Why the Dem caravan, control of suburbs doesn’t matter in long run
To the Times:
A caravan has been steadily crossing into our territory. Only this one is apparently escaping from high taxation, filthy streets and crime. Former Philadelphians have been gradually increasing voter rolls in favor of the Democrats in the counties surrounding the city, which is why the number of Democrats in Delaware County has surpassed that of the decades-long supremacy of Republicans.
The candidates they put into office after the 2018 Midterm Election were elected because they weren’t Republicans. Their campaign ads on TV were simple appeals to change the tone in Washington and pledges to work with those “across the aisle.” They would sometimes say that they were going to make sure people with pre-existing health conditions would be guaranteed health coverage and that prescription drugs would be made affordable somehow. They are fresh-faced, youthful, and many were women, wearing the sheep’s clothing of the newbie and the outsider, without a history with “the establishment.”
If the media were fair they would have shown footage of rally after rally during which the president’s greatest applause line was when he stressed the mandate for coverage for those with pre-existing health conditions. His second most popular reference to health care during those rallies was his emphasis upon reducing the cost of prescription drugs. If there was fairness in reporting by the media, people would understand that not just one party championed these causes. Perhaps those who the Republicans would often claim were aligned with the so-called “Left,” those reporting the news, simply disapproved of the methods proposed by those on the “Right” to achieve those ends. For example, one side was in favor of price control by governmental intervention and the other side favored free market solutions. You can guess which was which.
The Republicans, under the leadership of the president, have spent the last two years doing the major things they campaigned for in 2015: Things like revamping the schedule of taxation; creating jobs; reducing or “rolling back” regulations; attracting American businesses overseas to repatriate; seeking international stability by ending the existence of ISIS and the threat of nuclear North Korea; and appointing conservative judges to courts across the nation, culminating with the two life appointments to the Supreme Court, which has tipped the balance in favor of conservative Republican ideals concerning the strict interpretation of the Constitution. Having achieved these signature ends prior to the Midterms, the Republicans, fully aware of what happens to the party in power at that point in the life of the nation, were satisfied that their lock on these issues was complete and almost impossible for their adversaries to reverse. The domestic issues concerning health care, prescription drugs, schools, infrastructure, even congressional investigations into the president, his family, or anyone else are no cause for real concern to the Republicans because they’ve gotten most of what they wanted. The rest, in their view, is a lot of noisemaking and grandstanding on the part of the all too late opposition.
Although the Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives, this victory is seen as largely inconsequential as the Republicans dominate the White House, Senate, and judiciary, particularly the final say in the Supreme Court. Should the Democrats put forward any legislation the Republicans disapprove, the president can simply veto it and the fact that they would be unable to override it would invariably result in its certain defeat. Everything they do will depend upon the Senate and the president. The juggernaut of judicial appointments cannot be interrupted or interfered with as they are the province of the president and the Senate and there is nothing the Democrats can do to stop any of it. So, when you look at the results of this last election, it soon occurs to you that nothing has really changed for the president and his party, which is why he declared victory upon its conclusion.
So the influx of Democrats from anywhere into this and all the counties surrounding Philadelphia, its suburbs, et al, means nothing in the long run. Republicans who reside in these areas may feel the cold chill of defeat in their local and statewide elections, but if they remember that Pennsylvania is probably going to be one of 15 liberal bastions for the foreseeable future, they can find solace in knowing that their adversaries on the national scene are going to be permanently DOA in the Senate and judiciary. President Trump’s agenda will fully resume in 2020, when all the hoopla subsides and the nation brings Republican supremacy back to Washington and beyond.