OPINION | Bannon’s real political enemies are in the ‘resistance,’ not the White House

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has made a bigger impact on U.S. politics than any Republican in the era of President Obama. That is an amazing proposition, considering he never ran for public office or previously served as a political appointee in any level or branch of government.

He can be charming, quick, brilliant, insightful and neurotically diligent. He is also about to realize that political power not only flows from holding office but also resides on the outside when one is well-funded and more than a little bit feared.

{mosads}The last White House senior official to be eased out — only to be resurrected as the crown prince of the outside political world — was my former White House boss Karl Rove. Messrs. Rove and Bannon share many characteristics: keen intellect, work ethic, maniacal drive, hot tempers and a perpetual inability to master the power suit wardrobe. Despite those superficial similarities, the two former executive advisors have substantively differing approaches.

Simply put, Bannon is a truly heartfelt iconoclast who wants to destroy many of the old ways and constructs of the way the swamp controls the process, whereas Rove, the ultimate inside White House player, shifted adeptly from “The Architect,” to insider-outsider Republican party grandee and seemingly permanent consigliere.

Steve Bannon declares: The Trump presidency is over https://t.co/hIhFA2PBLm pic.twitter.com/epoQZUGGKo

— The Hill (@thehill) August 19, 2017

Unlike Rove, Bannon had trouble finding a way to fully operationalize his political advantage in the West Wing. Bannon has a long record of winning knife fights but the key to long term success in the West Wing is to build a support structure of talented staffers around you so that those knives — long and short — are infrequently drawn. In other words, “peace through strength” is not just a brilliant national security and economic strategy, but the survival guide in the halls of the West Wing.

It was obvious from the beginning that the Trump White House would be completely unique. It has been an experiment in having the courage, or some would say the ignorance, to dare to try a completely new setup that appeared to defy the preceding structures. Smart, wealthy New Yorkers from the world of finance came to Washington D.C., dismissed the political set and assumed that those with political experience were part of the problem.

There is, of course, much wisdom in having harsh judgments on the people who helped create some the problems our country now faces, but in the end politics is politics and the Oval Office is not simply a mundane boardroom. Bannon seemed uniquely positioned to straddle these two worlds and most conservatives were rooting for him to make the greatest possible impact implementing the campaign agenda.

Bannon’s security clearance may prevent Breitbart News from publishing classified information https://t.co/N4W8q6ItiZ pic.twitter.com/hZGV9NAAQy

— The Hill (@thehill) August 19, 2017

What became evident over time is that Bannon, either out of necessity or choice, lived only on the highest levels of presidential decision-making. His voice was strong on China, taxes, a restrained federal budget and an America First national and economic security strategy. Like the president, he understood better than the Manhattan set exactly who made up the coalition of Americans who turned to President Trump at a time of discouragement and anguish. But while wise people argued about China and climate change, many rudimentary White House functions on less urgent but still extremely important issues seemed to fall through the cracks.

Issues and problems were only engaged when it was difficult to make a real impact, and many allies and stakeholders grew frustrated. This is the West Wing General Kelly inherited.

In business, it can be very powerful to be only an advisor to a leader, with no real management responsibilities. Many of the people closest to the president seemed to occupy these advisor roles with little accountability or responsibility for taking the lead on seeing through key Trump campaign agenda items.

However, in most White House operations, even the smartest of senior staffers realize that they can’t possibly read all they need to, keep up with key contacts on the outside, return important calls and emails and attend the countless West Wing meetings. On top of all these time demands, they still need to carve out time to think, plot and plan. Exhausted staffers soon realize that it takes a group of talented White House operatives to actually satisfy all these demands in concert. For this reason, overseeing departments is often the key to success as the senior official can delegate and manage.

Krauthammer: Bannon pulled a “classic Scaramucci” before leaving Trump White House https://t.co/VYmunBvfYW pic.twitter.com/035QJfLz2W

— The Hill (@thehill) August 19, 2017

Key outside allies will begin to learn who their point of contact is within the White House and realize that less senior staffers will make most of the progress, and they will begin to learn not to be offended when a senior advisor cannot possible return every call. This is a difficult balance to master but I admired Bush colleagues when they did this successfully. General Kelly now needs to make sure the White House is set up in a way where outside allies know who to connect with and the larger Trump coalition can successfully coordinate to push back on the left and advocate for the Trump agenda. After all, it is the agenda that binds the coalition together.

I am hopeful that General Kelly can rise to this challenge as it is the only way for the still-young Trump presidency to successfully connect all the wires. Yet a functioning White House must be coupled with an effective outside effort. I assume former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus will play a role with Republican-friendly groups, which is important, and Steve Bannon will return to his perch at Breitbart to do what he always does: blaze a new trail in an effort to recapture the dynamics that built the winning Trump coalition.

In presidential politics, there are people who become “The Honorable” and join the White House team, and there are those who revel in being pirates on the outside. Bannon may be the first to attempt to be both. My only advice as he begins his new voyage is to remember that Republican-on-Republican friction is sometimes needed, but in the end the true political enemy are those who comprise the #resistance.  

Matt Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union and CPAC. He was the White House political director to former President George W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @mschlapp.

The views of contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.