Democrats remain in good shape for the midterm elections aided by a gift that keeps giving --- Donald Trump -- while dependent on minimizing internal problems caused by the left wing.
On the economy, which pollsters, public and private, say continues to dominate, only 33% of the public approves Trump’s handling, according to the recent Marist poll for PBS aand NPR; he does even worse in other surveys.
Even with gas prices falling and if the economy improves -- dubious --these views are pretty much baked in for the next four months. There’s a lag time between perceptions and changing economic conditions.
It’s wrong to claim Democrats can’t focus on corruption as well as the economy. Good politicians can walk and chew gum simultaneously. Trump emphasized the cost of living and immigration in 2024.
The Trump corruption issues has bubbled beneath the surface. But revelations he raked in $2.2 billion last year, while others in these investments were losing their shirts, and that he and his family are cutting lucrative deals all around he world is changing that.
It’s clear he’s using the White House as a personal money making machine. There never has been Presidential grifting anywhere like this.
The one ray of hope Republicans seized on has been the election of a handful of left wing democratic socialists in primaries. The GOP paints these radicals as harbingers of what a Democratic control of Congress would look like.
Trump has charged they’re “communists,” reflecting either his ignorance or his age, probably both.
The leftists, while a very small slice of the party and any congressional caucus, are well organized in deep blue venues and are especially successful against aging or lackluster mainstream candidates. More than ideology they win because of the deep anger at Trump and the entire political establishment.
As the New York Times Tom Edsall has reported, much of their support derives not from working class or minority voters but from more educated left wing whites.
Some of their rhetoric won’t travel well. Darializa Chevalier, who beat an incumbent in New York City last month, calls for open borders, no migrant deportations, even of violent criminals, and wants to empty the prisons. Melat Kiros, who defeated an incumbent iin Denver, says America is responsible for the 9-11 attack on the country.
Democrats need to strongly condemn those views, starting with Baarack Obama and hopefully some younger members too,
One person whose efforts to take on the radical left is counterproductive is New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who last year called on his party to work with Donald Trump. Foolishly naive, that is exactly what the successful leftists complain about.
A real model is Georgia Democratic Senator, Jon Ossoff, who connects the economy and corruption issues -- “They enrich themselves while you pay more” --and rails against a system rigged by insiders.
For most Democratic candidates this fall it’s important not to get sucked into the right wing or left wing cultural issues.
An appealing agenda for the challenging party is relatively straight forward: an aggressive economic policy, restoring the Trump Medicaid cuts, expanding Obamacare with a public option, raising the minimum wage, more incentives for affordable housing.
This can be paid for with taxes on the wealthy. Just returning to the 2017 individual tax rates would raise more than $2 billion, that’s before anything from corporate taxes or loopholes.
Any agenda should include a tough ethics package for Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President. Ban stock trading for office holders, require total transparency, put enforcement teeth in the Emoluments clause which forbids taking gifts or payments from foreign governments.
That still leaves Democrats with a problem: Israel. The left is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Domestically, there has been a disturbing uptick in antisemitism.
Much of the blame is with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu whose hard line, brutal policies have alienated many Americans. The new Trump-Vance hard line against Netanyahu is in line with the views of most mainstream Democrats who are committed to the state of Israel and fervently hoping a better leader will be elected his fall.
Moreover, elements of the Democratic left don’t have a monopoly on antisemitism. There are antisemites in the Trump Administration like Paul Ingrassia who has acknowledged there is a “Nazi streak in me.”
For all the talk lately about the Democrats’ “crazy left,” the GOP’s “crazy right” is a bigger force. Arizona Republican Paul Gosar has closely associated with Nick Fuentes, a neo-Nazi, holocaust denier. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles calls for deporting all Muslims and has written that gays and lesbians have no place in America.
This election, however, is far larger than the fringe figures on either side.
Joseph Ellis, a foremost authority on the Founding Fathers while discussing those extraordinary events in Philadelphia 250 years ago, ventured a thought about these critical midterm elections.
“Something much larger is at stake,” Ellis notes. “The Republic is on the ballot.”
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