Netanyahu’s Win Is A Warning To American Voters: Trump Can Win In 2020

On Thursday, April 11, Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball had these sobering words to offer. I found them compellig.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has just given a lesson tovoters in this country to President Donald Trump, and just as important, to Trump`s critics.

Lesson one: you can with win reelection while not changing your off-putting style. You can be ego-centric, narcissistic, bullying, the works.

Lesson two: if you oppose such a person, and all the narcissism and bullying, you can sure as heck lose to them no matter what you think of them personally and no matter how bad their image is in the world.

Lesson three: the guy you hate can win because whatever else you can say about him, this person you see as a villain is seen by a lot of other people as the country`s lone tower of strength; the one politician willing to take the heat for defending the country, its borders and its sovereignty.

Lesson four: if your opponent is seen as the man ready and willing to defend the country, its borders and sovereignty, and your candidate and party are not, you should not be surprised at your country`s verdict.

Bibi won because he, unlike his critics and political rivals, was seen as strong on the issue of defending his country, its borders and its sovereignty. By refusing to promote a strong alternative for border protection, critics and rivals have allowed Trump to position himself so far as the lone protector of the country`s sovereignty and for him to brand his enemies for being for open borders.

As former Governor Jerry Brown of California sized it up, Trump has made his call for a wall in the border a powerful metaphor. Quote: He`s saying, hey, those lefties and socialists are against it, I`m for it, and it`s protection. And somehow that will protect you from closing down the factory or protect you from these strange social experiments. Like Trump, Netanyahu also dealt in images like getting the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem. That showed he had clout in Washington and they had the toughness to defend his country. And it worked. He just won reelection.

Trump`s opponent should pay attention. You can bet he has.