Special Edition: The Real Fight Begins
So What Do We Do Now?
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Liberal Pathos
This is the best I’ve seen so far . . .
And here’s an oldie but goodie from 2016 . . .
Becoming an Appointee
I’ll have more information in future newsletters, but for now, read this one . . .
On the Transition . . .
Read these four posts (they’re no longer behind the paywall) to understand what needs to be done and what is about to happen.
The three reasons why the 2016-2017 transition was suboptimal.
The four phases of a presidential transition.
The five deliverables the transition must successfully achieve.
The six principles to govern the transition planning effort.
Now that the election is behind us I’ll have more to say about this topic moving forward and will share what I know.
So What Do We Do Now?
President Trump becoming once again President-elect Trump has to be one of the greatest comebacks in world history.
Like Napoleon returning to France after abdicating the throne and being exiled to the island of Elba, or perhaps more closer to home, President Nixon winning the White House after losing the 1960 race to Kennedy.
In the 1972 film The Candidate, the final scene has U.S. Senator-elect Bill McKay (played by Robert Redford) learning he just won a tight election in California.
Alone in the campaign hotel suite with his campaign manager he asks, “So what do we now?” just as a crowd of supporters rushes in.
The closing music plays and the screen cuts to black.
We don’t get an answer.
Movie over.
So what do we now?
First, Harris still needs to concede.
Apparently she will do so at 6 p.m. tonight.
Your talking point until then should be: Why hasn’t she yet?
The fact she hasn’t threatens our democracy and the peaceful transition of power.
Make sure you say that to all your liberal friends and coworkers until she concedes.
Second, we need to get Trump to Inauguration Day and surround him by people who will implement his policies, not their own.
Here are five additional thoughts . . .
Speed is of the essence.
There are exactly 75 days until Inauguration.
There isn’t a minute to waste because we don’t get them back.
Landing teams need to be stood up though these shouldn’t be the priority.
Landing teams (as in landing the plane) are the people who go into the line departments and agencies during the transition to see what’s going on and then go write papers and briefing books that will be read by a few or won’t be read at all.
The priority is storming the beach, which means putting together beachhead teams of loyal and competent people to staff the administration and go into the line departments and agencies on Day One.
They key metric here is 1,136.
This number is what the transition should be judged on.
Success or failure of the transition depends on this number.
This is the amount of appointees the Biden regime swore-in on Inauguration Day.
The Trump transition team should consider this the baseline.
The goal should be surpassing 1,136 with an eye toward filling every single White House appointee position and all non-Senate confirmed roles on Day One.
A competent transition will fill every single White House appointee position with the swearing-in scheduled for Inauguration Day.
Depending upon whose numbers you use there are between 350-450 of these spots.
Having this personnel capacity available immediately means there exists an optimal support system to assist President Trump and his senior staff as they seek to gain control over the government.
It leads to better situational awareness, strengthens the ability of the president to direct the line departments and agencies, and allows the White House to better communicate its messages to the American people.
It also increases the likelihood enabling legislation for the president’s governing agenda will be passed as this originates out of the White House and not the bureaucracy.
Pushing through the president’s legislative priorities matters because unlike executive orders or departmental/agency policy changes, they’re permanent unless Congress includes a sunset provision or changes the law.
A competent transition will also fill every available non-Senate confirmed position in the line departments and agencies on Inauguration Day, or soon after.
There are about 1,400 Schedule C and 800 non-Senate confirmed positions the president can appoint.
There is no reason why these can’t be filled immediately. Setting up an adequate application system and dedicating sufficient support staff to recruit, vet, and onboard, enables this to happen.
Loyalty matters most.
There’s this thing you hear from D.C. establishment types in both parties that those who work on campaigns aren’t suited for government jobs in an admin.
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