A Wing and a Prayer
I have a proposal for Democrats running in the Mid-Terms. Not that too many of them read this site, mind you. Nor that they'd take the suggestion. Nor that the suggestion is necessary a great one (but I like it.) So, I don't expect this to go far. But a guy can dream...
It starts from the foundation that Trump demolishing the historic East Wing of the White House to build a garish ballroom is hated by the public in both parties, by a huge margin of 54-23%. Even among MAGA, the majority of those polled don't like it.
[UPDATE: A new The Economist/YouGov poll has disapproval at 61-25%.]
Construction on the Trump ballroom is not expected to be completed until late in his term in office. So, it's not like it will be completed any time soon. Therefore --
What I would love to see is every Democrat in the Senate and the House say that if Democrats win back the House and Senate, they will pass a bill to stop construction on boondoggle Trump Ballroom. And that whatever has been built will be torn down. Replacing it with something smaller and actually appropriate, basing it on designs of the original East Wing. And they will call in architectural experts to advise on the project, not keep it all a private secret. And if the courts allow there to be private financing so that taxpayers don't have to pay to fix this, they will open the job to competitive, public bids, so that there can't be any grifting.
And they should add that, whatever happens, they will pass a bill that it can never been named after Trump who destroyed a part of American history without any authority to do so. And whatever the structure ends up being, it will get an an official name that is suits the facility and has no connection to politics. And has nothing to do with Trump. Whether the New East Wing. Or the Old East Wing Ballroom. Or the East Wing Office and Event Center.
There will be issues on the ballot that far exceed this in profound importance. But this is such a visceral matter to Americans that not only would have an emotional impact for much of the public -- but it would also remind people of the destruction Trump did to the White House. Physically and politically.
Mainly, above all else, I just would dearly love to see whatever Trump has had built in place of the historic West Wing be destroyed to dust. And I suspect that I'm not even remotely alone.
BONUS ADDENDUM:
A friend wrote me a note that disagreed with my suggestion here. His points were that this would distract from real issues, Trump would veto such a bill, and Democrats should focus on issues to build their base of support, which this doesn't do.
What I wrote in return (for those even remotely interested) was --
Thanks for your note. And I understand your points. But (as I'm sure you figured) I disagree with them.
First, I think it would be a great message for the House and Senate to vote to block construction and have Trump veto it. That would be a near-perfect message.
Second, the issue isn't whether the construction is stopped (though it should be stopped), but that it puts disapproval of it on the Mid-Term ballot. And disapproval of demolishing the East Wing of the White House is very high. Right now, as I state in my article, polls show that the public is heavily against demolishing the East Wing by 53-24%! Over two-to-one.
[UPDATE: As noted above, the new The Economist/YouGov poll has tdheir disapproval at 61-25%.]
Third, I didn't say it should be the only issue. Nor even the top issue. Just that it is an issue I'd love to see Democrats address. Just one of many. At the top should and WILL be rising prices, the tariffs, inflation, negative job loss, the military in cities, arresting American citizens with no criminal records for merely protesting, deporting people without due process, and much more. Addressing the demolition of the White is just one sentence in periodic speeches.
And fourth, as noted above, demolishing the White is a very visceral issue to the public. It's a physical problem Trump caused that people can literally see. It's not something you have to debate about. Polls show that not only is the general public strongly against it (53-24%) , but also that a plurality of MAGOPs (!!) are against it. This isn't meant at all as a nice sound bite for Democrats -- you couldn't pay most Democrats enough to keep them from voting -- but rather for Independents and moderate MAGOP voters who remain patriotic and love institutions. And here is the literal destruction of a cherished institution. And by referencing the issue, demolishing the East Wing has an unstated meaning: it's a material manifestation of what Trump is doing to the country and the Constitution -- trying to be an authoritarian "king" who believes he can even just tear down the White House as if it's HIS, and reminds people of that in a physical, visual way. Not to mention, reminding people of the near-certain graft in its private funding. Which is a reminder of all Trump graft, including his $400 million airplane from Qatar.
And the goal is only trying to move 2-3% of Independents and moderates, because in an election, that is huge.
This doesn't need much debate. It isn't going to happen. The main point is that keeping Trump's destruction of the White House is not a meaningless matter. It's a $350 million boondoggle demolition of American history during a bad economy which polls show the public (all parties) hate strongly. And it shouldn't be overlooked and accepted.
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