President Donald Trump, you can take it from me — Thurlow Weed, a gentleman sometimes called the “Wizard of the Lobby” of Republican party politics: The 2024 Republican primary is over and done.
Now is the time for you to focus exclusively on the general campaign. President Joe Biden’s administration is collapsing under his own incompetence and infirmity. The economy is dreadful. The world is descending into chaos and barbarity because none of the foreign potentates actually fears the appeasing poltroon in the White House.
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Mr. Biden cannot reason, he cannot articulate, and he seemingly cannot even walk a straight line. He cannot, and should not, be the president in 2025. This is obvious to any casual observer.
This reminds me of the situation in the United States in 1840. That year, we (myself and other eminent Whiggish gentlemen) aided Gen. William Henry Harrison against the sitting president, Democrat Martin Van Buren. The economy was in a frightful state. Hundreds of banks and businesses had failed, and thousands of men had lost their lands. The United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history. And Mr. Van Buren — although a man of talent, experience, and tact — came across as an out-of-touch dandy who was in far over his head.
That election, we told Gen. Harrison to keep quiet, and to avoid hard stands on the issues during the campaign. We quoted to him that great saying by the French Emperor Napolean, who counseled men that they should never interrupt their enemy when he was making a mistake. Gen. Harrison kept mum that year and let Mr. Van Buren founder in the quicksand of his own making, and, in the end, he won.
Here, I am going to slightly modify this guidance that we gave to Gen. Harrison for your situation, Mr. Trump. As a former president, you have a pretty impressive record to contrast with that of Mr. Biden. I believe we should take advantage of it.
The 2024 general election will be largely decided on account of the past, your prior term as president versus Mr. Biden’s term, and largely not on the future. So, rely entirely on debating your, and his, past. And, to borrow a turn of phrase from my good friend Mr. Nicholas Biddle, say not one single word, unless it is praise for your record or criticism of Mr. Biden’s economic record, his foreign policy foibles, his infirmity, or his rank corruption. Let no committee, no convention, no town meeting, no journalist, ever extract from you a single word about any other subject. Tell your people to let the use of pen and ink — and a computer keyboard — be wholly forbidden to you in regard to any other subject, as if you were the mad poet in Bedlam. On all things but these matters, be silent — absolutely and inflexibly silent.
Anything else you say isn’t necessary and can only get you into trouble. So, that means you should not say it.
Mr. Trump, this means that you should no longer talk about the fact that the leading men of the Democratic Party rigged the 2020 election against you. Republican voters all know this to be accurate by now, and they are already motivated to vote, so there is no further use in belaboring this truth. Now, you are reaching out to appeal to some non-Republicans who are swinging your way but who simply do not want to believe this to be true. So, I believe you should let this issue go. Winning is what is important here.
Besides, everyone knows how the American system works. The Democrats stole 2020 from you, fair and square. This is how they have always functioned in this country. It is especially how the party works in the state from which we both hale — New York. In the city, these gentlemen were called “Tammany Hall,” and in the state itself, they were known as the “Albany Regency.” You are better off ignoring this now and concerning yourself with preventing the next rigging; but it is better to operate in silence here rather than to alert your enemy of your plans.
Mr. Trump, you should also avoid responding to the desperate and extraneous attacks hurled by the Democrats. Lately, they have tried to pretend that you are as infirm as Mr. Biden. This is an outlandish charge, and it is easily refuted by your normal everyday actions and speeches. There is no need for you to otherwise address it. Which means that you should not be referring to a cognitive test in favor of your own competence. This is not helpful, and it is actually used as the butt of the joke for a modern television comedy series. (Yes, I watch a lot of your television. It keeps me busy.) I do not believe you should bother with it.
Winners are men of decided ability who act strategically and smartly. I know that you are such a man because I saw you act as such before. You love to debate and joust with other candidates, but during this primary season you didn’t attend any of the Republican debates. You did this because it did not make any sense to allow your opponents, who were far behind you in support, to come after you, and because you knew that the things you would say in response would just exasperate these Republicans and their supporters, who you wanted to eventually support you. Thus, participating in the debates would not help you extend your lead in the primary polls or win the general election. Instead, you played it exactly as you should have and just attended town halls and other events where you said nothing particularly noteworthy that would turn off other Republicans or weaken you for the general campaign.
This is my advice to you, President Trump, that comes from my humble but long career in the American system of party politics. You may take it or leave it as you wish. But I believe that I know what I am talking about, and unlike those high-priced aides you employ, you won’t have to pay me millions of dollars for what I say. Where I am, I don’t need money.
Edward Thurlow Weed was a long-time resident of New York, in these United States, from Nov. 15, 1797, to Nov. 22, 1882. He was a public official, a printer, a newspaper publisher, a Whig, and later, a Republican politician in New York state, where he was called the “Wizard of the Lobby” or the “wirepuller.” He was instrumental in the presidential campaigns of Whig Presidents William Henry Harrison (1840) and Zachary Taylor (1848) and the first Republican presidential nominee, John C. Frémont (1856). He later became a staunch supporter of (and adviser to) Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president.
