On Wednesday, we laid out New Year’s resolutions for Republican officials in Washington. Today, we would like to address the Democrats as well.
Our editorials tend to address politics and policy from a conservative perspective. We do not pretend to be a good source of advice for Democrats beyond matters that all sides agree to be bipartisan. In that spirit, we wish to begin the year by urging them to show consistent respect for the nation’s norms and institutions — the same respect they appeal to when they level meritorious criticisms against President Trump.
Upon Trump’s election, we warned that the nation’s institutions would need to check Trump’s worst urges. We believe this has worked out quite well. Some Democrats might not agree, and some might agree with the stipulation that impeachment is part of this process. Either way, we hope most people can agree that the nation has not fallen apart, that Trump has not started a nuclear war, and that we are not living in Nazi Germany, a Margaret Atwood novel, or anything remotely comparable.
Having set sail into unknown waters by choosing Trump, the electorate offered a test of just how strong the system is. Pretty strong, it turns out.
It is on that basis that we feel similar confidence that, were a Democrat to win the 2020 presidential election, he or she would not abuse power too badly. Even so, as with Trump, we do not like to hear Democratic candidates talking about destroying the customs that make it possible for either side to wield power with legitimacy in a nation so politically divided.
It is especially distressing to hear talk of plans to pack the Supreme Court or “reform” the Senate to blast away the obstacles that rightly prevent razor-thin 51% majorities from imposing radical new policies on the country. It is almost as distressing to hear promises of unilateral presidential orders to achieve divisive, ideologically charged goals, such as seizing guns or “[banning] fracking — everywhere.”
Even if we agreed with the aims of such actions (and we do not), gun control, radical decarbonization, and all the other policy goals of the Left, like the goals of the Right, must still be advanced through the due processes of legislation and the rule of law, subject to the Constitution and the oversight of the judicial branch.
Under Trump, this has generally worked, if not to everyone’s complete satisfaction. The Senate’s supermajority requirement, the federal courts, and the Democratic takeover of the House have frustrated many of Trump’s biggest ambitions: Obamacare repeal, immigration restriction, spending on the border wall, and the like. Trump does not have the power to govern unilaterally. The fact that Trump tries to be a norm breaker has not permitted him to get away with much more than other presidents do, even if he does it with a lot more noise and fury.
We anticipate a reasonable but ultimately wrong-headed response to this from Democrats — that they ought to fight fire with fire. If Trump breaks norms, why shouldn’t we?
For three reasons: First, moves such as packing the Supreme Court would tear the country apart. Second, it’s probably better for everyone that Trump be remembered as a unique president, not as the standard on which future U.S. leaders model their conduct. And third, Democrats have their own long-term interest in this matter.
As John Rawls might say, a veil of ignorance blocks their view of who suffers the consequences of their actions. Even if they had no moral scruples or sense of fair play about changing the rules mid-game, they must always worry about who will get to wield the radical new powers they talk about giving themselves.
Consider Harry Reid’s colossal mistake in November 2013. He stripped the Senate minority of its power to block controversial judges. Reid invoked the so-called nuclear option. Not only did his power grab fail to help Obama exercise more influence (Democrats lost the Senate a year later), but it has handed Trump a unique, possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the federal judiciary.
So what would Democrats choose now if they knew that Paul Ryan would defeat President Bernie Sanders in 2024, bringing in the narrow Republican congressional majority he needs to irretrievably dismantle Social Security and put all the money into private accounts? Is it worth the risk of repeating Reid’s folly when everyone can instead work for their divergent goals within the accepted system and preserve some semblance of its legitimacy?
In short, Democrats would be shortsighted to make Trump their excuse for destroying norms that they feel are temporarily holding them back. After all, those norms are holding Trump back, and they will also hold back future presidents they don’t like.
If they think Trump is shattering the country’s precedents, then the Constitution gives them the power to rein him in — no one can claim they aren’t using it now —through congressional oversight, the power of the purse, and perhaps even impeachment. But the last thing this divided country needs right now is a race to the bottom between two parties competing to shatter what little common ground and respect for rules still remain.
