We are about six weeks into the new Trump 47 administration, and it’s clear that the president, Lieutenant DOGE Elon Musk, and some of the other cast of cabinet characters are shaking things up, to put it mildly. Last time we talked about winning the information warfare battle for restructuring the Federal budget. The impacts of this continue to resonate, good and bad. But the main thing that DJT is doing in the current edition of the presidency is re-define what is considered possible by stretching the Overton Window.
Overton Window Defined
CoPilot simplifies the Overton Window as the range of policies or ideas that are considered politically acceptable in mainstream discourse at any given time. That last part is key because the Overton Window shifts over time. Sometimes wider, sometimes narrower, and often moving right or left on the political Richter scale. Ideas and concepts outside the window are often discarded out of hand as too wack-a-doodle to consider. But today’s looney tunes notions change both the boundaries and the centerline of Joseph Overton’s famous window.
Trump 47: Learning Organism
I have discussed playing offense as the best defense to continually control the terms of the debate. Of all the characteristics that define the current Commander in Chief, adaptability and change stand out in the first month and a half. Trump 47 is proving to be a learning organism in politics, based upon the Trump 45 term, his legal battles during the past 8 year stretch, a couple of assassination attempts and more. Consider:
- DJT resets the debate, highlighting issues that heretofore weren’t issues. See illegal immigration, transgender males in female sports, and the verboten concept of tariffs. Always did it, doing it even more.
- He is mastering populism, aligning with 80-20 issues from the public’s perception and watching, you could say forcing, his opposition to reflexively take the unpopular side of everything, because, well, it’s Trump. That knee-jerk reaction isn’t working as well this go round.
- Trump 47 amplifies the tactics of political influence that strike emotional chords with the public that support administration positions. Last night millions watched the State of the Whatever that Address to Congress is called in year 1 of a presidential term. Have you ever seen so many referrals to the gallery of widows, injured, or otherwise afflicted human interest guests? Reagan began this process; DJT excels in it. According to a CNN poll, that address to Congress last night received a positive response from about 7 in 10 speech-watchers. Re-read that polling source again.
Taking Over the Overton Window
Republicans have watched for years Democrats control the Overton Window and continually re-define the borders and centerline of polite discussion, ceding ground on economic and cultural issues. Here’s how it works. Someone from the far limits of the party, let’s use the fictional character AOC, posits one cuckoo concept after another that is outside our window. Social and conventional media repeat it ad nauseum. The Republicans react in public outrage. “That’s ridiculous! You’re out of your mind, make believe AOC! The best we would ever consider is _______!”
See what happened there? The Overton Window just moved in the direction of the Democrats. Well, Trump 47 has figured this out, and instead of using fringe surrogates to do the stretching, he revels in doing it himself. The president knows that 90% of things he throws out there are for the purpose of moving or widening the Overton Window. Don’t see it?
- “Let’s buy Greenland.”
- “Governor Trudeau, how would you like Canada to become the 51st state?”
- “We are going to build big, beautiful resort hotels in the Gaza Strip. Probably the biggest, most beautiful buildings the world has ever seen, some people are saying.”
Talk about keeping your opponents off balance. New discussions spring up that only go part of the way to these notions are now happening across the globe, possible paths of action never before on the table. Love him or hate him, Trump 47 is teaching a graduate-level course in setting his agenda in real time.