By Ada Fisher

Donald Trump at one time offered the nation the hope that the swamp would be drained and our policies would follow the U.S. Constitution.

Though he was reportedly counseled for the 2020 election to paint Joseph Biden as old school and out of touch and to do a thank you tour to hospitals and first responders, he did not heed such, choosing to press forward with an approach that focused on rallies in an often needlessly divisive in tone.

The “whys” as to the election loss by Trump in 2020 overlooks some practicalities which have come back to repeatedly haunt him and build a case for further losses beyond just election vote integrity.

Trump followers constantly taunted Hillary Clinton and chanted for her to be put in jail. This was largely ignored by the Trump administration possibly because of thoughts that, if his administration were found guilty of the same thing, this also might possibly grant him a pass. The fallacy of this thinking is that Democrats would give him the same graciousness for inclinations within his own administration’s efforts. Revelations that Clinton was using personal servers and computers for sensitive government documents were also reportedly found to have been done by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.

The overuse of Trump’s children and his close business colleagues as spokespersons and advocates should have raised red flags — not only about the ethics of such but with their experience and qualifications. The closeness of President John Kennedy with his brother as his attorney general was similarly bothersome, but at least such a position was approved by Congress. All family senior level personnel should have to be approved by Congress. Patronage by our leadership should face a level of scrutiny that is not being done for our loyalty is first to the constitution and nation.

The failure of Donald Trump to modulate his mouth in both tone and rhetoric, as was done in his last two presidential debates, has been a killer. Trump has a never-ending victim posture rather than taking a breath to talk about the good things he did and effective policies which worked and are still needed.

Lastly, the Republican Party is becoming Trumpized rather than appreciating its pledge, which at times diverges from what it currently stands for. The party must recapture its independence to ensure its credibility with all voters, not just Republicans. Though Trump was the party’s last elected president, the opportunity for any Republican to run for that nomination must remain. And the party must keep a bigger role in fundraising as well as insuring that all Republican candidates are treated fairly. The choice of party candidates must come from the states, not the White House, federal level or Republican National Committee.

The Democratic Party has helped bulge the national debt with stimulus help to over $6 trillion as well as provided some unnecessary stimulus program funding. Immigration prohibitions on certain entries into the nation were initially done by Trump, and the health restrictions instigated should still stand because the pandemic seems never-ending. Protect the nation’s best interest and share that some are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice so that our transparency is evident.

Salisbury’s Ada M. Fisher served as N.C. Republican National Committeewoman from 2012 to 2020, was a medical director in a Fortune 500 company, served on the Rowan County Board Of Education and worked as a secondary education teacher.