The time is nigh.
The Democratic party is floundering; and for good reason.
To properly analyze this, we must accept certain realities as follow:
– The Democratic party and most of its’ registrants believe that President Trump is imminently beatable in 2020.
– A smaller, but still large, percentage believe that he’s an illegitimate president to begin with.
– An even smaller, but still large, percentage genuinely believe that another four years of Trump will literally destroy America.
– Trump’s approval rating remains higher than President Obama’s was at this exact same time prior to the 2012 election.
– The American economy, by almost all standards and measures, is doing well. Unless something major changes that, or shifts Americans’ focus away from the economy (natural disaster, terrorist attack, war), any sitting president becomes harder and harder to beat under such conditions.
Thus, to quote my friend Steve Mickleson, “when you sit and you look at it,” the race for who will challenge President Trump in 2020 is, at present, somewhere between a mess and a clusterfuck, with no savior in sight. Currently.
Let’s take a quick look at the major contenders and what the Democratic Party itself is saying internally (and externally in some cases) about each…and why there is quiet chaos currently occurring across the nation amongst those who believe that Trump must be defeated at all costs:
JOE BIDEN: The former Vice-President was believed to be the most likely to beat Trump thanks to his connection to Obama and relatively moderate views and positions when compared to the other choices. Biden, however, has performed miserably on the campaign trail and the recent Ukraine scandal has exposed him as an easily beatable candidate. His nomination is dead.
ELIZABETH WARREN: The woman “with a plan for everything,” has ascended to the leader of the pack and Democrats are terrified. Not only is she constantly caught in lie after lie ranging from her heritage to her untrue claim of being the victim of gender discrimination, she is also loathed by Wall Street. And while it’s sexy to claim that being hated by Wall Street makes you a modern-day Robin Hood, all it really does is lose you an election by a landslide. Pop Quiz; which candidate in history accepted more money in donations from corporate America? Ding ding ding…Barack Obama is correct.
BERNIE SANDERS: His time has passed. Plus, the Democratic party literally rigged the process in 2016 to make sure he wouldn’t be the nominee because they know he’s not electable. Nothing has changed.
KAMALA HARRIS: Not even close to ready for prime time, which is a shame if you’re a Democrat because she’s charismatic, a woman of color, bubbly and fun. Unfortunately, she’s not quick on her feet and she’s toast.
MAYOR PETE: As with so many seeming “diamonds in the rough,” Mayor Pete’s rose wilted quickly as soon as he started expanding on his policy ideas. Like most in this field, he’s completely unelectable based solely on his extreme socialist policies…and the Democrats know that. Plus, his mis-handling of the South Bend Police controversy a few months ago, which he got entirely wrong, would alone kill him in a general election campaign once it received the scrutiny it has so far escaped.
EVERYONE ELSE: never had a chance to begin with.
And so, The Democrats are left with the brutal realization that they, from their perception, are about to nominate Mitt Romney.
Barack Obama was beyond beatable in 2012 and everyone knew it. Had the Republicans nominated a living, breathing candidate to run against him, Obama would have been a one term President. Instead, they nominated Romney who bumbled his way to handing Obama a second term. Just as Biden, Warren, or any of the current Democrats would do for Trump.
It’s instructional to step back and think about the magnitude of that. Democrats literally cannot believe that Trump is president or that anyone supports him. For them to admit that any of their current nominees would lose to him speaks volumes to how weak their field is. Thus, something drastic must be done.
Is that drastic measure a 2016 rematch between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Some think so. Although, personally, I don’t think Hillary is one of them. While she’s currently front and center on a book tour and is making snide remarks about running again, all indications from her closest advisers and friends are that she’s not interested. I view this through the prism of losing a Super Bowl, which athletes say is the absolute worst feeling in the world. Even if you hate Hillary, you can imagine the crushing despair she felt on election night 2016. I doubt she wants to risk feeling that a second time.
Granted, if she were “begged,” she is movable, so don’t discount it entirely.
More likely to happen, is Democrats attempting to find the Trump of 2020.
If things continue to spiral as they are, it will not be long before a large group of high profile, high powered, well financed Democratic donors will band together and begin air dropping themselves into the compounds of people they believe could march down an escalator of their own and be coronated as the ultimate Trump-killer 2020:
OPRAH: The most publicly obvious and “basic-bitch” guess, especially since she’s said over and over again that she absolutely won’t run. But if she’s begged and told that the future of the country depends on it, anything is possible. And what a shootout that would be, BTW.
MICHELLE OBAMA: Also, not an original idea, and yet another person who has very publicly said “no way.” However, again, the power of being told you’re needed cannot be underestimated. All indications are that after 8 years in the White House, she knows the toll it takes and how little, relatively speaking, you actually change, and she’s just not into it. Plus, she and Barack are now worth 8 figures and climbing. Why go back?
HOLLYWOOD STAR TBD: This is your wildest of wild cards. In a country that elected Trump (and on smaller levels Schwarzenegger and Ventura) why wouldn’t we take seriously known high profile and generally beloved liberals like George Clooney, Tom Hanks, or Dwayne Johnson? Not a likely outcome; but neither was a President Trump.
In the end, at this point, all is unknowable as it relates to 2020. If the Democrats nominate one of their current choices, the likeliness they win is between 0% and 0%, pending massive unforeseen changes. And they know it…and that’s why they’re panicking.
