Don’t Touch the Bats

By Don Mohler

Amidst all of the chaos that is part and parcel of a Trump administration, random thoughts just pop in and out of my head. I’ve tried everything to make them stop. I’ve failed. They just appear over and over and over

again. It happens at three in the morning. It happens on my daily walks. It happens when Linda is trying to tell me something important and inevitably says, “Are you listening to anything I say?” Sadly, at the moment, the answer to that question is no.

What’s a guy to do? Well, my answer is always the same: share those thoughts on the front porch in hope that the demons will slowly drift away.

Don’t pack up the bats! – Anyone who has ever played little league baseball knows this cardinal rule: no

 

matter how far ahead you are in the 7^th inning don’t you dare start putting the bats in the bag. Ever! If you break that rule, the other team, down by 9 runs, will surely stage a historic comeback. Don’t tempt the baseball gods. Just don’t do it. Democrats need to channel those memories moving forward.

It is impossible to watch a cable news show, listen to a podcast, or grab an article from your news feed without reading about how the Democrats are in line for a huge victory come November. Heck, Democrats are now even dreaming about taking back the Senate, a thought that six months ago was unthinkable. Could that happen? For the sake of our nation, let’s hope so. But let’s pump the brakes on its inevitability.

Why? Because despite the fact that Trump’s falling poll numbers paint a rosy picture, in reality little has changed since 2016. Yes, he is underwater on the economy, on foreign policy, and incredibly, even on immigration. While that is encouraging, a history lesson provides the wet blanket. According to Real Clear Politics, here are the Trump approval numbers during his first term: 2017- 40.5%, 2018- 42.5%, 2019- 43.4%, and 2020- 44.4%. His average approval rating during the final week of the 2016 campaign was 43.6%. Yet he beat Hillary Clinton. Well, his numbers must be much worse today, right? I hope you are sitting down.

 

After all of the madness, as of February 3, 2026, Trump’s Real Clear Politics average is 42.5%. You read that correctly. His current numbers have not moved. Destroying NATO, murdering American citizens on the streets of Minneapolis, having the FBI remove voting records from Fulton County Georgia, none of it has moved the needle. Does that mean his reign of terror is inevitable? Not at all. We may still win the game, but don’t pack up the damn bats just yet.

So, why is there hope?

The scenes in the streets of Minneapolis seem to be moving the needle. Americans are reacting in horror to murder in our streets at the hands of ICE. In fact, spurred on by the brave folks in Minneapolis, the national mood is starting to feel a bit like the Vietnam protests of the 60s. The good people of Minneapolis are nothing short of heroic. The conservative CATO Institute recently reported that only 7% of those arrested by ICE since Trump was elected have criminal records. Rounding up the teacher’s aide and the local grounds crew doesn’t play well, even with some of the MAGA base, and   something seems to be happening in our land.

And there’s more: many in MAGA world are isolationists. For them, that is the true essence of America First. They have sons, daughters, and grandchildren serving proudly in the military. The thought of their loved ones invading Greenland, a NATO ally, seems absurd and terrifying to them. Why? Because it is. If you had a movie script where an American President suggested such an unhinged adventure, the producers would throw you out of the office, unless perhaps you were pitching a Coen Brothers farce.

And then there are all of the special elections where Democrats continue to overperform. It is true that

 

special elections are just that- special. It is often a mistake to read too much into them. Having said that, just this past week, Democrat Taylor Rehmert, won a Texas district in the Fort Worth area by 15 points, adistrict that Donald J. Trump won by 17-points a year ago, representing a 32-point swing in just one year.

By all accounts, Republican strategists everywhere are now in full-blown panic mode. So, there is some good stuff out there, and Democrats are motivated like never before. Then why am I still so unnerved about what will happen in November? Because the Democratic Party makes me nervous. Americans don’t care much for the Donald, but they really don’t like my party. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that just 19% of voters approve of how Democrats are handling their jobs in Congress. 19%!  As you can see, this is not the time for a victory lap.

Fellow Democrats, let’s not blow this thing. Stay on message. Talk about health care, affordability, and the thugs on our streets. Don’t fall into the “let’s defund ICE” trap. Remember how well “defund the police” worked out for us. ICE is out of control. The Trump version of ICE resembles the Gestapo and not the well-trained police departments that we are accustomed to all across the nation. But, and this is a huge but, we need our borders secure. We need high quality immigration and custom enforcement programs. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Make ICE officers take off the damn masks. Make them wear body cameras. Make them have a judicial warrant to enter an American home. Make them focus on those in our country with criminal records, while leaving law-abiding immigrants alone. Get them away from our schools and churches.  Demand all of those things before funding ICE. If Republicans won’t budge on those simple American values, then go full Sonny Corleone and “go to the mattresses.” But don’t be stupid and call for the end of ICE. In other words, don’t pack up the bats. It’s not that hard.

Don Mohler is the former Baltimore County Executive and President and CEO of Mohler Communication Strategies. He may be reached at don@donmohler.com. Thanks to AI for photo generation.