What It Takes

As much as he wants us to believe it, Trump is not the ruler of America, nor of the global community. Yes, his personality and behavior have affected our nation and others greatly. Not for good, but for bad.

But he acts not alone. He has a group of movers and shakers in the back rooms of the White House doing the work of Project 2025. Others authored that project and waded through years of work to build it and put it in place. All they needed was a president to be elected who would follow the project and its team of managers. We know who some of these people are, but not all. Besides, they work in networks behind the scenes. And throughout the GOP.

That’s what it takes to govern a nation, state or county. And yes, also towns and cities no matter their size. Teamwork and planning, preparation and hard work. And then a figure head who plays the role of leader.

Trump is not the leader, but the figure head of it. He is not smart enough to think this up entirely, only a person to go along for the ride. He follows instructions and acts the role of a president. He visits foreign capitals and leaders, they meet with him in the White House, but the playbook contains the script. He mimics the script. He is not very good at it, either. Thus, the many mistakes, misspeaks and embarrassments.

I doubt he can explain his Executive Orders. We know he can’t explain tariffs. We know he cannot talk sensibly about the economy; he simply does not understand it.

But the current situation is instructive: it takes work, planning and teamwork to build a good governing plan. The Democrats should be doing this work now, in fact, should have been doing it all along.

Will enough Democrats work to fulfill the speeches presented by Illinois Governor Pritzker? He has the talking points down pat. I doubt someone else wrote his speeches. I think he penned them himself; they are so on target, passionate and convincing. Pritzker is a good guy, a billionaire in his own right (Hyatt Hotels and other enterprises) and has lived a productive, self-directed career. He has proven over and over he understands how our capitalist system works, what needs nudges and support, and what is fueled by raw entrepreneurship. He also understands democracy and lets its dictates work magic without manipulation. He builds teams of people and relies on them. He delegates. He nurtures. And he motivates.

Whether he is a future presidential contender or not, he does present a Democrat leader we need to resist MAGA. We need more leaders to join him. We need teamwork. We need hard work done. And we need it now.

Let’s all dig in to do what it takes to save our national legacy.

May 2, 2025

  

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