In politics there are few easy predictions and fewer guarantees, but one facet of electioneering that’s an empirically proven phenomenon is the incumbency advantage.
For Democrats – looking to square off once again with the ever enigmatic but now president Donald Trump in 2020 – that spells out problems as the party struggles to find their next champion after the Clinton fiasco of 2016.
Empirically speaking merely based on being the incumbent Trump stands a better chance of winning than his opponent. But of course, that’s assuming the opponent’s odds looked good otherwise; and at the moment for the DNC they really don’t…
An Electability Issue
Far and away the premier struggle for Democrats at the present time is figuring out who exactly they’ll be hailing as their leader come time to open the polls. Faced with a veritable clown car of up to 20 prospective presidential hopefuls that the DNC plans to filter through a dozen plus debates, Democrats must soon pick one flavor of leftism to helm the charge against Trump’s second term.
The problem regarding a looming general election replete with most Americans still independent over either party is that despite a dearth of options for hopeful liberals, few of those options appear to be politically pragmatic at all. They’re simply not sellable to the American people at large.
From laughably unpalatable (for non-leftists at least) candidates like ‘Fauxcahontas’ Elizabeth Warren to already branded chronic liars like Kamala Harris, the stage is mostly set with candidates that only enjoy niche popularity as per radical left policy views. Even seemingly more politically sell-able far left candidates like Cory Booker, self-styled ‘Spartacus’ of America, just don’t seem to harness the blue-collar appeal Democrats desperately need to recapture crucial swing states in the Midwest and deep South.
Killing Off the Possibilities
Of course, of a larger concern for the chances of a 2020 blue victory to retake the oval office is the fact that the few emerging candidates with real demonstrable broad appeal are being cut down by more radical and vocal sects of their own party in the bloody squabble to obtain the candidacy.
First, to almost definitively have been dealt a death blow in the age of #metoo is of course now ‘Creepy Uncle’ Joe Biden. Dubious but scathing accusations against him came from fellow blue politicians immediately upon his emergence as a presidential contender as the mostly far left crowd smelled somewhat moderate blood. Right wing opponents of course gleefully joined in the dogpile with Biden now cowed to the barrage of undeniably eerie footage of his apparent issue with physical lingering. Fox reports,
“Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday responded to a series of misconduct allegations leveled against him by promising to “be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”
Biden acknowledged the allegations in a tweet, saying that he recognizes that “social norms are changing” and he has heard his accusers.
“Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying,” Biden tweeted. “Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it.”
Fellow victim, albeit this time wholly undeserved, to the far-left onslaught seems to be the sole candidate who – in this writer’s opinion – had a genuine chance at beating president Trump for his current post, Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard, an Iraq veteran and Hawaii congresswoman, was an early name in the hat for the candidacy. One might also recall her to be the DNC member that resigned when it was discovered the organization had engaged in unsavory electioneering to expedite a Clinton victory.
Since even before her announcement however she has come under constant barrage from left-leaning outlets regarding largely unsubstantiated but in the sphere of leftism utterly scathing claims of such ills as ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘war mongering’ in regard to Syria.
In fact, Gabbard is one of the few non-interventionist competently oriented candidates the Democrats have out of their slew of various flavors of radicals. But that hasn’t stopped progressive powers that be such as the Huffington Post from slamming her with such claims as,
“Tulsi Gabbard’s 2020 Plan Threatens The New Left Foreign Policy Of Sanders And Warren. The Hawaii congresswoman claims to represent the rising left but has ties to authoritarianism and Islamophobia abroad.”
The writing on the wall, however, is if the ‘new left’ of types such as Liz Warren are what Democrats plan to put on the playing board in 2020 they’re going to be in for a rude awakening to 4 more years of President Trump.
Editor’s note: Former Starbucks CEO and billionaire Howard Schultz has plans to run as an independent, but many have said he will only do this if the Democrat nominee is too radical for his tastes. The “Schultz protocol” would undoubtedly send Trump back to the White House, which may indeed be enough to get the Democrat radicals back down to earth.