Lost amid all the significant political news in the past two weeks was the withdrawal of Beto O’Rourke’s ill-fated, some would say contrived, candidacy. From the very beginning Robert Francis O’Rourke’s candidacy was nothing more than fluff, a media creation, a diversion. Slow news day? Do a Beto story. Here he is in a dentist’s chair; there he is in a restaurant addressing the other patrons, arms waiving wildly, standing on a chair; there he is again being interviewed by the border wall admonishing the government to “tear down that wall” as if he were Ronald Reagan addressing Mikhail Gorbachev; there he is again kowtowing to the “View” ladies acknowledging he has been a beneficiary of “white privilege” and apologizing for it. Did anyone take his candidacy seriously? Unlikely. Bye-bye Beto; maybe, we’ll see you again in four years. Or not.
Michael Bloomberg is another story. The best thing I can say about Bloomberg’s presidential prospects is he was a good mayor of NY. That said, in my opinion, he has very little chance to win the nomination, much less the election. He has no natural constituency. The Party leaders don’t want him to run. I can’t see him appealing to the current ultra-liberal wing that dominates the party presently. They are particularly incensed over his “stop and frisk” policy, which worked, by the way. The other candidates view him as a Johnny-come-lately interloper, another old white man seeking to represent the Party of Inclusion. Don’t the Dems already have enough of them running? If he is serious, his money will keep him in the race, but that’s about it. The Dem establishment is afraid he will ultimately run as a third party candidate, which would guarantee Mr. Trump’s re-election.
In my view, his declaration is a symptom of what I and many others have been saying, namely that the current Dem field is weak, and, despite what the current polls may say, none of the current crop has a realistic chance to defeat President Trump. (In my view, this is a major reason why they are so hell-bent on pursuing impeachment. It makes no sense otherwise, since polls show that most people don’t believe that Mr. Trump committed any transgression that rises to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Furthermore, they can’t convict him in the GOP-dominated Senate. Moreover, it will make the 30 or so Dems that won districts in 2018 that Mr. Trump had won in 2016 particularly vulnerable to defeat in 2020.)
Let’s look at the four leaders. Sanders, an avowed Socialist, is nothing more than a disrupter. I can’t picture Americans electing a Socialist.
Biden is a human gaffe machine with tremendous baggage in his past, which I have detailed in previous blogs. Also, let’s not forget the current mess involving his son Hunter. If Biden manages to secure the nomination this issue will surely be front and center in the general election. Moreover, he doesn’t seem to have the energy for a long, hard campaign.
Warren is doomed by her cockamamie “Medicare for all” plan, which she has admitted would necessitate a tax increase not just on the wealthy, but the middle class as well.
Mayor Pete? I don’t think so. Maybe in 2024 with a little more experience on the national stage.
The Dem establishment is getting desperate. It is like an open “casting call.” It reminds me a little of the 1960 election when the Dems were so desperate to keep Richard Nixon out of the White House that they prevailed upon Lyndon Johnson to resign his powerful position in the Senate and run as JFK’s vice president. He despised JFK, but he despised Nixon more.
CONCLUSION
Who’s next? Your guess is as good as mine. The Dems don’t exactly have a “deep bench.” One possibility being floated is former MA governor, Deval Patrick. Who? His chief qualification is that he is a close friend of Obama’s. He has issued denials, but we all know what that means.
Michele Obama is on many people’s wish list. She also has adamantly denied she will run, but who knows..
And then, there’s always Hillary. Despite her denials, it’s obvious she would love to run again. She’s just lying in the weeds, waiting in the wings, like a vulture, hoping to swoop right in and “pick up the pieces,” claim her “birthright,” which she steadfastly maintains was “stolen” from her in 2016. After denying continually and adamantly that she would not run, (as recently as March, she flatly ruled it out), now she is saying “never say never… I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it.” By the way, who are these “many, many, many people?” Furthermore, as she is fond of saying, she did win the popular vote in 2016. LOL.
Hold on to your seats. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 