Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump - and Democrats from Themselves

by Rick Wilson

Hennepin County Library hardcover 308 pages plus notes and index

Published: 2020

Genre: Non-fiction, politics

I'm not typically a "quitter" when it comes to books, but after being on the waiting list for many months and finally getting this book, I'm returning it to the library while I'm only on page 96. I've already had it renewed at least once by the library and there are a lot of other people waiting for it. I was curious to read what a "Republican strategist" had to say about Trump, but I'm not curious enough to make finishing this a priority.

Wilson is crude and informal in this book. In addition to lots of swearing, he writes in a conversational tone (something I typically enjoy). 

Mumbling through teleprompter speeches one moment and veering off the next moment into wild ad-libs of stream-of-consciousness blurting, Trump is a shadow of even his 2016 self. We all know that cognitive decline is, tragically, a one-way street. 

Don't forget, kids: The crazy racist uncle act isn't an act . . . and he still controls America's nuclear arsenal.

Sleep tight!

If this were an Al Franken-type comedic take on the presidency, it would be different. I expected something a bit more intellectual and less edgy.

Another thing that bothered me were the theoretical tweets between chapters. Some were titled as "Tweets from Donald Trump's Second Term" and were basically fear-mongering (as far as I can tell. Or comedy? Again, the tone of this book was too crude for me.)

To be clear - I strongly disliked President Trump and I am incredibly glad he did not win reelection! I just didn't expect Wilson's book to be so extremely ugly. 

 

I have to admit, though, that there were times I completely agreed with both what and how Wilson expressed his displeasure with Trump. On page 14, I tagged this:

Donald Trump is a terrible, horrible, no-good president. He'll go down in history with asterisks next to his name for endemic corruption, outrageous stupidity, egregious cruelty, and inhumanity, for diminishing the presidency and the nation, and for being a lout with a terrible wig. But he's trapped, desperate, and will do anything - and I mean anything - to win.

 

This book was written well before the election, and certainly before the Jan. 6, 2021 certification (with it's stunning insurrection at the Capitol) and it is eerie and disconcerting to read that last sentence now.

Wilson makes it clear that his dislike for Trump is greater than his identity as a Republican on page 16.

I'm going to tell you these things not merely because I loathe the damage Trump is doing to our nation, or because I think your policies are good for America. If Democrats win, I'm going to hate it rather a lot. 

But there's more at stake than political and ideological preference now. 

I'm doing this because the party I worked for, fought for, and sweated over for thirty years didn't just abandon people like me who couldn't stand Trump; they're putting the entire American experiment at risk. I'm telling you this because Trump and his enablers shredded every ideological predicate that drew me to conservatism and the Republican Party - the old-fashioned stuff like following the Constitution and the rule of law, limits on state power, tradition, honesty, decency, and sanity.

 

 

Throughout the part of the book I read, he addresses Democrats directly. I don't identify with party affiliation. But he also brags about all the dirty tactics he used to defeat Democrats and get Republicans elected. I dislike politics. I dislike the uglier aspects of human nature. I have lots of other books to read.