David Brewster
Is taking to the streets now the smart response to Trump? Not if one looks at the Italian example, where endless personal attacks on Berlusconi only increased his popularity. Better, argues the author, to protest particular policies when they appear, and make the debate about policies not Trump himself. Zingales writes: “Mr. Berlusconi was able to govern Italy for as long as he did mostly thanks to the incompetence of his opposition. It was so rabidly obsessed with his personality that any substantive political debate disappeared; it focused only on personal attacks, the effect of which was to increase Mr. Berlusconi’s popularity. His secret was an ability to set off a Pavlovian reaction among his leftist opponents, which engendered instantaneous sympathy in most moderate voters. Mr. Trump is no different.”