Given the clown car circling a dumpster fire that was caused by a train wreck of a presidency we have today, it's interesting to look back and ask (1) how in the world did we get here?, and (2) OK, we're here. What do we do now?
How we got here goes back to the 2016 election.
2016 was a weird election. I didn't think Donald Trump had a chance. I'm not convinced that he thought he had a chance when he began his run -- I thought it was strictly for name recognition and to enhance his business ventures.
But the Democrats nominated perhaps the most dislikable candidate of all time in Hilary Clinton. She clearly looked down her nose at a minimum of 75% of the country. Then she made maybe the dumbest political blunder ever when she said the quiet part out loud, calling them deplorables. As is said about Republicans a lot, "When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time."
Then in 2020, the American public had recognized its mistake and opted for a Democrat who ran as a moderate. That's not the way Biden governed, but it is the way he ran. And it worked. Biden wins against an incumbent President -- not easy to do.
Then he squandered his middle support by governing from the far left -- not at all how he ran.
Then comes 2024 when the Democrats circled up to form a firing squad. First they insisted, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Biden was fully up to another 4 years. This after carefully scripting his public appearances and shielding him from all unscripted questions for the last 2-3 years of his term and enlisting the help of a water-carrying mainstream broadcast and print media.
Essentially, they asked the American public, "Are you going to believe us or your own lying eyes?" Again, for all practical purposes calling the American public stupid, but this time adding blind.
So when the first debate happened and Biden hopelessly pantsed himself, they coronated a wholly unqualified Kamala Harris, who essentially ran on good vibes.....because she had no substance (no surprise there....for that very reason, she was among the first to drop out of the 2020 Presidential) and was unable to articulate a case for herself beyond, "I'm not Donald Trump."
The Democratic Party's real mistake was in denying Biden's mental and physical decline for years, thereby precluding a truly open primary season. Unfortunately, come June 27 they couldn't turn back the clock. With only 18 weeks between the debate and election day, they had a problem. Then they compounded the problem by dithering for a month before coronating Harris.
In fairness, after frittering away precious time, there was only a bit over 90 days until the election. They were stuck. But if they had done the right thing 12-18 months prior, that wouldn't have been the case.
The Democrats thereby blew a golden opportunity to dominate the American political scene for a generation by defeating the most beatable Republican since Herbert Hoover.
Donald Trump is reprehensible on so many fronts. And yes, it will take some years to undo the damage he's doing. The Democrats could have prevented all of this (twice!) by running a moderate and by having a bit of faith in the American public.
That's all history and can't be undone. So what do we do now?
The answer, if there is one, lies in Congress. First, the Democrats have to get off the identity politics and obsessing over how deranged Donald Trump is. They're not wrong on that. But until they offer tangible alternatives that aren't flying in out of the far left, it's been proven over and over again to be a losing argument.
They have to offer some concrete ideas that appeal to middle America, not just the deep blue coastal states.
For example, change the debate on extension of healthcare insurance subsidies. Those were part of the response to COVID, and were originally approved with a sunset date. The extension without any apparent end comes across as gimme, gimme, gimme.
Put forward the idea that, for the good of the country, everyone has to have insurance. Each individual has several options to achieve that, but one way or another, everyone must have it -- which comes across as "we're in this together and we'll solve it together."
Note that this was the original position of Obamacare (including income-based subsidies) and Republicans blew it up.
It's a golden opportunity to cast Republicans as ideologues who either don't understand or don't care about the consequences of their positions. Simultaneously, put forward an idea that has universal appeal. But so far all we hear is how Republicans are killing poor babies and people of color -- class and identity politics when the real issue affects every single citizen no matter their demographics.
Republicans in Congress have to grow a spine and (1) do their job, and (2) quit kowtowing to Trump's unhinged and forever changing dictates. For some, that's a pipe dream. But I think real support for Trump's policies is shallow. They don't vote against them because, with good cause, they fear retaliation. Grow a spine and do the right thing, retaliation be damned.
Start with taking back the sole authority to levy tariffs. It'll be vetoed, which means a goodly number of Republicans will have to be on board for an override.
We're beginning to see small indications of Republicans going against Trump. It'll be interesting what they'll do after the 2026 election when Trump becomes a lame duck.
A long time ago I heard Margaret Thatcher speak before a small audience. The most memorable line I took from her was, "I've found that the right thing to do, defined as something you can explain to a class of 10 year olds in 30 second or less, is almost invariably the best political move as well."
The Republicans can also change the party's nomination rules. Currently, the highest vote count gets all the delegates -- even if that vote count is only a plurality of votes. It enables a candidate (Trump) with a hard core of support to take over the party, even if the majority of the party doesn't see things his way.
Contrast with the Democrats who have a largely proportional allocation of delegates. It's not exactly proportional because there are some super-delegates and you have to have a minimum vote count to get any delegates. Plus, you can't allocate partial delegates, so you have to have a process to address that.
Still, it's generally headed in the direction of proportionality. Which keeps an outlier candidate with a hard core of support from hijacking the whole party.
If the Republicans had allocated party delegates like the Democrats do, it's unlikely that Trump could have amassed the power he has.
What do you think? Aside from howling at the moon about how bad Donald Trump is (and he is that bad), how do you think we as a country should actually address the problem?
How we got here goes back to the 2016 election.
2016 was a weird election. I didn't think Donald Trump had a chance. I'm not convinced that he thought he had a chance when he began his run -- I thought it was strictly for name recognition and to enhance his business ventures.
But the Democrats nominated perhaps the most dislikable candidate of all time in Hilary Clinton. She clearly looked down her nose at a minimum of 75% of the country. Then she made maybe the dumbest political blunder ever when she said the quiet part out loud, calling them deplorables. As is said about Republicans a lot, "When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time."
Then in 2020, the American public had recognized its mistake and opted for a Democrat who ran as a moderate. That's not the way Biden governed, but it is the way he ran. And it worked. Biden wins against an incumbent President -- not easy to do.
Then he squandered his middle support by governing from the far left -- not at all how he ran.
Then comes 2024 when the Democrats circled up to form a firing squad. First they insisted, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Biden was fully up to another 4 years. This after carefully scripting his public appearances and shielding him from all unscripted questions for the last 2-3 years of his term and enlisting the help of a water-carrying mainstream broadcast and print media.
Essentially, they asked the American public, "Are you going to believe us or your own lying eyes?" Again, for all practical purposes calling the American public stupid, but this time adding blind.
So when the first debate happened and Biden hopelessly pantsed himself, they coronated a wholly unqualified Kamala Harris, who essentially ran on good vibes.....because she had no substance (no surprise there....for that very reason, she was among the first to drop out of the 2020 Presidential) and was unable to articulate a case for herself beyond, "I'm not Donald Trump."
The Democratic Party's real mistake was in denying Biden's mental and physical decline for years, thereby precluding a truly open primary season. Unfortunately, come June 27 they couldn't turn back the clock. With only 18 weeks between the debate and election day, they had a problem. Then they compounded the problem by dithering for a month before coronating Harris.
In fairness, after frittering away precious time, there was only a bit over 90 days until the election. They were stuck. But if they had done the right thing 12-18 months prior, that wouldn't have been the case.
The Democrats thereby blew a golden opportunity to dominate the American political scene for a generation by defeating the most beatable Republican since Herbert Hoover.
Donald Trump is reprehensible on so many fronts. And yes, it will take some years to undo the damage he's doing. The Democrats could have prevented all of this (twice!) by running a moderate and by having a bit of faith in the American public.
That's all history and can't be undone. So what do we do now?
The answer, if there is one, lies in Congress. First, the Democrats have to get off the identity politics and obsessing over how deranged Donald Trump is. They're not wrong on that. But until they offer tangible alternatives that aren't flying in out of the far left, it's been proven over and over again to be a losing argument.
They have to offer some concrete ideas that appeal to middle America, not just the deep blue coastal states.
For example, change the debate on extension of healthcare insurance subsidies. Those were part of the response to COVID, and were originally approved with a sunset date. The extension without any apparent end comes across as gimme, gimme, gimme.
Put forward the idea that, for the good of the country, everyone has to have insurance. Each individual has several options to achieve that, but one way or another, everyone must have it -- which comes across as "we're in this together and we'll solve it together."
Note that this was the original position of Obamacare (including income-based subsidies) and Republicans blew it up.
It's a golden opportunity to cast Republicans as ideologues who either don't understand or don't care about the consequences of their positions. Simultaneously, put forward an idea that has universal appeal. But so far all we hear is how Republicans are killing poor babies and people of color -- class and identity politics when the real issue affects every single citizen no matter their demographics.
Republicans in Congress have to grow a spine and (1) do their job, and (2) quit kowtowing to Trump's unhinged and forever changing dictates. For some, that's a pipe dream. But I think real support for Trump's policies is shallow. They don't vote against them because, with good cause, they fear retaliation. Grow a spine and do the right thing, retaliation be damned.
Start with taking back the sole authority to levy tariffs. It'll be vetoed, which means a goodly number of Republicans will have to be on board for an override.
We're beginning to see small indications of Republicans going against Trump. It'll be interesting what they'll do after the 2026 election when Trump becomes a lame duck.
A long time ago I heard Margaret Thatcher speak before a small audience. The most memorable line I took from her was, "I've found that the right thing to do, defined as something you can explain to a class of 10 year olds in 30 second or less, is almost invariably the best political move as well."
The Republicans can also change the party's nomination rules. Currently, the highest vote count gets all the delegates -- even if that vote count is only a plurality of votes. It enables a candidate (Trump) with a hard core of support to take over the party, even if the majority of the party doesn't see things his way.
Contrast with the Democrats who have a largely proportional allocation of delegates. It's not exactly proportional because there are some super-delegates and you have to have a minimum vote count to get any delegates. Plus, you can't allocate partial delegates, so you have to have a process to address that.
Still, it's generally headed in the direction of proportionality. Which keeps an outlier candidate with a hard core of support from hijacking the whole party.
If the Republicans had allocated party delegates like the Democrats do, it's unlikely that Trump could have amassed the power he has.
What do you think? Aside from howling at the moon about how bad Donald Trump is (and he is that bad), how do you think we as a country should actually address the problem?
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