Trump's Reversal on Mail-in Ballots

Chaos in the Cerebrum

Donald Trump is now a great proponent of early mail-in balloting. That's good because the proof that mail-in balloting is safe, secure, and smart is well established.

Trump, however, came to this realization later than any major candidate in modern history because of his paranoid, chaotic, and curiously perverse way of thinking. He believed this demonstrably intelligent voting option was rigged, fraudulent, and stacked against him.

"Rigged," of course, is Trump's default battle cry whenever things do not go his way, which, these days, is a frequent reality. The courts are rigged, the judges are rigged, the juries are rigged, the "fake news" is rigged, and if the polls suggest the voting is not going his way in any state, well, that state's voting is also rigged.

Ironically, Trump's historical hysteria about early absentee or mail-in voting was an unforced error that every election authority and expert knew was a self-defeating position that could only work against him.

Indeed, by every measure, early absentee, mail-in voting was something Trump should have embraced long ago because it is obviously to his advantage. Instead, he railed against mail-in voting because he was both paranoid and remarkably uninformed. He should have been aggressively promoting early mail-in voting.

Research demonstrates that older white voters are the most obvious voters Trump should prioritize because they represent his prime demographic. Pew Research has shown that white voters 65 years of age and older supported Trump over Hillary Clinton, and these are the voters that more frequently vote early and vote by mail. Trump was so fixated on early voting and mail-in voting being rigged that he waged an absurd campaign against his own interest. But "rigged" is his fallback position whenever things do not go his way. It is a self-defeating personality flaw.

Contrary to Trump's fixation that everything that doesn't go his way is rigged, his long-standing war against mail-in voting has, by any measure, been merely a self-defeating war against his own interest. Paranoia has a way of doing that to people.

However, when prominent politicians display paranoia whenever things do not go their way, and especially when the focus is on a nation's election integrity, the entire foundation of a democratic political system is compromised.

Donald Trump cannot admit defeat. He has demonstrated time and time again that he simply can't. So, to his followers, America's remarkably secure elections are seriously flawed, if not rigged. No one in the history of the American experience has done more to undermine confidence in American democracy than Donald Trump. His ad nauseum refrain that the system is rigged when election results or any other results do not go his way is a predictable Trumpian explanation for almost any setback or failure. Anything that doesn't go his way or counter to his prediction is rigged, and never his error, and certainly never his fault. Adverse outcomes are always rigged.

Remember election night back in 2012, when Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney? Trump was still brooding over his earlier and outrageous claim that Barack Obama wasn't even an American citizen who was born in the United States. He called Obama's election "a total sham and a travesty" and claimed that "America was no longer a democracy. We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided," he fumed. Trump continued to fume right through the 2016 election, calling the election rigged until someone apparently whispered in his ear that he had won in the electoral college. Then he switched gears and fumed that, but for the illegal votes that were counted, he would have won the popular vote too.

Pew Research determined that white voters, especially those over 65, gave Trump his most decisive majority over Hillary Clinton. As might be expected, this demographic favors early mail-in voting. In one post-mortem study that investigated mail-in voting, over two-thirds of all mail ballots were cast by older white voters. Trump should have been promoting mail-in voting. Instead, his instincts, which were simply wrong, led him to attack early mail-in voting because he believed, without a shred of evidence, that those votes would be rigged against him.

How things have changed. Now, former President Trump supports Swamp the Vote USA, the GOP's new effort to rally supporters behind voting early and by mail in the 2024 election.

"Republicans must win, and we will use every appropriate tool to beat the Democrats because they are destroying our country," Trump announced in a press release and video announcing the kick-off of the plan.

"Whether you vote absentee, by mail, early in-person, or on election day, we are going to protect the vote. We make sure your ballot is secure, and your voice is heard. We must swamp the radical Democrats with a massive turnout. The way to win is to swamp them; if we swamp them with votes, they can't cheat. You need to make a plan, register, and vote in any way possible. We have got to get your vote."

Welcome to the 21st Century, candidate Trump.

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Novels by Hal Gershowitz