President Trump, in his desperate attempt to keep control of Congress, has come up with a closing argument that is designed to engender fear in Americans if they don’t vote Republican, while also putting profits ahead of human suffering. His mantra has become: "Kavanaugh, caravans and Khashoggi."
Trump means to instill dread into his base that men will now be falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and reputations, careers and lives will be ruined in the process.
He also is eager to frighten Americans by painting the Central Americans headed to the United States seeking asylum as criminals and invaders who are here to take our jobs and cause us harm.
This tactic is low, Machiavellian and filled with outright lies.
But it will work to gin up Trump’s base, which he needs in the face of the unimaginable anger, disgust and resentment that Trump and his Republican Congress have stirred in Democrats, independents and suburban women who usually vote Republican.
Democrats are betting that, in addition to health care and a fair economy, Americans still care about character, decency and humanity. They hope voters will reject this horrid culture of corruption that has engulfed Trump’s presidency.
In fact, Trump’s trampling of our most basic American values and the weaponization of human suffering for political gain can be highlighted in the issues he is using to make his final argument: Kavanaugh, caravans and Khashoggi.
There is no question that the Kavanaugh issue cuts both ways. After the hearings, Republicans’ fortunes seemed to look brighter in the Senate.
But while Republicans are using Kavanaugh to try and inject fear of being falsely accused, which happens on very rare occasions, what it looks like to most women is that they are reminding their base that the exorbitant privilege of white men is in danger.
The Kavanaugh debacle also bitterly reminds women from all walks of life just how little regard Republicans have for them.
Especially heinous has been Republicans’ treatment of sexual assault survivors who have been mocked and ridiculed in the face of their tragedy and pain. These millions of women will not soon forget that.
It is why the gender gap that exists between the parties will probably be the worst in election history after the midterms. The "angry mob," as the right has dubbed them, will register that anger at the ballot box in November.
The caravans, as Trump calls them, are being used by Republicans to frighten Americans of a non-existent threat. These people fleeing danger in Central America are women, children and families who are desperate to keep their loved ones alive.
The choice to come north to a country that is more unwelcoming than ever is not one they take lightly.
As the group makes their way to the United States, Trump is using the situation to slam Democrats with another favorite lie of his and fellow Republicans, as he falsely states Democrats are for open borders and want to welcome everybody in with open arms.
Trump is also using the occasion to threaten the new trade agreement with Mexico if they don’t do anything to stop the migrants from coming north, as well as to threaten closing the border if necessary.
We already know the Trump administration is again thinking about ripping babies from their parents as they weigh separating families as a tactic to deal with the influx of migrants.
The images of babies seperated from their mothers was political Kryptonite for Trump and Republicans earlier this summer.
Do they really want to revive the images of crying toddlers screaming for their parents, reminding Americans, especially Latinos and white, college-educated women just how foul the Republican Party has become?
The treatment of these persecuted migrants underscores just how much we have deviated from being the country that welcomes the tired, poor, huddled masses of other nations
Finally, the news of the Saudi journalist working for the Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi, being tortured and killed in the Saudi Embassy in Turkey, and Trump’s embarrassingly weak response to it, reminds Americans just how far we have fallen as a country in terms of valuing human rights.
The Khashoggi incident underscores two very ugly truths about Trump and his presidency:
1. He clearly values his personal relationship with the Saudis and how America can benefit from arms deals with them much more than human life.
2. Trump’s continued attacks on journalists, calling them enemies of the people, has had a tragic effect.
Kavanaugh, Caravans and Khashoggi demonstrate to the majority of Americans just how much America’s values and America’s image are in decline under Trump and the Republicans. We can hope that after Nov. 6, Americans will start to reverse the deterioration.
