Bet You Didn't See That One Coming: Obama, Trump, and the End of Washington's Regular Order

by Bob Ehrlich

Overview

As seen on FOX News!

Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming is an analysis of the unexpected election of Donald J. Trump, and the earth-shattering changing of the guard in Washington, how it’s turned establishment politics on its head, and what it all means for the future of the nation.

The 24/7 media circus that follows President Trump distracts from the fundamental issue of what his election means for America going forward.

Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming explains how Barack Obama’s progressive policies helped ignite the ultimate anti-Obama political warrior—and how a neophyte politician’s new blend of populism, nationalism, and traditional Republican policies is pulling a polarized country back toward the right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682617540
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	02/27/2018
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Governor Robert L. Ehrlich is a graduate of Princeton University and Wake Forest University School of Law, and is a former governor of Maryland as well as a former United States congressman and state legislator.

He is the author of Turn This Car Around, America: Hope for Change, Turning Point, and Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming, in addition to columns and opinion pieces that have appeared in America’s leading newspapers and periodicals, including The Washington Examiner, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Western Journal online.

Governor Ehrlich is counsel at the firm of King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife, Kendel, and their children, Drew and Josh, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 What Just Happened? Election Pre-and Postmortems 1

A Retrospective on the Obama Years Seven Years In 5

Lies and Videotapes 17

The Definition of Insanity 20

Read…and Repeat 23

Cleveland, Cockroaches, and the Clintons 26

Going Forward 29

What the Washington Establishment Never Understood 36

Facts and Opinions 39

Here We Go Again 42

Hard to Leave 45

Restoring Freedom to America's Cultural Menu 49

Chapter 2 Trump Unplugged: A New Era Begins 52

Let's Make a New Deal 61

From Transformation to Displacement 64

A Downward Spiral 68

The Trump Era's 5 Emerging Constituencies 71

Time for the GOP to Get Moving 74

It's the Little Things 77

Like Him or Not Trump Is Now a Member of the Republican Family 80

Legislators with Black Robes 83

Trump Making Tons of Progress While the Media Ignores It 86

Trump Is Already Beating Obama in the Most Important Ways 91

Chaotic White House Aside, Trump Is Achieving Reaganesque Policy Wins 95

Both Trump and the Resistance Are Doubling Down on Ugly 98

Chapter 3 More Jobs…More Growth…More Happiness 101

Kitzhaber and How the Left Cooks the Books 104

IRS Plays Fast and Loose with State Migration Data 107

The Next Repeal and Replace: Dodd-Frank 110

Not Your Father's NLRB 113

What Do Burgers, Fries, and Economic Growth Have to Do with Each Other? 116

In the Age of Trump, Populism Ain't What It Used to Be 119

Chapter 4 The Unnatural Disaster Known as Obamacare: Finding a Successor 122

P.S. Obamacare: Five Years Later 126

Facts…and Opinions 129

Obamacare Repeal and Replace Heads Back into the Fire 133

Republicans Need to Play Obamacare Repeal Right or Face Disaster In 2018 137

Chapter 5 Calamity Central: How to Fix Urban America 140

On Baltimore 142

Giuliani's New York, Shattered 145

Guest Commentary: Sharpen Focus on Best Ways to Win the War on Poverty 148

Bob Ehrlich on What Ails Baltimore, One Year Later 151

A Radical Solution to End Poverty 154

Chapter 6 A New World Order 157

How Obama Made Sure to Leave Every Part of the World More Dangerous than He Found It 160

A Vote for Trump Is a Vote Against Softness 163

Obama's Foreign Policy: Much Given, Little Gained 166

Rules to Live By 170

Chapter 7 Progressivism's War On Speech 173

Whatever Happened to Free Speech? 176

To Boycott or Not to Boycott 179

Volunteerism, Obama Style 182

How to Restore the First Amendment on Campus 185

These Days, Religious Liberty Is Sitting Pretty in Church 189

A Letter to My Son, as He Prepares to Start College in a Time of Campus Craziness 192

Is Charlottesville the Beginning of the End of Trump? 195

Ehrlich on Trump and the NFL: Penalties on All Sides 198

Out-of-Touch Kneeling NFL Players Are Starting to Ruin Emotional Attachment to Football 202

Chapter 8 Can't Stop Laughing 205

Take This Test 207

News from the Future 210

Mission Accomplished, Comrade 214

Thinking About What Might Have Been 217

Conclusion 221

Epilogue 228

Acknowledgments 230

Editorial Reviews

"I highly recommend Bet You Didn't See That One Coming to anyone interested in the ways and means of the Trump phenomenon and its consequences for America. This is not just another campaign book. It is an entertaining analysis of what happened in 2016, and why."

The Honorable Dave Camp

"Governor Bob Ehrich is that rare kind of straight-talking sensible Republican, and he's from Maryland. Bet You Didn't See That One Coming shares his unique conservative perspective on how power shifted from Obama to Trump. Governor Ehrlich explains where we are today and what the future portends. Bet You Didn't See That One Coming is a good read!"

Ed Feulner

"Good to have a serious conservative analyze without blinders the strengths and weaknesses of President Trump's politics and rhetoric. This work provides serious conservative perspectives on what fair presidential observers should make of a politically inexperienced and stylistically inelegant president who challenges the domestic and foreign policy perspectives on an immediately prior hardened leftist but charming president."

Richard E. Vatz PhD

"Bob Ehrlich has scaled the political peaks—state legislator, Congressman, Maryland Governor—without ever going establishment. In his latest book, he casts a cool, discerning eye on our two most recent presidents, and how the defects of Barack Obama led to the election of Donald Trump."

Michael Barone

"Governor Ehrlich's fourth book presents a fascinating analysis of the Obama record. An accurate and informative interpretation of how the excesses of Barack Obama's progressivism led to the election of President Trump. A must-read for anyone attempting to figure out what on earth is going on in Trump's Washington!"

The Honorable David McIntosh

"Governor Ehrlich's new book is a cogent analysis of how Donald Trump's victory has challenged Obama's progressive agenda. This well-written book provides readers with rich insights into a very different political leader and his unique ways."

Governor Haley Barbour

"Robert Ehrlich is both a practitioner and an observer; a politician and an analyst. That is a potent combination, on display in this book. He knows whereof he speaks. His words have special authority."

Jay Nordlinger