Webb: What matters now is policy

Just for my liberal friends, it is now President Donald J. Trump. There is no more debate, there will be no changes no matter how many times you march on Washington or elsewhere. As Barack Obama once famously said, “elections have consequences.” You elected a president who failed to adequately address the needs of the American people and drove his party further away from your voter base. It took a Barack Obama to enable the election of Donald Trump. No one really cares anymore why Hillary Clinton did not win.

The inauguration is over and the nonsensical controversy over crowd size has passed. The Trump administration has to face the fact that it will be under continued assault from a largely liberal media, be it in the Brady room with press secretary Sean Spicer or in a visit by the presidents to CIA headquarters. The hard-core left cannot even attack on policy but has no reservations about ad hominem attacks. If Katie Rich from “Saturday Night Live” had no reservations about attacking 10-year-old Barron Trump, then accept that everything is on the table for many on the left. It’s understandable that a father would want to defend his son and the same for family members, but it’s time to acquire the presidential thick skin, let surrogates and supporters lead the charge on some rebuttals and occasionally, when necessary, respond.

{mosads}The word on the street is that the leftists would like to set up a Tea Party-like opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency. The word in the Senate is to slow down Trump’s Cabinet nominations to try and leverage future votes. Democrats’ hypocrisy is not lost, because on Inauguration Day 2009 seven of Barack Obama’s nominations were confirmed compared to two for Donald Trump. Even Republican opposition to some nominees, like former Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of State, has fallen aside. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have voiced their support for the secretary of State nominee once it comes to the floor for a vote.

What matters now is policy. Week one of the Trump administration began with the signing of executive orders on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Affordable Care Act and other items on the Republican agenda. Trump will have a difficult road at times dealing with the Republican senators and congressmen because there is not uniform agreement on many policy issues. The White House will need to work closely with Republican leadership. In a Trump administration what was attributed to President Ronald Reagan must be true for finding and enacting solutions — my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy. Compromise, however, cannot be a pathway to a bad deal.

The debate on immigration and our southern border will be one of the most interesting to watch because of the interrelationships that many in Washington, D.C., have with lobbyists, corporations and others who have interests in Mexico. They’ve intermeshed good relations with individual needs, and in fact it needs to be United States sovereign-based needs first.

A wall on our southern border actually benefits Mexico on their southern border. Mexico has to deal with the cross-country traffic of illegals that it hopes will cross into the United States, or else they become a domestic burden. When the United States’ southern border closes for illegal business and remains open for legal commerce and immigration, the incentives to get to America for many will end. This will be a good result for a southern Mexican border, where less illegal traffic means fewer problems. Trump’s solution must be effective on immigration, border security and domestic security. Worry less about the Democrats and leftist attacks; they’re inevitable. Fix the problems for the American people and that’s where his base of support will be.

These and other items on the agenda as we see the development of the Trump doctrine will begin in the first hundred days, but many will not be completed in a year or possibly two. It’s not that we have to be patient but that we must be persistent to avoid deviation by the Washington insiders. Washington is broken, and while the Republicans have won control of the House, the Senate and the presidency, success is not guaranteed.

If a Trump administration is successful in resolving many of the economic and security issues domestically and fares well on the international stage, the first four years will be seen as a success.

Imagine the apoplectic left when Donald Trump is elected for a second term. Now that makes me smile.

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, a Fox News contributor and has appeared frequently on television as a commentator. Webb co-founded TeaParty365 in New York City. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.