It only took two months after leaving office for former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to break his silence. The successful Speaker and failed vice presidential candidate spoke in Florida to deliver a steely warning to President Trump.
Mr. Ryan said President Trump could lose re-election in 2020 if he focuses on his personality instead of policy accomplishments. Maybe better put: if he allows the election to focus on his personality instead of policy accomplishments.
If the campaign is all tweets and lackluster speeches instead of a campaign of Promises Kept (like moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem) that could give a Democrat the opening needed to claim victory. And if there's one thing Mr. Ryan knows, it's how to lose an opportunity to get into (or, in Mr. Trump's case, stay in) the White House.
The one consistent criticism of President Trump has to be his personality. The man can be vulgar. His diehard fans will claim that's just him telling it like it is, but even when delivering hard truths, a certain amount of polish should still be used. This position is not "football coach."
Now the president certainly has some victories to brag on in 2020. Aside from the Israeli embassy move, he can run on the Republican tax cuts and elimination of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. The economy is still doing great. North Korea is no longer boiling over.
It all depends, just like last time, on who the Democrats put up. There are still some people who claim 2016 wasn't so much Mr. Trump's victory as it was Hillary Clinton's loss. And that theory might be tested again next year.
Editorial on 03/14/2019