By Dick Morris
The pundits who are dismissing President Donald Trump’s national address on Tuesday night are missing two key points:
1. By embedding his discussion of the wall into a broader program of border security, he broadened his base of support.
Polls show that about 40 percent of voters approve of the wall. But 60 percent want more border security. By contesting the wall within a variety of improvements in border security that will flow from his appropriation request, he expands those who back his program.
2. By stressing the human aspects of stopping the flow of criminal aliens and drugs over our border, Trump broadened his appeal to female voters.
In a sharp departure — both in style and in substance — from his previous remarks on the subject, he showed the human face of the issue. By telling the stories of innocent victims of crimes by people who are here illegally, he showed how to direct our compassion at those who need it.
This president, who has structured his image around confrontational, red meat, speeches at rallies to adoring and noisy supporters, the dignity of the Oval Office was a needed antidote.
Now….we wait. The unions whose workers are not getting paid — the leftist Treasury workers union that has infected the IRS among them — will pressure the Democrats to relent. Trump can and should withstand the pressure. Schumer and Pelosi cannot.