On Feb. 28, David Drucker, a journalist for The Washington Examiner and author of “In Trump’s Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and The Future of the GOP,” delivered a lecture to Baldwin Wallace students in the Department of Politics and Global Citizenship.  

Drucker presented his new book in Professor Lana Mobydeen’s U.S. Government and Politics course, where he described the past six years of Trump’s rise to prominence in Republican politics. 

“I think Trump represents a generational break,” Drucker said, “from the Reagan era of Republican politics. For most of my life, every four years, any Republican running for any office used to promise to be the second coming of Ronald Reagan. Those days are over and now almost all Republican candidates are promising to continue Trump’s agenda, with some acting like Trump and others acting like a traditional Republican.” 

Drucker spoke to The Exponent on “Gen Z Politics” and explained Trump’s path to the presidency.  

“From 2017-2019, I saw a shadow campaign for the Republican nomination for President in 2024,” Drucker said. “So many Republicans weren’t even waiting for Trump to run for reelection, they weren’t waiting for him to win or lose, they were already planning. I also realized Trump was having a major impact on the Republican Party and I wanted to explore that in the book.” 

Drucker said Trump’s shadow looms large on Ohio politics as well. 

“When you look at the primary for the U.S. Senate here in Ohio,” Drucker said, “you can truly see a wide spectrum of Republican candidates. Some try to act like Trump and champion his agenda while others say that they will support his agenda but they’ll do it nicer.” 

Drucker predicted that due to the voters’ dissatisfaction with President Biden’s actions or lack thereof on the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical conflict and inflation, the Democrats will lose control of the House in 2022 and the White House in 2024.  

“In 2018, we saw suburban voters across the country vote Democrats into Congress,” Drucker said, “and then vote for Joe Biden a few years later. At the same time, Trump was able to bring more working class voters, some who had never been involved in politics, out to vote. Candidates know that voters like Trump’s agenda but they also need to appeal to the votes of those living in the suburbs.”  

With the 2022 midterms approaching, Trump will demonstrably impact local, state, and federal politics. Trump, who won the state by eight points in both 2016 and 2020, has yet to endorse a GOP candidate in the Senate race to replace Sen. Rob Portman (R), who will be retiring after his term. He also has yet to endorse candidates in several congressional races, namely the election to replace Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican from Rocky River. Gonzalez announced in Sept. his intentions not to seek reelection due to the political environment after he voted to impeach Trump.  

Additionally, the recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling on redistricting eliminates any possibility of a May 3 primary date, and Trump’s political messaging could resonate with voters looking for leadership. Drucker concluded by identifying Trump’s inability to lead during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.  

“I do think that one of the reasons that Trump lost in 2020…,” Drucker said, “was because he did not meet the voters where they were on the number one issue that mattered to them in the year 2020. People wanted leadership on the pandemic.