Donald Trump’s continued political career is a waste of precious political energy that could be better spent on issues that matter to Americans and the causes that conservatives believe in. Political energy is finite, and every day that Trump remains in the spotlight, it diverts resources away from important matters. Polarizing causes and inspirational leaders can expand these finite resources, but only at the margins. The limits are real, and they are hard.
Trump’s personal interests consume a vast amount of resources that could be used for more important issues. While he has accomplished some things, he has also wasted energy on petty personal feuds, unnecessary scandals, and pointless lies. Trump is also uniquely divisive within the Republican Party and conservative movement, causing elections to be lost and people to be at each other’s throats. All this anger could have been turned outward.
While it is true that every leader will inevitably waste some of the precious energy they are entrusted to deploy, Trump’s old baggage never goes away, and the voters who have tuned him out permanently never come back. Trump’s own bad habits have contributed to the credibility and persistence of many distractions, and any Republican can confront the important part without pouring more gasoline on the fire and empowering his or her enemies.
There are so many things more important than the things that Donald J. Trump wants or needs to care about and fight about, and that he will drag the rest of us into caring about and fighting about. America deserves better.
