It is clear that even dyed-in-the-wool Republicans want the next election to be a repudiation of Trump.
Here are some suggestions for beating Trump Republicans:
1) Name the law: Trump lies that Democrats forced him to enforce family separations, claiming that it was a law passed by Democrats. In response Democrats need to demand that Republicans name the law. As Republicans will not be able to name this non-existent law, they will be shown to be liars.
2) Prove the trade deals: Trump has conned his way through life by claiming to be a superior deal-maker. Now that his negotiating skills have been put to the test, it is clear that the Chinese do not even understand what he wants. With two years’ worth of evidence, it is time to call b.s. on his supposed gifts as a negotiator. Trump-aligned candidates will be shown to have come up empty-handed in terms of improved trade deals.
3) Show the jobs: Trump claimed that he would bring back coal and steel jobs. Any honest reckoning shows that in balance Trump’s interventions have resulted in zero additional jobs in either industry. Trumpist candidates will need to reconcile these claims.
4) Prove fraud in voting: Trump claimed that he won the popular vote in the 2016 election, but for the millions of illegal votes. Kobach has been proven to be a liar on his claims. The lies about voter fraud need to be driven by Democratic candidates. There is no downside to this and claims that it will only encourage deplorables to vote in the midterms are exaggerated.
5) Prove closing of the trade gap: Trump claimed he alone can solve the trade gap. The consensus is that the trade gap has only worsened under Trump. This fundamental metric can be used to hammer down the Trumpian candidates calls for protectionism and expose them as economic ignorants.
Republican candidates must be saddled with these and many of the other failures of the Trump administration. Democrats must take advantage of Trump’s failures and paint him as a loser. Trump’s advantage so far has been that he has been able to paint himself as an all-around winner. It is time to show the world that Trump is a loser.