by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
I'm growing tired of living in a state of constant anticipation, particularly with regard to the Mueller investigation. It seems like for several weeks now the we have been subjected to rumors that Mueller and his team are just days away from issuing their final report - but it never happens!
I'm also becoming bored with the procession of Democrats stepping forward and announcing that after long, solemn talks with family, they have decided to forgo their privacy and seek the Democratic nomination to run against Trump in 2020. It's a sacrifice of monumental proportions, but somebody has to do it.
The Democratic announcements have been interesting. Some have been well choreographed and stirred intense interest - such as Senator Kamala Harris throwing her hat into the ring from the crowded streets of Oakland - or senator Amy Klobuchar making her announcement in a Minnesota blizzard, while others have stressed policy positions over pizazz.
I've lost count of the number of Democrats who have officially entered the race, but two big names are still sitting on the sidelines. Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman from El Paso who gave Ted Cruz the political scare of his life, has apparently made a decision to run for President, but is still being coy about making the run official. And Joe Biden, the former Vice President, has also apparently made a decision to get into the race, but he, too, is holding back on making an official announcement.
My theory is this: Beto and Biden are doing a dance as they each try to wait out the other. At some point one will step forward and declare his intentions - and a day or two later the other will take the plunge and try to generate enough headlines to swamp the momentum of the one who went first. My money is on Beto to win the waiting contest because Biden has a well-known propensity for enjoying the sound of his own voice.
There are stories on the internet this morning which claim that the American Nazis and other social miscreants meeting at the CPAC convention in Maryland are telling any journalist who will listen that Biden would be the most formidable candidate that the Democrats could run against Trump. That sounds to me like it might be a blatant lie whose purpose is to help manipulate the Democrats into running Biden (a GOP version of Claire McCaskill's choose-your-own-opponent ploy) because they see the ancient Democrat as the most beatable. Biden, who will be 77 (and within a few days of 78) at the time of the 2020 election would serve to draw attention away from Trump's 74 years.
Beto O'Rourke, on the other hand, will be a young dynamo of 48 when the next presidential election rolls around - and he appears to be the picture of health. Contrasting him with Tub-O-Lard Trump would be an image that the CPAC crowd would not relish.
The GOP owns Trump and in all likelihood they will have to run with him - again. That's fine because the candidate and the party deserve each other. This election will likely be one of the most important in our history, and there is no way that the immoral toadies in Donald Trump's Republican Party should have any influence whatsoever in who the Democrats choose to run against him.
The Republican Party will be running an out-of-shape grandfather in 2020 whose idea of public service is to generate income for himself. Democrats need to be appealing to a new generation - the people who are actually going to have to live and function in the world that our next president helps to create.
2020 must be an election about the future! Anything less will be a direct repudiation of the hopes and dreams of our children and grandchildren - and we have been doing that for too long!
Citizen Journalist
I'm growing tired of living in a state of constant anticipation, particularly with regard to the Mueller investigation. It seems like for several weeks now the we have been subjected to rumors that Mueller and his team are just days away from issuing their final report - but it never happens!
I'm also becoming bored with the procession of Democrats stepping forward and announcing that after long, solemn talks with family, they have decided to forgo their privacy and seek the Democratic nomination to run against Trump in 2020. It's a sacrifice of monumental proportions, but somebody has to do it.
The Democratic announcements have been interesting. Some have been well choreographed and stirred intense interest - such as Senator Kamala Harris throwing her hat into the ring from the crowded streets of Oakland - or senator Amy Klobuchar making her announcement in a Minnesota blizzard, while others have stressed policy positions over pizazz.
I've lost count of the number of Democrats who have officially entered the race, but two big names are still sitting on the sidelines. Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman from El Paso who gave Ted Cruz the political scare of his life, has apparently made a decision to run for President, but is still being coy about making the run official. And Joe Biden, the former Vice President, has also apparently made a decision to get into the race, but he, too, is holding back on making an official announcement.
My theory is this: Beto and Biden are doing a dance as they each try to wait out the other. At some point one will step forward and declare his intentions - and a day or two later the other will take the plunge and try to generate enough headlines to swamp the momentum of the one who went first. My money is on Beto to win the waiting contest because Biden has a well-known propensity for enjoying the sound of his own voice.
There are stories on the internet this morning which claim that the American Nazis and other social miscreants meeting at the CPAC convention in Maryland are telling any journalist who will listen that Biden would be the most formidable candidate that the Democrats could run against Trump. That sounds to me like it might be a blatant lie whose purpose is to help manipulate the Democrats into running Biden (a GOP version of Claire McCaskill's choose-your-own-opponent ploy) because they see the ancient Democrat as the most beatable. Biden, who will be 77 (and within a few days of 78) at the time of the 2020 election would serve to draw attention away from Trump's 74 years.
Beto O'Rourke, on the other hand, will be a young dynamo of 48 when the next presidential election rolls around - and he appears to be the picture of health. Contrasting him with Tub-O-Lard Trump would be an image that the CPAC crowd would not relish.
The GOP owns Trump and in all likelihood they will have to run with him - again. That's fine because the candidate and the party deserve each other. This election will likely be one of the most important in our history, and there is no way that the immoral toadies in Donald Trump's Republican Party should have any influence whatsoever in who the Democrats choose to run against him.
The Republican Party will be running an out-of-shape grandfather in 2020 whose idea of public service is to generate income for himself. Democrats need to be appealing to a new generation - the people who are actually going to have to live and function in the world that our next president helps to create.
2020 must be an election about the future! Anything less will be a direct repudiation of the hopes and dreams of our children and grandchildren - and we have been doing that for too long!
1 comment:
VOX says that as of yesterday 13 Democrats are actively campaigning to be President. Another 10 are maybe going to announce their candidacies, and another 6 are maybe, perhaps, if lighting strikes going to take the plunge.
See, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/1/18246059/2020-presidential-election-candidates-list-who-is-running-for-president
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