid of the mystery around the West Wing senior staff, which only feeds the bizarre narratives being spun on the left. The contrast between, say, General Flynn and Valerie Jarrett, will be immediate and remarkable.
Next, don’t develop the tax and entitlement reform bills in secret. Avoid nasty surprises by adopting tone-deaf think tank clunkers like capping the mortgage interest deduction. Stay clear of the economic ideologues but stay close to the judicial originalists who need to be in the first rank of advisers when it comes to making appointments to the bench. The Federalist Society really is a grass roots organization. The anti-deduction absolutists represent almost no one outside of the Beltway. So keep the FedSoc close and the Hayek Fanboys at arms length.
Finally, a big stimulus will upset some traditional conservatives, as will an immigration overhaul. Details will follow in the book, but go big and go fast on both and the realignment will go far. Think “Nixon to China” every day. Every day.
And Happy New Year.
Hugh Hewitt is a Washington Examiner columnist. His nationally syndicated radio show is heard M-F from 6-9 AM EST. His new book, The Fourth Way, A Conservative Playbook for a Lasting Republic Majority, publishes in January. He posts daily at HughHewitt.com and is on Twitter @hughhewitt.
