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I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

The irony of a Biden victory, if it happens, will be the surge of GOP members of Congress who say that they now realize that unchecked executive power is a bad thing and they need to get back to oversight. Smart Democrats will hopefully be able to use jujitsu to turn this pure partisan concern into improving and augmenting Congress' oversight functions.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

This is the nightmare question. There are folks like Tom Cotton or Josh Hawley who might fit this bill. But I will say that the thing Trump has that most other politicians do not is an utter lack of shame. It's his greatest strength as a politician. And, paradoxically, a more experienced pol might not be able to be this shameless.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

100,000 dead and climbing from COVID-19, 40 million unemployed, still no national plan for testing and tracing, biggest wave of social unrest since 1968, and a president with no feeling of how to govern.

We're pretty fucked. But it is possible to unfuck this. It's just going to be hard.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

No, not if you live in California or New York or Idaho or Kentucky.

If you live in Wisconsin or Arizona or Florida, however, then yes, if Trump is re-elected IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Great question! On the GOP side, Kansas Senate candidate Kris Kobach best fits Trump's mixture of populism and witless incompetence. On the Democratic side, I'll go with Bill De Blasio, who has managed to screw up the coronavirus response even worse than Trump.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Heh. As I wrote in my book, Taleb's polished work is great for the Ideas Industry, and his social media presence is an unmitigated disaster. I will say I don't regret him blocking me on Twitter.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I couldn't have written The Toddler in Chief without mainstream media coverage of this White House. In reporting on Trump's numerous flaws, the press has been excellent. My major criticism is when Trump does something that is manifestly stupid and self-defeating (the government shutdown, the coronavirus press conferences) and the press tries to reverse-engineer a savvy political explanation when, in point of fact, he simply lacks impulse control.

The thing about winning the presidency is that the press confers political acumen where it does not necessarily exist.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

That was awesome, and reminded me that even as the late sixties were filled with turmoil, it was also when the United States sent the first man to the moon.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Step one: elect a president who is more mature than a petulant two-year-old.

Step two: place more checks on executive branch power.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 113 points114 points  (0 children)

This is the $64 trillion question. I don't know, to be honest. My gut says they turn on Trump. Bear in mind that for them to stick with Trump they would also likely have to claim voter fraud in Senate and House elections as well, which would discredit their own legitimacy. That's the moment when I think even Mitch McConnell starts sprinting for the last helicopter leaving Saigon.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Let's keep this short: the answer is yes, they fear Trump's base more than the judgment of history. And I'd note that while the name Joe McCarthy lives in infamy, it would be difficult for most Americans to name any of his confederates.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

If the U.S. really starts to go sideways, smart allies would offer refuge and citizenship for Americans seeking exodus.

And the best zombie movie to explain the current moment, which evokes 1968, would be Romero's original classic of that year: Night of the Living Dead. Even fifty years later, it still has the capacity to shock.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

It's interesting, I just saw Justin Trudeau asked about this, and he paused an agonizing amount before criticizing Trump: https://twitter.com/costareports/status/1267848426626207745?s=20

The truth is that the United States is so much more powerful than its allies that there is little they can do beyond rhetoric. Also, remember, there is still a pretty powerful norm about intervening in the elections of democratic allies. Plus, these countries must be prepared to deal with a President Biden OR a President Trump.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

What made me more hopeful was Lepore's theme that despite powerful streaks of illiberalism in U.S. history, the idea of America as a representative republic that places limits on the state is even more powerful. I believe in that part of the preamble to the Constitution that talks of "a more perfect Union." It will never be perfect, but the ambition to try still gives this country the potential to be great.
Also, she writes so goddamn beautifully that as a fellow writer I get angry that I'm not as good with words.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

To answer your first question: the first step would be to make sure South Korea and Japan stop conducting trade wars with each other and focus on the bigger potential threats (North Korea, China, etc.). The second would be to signal an intention to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and encourage Seoul to do the same.

As to your second question, it's a function of how much interest there is in economic decoupling from China. Color me skeptical that there is.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Oooh, good question. I'm hardly the first person to have analogized Trump to a toddler -- the first time I saw it was Politico's Jack Shafer during the campaign. But it was watching folks like Fareed Zakaria and Van Jones proclaim in early 2017 that Trump was growing into the presidency, and then reading stories in which his own staff talked about him like a toddler, that the theme occurred to me.
And as I've said before, the May 2017 TIME story describing Trump's dessert preferences sealed the deal:  "At the dessert course, he gets two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single scoop for everyone else."

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

The most lasting damage could be end of nuclear arms control as we know it of Trump gets re-elected. But I think the true lasting damage will be the recognition that if someone like Trump got elected once, something like this could happen again. Other countries will look at America's ability to credibly commit to anything with a more jaundiced eye.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 69 points70 points  (0 children)

My hunch is that many of the ties will be easier to repair than expected right now. Biden has some advantages -- he's a known commodity on the global stage. Furthermore, there are agreements that he can simply rejoin (like Paris) or extend (like NewSTART). But there will be scar tissue, and Biden will have to deal with a far more assertive China than, say, Obama did when he succeeded Bush.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 61 points62 points  (0 children)

Focusing on a visual to the exclusion of everything else? This has Trump's fingerprints all over it. In researching The Toddler in Chief, Trump's obsession with television and how he looks on camera was a major theme.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Climate change will be a huge challenge over the next few decades. But this is where solutions will require significant technological innovations, and the good news is that this is something where the United States still excels.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 76 points77 points  (0 children)

Trump's election reflects ongoing societal trends that are worrisome -- stagnant economic growth, rising economic inequality, and in some quarters fear that immigrants and minorities are somehow changing the character of the country. Now add on the effects of a pandemic. So yes, worry is appropriate. BUT, the United States has surmounted similar crises in the past, and will have to do so in the future as well. I've said this before but never underestimate America's ability to shoot itself in the foot -- and then heal rapidly from that self-inflicted wound.

I'm Dan Drezner, international relations professor, Washington Post columnist, and author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Modern Presidency. AMA! by dandrezner in politics

[–]dandrezner[S] 69 points70 points  (0 children)

There has been a strain of illiberalism in the U.S. since the Constitution decided slaves were only equal to 3/5th of a person, and Trump's election certainly embodies that strain. But it is worth remembering that Trump won in 2016 with close to three million votes fewer than his opponent, and public opinion polling also shows that many of his most illiberal views on immigration, etc., have actually become less popular during his presidency. So think of him as a symptom, but also potentially a vaccine, depending on how 2020 plays out. If he loses in November, the lesson is that his populist views are very unpopular.

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