2/13/2020 - Victor Davis Hanson Townhall.com
All
political parties and candidates have bad days. But the new progressive
Democratic Party had four of its worst days in recent memory in a single week
in February.
On
Feb. 3, the Iowa Caucuses imploded for the first time in their history. The new
app-driven counting melted down, discrediting the very idea of caucusing in
general.
The
winner -- Pete Buttigieg by two delegates over Bernie Sanders -- was not known
for days. The mess was ironic in a number of ways.
The
Democrats are the party of the Silicon Valley. They pride themselves on being
on the cutting edge of youthful computer culture. But the inability to count
simple votes was a bitter reminder that they understand the cyber world no
better than their Republican opponents.
Voters
might remember the 2013 meltdown of the Obamacare website, the abject failure
of Hillary Clinton's supposedly sophisticated 2016 campaign analytics, and the
incompetence of supposedly tech-driven 2016 polling.
Four
years ago, the Democratic Party found ways to thwart socialist Bernie Sanders'
primary bid. Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile leaked
CNN debate questions to Hillary Clinton, and the party used superdelegates to
nullify Sanders' grassroots surge.
This
time around, the release of a pre-caucus Des Moines Register poll was canceled
for the first time ever. Rumors swirled that the Democratic establishment was
embarrassed over the likely strong showing of Sanders. Such conspiracy theories
were only further fueled when it was not known for days who actually won the
caucuses.
The
Iowa mess confirmed that the Democratic Party is torn apart at a time when a
near-record 90 percent of Republicans are united under President Donald Trump.
Democrats
say they appeal to diversity, protect the average working American and are
suspicious of the billionaire class. But the Democratic primary race so far
reminds us that party rules favor rich, white candidates.
The
agendas voiced on the debate stages are not those of Middle America. So far
Johnny-come-lately multibillionaire Michael Bloomberg has spent hundreds of
millions to buy his way onto the Democratic debate stage and move up in party
polling. Billionaire Tom Steyer has virtually no support, but he has qualified
for the debate stage solely due to his billions.
On
Feb. 4, the second day of this Democratic train wreck, Trump gave his State of
the Union address. Even many critics grudgingly admitted that it was the best
speech of Trump's presidency. That same day, a Gallup poll showed Trump's
approval rating at 49 percent, the highest of his presidency -- higher than
when he won the 2016 election.
The
Democratic members of Congress attending the State of the Union address
appeared petty, showing that they were politicos first and elected officials
second. Some Democratic representatives did not show up. Others walked out.
Some hectored Trump. Some would not stand up -- even when ordinary Americans were
being applauded for their extraordinary lives.
House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tore up her official copy of the presidential
speech on national television the moment Trump finished delivering it. It was
the first time in history that the House speaker, seated directly behind the
president, had shown such childishness.
Then,
on Feb. 5, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on two impeachment charges of abuse
of power and obstruction of Congress.
When
the impeachment inquiry started in September based on a
"whistleblower" complaint, Trump's approval rating was about 8 points
lower than it is now. The efforts of the impeachment triad of Reps. Pelosi
(D-Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) proved an
unmitigated political disaster for their party. It's no wonder, given that the
partisan impeachment effort never won bipartisan or public support.
The
Democrats did not offer a special counsel report or draw on an independent
investigation. By the time the partisan spectacle was over, a terrible
precedent had been set of turning impeachment into just another crass political
tool. From now on, if sitting presidents lose their House majorities after
their first midterm elections, will they inevitably be impeached by the
opposition?
Finally,
the Democrat debate on Feb. 7 confirmed opinions that the party is heading over
the cliff. All seven candidates -- six of them white -- pilloried the United
States as an inherently racist society. If so, then why didn't the debaters
invite on stage the Democratic candidates of color who dropped out of the race
earlier?
The
candidates monotonously trashed Trump without offering a convincing alternate
agenda that would appeal to a majority of voters and might improve on the
current vibrant economy.
The
Democrats have nine months to unite around a centrist candidate. They have to
give up on aborting Trump's first term and instead offer a realistic
counter-agenda to Trump's booming economy and recalibration of foreign policy.
Democrats also have to run their debates and primaries competently, fairly and
professionally.
Otherwise,
2020 will turn out to be a disaster for them -- just like those four bad days
earlier this month.
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