Many say ‘Trump is going to get reelected, isn’t he?’
I’m struck by how many people ask me, “Trump’s going to get reelected, isn’t he?” They cite their shock at things said in the Democratic presidential debates in June.
I, too, was shocked — that so many candidates want to trade private health insurance for “Medicare for All.” I prefer strengthening Obamacare and eventually adding a public option.
So many seemed ready to decriminalize illegal entry into our country. I prefer people knock before entering.
I was shocked at the hands raised in support of providing comprehensive health coverage to unauthorized immigrants. I think promises we’ve made to our fellow Americans should take priority, like to veterans in need of better health care.
And I was shocked by how feeble was frontrunner Joe Biden’s response to the attack from Kamala Harris — and to the more extreme ideas promoted by those to his left.
So, I wasn’t surprised so many fear that the racist, divisive, climate-change-denying, woman-abusing jerk who is our president was going to get reelected, and was even seeing his poll numbers rise.
Dear Democrats: This isn’t complicated! Just nominate a decent, sane person, one committed to reunifying the country and creating more good jobs, a person who can gain the support of the independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women who abandoned Donald Trump in the midterms and thus swung the House of Representatives to the Democrats and could do the same for the presidency. And that candidate can win!
The revolution can wait. Win the presidency, hold the House and narrow the spread in the Senate, and a lot of good things still can be accomplished. The left wants a revolution now? Here’s a revolution: four more years of Trump.
Four years of Trump feeling validated in all the crazy stuff he’s done, unburdened by future reelection, able to amplify his racism, make Ivanka secretary of state, appoint more crackpots to his Cabinet and name more rightwing Supreme Court justices under age 40.
Some elections are a vote for great changes — like the Great Society. Others are a vote to save the country. This election is the latter.
Democratic candidates need not stand for nothing, just focus on building national unity and good jobs.
I favor raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to subsidize universal pre-K education and to reduce the burden of student loans. Let’s give kids a head start and college grads a fresh start.
The winning message is to double down on redividing the pie in ways that give everyone an opportunity for a slice while also growing the pie sustainably.
It has always been what’s made us rich, and we’ve drifted away from it: investing in quality education and basic scientific research; promulgating the right laws and regulations to incentivize risk-taking and prevent recklessness and monopolies that can cripple free markets; encouraging legal immigration of both high-energy and high-IQ foreigners; and building the world’s best enabling infrastructure — ports, roads, bandwidth and basic social safety nets.
Reinvigorate the key elements of a healthy public-private partnership: higher taxes on wealthier people, more investments in affordable housing, infrastructure and universal preK, and empowering the private sector to create more real jobs — so that no one working full time at any job should have to collect Medicaid and need food stamps to make ends meet.
That’s a simple message that can connect with enough Democrats — as well as independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women — to win the White House.