The Best Is Yet To Come, The Swamp Strikes Back, Taking On The Mob

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer: The Best Is Yet To Come
President Trump's address last night was certainly the most unconventional convention speech in the history of American politics! 

 If you missed the president's address, I urge you to watch it here.

I was honored to be among the roughly 2,000 people gathered on the White House lawn for the president's remarks. I wish all of you could have been there!

The atmosphere was festive, and ended with a tremendous fireworks display. It harkened back to the early days of our history when the White House was opened to the public during presidential inaugurations.

A significant portion of the crowd consisted of Catholic and evangelical leaders because the president made a special effort to ensure they were included.

Some in the media have commented on how long the president's address was. It was certainly longer than Joe Biden's acceptance speech, which was unusually short.

I think the reason is obvious: Biden said virtually nothing about how he would grow the economy because he had nothing to say. The Obama/Biden years weren't exactly "the best of times."

President Trump reminded Americans about what he accomplished during his first three years -- historic tax reform, renegotiated trade deals, reshoring manufacturing jobs, higher wages, record low unemployment -- all leading to a robust and growing economy.

Yes, it was interrupted by the coronavirus. But do you want to go back to the Obama/Biden malaise or go forward with Trump's proven record of success? That's the choice before us this November.

Going Forward
Several recent polls all show measurable movement toward the president. There was no bounce for Biden from the Democrat convention. If anything, Trump got a bounce from Biden's convention last week!

Democrats know the gap has closed. CNN's Jake Tapper said after Trump's address that he expects a "narrowing of the polls." Democrat pollster Doug Schoen said Trump's speech was "highly effective," adding that "the race for the White House will be much closer than most people are predicting."

And here's more proof: "Hidin' Biden" is coming out of the basement. He will be holding in-person campaign events after Labor Day.

I can tell you that campaign insiders, who readily admitted several weeks ago that things looked precarious, now say every swing state is leaning toward Trump.

A final thought: Past conventions have always featured non-politicians and attempted to spotlight average Americans. Usually those "unknown" or non-celebrity speakers were quickly forgotten. But this week was very different.

Some of the most stirring, poignant and powerful addresses came from regular Americans – a fisherman, parents, police officers, former athletes, former prisoners, former Sanders supporters, a grieving widow.

President Trump is remaking the Republican Party in much the same way Ronald Reagan did. But not everyone is happy about it.

The Swamp Strikes Back
Yesterday, there was a coordinated preemptive strike by the Swamp against Donald Trump. Former aides to George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney released a series of letters attacking Trump and endorsing Joe Biden.

A lot of them are "neo-cons," and I know many of them. They believe in a strong America, as I do. But I must say that I would often get into arguments with them about goals and strategy.

If we're going to war, we go to war to win. Not to turn Iraq into some version of Iowa. They never got that.

Under their direction, the Republican Party was becoming known as the "perpetual war party," and Donald Trump is changing that, and much more.

The reason they are attacking him and lining up behind Joe Biden is because it turns out that a foreign policy where you never actually win wars, and coddle communist China, was the central reason they made their home in the Republican Party.

They obviously don't care about lower taxes, smaller government, conservative judges, the Second Amendment or the sanctity of life.

Law & Order
A major theme of the president's remarks last night was that the left's attack on the rule of law cannot continue. These mobs are unquestionably linked to the political left – Antifa, Revolutionary Communists, the Black Lives Matter organizations, etc.

Donald Trump pointed out that they are wreaking havoc in Democrat dominated cities. Left-wing politicians are putting their own citizens and businesses in jeopardy because they either do not have the courage to stop the lawlessness or they are team players with the mob.

It should be obvious to everyone that not one of the individuals breaking windows, assaulting people, pulling down memorials, burning businesses, Bibles, and American flags is a Trump/Pence voter.

Broadly speaking, what we are seeing in the streets of Chicago, Kenosha, Minneapolis, Oakland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., are Democrat Party riots. That's why Democrat politicians are so hesitant to stop them.

Taking On The Mob
While the media have mocked the president for making law and order a major campaign theme, all they had to do was leave the White House grounds last night to understand why Trump is talking about it.

I had to walk several blocks to get to my car last night. I was with a number of other evangelical leaders (names you would recognize) who were going the same way. It was like running the gauntlet.

The people on the streets appeared drug-crazed. The threat of violence hung in the air. Sen. Rand Paul and his wife could have been seriously harmed. Fortunately, a couple of police officers rescued them.

Sadly, I still hear well-meaning people ask, "Why is this happening?" But we know why.

The left says we are "deplorable," that we're "fascists." The left continues to lie about Charlottesville, insisting that Trump called neo-Nazis "really fine people." Nancy Pelosi says we are "enemies of the state."

They say conservative Christians are "the American Taliban." They say conservatives "wage war on women." The so-called "moderate," the "decent man" Joe Biden said that Mitt Romney would put blacks "back in chains."

How many more churches have to be burned? Believe it or not, last night a mob gathered outside the historic St. John's Church and chanted, "Burn it down!"

This is the barbarism we are fighting, my friends.

Totalitarian movements always demonize and dehumanize their political opponents. Eventually, the rhetorical attacks lead to physical attacks. And once the totalitarians gain power, the real trouble starts as they attempt to erase those they have decried for years as subhuman.

When the president says this election will determine the future of America, he's right. Anybody who would vote against Donald Trump because they don't like his tweets is sleepwalking through life.

Standing With Israel
As we have reported, the Trump Administration is taking serious steps to contain the threat from the radical mullahs of Iran, which threatens every nation in the Middle East and vows to annihilate the Jewish state of Israel.

But our feckless allies in Europe and useless U.N. bureaucrats are standing in the way. The U.N. Security Council recently rejected a measure to reimpose sanctions on Iran.

Ambassador Kelly Craft, America's representative at the United Nations, denounced the U.N.'s appeasement of Iran. She said:

"Let me just make it really, really clear: The Trump Administration has no fear in standing in limited company on this matter. I only regret that other members of this council have lost their way and now find themselves standing in the company of terrorists."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the Security Council's action as "outrageous" and "absurd." Netanyahu added:

"Today we hear countries in the Gulf speak out as forcefully as I am doing now. I would suggest to our friends, especially our European friends, . . . that when Arabs and Israelis agree on something [the threat from Iran] it makes sense to pay attention."

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Jerusalem this week, reaffirmed America's commitment to a strong and safe Israel, saying, "The United States has a legal requirement with respect to qualitative military edge. We will continue to honor that."
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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