“Sometimes we want what we want even if we know it’s going to kill us.” –  Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

By Glen Reaux

The current impeachment game is over.  Trump won and Democrats are licking their wounds.  But, under Sheriff Nancy Pelosi, and Deputy Chuck Schumer all is not lost, yet!  Or so it seems, and it shouldn’t be.  Thanks to an unscrupulous, unethical, spineless and corrupt Republican-controlled senate, pressure has burst the pipe and America has had enough.  Understanding the public sentiment, Nancy and Chuck factored this into their impeachment strategy.  Due to Republican treachery, they now have a viable plan to retake the senate.  But unfortunately, those two honorable congressional leaders of the Democrats cannot right the ship and stop the party from once again, pushing the self-destruct button.  Despite all their years of leadership, wisdom, and the fact that most Americans are dying to get Trump out of office, Trump will win again in 2020.  It’s a frightening apocalyptic prediction but highly probable.  Once again, it is the time to undo the damage that the Republican Party and their incompetent president have inflicted upon the country.  In 2008, the nation united behind Democrat Barack Obama to undo the madness of George “W” Bush and save the country from failed economic policies and a corrupt administration. Although the current economic conditions are not as dire, the nation again is in need of a lifeguard, a messiah.  But unfortunately, you cannot save a drowning person if you can’t swim.  To try will only lead to self-destruction and death for all parties involved.  So, now, America is drowning in the eternal sea of corrupt politics and must ask the question; Are Democrats Destined to Self-Destruct in 2020 or will they learn how to swim in time to save our drowning democracy?  Will they learn the lesson that Trump never learn.

That lesson is how to lead aka how to swim.  To lead and be able to beat Trump, you must not just give the majority of the people within your party what they want.  You must give them what is accomplishable and at the same time increase your numbers by recruiting Independents to your cause.  The only way to do that is for their cause to become your cause or develop a synergistic approach.  These actions will lead to the creation of the bus that will get everyone from point “A” to point “B.”  That bus is called beat Donald Trump at all costs.  Nothing else really matters.  Getting people on board the bus must be more important than anything else or the bus won’t be going anywhere.  Currently, more people in America identify as Independent than Democrats.  Luckily, a high percentage of the Independents want Trump out of office, which means, the Democrats bus comprises Democrats, Independents, and a few old-school Republicans who want to return to the days of yesteryear when people reached across the aisle for the good of the nation.   Democrats must now drive the bus on down the yellow brick road to the finish line, oust the wizard and recapture the Emerald City.  Numbers are in their favor so the task can’t be that hard, right?  Not so!

Unfortunately, the history of the Democrats shows they will fill the gas tank with water, deflate the tires and kick the driver off the bus.  Several of the candidates are reminiscent of George C. Scott who portrayed U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper from the 1964 movie, “Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying, and Love the Bomb.”  General Jack Ripper, despite all data and logic, goes completely insane, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. filled with “Russian commies and russkies.”  Jack Ripper’s logic is similar to that of the Democrats ignoring the popularity of Obama Care in favor of Trump’s position, which is, destroy it and replace it with something else.

Democrats won’t be successful at that misguided approach.  But, if Trump is re-elected he will succeed.  The majority of Americans and unions don’t want their health insurance forcefully taken away in favor of something unknown. Recent polls show Americans want Obama Care fixed along with adding a public option.  “The Bomb” Democrats want to use for Trump’s destruction is “Medicare for All.”  Oops!  That’s like pushing the self-destruct button on a nuclear bomb.

According to a December 2019, Gallup poll, the gasoline for the Democrats bus to remove Trump is healthcare, the air in the ties is terrorism and national security with climate change serving as the headlights and turn signals.  With this knowledge in hand, one would think that the Democrats at least would be able to get the bus started.  Sadly, that is not the case for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg, this set of mad scientists resembling Dr. Strangelove, the mad scientist who invented the doomsday bomb portrayed Peter Sellers.

To drive their bus across the 2020 presidential finish line, they need a driver.  That driver is the Black vote.  Without the strong Black voting demographic, the Democratic bus isn’t going anywhere.  Among the Democratic candidates, there are at least three that will not only kick the driver off the bus, but they’ll also blow up the party with a self-imposed nuclear strike.  Just who Black people will support along with healthcare determines what Democrat is electable.

To get a complete understanding of why the Democrats can’t even get the bus started, here is an examination of the Democratic candidates and the pros and cons that affect their electability.

Joe Biden, 77 – (Former Vice President)

Obama administration vice president has the experience, the name recognition and Trump fears him more than anybody else.  He is a moderate and has a strong track record of bi-partisan legislative accomplishments.  He has strong support from the African American community and seniors who represent a stronger voter base than any other demographic.  He is a proponent of healthcare for all by fixing the very popular existing Obama Care system as opposed to trashing it.  On the issue of national security and fighting terrorism, he was supportive of the Obama administration’s successful policies and has always been, a staunch overachiever in building bipartisan coalitions.  The knock against Joe Biden is that he is getting old and not doing well with fundraising.  He is a part of the Democratic Party’s old guard and people want change. Thus far, these issues have hurt him and garnered negative press coverage.  So far, he has underperformed in the primaries, but none of the states so far have had large Black voter bases.

Bernie Sanders, – (Senator, Independent running as a Democrat)

Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat.  He is an Independent running on the Democratic ticket.  This means he has the potential to bridge the gap with independents. They are a critical element in the formula needed to beat Trump.  He has the strongest support among young voters.  His fundraising efforts are indicative of the Obama campaign.  He has a formidable ground game.  The big negative that accompanies Bernie Sanders is the title of being a self-proclaimed, Democratic Socialist.   True that is not the same as the socialism that dominated the Russian economic system but none-the-less, it is foreign to the American Society and Trump is already capitalizing.  During his state of the union address, he stated that this country will never be a socialist country.  He has labeled it communism and an unsuspecting American electorate doesn’t know the difference.  People generally vote based upon their feelings and are not in the mood to be educated to the difference between Democratic Socialism and that of Stalin’s socialism which carries the flag of communism attached.  Bernie’s Medicare for all and Democratic Socialism are equal to the doomsday bomb from Dr. Strangelove.

Elizabeth Warren, 70 – (Senator)

Senator Warren is a strong and very intelligent woman.  She is a masterful politician and communicator who seem to have a plan for everything.  She is for eliminating the income and wealth disparity in this country which is a hell of a platform.  Accompanied with proposed taxes on the wealthy and rescinding the Trump tax cute, she is Wonder Woman.  And like Bernie, she is a Medicare-For-All proponent.  America has a lot of problems.  Many of them are economic like the spiraling deficit caused by the Trump 2018 tax cuts, a burden that must be addressed in the near future before it cripples the country.  Warren has great and grand ideas that are feasible.  But, without addressing healthcare in a manner that will garner support from Independents, she is doomed before reaching the starting line.

Amy Klobuchar, 59 – (Senator)

The Minnesota senator is a strong moderate who leans toward the middle.  She is a pragmatist and never lost an election.  She has been very successful at building bipartisan support needed to pass legislation.  She is against Medicare-For-All and like Joe Biden views the economics as being unfeasible.  She is for an expansion of Obama Care with the inclusion of a public option.  She doesn’t carry any unwanted baggage and has strong support among women voters.  However, her support among African American voters is weak.  Aside from that, she is an excellent alternative for people who are looking for a younger alternative to Joe Biden.  She was a pleasant surprise in the New Hampshire Primary with a third-place finish.  Paired with an African American vice-presidential candidate, she would be a formidable force and have great odds to beat Trump in the general election.

Tom Steyer, – (Billionaire Investment Banker)

Billionaire Tom Steyer whose wealth has recently been reported at $1.6 billion dollars is a staunch financial supporter of the Democratic Party.  He self-financed a national television campaign to impeach Trump.  He is a huge financial supporter of liberal environmental and ecological policies.  He has put his money where his mouth is with respect to women’s and minority issues.  As s self-made billionaire, he has always been a political activist fighting the good fight for liberal causes.  He is pro Obama Care with a public option.  However, he has very little support from minority communities but could possibly overcome that with the right African American, female running mate.

Michael Bloomberg, 77 – (Billionaire, Former Mayor New York City)

The 77-year-old, like Steyer, also is a self-made billionaire.  However, he is marred by the stop and frisk policy that troubled his administration as New York City’s mayor.  Also, it has been reported that he has been accused of being a chauvinist by several of his female employees.  He has not participated in any of the Democratic debates.  Instead, he chose to launch an expensive national media campaign costing hundreds of millions of dollars.  He is a billionaire with deep pockets, targeted by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as someone like Trump attempting to buy the election with his great wealth.  The plus for Bloomberg is that he supports the revitalization of Obama Care and he has garnered the endorsements of powerful African American politicians in Congress and city government like Houston, Texas mayor, Sylvester Turner.  His ad campaign features many African Americans.

Pete Buttigieg, 38 – (Former Mayor South Bend Indiana)

Mayor Pete is a young, charismatic, and offers a new perspective to voters.  He has the financial support of several billionaires and great appeal to young people seeking a change from the old guard like Joe Biden.  However, he has tremendous downside issues.  He is gay and has had issues dealing with African Americans while mayor of South Bend Indians.  In a race where every vote counts, many Christian Independents may choose not to vote for him on Religious reasons.  In the black community, where only one African American has come out of the closet in professional football and one in professional basketball his being gay is a serious issue for black men.  Neither of the two black professional athletes that came out of the closet is still making a living in professional sports.  Aside from that, the ethnic diversity issues associated with his police department has left deep scars with black voters around the country.  If he is elected the candidate for the Democratic Party, they will have a bus without a driver, crash and burn!

Tulsi Gabbard, 38 – (Representative of Hawaii)

The 38-year-old Gabbard from Hawaii does not appear to be a viable candidate.  She has had a significant conflict with the LGBTQ community and her stance on abortion is one that it is a necessary evil requiring government regulation.  After referring to Hilary Clinton as, “the queen of the warmongers, the embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long” she will not be getting any support from the pro-Hilary Clinton wing of the Democratic Party.  She has become a right-wing darling, with regular appearances of Fox News and giving an exclusive interview to Breitbart News.  She has no support from the minority community and has not put much effort into garnering any.

After examining the characteristics of the candidates, one must understand that whoever sits at the top of the ticket must drive African American voter turnout and Independent voter support for the party.  Since considering that those two criteria are the most important to beat Trump, who are the candidates that meet those criteria? Right now it looks like the Democrats have to pin their hopes for capturing the White House on Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar.  However, if any of the other popular candidates care to consider the following statistics favoring Obama Care, they could actually beat the odds and Trump in the process.

If Democrats don’t heed the data and go the route of the following quote from Donna Tartt from the 2019 movie “The Goldfinch”:

“Sometimes we want what we want even if we know it’s going to kill us.”  The Democratic Party will fail again and go the way of General Jack Ripper and Dr. Strangelove, blow everything up and give the election back to Trump.

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