Putting Democrats on the spot, Trump steals spotlight, again
By Boaz Bismuth
Israel Hayom
February 7, 2020
DES MOINES, IOWA – The Democratic Party had three years and three months to prepare for the 2020 primaries. The official start of the race to the White House this week was supposed to be a reboot that would provide the Democrats with a much-needed comeback on their path to regain power.
Since the early 1970s, Iowa is the first state where voters cast their votes in the parties' nomination contest, despite its small population and the small number of delegates that are at stake.
The Iowa Caucuses were supposed to be the perfect backdrop for the Democrats to cast themselves as a party that is on a sure path to victory and turn a page on the 2016 debacle where the "inevitable" candidate Hillary Clinton was beaten badly by a newcomer to politics, Donald Trump.
But Trump keeps outsmarting the Democrats time and again, even though this week Trump's job was made extra easier when the Democrats helped him big time: The special app that was designed to help caucuses relay the results to the Iowa Democratic Party's headquarters suffered major glitches and caused the entire process to end with no official winner until Friday. The Democrats waited three years and three months just so they could launch the nomination contest and their comeback, only to see their hopes get dashed on the very first day.
And while the Democrats tried to figure out this big farce in Iowa, Trump delivered one of his best speeches. His State of the Union Address on Tuesday was essentially a campaign rally.
Unlike his inauguration speech in January 2017, in which he promised to "end the American carnage," on Tuesday, while tens of millions were watching (perhaps his biggest audience ever), he touted his administration's accomplishments in every possible measure, and of course, highlighted the economy's rapid, almost record-breaking growth.
And then, as if that was not good enough for Trump, on Wednesday night the Senate acquitted the president from the impeachment charges in Ukraine-gate.
The outcome was expected, but it was very symbolic that just as the impeachment trial reached its peak, the very people who had impeached the president – the Democrats – reached a low point. This says a lot about the real balance of power in Washington. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are simply no match to the current White House occupant.
In fact, this only shows just how good the Democrats are at infighting despite being clueless on how to talk to the American people.
It further shows that the Democrats keep stepping on their own message time after time by humiliating the president. This was clearly evident when Pelosi refused to use the normal language when introducing the president to the joint session of Congress as he stepped to the podium on Tuesday to deliver his annual address.
Rather than saying, "I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States" as House speakers normally introduce the head of the executive branch, she just said, "Members of Congress, the president."
The ongoing efforts to humiliate the president only hurt the Democratic Party because it casts it as self-indignant with a lot of righteous anger. The president, however one dislikes him, is still the only officeholder that gets elected by all 50 states, unlike governors and senators, for example. That is why the constitution doesn't allow his removal from office easily, and that is why the Democrats should respect the office rather than insult the people who voted for him.
Pelosi had hoped that some Republicans in the Senate would play along with the Democrats and possibly cast a guilty vote on Wednesday, but only Mitt Romney did so, and only on one article of impeachment. Even Susan Collins, who has criticized Trump on Ukraine-gate, said the people's choice must be respected and attacked the Democrats for launching a witch hunt.
Pelosi took the humiliation a step further when she ripped up the transcript of his speech for the cameras to see, making sure the Democrats would have an even harder time recapturing the White House this year.
Trump wasted no time in attacking her for this slight, accusing the speaker of insulting the heroes he mentioned his speech. "This is her legacy," the White House tweeted. And indeed, if there is one thing the public remembers from the past three years is not the policies and values the Democrats want to promote but their unfettered hatred toward the president and their disregard for his voters.
To sum up one of Trump's best weeks: The Democrats were campaigning, but Trump won. The comeback kid, which used to be Bill Clinton, is actually Donald Trump.
In Pelosi's defense, one could say that he refused to shake her outstretched hand during the State of the Union Address (although it was unclear if he saw it, since he did not shake Vice President Mike Pence's hand either). But Pelosi is the one who launched the impeachment proceedings against him last year, and there is no love lost between them. So even if the two would have shaken hands, this would have been a photo-op that no side truly wanted.
In 2016, in case you forgot, there were those in the Democratic Party who were ecstatic when Trump kept winning in the primaries They said he was destroying his party from within and that this would help the Democratic nominee win in November.
Of course, this prediction failed miserably, and today the GOP is more united than ever. The fact that Collins chose to stick with him during the impeachment trial says a lot about the degree to which the party is united.
We are now in an election year. Trump's many accomplishments are reflected in hi rising poll numbers. His message from the address this week was that America was winning, and even Pelosi knows that by every measure, the American people are better off today than they were four years ago. Even in frozen Iowa this week, Trump's supporters were everywhere even though the results of the Republican caucuses were never in doubt (his nomination is guaranteed even if there is technically a primary race). "Keep America Great," was on people's t-shirts everywhere you went.
"Trump is the only president who has actually delivered on his promises," one supporter told me.
In fact, Trump made sure to remind Iowans that he was their president, stealing the Democratic thunder just days before the Iowa caucuses by holding a massive rally in Des Moines. On top of that, a new Gallup poll shows that his job approval has climbed up five points to 49%.
Trump is also enjoying a boom in support among Republicans and independent voters. Some 94% of Republicans support him and 42% of independent voters back him as well. This just goes to show the degree of his success at preserving his coalition of voters from 2016.
For better or for worse, Trump has managed to dominate the public discourse since he entered politics in June 2015. The only people who have failed to realize that it would be better to work with him rather than against him are the Democrats, who have tried to derail his initiatives at every possible junction. The only exception is their support for his new free trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
I attended one of Pete Buttigieg's energetic rallies and also attended an event in which former Vice President Joe Biden's spoke in Iowa, which was hardly inspiring. I even took part in a Super Bowl party hosted by Bernie Sanders, who left before the game had begun.
But with all due respect to the candidates in Iowa this week, who have since continued on to New Hampshire, the real protagonists were two New Yorkers: Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg.
In light of the inconclusive results from Iowa and the continued infighting among the Democrats, the almost forgotten Democratic candidate Bloomberg has been cast in a new light, because he is the only candidate who can project normalcy and stability. And of course, Trump has also seen his image improve this week.
There are three more contests until the Super Tuesday in March when Bloomberg hopes to win in several major states and pick up a sizeable number of delegates. He is taking a risk because Democratic voters might no longer be interested in his candidacy by then, but this year, just like in 2016, the conventional wisdom apparently no longer applies.
Just look at how Buttigieg became the front-runner and now even has a path to the nomination. Who would have seriously thought this was the likely outcome several months ago?
It is safe to assume that in the month ahead we will hear more and more of Bloomberg and Trump, despite the former mayor skipping the first four contests and choosing instead to spend hundreds of millions on Super Tuesday states, and the second not even in the Democratic race.
With the general election nine months out, Trump has made sure to remind voters that the economy is in great shape and chose to ignore his impeachment during his State of the Union Address.
Trump chose to speak about the successes of America and thus provided a small microcosm of the great disconnect in America: While the media and the Democrats were fully preoccupied with the impeachment effort, the American people were focused on the economy. Any other president would have seen his approval ratings go through the roof, but America is just too tribal these days.
America is not just New York and Los Angeles. Visiting Iowa, I saw Americans who were not happy with how the media was treating their president.
In his state of the union address this week, we saw how Trump catering to African Americans, touting the fact that his administration has improved their lives in every possible metric. Trump may be the odds-on favorite this year, but it's going to be a nasty fight. The 2016 race will look like a walk in the park by comparison.
If the Democrats want to keep their chances alive, they must talk about the issues that matter. Perhaps that is why Buttigieg came out victorious in Iowa. The former mayor talks openly about his faith, saying no party should have a monopoly on religion. He respects the armed forces and knows how to talk to everyone.
Other candidates are probably going to look at how this 38-year-old has managed to win over Iowans in a way that is not unlike what Barack Obama did some 12 years ago. We must admit that even if "Mayor Pete" doesn't have Obama's charisma, he knows his stuff and is the most affable among the 11 Democrats in the race.
Who would have thought that after the most dramatic week of the 2020 race (so far), we would be looking at the real possibility of Bloomberg and Buttigieg becoming the face of the Democratic Party?
Who would have thought that precisely when Democrats' impeachment trial reached a high point, the president would emerge as a winning horse who is headed for another term in office?
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