During the presidential campaigns, the federal lawmakers in the United States and the Republican establishment considered Donald Trump a joke. Until Jeff Sessions endorsed him.
In February 2016, at a campaign event in Alabama, Jeff Sessions declared that he was endorsing Trump. Before yielding the stage to him, Trump said:
“When I talk about illegal immigration, I think about a great man …we kept it a secret… I want to introduce to you, Senator Jeff Sessions. “
And because of his standing in the senate, the endorsement, to some extent, changed the perception of Sessions’s colleagues: they began to take Trump seriously.
At the time, Trump was still very unpopular to the extent that the New York Times reported that the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told GOP colleagues they could drop Trump “like a hot rock and run negative ads against him if his nomination threatens their reelection.”
This was also the time that another high profile senator, Sasse, said that he wouldn’t support Trump even if he won the nomination.
Sessions knew all this, yet he didn’t hesitate. He excitedly declared at the endorsement: “I told Donald Trump, this isn’t a campaign, this is a movement.”
President Trump remembered this vote of confidence at a difficult time and appointed Jeff Sessions his attorney general.
And when it appeared things weren’t going to work out with Jeff Sessions, when the president felt he didn’t protect him when he recused himself from Russia investigations, and when the president openly condemned him, the senate stood in defence of their colleague.
The senate practically told Trump: “We allow you to get away with everything, but if you’re going have a problem with Sessions, you’re going to have a problem with us.“
The essence of the senate support for Sessions was that Trump was right to have appointed him, but was wrong to turn back and blame him for his own problems. Because Sessions bought Trump the senators’ support when he was unpopular.
The key insight from this example is that for anyone who desires an appointment in the future it makes sense to show your support early.
What if the candidate is unpopular? Even better. Because then, your support would mean a lot.
Political appointment rarely favors someone who sits on the fence.
I recall that when Yar’adua was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, my friend, Emmanuel Bello of Daily Trust who later became a commissioner in Taraba State, wrote something that pooh poohed that notion: “are you kidding me?” is an approximation of what Bello wrote.
He wasn’t alone. Are you kidding me? Everyone seemed to ask.
Many thought Yar’adua wasn’t the most popular or most competent person, yet Obasanjo nominated him, and used and abused state resources to get him elected.
That’s why Yar’adua was extremely grateful to the man who single handedly made him president. Even when President Obasanjo started criticizing him, he didn’t respond.
Of course it’s a risky choice. Your candidate may lose. That’s why you have to get the numbers right and weigh the options. But when you do, come out and tell the world.
Sometimes you don’t even have to stick your neck out too much. You simply point out the potential of the candidate – especially when others don’t see it.
This is what Uncle Mohammed Haruna did when he wrote a column that x-rayed the gubernatorial candidates in Niger State; and rightly predicted that Abu Lolo would win.
That was long before some people knew who Lolo was. Although Mohammed Haruna was only doing his job and wasn’t looking for any appointment.
Of course this choice – even though objective- was also risky. Mohammed Haruna had a huge following. Personally, I consider him the best columnist Nigeria has ever had. Yet he put his reputation at stake to make that assessment.
It wasn’t surprising that when the prediction came to pass, he was asked to suggest a chief press secretary.
Unfortunately, I was already promised that position weeks before. I didn’t know this until I asked him whether I should accept the position or not. I had made up my mind not to accept the appointment and was looking for validation from my bosses.
He said he was put in a difficult position because he was asked and he nominated two candidates. Therefore, he tactically didn’t tell me whether I should accept or not.
However, when I resigned, it was one of his candidates who replaced me.
If you look around you, you would see people sticking their necks out to stand by candidates. During the battle between PDP and APC for the soul of the National Assembly, Abdulmalik Cheche (who represented Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency) was alleged to have physically tackled Senate President David Mark in the name of APC.
Where is Cheche today? In Niger State as the commissioner of works. Cheche is a politician who understands the game very well because he has used many of the strategies we’re going to discuss
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