American voters are increasingly faced with a new political disorder: Trump Disenchantment Syndrome.
This new “TDS” is a national malaise reaching beyond Washington into congressional and gubernatorial races, leaving some Republicans and independents drifting away from Republican candidates struggling to counter a negativity they can’t control.
The reasons for disenchantment are complicated. But one factor deserves closer examination: the difference between disliking a president’s personality and rejecting the policies and principles his party represents.
President Donald Trump has successfully pursued an aggressive agenda on border and national security, government efficiency, and economic opportunity. Fentanyl deaths and prescription prices are down. Energy production and foreign investment are up, and Trump Accounts now provide an entire generation of young Americans with a financial head start.
Yet Trump’s accomplishments often compete with something more immediate in voters’ minds: His mouth.
Public feuds with allies, provocative rhetoric about Greenland and Canada, juvenile nicknames for political opponents, and swearing during public speeches can overshadow substantive policy. When even voters who support his objectives tire of the spectacle, the political consequences become real.
Although it is difficult to discern the conflation of policy versus personality in a poll, a July Pew Research Center survey found that 42% of registered voters viewed their congressional vote as a vote against Trump. By October, Pew found the gap widened to 44% voting against him versus 19% voting for him.
That is a powerful warning for Republicans and raises a question for voters: Are you choosing the candidate you believe will best serve your community or using your congressional vote to register your frustration with the president’s personality?
Those are not the same thing.
A midterm election is not a presidential personality contest. It determines who writes legislation, controls congressional committees, conducts investigations, approves spending, and sets the direction of national policy. A change in congressional control would have negative personal consequences for voters extending well beyond Trump’s remaining time in office.
If Democrats Socialists of America are seated in Congress, voters should understand their stated goals of eliminating police and prisons, unraveling the nuclear family, and completely taking over your income and financial choices could advance.
Is being mad at Trump really worth all that?
Although congressional control includes a coalition of competing factions within a party, the hard left, anti-American, jihadi-excusing factions are currently controlling the Democratic narrative — but a vote for a Democratic candidate helps elevate this dangerous faction from microphones to power.
Committee chairs matter. So do legislative agendas, oversight hearings, and the ability to block or advance bills. A congressional majority shapes and controls the national debate.
“That nice Democrat” who knocked on your door will go to Washington or your state capital and caucus and vote with the Democratic Party, currently led by loud leftists who don’t like America and want to break it.
Here in Florida, where I live, stakes are tangible. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has a record of removing government constraints from individuals and small business owners, providing educational choice to parents, and enhancing public safety.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) (conservative, limited government) and Democratic opponent David Jolly (liberal, big government) offer vastly different visions for the state’s future. Republican and independent voters should assess those visions on merits — not use the race to express approval or disapproval of the president — or they will be destroying the DeSantis legacy that benefited them greatly.
It is OK to dislike Trump’s personal style. But a vote for a candidate is not just a vote for that person — it’s a vote for that party and its policies.
Voters have a responsibility to look beyond daily headline drama. The question is not whether Trump sometimes behaves in ways that frustrate or embarrass people. The question is whether that frustration should determine who controls the institutions that govern our lives.
Disliking a president is not a governing philosophy. Anger is not an economic plan. And a protest vote is not consequence-free.
Before casting a ballot, consider the policies, priorities, and people who will gain power if Republicans lose. Consider the effects on your taxes, public safety, schools, family finances, and children’s futures. Then vote for the future you actually want — not simply against the personality you have grown tired of and may cause you to hit the mute button on your TV.
THE DSA ISN’T NAIVE — IT’S SEDITIOUS. OUTLAW THEM NOW
Trump will not be on the ballot in November’s congressional or state races and will be out of office in two years. As the average tenure of a member of Congress is over 11 years, the consequences of today’s races will have a long-term reach into every American’s life.
Don’t let disenchantment lead to a decision you — and your children — will regret.
Kerri Toloczko is a nationally recognized conservative public policy and coalitions expert and a veteran of presidential and congressional campaigns.