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I expressed the aforementioned thoughts in a combination of three Facebook posts on February 6th, 7th and 10th, along with tweets on Twitter. Many of my views for this column will have been highlighted on my Facebook page and Twitter feed over the last couple of weeks.
But what do I mean when I write that Trump might possibly not be the Republican nominee? I ask that you keep reading to find out. First however, let me tell you why it is imperative for Democrats to nominate Joe Biden and elect him President. To put it bluntly - as I stated in another February 6th Facebook post, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren cannot win the presidency, and neither can Mike Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar or any of the others who are still running on the Democratic slate.
The fact of the matter is that Democrats cannot vote their heart and their passion this time around. Democrats are historically known for falling in love with their candidates. If they do that for 2020, they can kiss the presidency goodbye. The key to this year's election is going to be voter turnout and which candidate has the best chance of defeating the opposition. Therefore, in order to rid our country of the festering sore, the cancerous carbuncle, that is Donald Trump (or for that matter, whomever is on the ticket for the Republicans) it is critical for Democrats to give consideration and reverence to how Independents will vote in the general election. A Gallup poll in December 2019 shows that 28 percent of Americans identify themselves as Democrats, 28 percent of Americans label themselves Republicans, and 41 percent of Americans classify themselves as Independents. That adds up to 97 percent so I don't know how the other 3 percent describe themselves, but nevertheless, those are the numbers.
Voter turnout is probably the prime element in determining which political party is victorious in 2020. Voter turnout HAS to include the support of Independents for the Democrats, and include perhaps the support of some Republicans who are sick of Donald Trump and the GOP in Congress. So in the end, Independents are vital to the election process, and Independents will not vote for either Vermont's Senator Sanders or Senator Warren of Massachusetts. As the old saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I don't think Independents are going to allow themselves to be fooled by Trump in a second election, but they need to embrace a Democrat who is not as liberal with their views as Sanders or Warren.
Although a Gallup poll, which was released on February 11th, indicates that 76 percent of registered Democrats say they'd vote for a socialist, that leaves about one-quarter of Democrats that won't. It also leaves Independents - who are generally more moderate and in the middle - and who will not, for the most part, cast their ballots for anyone who is way far to the left, so that includes both Sanders and Warren. Nominating either of these two candidates is a death sentence for the Democrats in 2020. So far, though, a vast majority of Democrats nationwide don't seem to understand that because a poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News, which was released on February 19th, indicates that 72 percent of Democratic voters believe Bernie Sanders would beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Well...they'd be wrong. As I noted above, Joe Biden is the answer to Democrats' prayers in order to defeat Trump or another Republican. And let's remember one more important thing. Senator Sanders isn't a registered Democrat. He self-describes himself as a Democratic Socialist, but not a Democrat.
I'm banking on Democrats and Independents being more sophisticated and smarter this time around. The key in 2020 is to get rid of Donald Trump; to see that he gets the message - plain and clear - that Americans are holding him accountable for the crimes he has committed; despite the fact that the cowardly Republicans in the U.S. Senate wouldn't convict him. Voting for a Democrat is how Trump will receive his eviction notice from the landlords of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And we - the American people - are those landlords.
If you've been a regular reader of The Controversy for nearly eight years then you probably are well aware that I self-identify myself as an ultra-progressive liberal Democrat. That doesn't mean that I support everything that either Senator Sanders or Senator Warren represent. After all, I am a staunch advocate of the Affordable Care Act and believe in what both President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden had originally proposed to Congress when they together outlined a blueprint for what is commonly known as "Obamacare." That is not Medicare For All, which is what Sanders and Warren are pushing, but an expansion to the Affordable Care Act, which would include a public option. That was Mr. Obama's and Mr. Biden's original plan to give Americans quality universal coverage with low costs. But Congress would not give it a green light. Medicare For All would eliminate private insurance. The public option would allow people to choose between Medicare and private insurers.
All of the above being said, most of what Bernie Sanders stands for - even more so than Elizabeth Warren - are ideas that I would support. But I know there are too many Americans that would reject such notions before they even left the starting gate. Plus, my choice in a President is not only based on the issues, but on the character, temperament, and leadership abilities of the individual. So even though Joe Biden doesn't - in certain instances - go far enough to the left for me with his political views, he is someone who I implicitly trust for my President, and he will bring class, decency and morality back to The Oval Office. As I wrote on Facebook and Twitter on February 13th, Mr. Biden knows how to be a leader. He was a hands-on Vice President for eight years, not UNDER President Obama, but AT THE SIDE of President Obama as his partner. Mr. Biden can walk in to The White House on January 20th, 2021 and he can BE President. There is nothing he has to do to learn the job. After nearly 50 years working in Washington, DC - in the U.S. Senate and as Vice President - Joe Biden can be the most effective and productive President for 2021 and beyond.
A longtime friend of mine, who happens to be a liberal Democrat, isn't supporting Vice President Biden. She says the Democratic nominee needs to have "bold ideas that will excite throngs of voters to get behind him or her." Many of the bold ideas that excited voters during the Obama administration came from Joe Biden, and he was successful over many decades of service in the U.S. Senate with other bold ideas that excited his colleagues and America. President Obama has credited Vice President Biden as being an equal part of the successes during their two terms in The White House. Plus Mr. Biden has the tenacity to get things done. He has a track record of joint accomplishments with Republicans in Congress. And being able to work in a bi-partisan fashion may be critical if the GOP retains the Senate; although I don't think they will.
As I wrote in my April 28th, 2019 column, Vice President Biden is a distinguished Democratic Party icon and an American treasure. He is an honorable statesman who cares for others and who will do whatever is humanly possible to make better the lives of every American. Mr. Biden exudes leadership, courage, humility and integrity. He can communicate with honesty and dignity not deception and profanity, and he has a positive attitude towards Americans - all Americans - not just white, wealthy men. Joe Biden is truthful. He can be trusted by the people of our country not to lie over and over again (which Donald Trump has now done more than 15,000 times since his inauguration, according to The Washington Post). The United States of America needs a President whose character we can admire, and who we can respect and who respects us. That's Joe Biden. Unacceptable behavior cannot be tolerated. Voters should never applaud anyone who has engaged in hate, as too many people in our country have done with Trump. As Aaron Sorkin wrote for Michael Douglas when he portrayed the fictional President Andrew Shepherd in the 1995 motion picture, The American President, "I can tell you without hesitation, being President of this country, is entirely about character."
Elizabeth Warren isn't going to last much longer on the debate stage as she will soon be derailed from the campaign trail. Bernie Sanders will probably hang on for awhile, but if he does to Joe Biden what he did in 2016 to Hillary Clinton then there'll be four more years without a Democrat in The White House. I wrote a column on March 1st, 2016 titled, SAY GOODBYE, BERNIE. Senator Sanders should have dropped out of the race then instead of waiting until July. He knew he could not win the nomination, but Sanders stayed in the running, and all he did was hurt the former Secretary of State. If Sanders had taken a hike when I suggested he do so, and if he had not bashed Mrs. Clinton the way he did for months leading up to the Democratic convention, I believe that enough of Sanders' supporters would have switched their allegiance and would have voted for Secretary Clinton in the general election. Instead, too many of the Bernie backers stayed home and would not cast their ballots for the former First Lady. They cut their noses to spite their faces because of loyalty to Sanders. And look what that got us. It got us Donald Trump. Democrats cannot do that again in 2020. But Sanders' supporters, four years ago, were not really Democrats, they were what I call "Sandocrats," and they were determined early on in the campaign to not vote for Mrs. Clinton if she became the nominee, which she did.
The National Emerson College Poll, released in late January, indicates that "only 53 percent of Bernie Sanders' voters will definitely support the Democratic nominee even if it's not Sanders. Another 31 percent of people who are rooting for "Bernie" say it will depend on who the nominee is, but 16 percent of Sanders' cheerleaders say if he doesn't win the nomination, they're not going to vote for anyone. Such a disgraceful attitude is what could destroy Democrats' chances of winning The White House and both Houses of Congress on November 3rd.
As I have written, time and time again, even with Russia's interference in our 2016 election - which I will forever believe Donald Trump had a hand in and conspired with Vladimir Putin - plus with the then-FBI Director James Comey writing his bogus letter to Congress eleven days before the election, and with Hillary Clinton's own mistakes - which all politicians make of one sort or another - if the 77,744 people in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, who had voted for President Obama in 2012, had gone to the polls to pull the lever for Mrs. Clinton, America would not be suffering the chaos of a constitutional crisis, which Trump has caused, because she would be sitting behind The Oval Office desk, not him.
Hillary Clinton was arguably the most powerful woman - and one of the most powerful people - in the United States four years ago. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota's Senator Amy Klobuchar in no way have the political strength that Secretary Clinton had, so I am not convinced that either of the two women who are still in the race today can attract enough Democrats - and Independents - to be victorious on November 3rd, should either one get the nomination.
Race and racism are going to play a big part in the 2020 campaign and the 2020 election. Donald Trump has proved over and over again that by his actions and his words that he is indeed a racist. It's, therefore, disturbing that such a large percentage of Americans continue to approve of Trump. But what about some of the Democrats who have also shown their colors and have not been the most equal with people whose skin is not white. No Democrat is going to get the nomination for President without the so-called "black and brown votes." African-Americans are likely to make up about 25 percent of primary votes in the Democratic contests nationwide, and in some southern states - such as Alabama and Mississippi - the black vote will be the majority.
Vice President Biden has the support of African-Americans and Latinos. But such minority communities are not fans of Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar or Mike Bloomberg. Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination in 2016, in large part, because African-Americans and Latinos endorsed her and not Bernie Sanders. Racial tensions in Buttigieg's hometown of South Bend, Indiana have resulted in the former mayor receiving basically zero support in the polls from black voters. One incident in particular focused on an issue from June 2019 when a white cop shot an African-American man who was accused of breaking in to cars while he allegedly held a knife in his hand. The police officer's body camera was turned off at the time of the shooting. Buttigieg has been chastised for his failure to diversify his city's police department. Another issue that causes Buttigieg to be blanketed with African-American criticism goes back to 2012 when "Mayor Pete" demoted South Bend's first black police chief. Not only are African-Americans not happy with Buttigieg, but he is not that popular with Latinos either, as his anemic poll numbers indicate. Furthermore, Vice President Biden is 100 percent correct when he says that being mayor of a city with a population of about 100,000 people does not meet the qualifications for becoming President. Pete Buttigieg simply does not have the experience to be the top dog. I like Pete. I truly do. But he's just not ready to be President. Not yet. But as I posted on Facebook in April 2019, don't count out Pete Buttigieg as Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate.
Meanwhile, Senator Klobuchar is not winning any awards from the black community, and no black elected officials are, at present, supporting her. The Associated Press has suggested - following their investigation in to a case that Klobuchar prosecuted many years ago - that she made a grave mistake by sending a 16-year old, black teenage boy to prison for life for a crime he may not have committed. According to The AP, the youngster may in fact have been innocent of the murder charge. The investigation has uncovered new evidence and The Associated Press says there were a "myriad of inconsistencies raising questions about whether (Myron Burrell, now age 33) was railroaded by police." It was nearly 18 years ago when, in 2002, an 11-year old girl was killed by a stray bullet while she was doing homework at her dining room table. Burrell's co-defendants each admitted their involvement in the death of Tyesha Edwards, but Burrell has always maintained his innocence and insists he was not anywhere near the young girl's neighborhood.
And then there's Mike Bloomberg, "Mr. Flip-Flop" himself. I'm not a fan of the former New York City mayor. First of all, I don't want another billionaire buying the presidency. Bloomberg has been a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent. Now he says he's a Democrat again. Over the years, Bloomberg has flipped his political views more than an Aunt Jemima pancake. What happens if he wins the Democratic nomination, gets elected President, and then the wolf in sheep's clothing turns back in to a wolf. I'm not so sure I can trust a person who changes his political party depending on which way the wind blows. I don't think anyone can really know where Bloomberg stands on the issues.
In a 2015 audio tape, Bloomberg talked of when he was mayor of New York City. His remarks are patently racist. Bloomberg acknowledges that "we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods." And he admitted that "The Big Apple's" "Stop and Frisk" law (which no longer exists) had targeted minority teenagers. "The way you get guns out of the kids' hands is to throw them up against the wall." On top of all that, there are too many allegations against Bloomberg for his profane, sexist remarks. From a report by The Washington Post, it seems to me that Bloomberg, for years, hasn't been much better than Donald Trump when it comes to women and minorities. When wanting oral sex from a celebrity actress, Bloomberg is quoted as saying, "If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale's." Bloomberg allegedly also bragged about his company's financial information computers by telling male employees that the machines "will do everything, including giving you a blowjob." He then allegedly told the females on his staff, "I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business." The Washington Post also reports that Bloomberg would berate women, especially pregnant ones and those who have just given birth. When a female on his payroll was having a tough time locating a nanny to hire, Bloomberg allegedly told the employee, "It's a f--king baby! All you need is some black who doesn't have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building." I suppose since Republicans and Independents were willing to overlook Trump's Access Hollywood video, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Democrats and Independents who don't give two hoots about Bloomberg's racist and misogynistic comments. Remember it was just days before the 2016 election when the 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced and Trump is heard telling the show's host, Billy Bush, that he's "automatically attracted to beautiful (women). I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything." And now Trump tells the country that because he is President, he can do "whatever" he wants.
I discussed at length the matter of race, but there are other issues of prejudice in the 2020 election. There are two Jews running for President - Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg - and, as a Jew myself, it pains me that there is still so much anti-Semitism in our country in the 21st century. When John F. Kennedy ran for President in 1960, it was thought that a Catholic could not win. But he did. And I'm sure there weren't too many people in 1960 who would have thought that less than 50 years later we would elect an African-American to the presidency. We not only did once, but thankfully, we elected Barack Obama twice. In 2016, we came close to electing our first woman President. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but because of our arcane system that still uses the Electoral College, Mrs. Clinton wasn't handed the keys to The White House. This year there are still two women seeking the Democratic nomination - Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren. And let's not forget there were other women this year who had tried but weren't able to continue due to lack of funds. Finally, we have an openly gay man vying for the highest office in the land. It's not too long ago that a gay man wouldn't have revealed his homosexuality, let alone be running for President of the United States. And let's remember, as Pete Buttigieg often reminds us, that he was mayor of a city in "Mike Pence's Indiana." Pence has, for years, opposed LGBTQ equality.
Just as we elected a Catholic and a black man, someday a Jew, a woman, a Latino, an Asian, a Native American, and yes even a gay man or lesbian woman, will become President of our country. Because someday I'm hoping that we will dismiss labels altogether, and that nobody will care what color a person's skin is, or who someone prays to, or whether they are a man or a woman, or a transgender, and they won't care who someone loves. Could any of that happen this year? Sure it could. But because of the reasons I've discussed in this column, my money is on Joe Biden.
Once Mr. Biden does well on February 22nd in the Nevada caucus, which I believe he will, and he wins the South Carolina primary on February 29th, which I am completely confident that he will, and then once the former Vice President sweeps up on Super Tuesday, March 3rd, those who have predicted the demise of Joe Biden's chances for the presidential nomination can eat their words and their campaign hats too.
Let me now take you to the 2020 general election on November 3rd when, if I'm right, Joe Biden's name will be printed on everyone's ballot. Mr. Biden - America's Vice President between January 20th, 2009 and January 20th, 2017 - will hopefully be elected the 46th President of the United States. But will Donald Trump's name be printed on those ballots under the Republican banner? Possibly. But not definitely. Should Trump still be on the ticket, Vice President Biden will pound and pummel him like a pouncing panther on a wild hog. But I'm waiting for the day - sometime between now and then - when the "Dump Trump" chant will be shouted by Republicans, and Trump's presidency will be packed in trash, where it belongs, on a Staten Island landfill.
Donald Trump is going to cross the line. Oh I know he's done it before and his base hasn't cared. Republicans on Capitol Hill haven't cared. But the day is coming when Trump will tell one too many lies, will offend one too many people, or he will do one too many evil acts - and probably break the law to such a degree that it won't be just a courageous and honorable Utah Republican named Senator Mitt Romney who will want Trump removed from office, but it will be other Republicans throughout Congress and throughout the country who will call for Trump's resignation. John Bolton's book will be in on sale soon, and if it's not, the former National Security Adviser's words will be leaked. Americans who wrongfully wouldn't convict "The Impeached One" are soon going to be sorry they didn't get rid of Trump when they had the chance. But Trump is at a point now that he thinks he can do absolutely anything he wants. Hey that's what's he's told us, and that's what he believes. Even people who once had his back are now keeping their mouths shut and letting Trump slowly but surely bury himself alive. And if Trump is what I have said he is - since he announced his candidacy back in June of 2015 - and that is mentally unstable, mentally unbalanced, and mentally unfit, then it won't be long before he goes off the deep end and has a breakdown. It may, therefore, be his health that will be Trump's downfall.
In my column of February 27th, 2016 - a week before the Super Tuesday primaries - I wrote, "Can the biggest mystery in the history of politics - an enigma of sorts, the campaign of Donald Trump - take the billionaire businessman even closer to becoming the Republican nominee for President?" I went on to say, "We all know the regurgitated dreck that Trump has crudely spewed out of his mouth since June 2015. Come election day 2016, will Independents have poor judgment and a lack of good sense to turn over the highest office in the land to Donald Trump? Will Independents throughout the United States be bamboozled, or perhaps even charmed by Trump, that they give him enough support in the general election so that he wins the 270 electoral votes to become President?" Yes, Independents did, and I suppose - as noted earlier - a good many of those Independents were originally on board the "Bernie bandwagon."
Less than two weeks later, on March 9th, 2016, I questioned in my column, "Should the moms and dads of America educate the children of our country that it's okay to use offensive language?" After all, while he was a candidate, Donald Trump was insolent to the Pope. Oh yes, Trump was disrespectful to Pope Francis. Also, Trump has promoted hatred towards people whose skin color, faith or ethnic heritage is different than his. He mocked a person - a reporter - whose disability has left him with a bodily abnormality. As a candidate, Trump spoke in obscene, vicious and degrading manners, and he has continued to do so throughout his term as President. Throughout 2015, Trump ran the gamut from being mean, to disparaging people, to being ruthless, repugnant and repulsive.
Let me remind you of just some of Trump's vile, vindictive and venomous verbiage from his first campaign.
When announcing his candidacy on June 16th, 2015, Trump harshly criticized our neighbors to the south. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."
Trump has encouraged violence at rallies. Trump once called a Black Lives Matter protester, "obnoxious," and said, "Maybe he should have been roughed up."
About John McCain - the now-late Republican senator from Arizona - Trump told voters in Iowa, "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
Trump insulted former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?"
After a Republican debate, Trump gave a distasteful description of then-Fox News anchor and debate moderator Megan Kelly's disgust for Trump. "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."
Other women have been fired upon by Trump's oral brutality. A former Miss Universe beauty queen was given the derogatory name, "Miss Piggy," after she gained a few pounds. Trump also branded the pageant winner, "Miss Housekeeping," because of her Venezuelan ethnicity. Trump's bigotry implied that all Latina women are maids.
Why would anyone vote for Donald Trump? I frequently asked that question during the 2016 campaign, and I ask it again for 2020 knowing there's even a bigger arsenal of legitimate reasons why he should not be elected. Putting aside his criminal activities - which of course are reasons enough to not give Trump a second term - Trump has made atrocious attacks on anyone who isn't loyal to him or simply doesn't agree with his thinking. I thought throughout 2016 and I have continued to wonder with amazement why his base doesn't realize his wickedness. Nevertheless, Trump has remained - to this point - Teflon protected from every reprehensible and evil remark that he has vocalized.
Trump's toxic tongue practically accused the father of one of his 2016 Republican opponents as being involved - or at least linked in some way - with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But Senator Ted Cruz of Texas continues - to this day - to endorse Trump.
Not even a Gold Star mother and father were insulated from Trump's nauseating wrath. Their son was an American war hero, an Army captain, who fought for our country but was killed in 2004 by a car bomb in Iraq. By doing so he gave his life to save the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. His parents felt the pain of Trump's diabolical behavior when Trump insulted them following their appearance at the 2016 Democratic Convention.
Since his acquittal, (not vindication, not exoneration), Donald Trump demonstrates more and more everyday that he is the narcissistic power monger who thinks he is king, and from his throne he wants to govern our nation as if it was a monarchy. In June 2018, Trump was not at all kidding around when he told Fox News of his desire to be dictator of our land. With a serious tone, Trump implied that he wants Americans to treat him as North Koreans do Kim Jong-un. "He's the head of a country, and I mean he's the strong head. Don't let anyone think different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same." Republicans wanted to spin it that Trump was joking. It's not at all funny for the President of the United States to jest that he wants to be dictator. But that was Trump's attitude then, and his rabid rant - day in and day out - proves overwhelmingly that it's still his mentally malicious mindset.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
Please express your personal opinions by following the instructions printed at the top of this column. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits:
1 - Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank and Getty Images (Former Vice President Joe Biden)
2 - The Associated Press and Getty Images (Donald Trump)
Copyright 2020 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
On March 4, 2020, Gary received a personal email from a reader who commented on the above column. It is published below, however, the reader's name will remain anonymous because the email to Gary was private.
ReplyDelete"Your man, Biden, pulled off the greatest comeback in political history yesterday. You predicted he would win the presidency, I thought it was not looking good for Joe. Now, he is on a clear path to victory."
Gary responded to the above reader on March 7, 2020, but once again the reader's name will remain anonymous here.
ReplyDelete"Thanks so much for acknowledging that my predictions (with the primaries) have been correct. Although Vice President Biden has not yet won the presidency, thanks for recognizing my confidence in him and the support given to him by voters in South Carolina and the states of Super Tuesday. I thank you for the kind praise. I humbly (but proudly too) appreciate your nice comment." GBD
On March 4, 2020, Gary received a personal text message from a reader who commented on the above column. It is published below, however, the reader's name will remain anonymous because the text to Gary was private.
ReplyDelete"Gary, you were RIGHT!!"
Gary responded to the above reader on March 4, 2020, but once again the reader's name will remain anonymous here.
Delete"Thank you very much. I appreciate you acknowledging that what I was saying about Joe Biden could actually happen." GBD