Frank Watson: Trump's Learning Curve

I am a conservative; thus, I was pleased when the conservatives won in the last general election. I agreed with most of candidate Trump’s message but had serious doubts about the messenger. He got off to a horrible start. His tweeter made him look absolutely foolish. He made off-the-cuff statements without considering the ramifications. He made enemies that conservatives didn’t need. We are now beginning to feel the repercussions of his lack of diplomacy.

He continues to be pillared in the press. Even Fox News is having trouble defending him. President Trump has complained that the media is unfair and actively works against him. He is right; the national press has always leaned to the left, but he was ill-advised to poke the bear. He picked public fights with the networks. It has been my experience that when someone picks a fight, they can expect their antagonist to fight back. He can’t go back and undo the damage; he has no option but to learn how to work with a hostile press. So far, he is not doing well.

There is some evidence suggesting he realizes he has let his mouth harm his agenda.

Following his talks with Russia’s President, he told the press he believed the American Intelligence agencies more than he believed Putin.

Ten months ago, he initiated a fight with those same intelligence agencies.

Now he is trying to make amends.

It is easy to make enemies.

It is not too hard to make friends if you try, but it is next to impossible to make friends out of those you deliberately attacked.

They remember the affront forever.

One of the things that impressed me when I first moved into our small village was how lucky I was to have such a nice neighbor.

He was in his eighties and was well liked by everyone, except one lady who still held a grudge because my neighbor pulled her pigtail over 75 years earlier in kindergarten.

President Trump will never be able to make friends with the American intelligence community.

Maybe, however, he has learned when to keep quiet.

One of the few smart things he has done is to make no comment on Senator Moore’s sex scandal.

Although President Trump vehemently denies it, Republican losses in Virginia and New Jersey are his fault.

The polls reveal that Gillespie’s loss in Virginia was a vote against Trump.

The anti-Trump backlash has implications nation-wide.

The Democrats have control of the Washington state senate for the first time since I’ve been paying attention.

Republican candidates are caught in a dilemma.

President Trump is their standard bearer.

If they distance themselves from Trump, they distance themselves from the party.

If they remain closely aligned with the President, they expose themselves to the anti-Trump movement.

The Democrats have announced their intentions to pull out all the stops in order to unseat Cathy McMorris-Rogers next year.

Her support of Trump has never been more than luke-warm, but it may be enough to endanger her reelection.

I hope President Trump is beginning to understand that he may be the problem. This next political year will be interesting to watch.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and longtime resident of Eastern Washington. He has been an independent columnist for more than 18 years.

(Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and a long time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free lance columnist for over 18 years.)