“The Other” by Al Sikes

In the fall of 2023, after Donald Trump called Nikki Haley a “bird brain” his campaign sent to her hotel room a bird cage and food. Signed: Trump Campaign. Bird brain defined: stupid person.

Donald Trump is on several levels a savvy person. He sensed, for example, the deep frustration of a sizable chunk of the electorate and expertly exploited their frustrations and fears.

Symbolically, the failure of the Biden Administration to control the southern border of the United States was a gift to Trump that kept on giving as the border chaos only got worse.

This failure needs to be understood in context. Throughout history “The Other” has been a frequent source of social cleavages that spawned backlashes and even political movements. Most humans once assimilated with “The Others” seem to do well but it takes awhile. And, of course, a flood of immigrants (others) puts economic pressure on public revenues,  institutions and pay scales. Yet as history documents we are a nation of immigrants and immigrants often bring prosperity with them.

Anxiousness is a human fact— a fundamental one. And we live in anxious times. What increasingly looked like an open border raised anxiety levels that translated to severe concerns about jobs or crime or race. And as the newly arrived were bussed or flown to so-called sanctuary cities and beyond the concerns spread well beyond towns and cities. This was not an orderly process.

President Biden dealt with this challenge in a cavalier way. He barely acknowledged it and stayed away from the border. He assigned his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to take the lead. If she led anything, it was not apparent.

But, Fox News stationed a reporter at the southern border and then Trump, sensing an opening, began calling Nikki Haley, his Primary opponent  by her first name Nimorata. She had decades earlier chosen her middle name, Nikki, as her first, but Trump, wanted her to be an “other”. Years before when he introduced her as his United Nations Ambassador he called her Nikki. Of course millions of Americans have legally changed their names to better fit in. To sound more American. Or, to be called a name they prefer.

Trump is good at exploitation. But when it comes to taking on issues with concrete proposals and projected solutions he is not smart. He obfuscates. He evades. Remember his “beautiful healthcare plan” to replace Obamacare? Long term solutions require courage—the use, not abuse, of political capital.

So let me turn to our most threatening domestic issue. Trump, in particular, tries his best to avoid it. As a bird loves the puddles after a Spring rain he too prefers shallow. They make good bird baths. The issue: fiscal health or the national debt as we commonly call it.

In a more normal campaign both candidates would be forced to debate each other. In the upcoming campaign Trump will fake wanting one while Biden will use affairs of State to duck debates. Debates would necessarily engage our huge national debt and concrete answers would be ducked at some risk. At least voters would have some insight to seriousness.

But, back to “The Other”. Fear of the other will not go away. More words will be thrown around about the Southern Border than all the other domestic issues combined. If I could lob in a question, it too would go to “The Other”. How, I would ask, can we finance our national debt without “The Others” money? The largest holder of United States debt is China. If you are concerned about the other take a look at who owes whom.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.