How the Democrats can Win in the Fall

It is really quite simple, although it is seemingly impossible for the party of Andrew Jackson to come to grips with. All they need to do to beat Trump and the GOP is to convince the average American they care about this nation more than he does. They should show the average American they have a plan to return the nation to a prospering economy where unemployment is low, wages are going up because the supply of labor is limited, and more Americans can stand on their own without having to worry about whether the Government will decide to take all their wealth from themselves and their families away from them.

They can do this by putting together a plan that stops the US versus THEM dialogue they began with the election of Richard Nixon.

They can do this by ignoring the daily attacks from the President. Instead, they should offer the middle class a hope they will limit the power of a central government.

They can show the average American and legal immigrant they will make sure there are jobs for them instead of allowing a flood of cheap labor into the country to make the poorest class poorer.  This would mean they challenge the current waiver process that lets the high-tech companies hire foreign workers under a visa waiver program as well as supporting limits on immigration.

They can abandon name-calling and personality politics to show how they will manage the debt and return the government to a balanced budget like we last had with Bill Clinton.  This would actually mean they would do what they said they would do in 2016 when the mantra was “They go low, we go high.”  I know in these days of personality politics this is probably just wishful thinking, but for many of us, this would make all the difference in the world.

Finally, and most importantly, they would need to nominate a centrist candidate who is not obviously carrying the baggage of diminished mental capacity and sexual assault that makes their claims of supporting the #metoo movement so hypocritical.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the political activists that make up the extremes of the party will come to grips with these relatively simple choices. So this election, like most previous elections, will be a simple battle of mudslinging and name-calling.  A campaign Donald Trump will excel at and Biden, and his surrogates, will fail at because Trump is now accepted as doing a pretty good job by those who voted for him last time and they will turn out, while the radical young probably won’t.

Whose Campaign Will Have the Best Slogan?

Regrettably, we have entered into the 2020 Presidential campaign season, with all the Democratic hopefuls coming out as candidates.  Of course, the most important thing a successful candidate must have is a great reminder, positions can come and go, but a slogan is with us forever.  For example, who remembers anything about the 1840 Presidential election, or the unremarkable tenure of William Henry Harrison, but who doesn’t know the campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!”

Some campaigns choose wisely and some don’t.  We need only look at the last election to see the stark contrast.  We had “Make America Great Again” and “I’m with Her.”  For the average blue collar worker, it was no contest.

I think we heard President Trump's 2020 slogan last night in the 2019 State of the Union address.  My bet is “Choose Greatness” will be the lead for his campaign.  What are we seeing from the Democrats to counter this?  So far, not much.

Kamala Harris: For the People          Sorry but this sounds like a slogan for a law firm specializing in personal damage claims.  In fact, it is.  Morgan and Morgan:  For the people is a big firm here in Florida and I am surprised they haven’t already talked with the Kamala people, but then again, maybe they have.

Cory “I am Spartacus” Booker: Together America, We Will Rise   Perhaps if we were in the middle of a depression, like 2008, this would be a good choice, but as we see the current policies bring a booming economy the question then becomes who will rise from what?  I imagine the hope is to rise from the Trump Derangement Syndrome so many seem to focus on.

Julián Castro: For the Future             The former mayor of San Antonio and an Obama appointee he has announced his intention to be the next President, but I think his chances of success are slim since he is the wrong gender for the Democrats.

Tulsi Gabbard: Run Tulsi Run (?)                 Ms. Gabbard is a Congressional Representative from Hawaii and has announced she is running for President, but I’ve not found her official campaign site, only a place that claims to be a grassroots movement to “draft” her as a candidate.  Her most recent claim to fame is to call President Trump “Saudi Arabia’s bitch.”

John K. Delaney:              John Delaney’s bio indicates he was a businessman and CEO of two successful companies before becoming a Congressional Representative from Maryland.  His campaign site does not have a slogan.  Again, I rate his chances of a successful campaign as slim to none.  He is just filler to make it look like the real candidate hasn’t already been chosen.

Kirsten Gillibrand:  Compassion and Courage (?)         She announced her candidacy in mid-January but I haven’t seen a real slogan yet.  Perhaps the marketing department is still doing research on what would be a good choice.  For me, I’ll go with her announcement that said as a young mother she has the compassion and courage to lead us to a better America, at least until she makes a real slogan official.

Still waiting to announce:

Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren:  TBD              It is reported she will announce on/about 9 February so expect that to be part of her roll out.  My guess is it will be somewhere along the lines of “Make the rich pay their share.”

Peter Buttigieg: Middle-class life separates me from other contenders  Who is Peter Buttigieg and why does he think he has a chance?  This is probably not his real slogan but he is so far down the list I don’t feel like spending a lot of time on him.  From what I can tell his claim to fame is he is a millennial who has moved out of his parent’s basement.

And then there is.

Howard “Starbucks” Schultz:             Still deciding to run or not as an independent he is the Democrats worse nightmare.