Will Dems stop Trump from stealing 2020?

Compulsion to believe he’s a fool has real costs

My only wish for the 2020 election was that it not turn out to be anything like the disaster that was 2016. Yet as we head into the Democratic National Convention, we’ve already seen almost everything that made our last presidential cycle a nightmare — and worse.

There are the ceaseless Russian attacks on democracy on behalf of President Donald Trump. But this time, instead of WikiLeaks, the disinformation is being laundered into America’s political system through House and Senate Republicans.

There is Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns. But now the Supreme Court has made sure taxpayers will not see these documents until after the election. That’s even after Trump has spent hundreds of millions in public funds and about a fourth of his presidency acting as Ronald McDonald with a putter, hawking his own businesses while running a Washington, D.C., hotel that’s like a vacuum sucking up cash from supplicants and favor seekers.

There is the voter suppression. But instead of just preventing voting in key states with needless ballot restrictions, the Trump campaign is fighting all efforts to make voting in the middle of pandemic easier and safer, including hobbling the U.S. Postal Service and increasing the cost of mail-in voting. And the president isn’t even hiding his goal of preventing voting by mail.

And there’s the inflation of thirdparty candidates to help Trump have a chance to slip through the Electoral College, though he has no chance of ever getting near 50% of the popular vote. But this time, Republican operatives are actually trying to get Kanye West onto the ballot, with Mickey Mouse signatures (literally) in some cases, in an effort to hurt Joe Biden.

Flailing of a dying movement

You could argue that all these ploys by Trump and Republicans to rig this election are the flailing of a dying movement. What else is Trump going to do as the least popular incumbent of the century overseeing the worst job losses in U.S. history and the highest COVID-19 death count in the world?

While it’s true Biden has maintained a more convincing lead over Trump in national polls than Hillary Clinton did four years ago, polls of the key battleground states this month look almost identical to those that pitted Trump against Clinton in August 2016 — except Trump is doing slightly better.

The worst thing 2020 has in common with 2016 is this: Too many people believe that just because a guy known for bankrupting casinos and swindling veterans who sign up for his fake university should be rejected in a massive, undeniable landslide, he will be. And this leads to the greatest danger our democracy faces — underestimating Donald Trump.

The need to believe that Trump is a bumbling, deteriorating fool who has just somehow managed to avoid indictment for decades is a huge reason our republic is the closest it has ever been to dictatorship. Multiply this by the fantasy that viral attack ads highlighting the things Trump opponents hate about Trump are going to win over disaffected Republican voters, and we’re headed for a repeat of November 2016.

Underestimating Trump got us William Barr as attorney general, Trump’s human pardon who seems to be doing all he can to sneak in some “Comey memo”-style interference before Nov. 3. Underestimating Trump has gotten us disciples of QAnon — a near religious sect centered around the belief that Trump’s opponents must be rounded up for imaginary crimes — headed toward Congress. Underestimating Trump has given us a post office we can’t rely on for voting, medication or anything.

Loss could lead to prosecution

Democrats didn’t hold out for more USPS funding back in March when the crashing stock market gave them serious leverage over the first COVID-19 relief package. And even if that funding is secured, there’s no way to stop a Trump crony from sabotaging mail delivery right before the election. Don’t forget, the consequences of losing for the president and his allies could be prosecution for their corruption. If they win, they keep the power to persecute their opponents and suck up the spoils of hollowing out our government.

Trump has proved he’s much better at crushing democracy than our institutions are at preserving it. And this compulsion to believe that he’s a selfdestructive fool who’s finally losing it this time has real costs.

All that has ever reined Trump in is massive, overwhelming rejection in the streets and at the polls. And to march and vote in 2020, Americans might have to risk their lives, given Trump’s overwhelming and deliberate failures in containing COVID-19.

Am I suggesting the president could be purposely sabotaging our response to a pandemic because it might help him “win” reelection?

Well, let me ask you a question. Are you still underestimating Trump?

What’s undeniable is that the Republican president, utilizing the unqualified immunity he has been given by the Republican Senate, has a plan to swipe this election. And it’s not at all clear that Democrats have a plan to stop him. WANT TO COMMENT? Have Your Say at letters@usatoday.com, @usatodayopinion on Twitter and facebook.com/usatodayopinion. Comments are edited for length and clarity. Content submitted to USA TODAY may appear in print, digital or other forms. For letters, include name, address and phone number. Letters may be mailed to 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA, 22108.