Trump, Vance, and the Republican Agenda
In reporting on the 2024 Democratic Convention, the media were abuzz with the word “joy.” It was a true celebration of Democratic values. For many, both at the convention and in the home TV audience, it was both fun and inspirational.
But we should not forget what Vice President Kamala Harris said in her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president: “The consequences of putting Donald Trump back in office are extremely serious.”
She went on to list some of the specific dangers a second Trump term would entail: his promise to free those convicted of violence in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, his threat to imprison journalists and political opponents, his intention to deploy the nation’s armed forces against our own citizens. In a word, Harris was calling out Trump’s undisguised lust for authoritarian power, and the MAGA Republicans’ willingness to indulge that lust.
“Consider the power he will have — especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution,” Harris said. “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”
And despite the euphoria surrounding Harris’s nomination and the inclusion of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate, the race remains close in all the recent polls. The danger of a second Trump term is still alive, and with it the danger of authoritarianism.
Trump has not concealed his admiration for dictators or near-dictators in other countries. Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Viktor Orban of Hungary — these men are his role models. As widely reported, he told supporters he planned to be a dictator “for one day” after his reelection. Of course, someone with presidential powers and a ready-to-go agenda could do a good deal of damage even in one day. And if there’s no one to stop him, who really believes he’d give up that power on day two?
We already know what Trump’s agenda would look like. It’s called Project 2025. Among other things, it would end or drastically weaken Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, cut Social Security, and eliminate the Department of Education — just to list the points Harris called out in her convention speech.
Evidently aware of just how toxic Project 2025 appears to ordinary Americans, Trump has disavowed it. This ignores the fact that it was crafted in large part by former members of his administration. Trump and his policies are mentioned favorably several hundred times in the document. And his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, reportedly praised it in the foreword to a book by Kevin D. Roberts, the plan’s major architect. (The book’s publisher delayed releasing it until after the election, possibly to deflect attention from Vance’s overt approval.)
Speaking of Vance…
It used to be that a vice presidential nomination was a way to buffer support in a swing state, or to give a symbolic hat tip to a segment of the population the party wanted to attract. The last time a vice president had to assume the role of president (other than by being elected in his own right) was more than 50 years ago, with Gerald Ford replacing Richard Nixon. But if Trump is reelected, what are the prospects?
I am not a doctor, so what follows should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nonetheless, judging by news reports of his remarks in recent months — for example, the August 12 “conversation” with Elon Musk on X (the former Twitter) — Trump is living in a world of delusions. He seems to confuse fictional characters with real life personalities, and his statements — when they are not outright lies — often fail to make even minimal sense. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder if these are early signs of dementia.
Also, Trump will be 78 years old at the beginning of the next presidential term. While he has access to the best possible medical care, it is far from certain that his health will hold up for another four years in the most demanding job in the world — even if he spends the whole time playing golf and shuffling off the actual work to his staff.
There is a real chance that JD Vance would become president before 2028 — either through the actual death of the president, or through the provisions of the 25th Amendment, should Trump become obviously too ill to remain in office. And as bad as Trump’s return to office would be, Vance’s accession could be far worse. He has made it clear he fully supports Project 2025 — and his public statements indicate that he is broadly opposed to women’s rights, immigration, and U.S. support for Ukraine, just to name a few.
To put it bluntly, whether or not Trump is capable of (or interested in) overseeing the actual operations of government, we are unlikely to have a thoughtful problem-solver in the White House if he is reelected. The advocates of Project 2025 are likely to have free rein in putting it into effect if he returns to the White House — especially if there is a Republican majority in Congress. And unless you happen to be a right-wing billionaire who expects to get substantial tax cuts, that is bad news for all of us.
Peter Heck is a Chestertown-based writer and editor, who spent 10 years at the Kent County News and three more with the Chestertown Spy. He is the author of 10 novels and co-author of four plays, a book reviewer for Asimov’s and Kirkus Reviews, and an incorrigible guitarist.
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