The Left: Their Party - Their Leadership - Their Mission, Part II

By Rich Kozlovich


In an article by Ted Rall entitled, Democrats Want To Lose The 2020 Election, he starts out by observing: 

"I am not a member of any organized political party," Will Rogers said ages ago. "I am a Democrat."

He seems to think the Dems are pulling defeat out of the jaws of victory, but I can't see where there's any victory for them except in their own delusional minds believing they're going to recover the House and Senate in 2018 or at the very least gain a bunch of seats and then the nation will sweep them back into the White House in 2020.

I know, I know, Trump's approval ratings are stunningly low, but I don't believe in polls and have not done so for thirty years, however this is an encouragement for the left to now believe impeachment is inevitable.

As for those Republicans who hate Trump more than the Democrats....he notes:

..........they're stuck! Tax cuts for the rich and infrastructure bills are dead letters. They can't repeal Obamacare -- not their "mean," benefits-slashing way -- without pissing off the vast majority of the country. And they can't not repeal it without pissing off the GOP's hard-right base. "I don't know that we could pass a Mother's Day resolution right now," Matt Gaetz, R., FL, said in March. They're even more screwed now, reduced to trying to pass their secret repeal bill in the dead of night so no one notices. Oh, to be a Democrat in an age of GOP political suicide! Except for one big problem: they're in even more trouble than the Republicans.

Trump has the same problem Coolidge had in 1920 with his Henry Cabot Lodge and his Republicans.  Coolidge had Lodge and Trump has John McCain.  Republicans are really lousy at ruling because they're not united in their core values as are Democrats. 

But are the Democrats in better shape? 

The blame game by Hillary has got to have been hard to take, and only made it clear just how childishly juvenile they are.  The author asks, just who will they offer in 2020?  He says "the answers are not promising."

Here is a list from an number of news sources of anyone who's been named by anyone as a possible Democratic candidate for 2020 alphabetically.  Most on this list have said they're not running and the rest haven't  announced. I'm convinced the majority of them were picked because the writers needed to fill up space, but no matter - here they are with some observations by others and myself.  

Georgia state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams

An African-American woman seeking to win a governor’s race in the Deep South.  If she does make it to the governor's mansion they may give her a serious look.  She's been called, "an immensely capable student" in her younger years. She was hired as a typist for a congressional campaign in high school, where her tweaks to a campaign speech she was typing up were deemed so good she ended up being hired as a speechwriter at 17."

"When the Rodney King riots happened during her second year of college in 1992, and large swaths of campus were shut down or teargassed, she led student activism and took part in a televised debate with the then mayor, Maynard Jackson, in which she told the young mayor he wasn’t doing enough for young people. Though that did not go over well initially, within six months she’d been offered a job with youth services in the mayor’s office."

"She followed that job with an internship at the EPA, grad school and working for a community development bank, a stint with the White House’s office of management and budget, then Yale Law School. After graduating, she worked as a tax attorney at the Sutherland law firm, before moving back toward government in her role as deputy city attorney of Atlanta."

Vice President Joe Biden

Biden has not ruled himself out of the running.  He would love to be President, and believes he could have done better than Hillary - and it appears he may have been right, but he's got baggage, and part of that baggage is being part of the Obama administration, and part are family issues I'm sure he wouldn't like to see being spread over the evening news.  He'll be 78 in 2020,  however, he launched his own political action committee, and yet he shot down the idea of running in 2020 recently.  And he keeps making political appearances working toward rebuilding the Democratic Party.  What's it all mean?  I think he just likes the spotlight and even if he sticks his toe in the water it's not like taking a bath.....and that's what will happen if he actually runs.

Sen. Sherrod Brown

He's got a good gig in the Senate - I don't see him running, and he still has to win in 2018.  His recent contributions for Democrats- " Earlier this year, he showed his interest in shaping the Democratic Party platform with a 77-page policy package that would increase the minimum wage, strengthen unions and cut taxes for businesses that create American jobs."  That's not a winning package it seems to me, but there's that old saw - you can't beat someone with no one, and I don't see anyone on the horizon working to unseat him, but it's early yet so that remains to be seen.

Gov. Steve Bullock (Mont.)

Few if any know him at a national level,  but few knew Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton either.  His big claim to fame is he won by a few points in a state Trump took by twenty points.  He supports Obamacare and wants to keep public lands in the hands of the government.

Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.)

Booker sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is considered an effort to enhance his political resume for a presidential run.  He's 48 and one of two blacks in the Senate, and he's media savvy.    He's considered "extremely" liberal and yet the far left considers him far too friendly with corporate America.  He's also considered an "an inveterate opportunist whose reach exceeds his grasp".  But since he's a politician - which politician doesn't that describe. 

However his big trust involves social justice issues, whatever that may mean and I think most conservatives will best remember him for "testifying against the attorney general nomination of Senate colleague Jeff Sessions, citing his civil rights record."  A record he presented he had to know was a misrepresentation.  "Booker has also worked with libertarian Republican Sen. Rand Paul on criminal justice reform."

He's claimed "not open" to running for president.but his frequent national appearances perhaps suggests otherwise, and his a favorite of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, so he has a potential solid base for contributions.  The far "left paint him as "an avatar of the wealthy elite, a camera hog, and a political cipher."

California Gov. Jerry Brown

Brown has run three times in the past, but I can't imagine him running as he's too old to run for president.  He's three years older than Bernie sanders and will be 82 in 2020.   It's claimed his "resume" is strong and has not done anything to stop tax and spending increases and is a big pusher of anthropogenic climate change.  Brown is a California loon whose state is going bankrupt and he still pushes that financial boondoggle of a high speed rail project.  If he runs he's toast in the first week.  Outside of California he's pretty much known as Governor Moonbeam for a reason.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

I can't imagine why anyone would add her to their list.  She's a loser as a candidate, she's clearly demonstrated she's not the smartest woman in the world and her actions since her defeat - and it was her defeat - have soiled the water so badly among her colleagues I can't imaging anyone wanting to work for her again, and I also have to believe the contributions will not be forthcoming.  And she might be in jail before 2020, right along with her husband as a result of their corrupt practises with the Clinton Foundation.  Other than hard line Clintonistas - I doubt anyone in the Democrat Party thinks well of her.  It's been reported that 62% of Democrats don't want her to run again.  Which of course makes me wonder who that other 38% were.  Can you imagine after how incompetently and stupidly she's conducted herself 38% of Democrats like her. 

Mark Cuban

 

Mark Cuban is a successful businessman who's smart, good looking, charismatic, charming, ambitious and has no political base or background, and I think his ego is far larger than his intellect.  "He's called himself a libertarian "at heart," the host of "Shark Tank" and owner of the Dallas Mavericks has been a vocal Trump critic and came out in support of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election." He's also "becoming increasingly active in the political sphere, as Business Insider's Allan Smith has reported."  He could be turned into an attractive alternative to Bernie or Warren in 2020. 

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (N.Y.)

Cuomo is the governor of an important state as a launching pad for national politics, New York.  Important at least in the past, but I'm not so sure that's an asset any longer.  Especially since New York is a liberal state and his family is well established in the realms of liberal fantasy land. 

As a national figure he's not that good, but in the leftist world - he's a star, even though he's been attacked by the hard left for not being far left enough, but he keeps trying as he promotes a "$15 minimum wage, paid family leave and a limited free college plan and a ban on fracking. 

He wants the left to love him and still claim he's a centrist in order to attract a broader base.  As I see it - Cuomo is amazingly unlikable, he's living with Sandra Lee and attractive and successful cooking TV celebrity without the benefit of marriage.  He's arrogant, rude and in my opinion amazingly unlikable, as is always true of bullies, of which he's one. 

It's my view he would have never been there if his father hadn't been a Democratic Party star. If Booker is considered an inveterate opportunist whose reach exceeds his grasp, then Cuomo exemplifies that.  Even his marriage into the Kennedy clam gives every indication it was as much a political move as anything, in order to turn the Cuomo's into American royalty, and in fact his relationship with the Kennedy's became so difficult he only showed up to family events when covered by the media.  Eventually his Kennedy bride demanded a divorce - "the end of Cuomolot".  The Kennedy story will come back to haunt him because it's a window into his character. 

 

Rahm Emanuel

 

Rahm Emanuel is a loser.  He's run Chicago into the ground, the violence is out of control, spending and taxation are out of control and it appears big money is moving out of Chicago.  He's an arrogant, rude, foul mouthed bully, with few friends among the loony left and none among the sane right.

Sen.  Al Franken

Here's another name mentioned who I can't see being anything except a comedian with a far left bent, little intelligence and no in depth understanding on any subject. His only claim to fame?  He's criticized Trump. One author claims "Franken could gain traction as a candidate for 2020 if he chooses to run."  I think the author is as clueless as Franken. 

 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

I never really heard of this guy and I wondered why he would even be mentioned by anyone so I looked him up.   He has no national recognition but he presents a great image.  I've never heard him speak but his actions demonstrate he's a far left guy on race, environment and hiring, but promotes it with a way as if he's a moderate.  He just might be dangerous to the others, but it will take a lot of money. 

 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand)

Gillibrand replaced Clinton as a New York senator in 2009 giving her easy access to the leftist media that infests New York, and it gives her access to:"powerful Democratic fundraising networks."   Although she's touted as another Hillary in her views the far left thinks she's too centrist.   She's a paid family leave advocate, gender equality, gay rights, abortion, against the travel ban,  and big on trying to tie Trump into criminal activity.  In short - she'll be loved by the left but the question that keeps coming up is do the Democrats want another Hillary.  She says she's not running.

Sen. Kamala Harris

Harris succeeded Barbara Boxer which is presented as "one of the bright spots for Democrats who are dismayed by their failure to retake the Senate". Right!  A far left woman minority took over a seat of a far left woman in California.  Wow!  Victory!!!!! 

She's a proponent of all things left and "her first bill upon arriving in the Senate was a measure that would guarantee access to legal counsel for refugees detained when entering the United States."

However, she's  going to be the darling of the media.  An inexperienced far left female Obama.  Although she was a district attorney and the Attorney General for California she's still made her living as a politician with an unimpressive track record.  Be prepared to hear a lot more of her in the coming months.

Gov. John Hickenlooper (Colo.)

Hickenlooper is a largely unknown nationally but is a down to earth guy with good approval ratings in his state as his state's economy has been ranked the best in the nation and has promoted TPP and fraking, with which the left isn't too thrilled.  But Colorado isn't America.  He's a pusher of gun control laws and is pro-abortion overcoming via legislation efforts by conservatives to declare embryos persons.  I have no personal views about him as I know nothing of him or even seen him speak.  I'd say he wouldn't make much of a splash and as far as I can tell - he's not running. 

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee

"Another nationally unknown who is a pusher of anthropogenic climate change  Inslee is considered “the greenest governor in the country” proposed a carbon tax for the state’s next budget, and it has an outside chance of being enacted in the current legislative session. Even if he falls short, Inslee can already point to his Clean Air Rule, which put a cap on carbon pollution from large industrial sources."  I can't imagine why he's mentioned.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.)

Klobuchar is another largely unknown nationally and I've only see stuff about her recently.   She's called “popular, practical, appealing [and] progressive.” Yet there are those who think - along with her - can return the rust belt back to Democrats claiming: “We are the people in the middle of the country. There are many in this room who are in the middle class, middle income, even a few who could be described as middle aged. And yes, from time to time, in the middle politically.”

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander

There's not much about him except he's a leftist with an intelligence Army background who can assemble an AR-15 rifle blindfolded, which he promotes in his campaigns.  Which means to me he has accomplished little in his 36 years other than being  a  national co-chair for Hillary and was endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.  Not a ringing endorsement.

Sen. Tim Kaine

Ran as Hillary's Vice President and so much came out about his radical roots during the campaign it makes me wonder what's wrong with Virginians.  I don't see him in the mix at all.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar

All we need to know about her is all about leftist dogma.  If it leftist dogma it's her dogma. 

Mayor Mitch Landrieu

The author of the article I got this form starts out by saying: "New Orleans’ mayor is the perfect choice for the Democrats in 2020, for all the reasons they’d prefer to ignore."   Since he's " put together a political action committee called NOLA PAC, and began hosting fundraisers for it — one of which was at the posh Uptown New Orleans home of James Carville and Mary Matalin (typically Matalin will make herself scarce on nights Carville is feting Democrats, and vice versa)," it would seem to me he's running.  However, he's so amazingly unpopular in his own state he could never be elected to a statewide office. So he's running for President of the United States.  However here's his official position:   “I’m not planning to run for president, I’m not running for president. I can’t tell you if they offered me the job I wouldn’t take it, but that generally is never going to happen.”  I don't see it happening either.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe

 

McAuliffe is a well know political operative of the Clintons with access to all the right people. He tries to present himself as a moderate but he's as far left as Hillary.   He's running - make no mistake about it. 

Rep. Seth Moulton

He openly calls himself a "progressive Democrat" who allegedly supports fiscal responsibility and pro-growth legislation.  "Supports marijuana legalization, opposed sending U.S. troops back to Iraq in 2014, supports same-sex marriage and abortion rights, increased gun control, avid proponent of public transportation, supports the expansion of nuclear energy, compared the rise of the Republican presidential front runner, Donald Trump with Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s."

Sen. Chris Murphy

"Murphy has come to the fore on the issue of gun control".  I don't see him in the mix.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

"The Iraq War vet and first Hindu-American elected to Congress has angered many in the Democratic Party for meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and expressing skepticism he was behind the chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held province of Idlib". "Some don’t consider her all that progressive, because she once opposed same-sex marriage and because she joined conservatives in criticizing Obama for not using the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.”

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom

"He made national news in 2004, when as San Francisco mayor he instructed the city clerk to issue licenses for same-sex marriages in violation of state law. He’s already attacking Trump in his gubernatorial campaign ads."


First lady Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama wouldn't work that hard, and I wouldn't blame her. Anyone including her in the mix is delusional. 

Former Gov. Deval Patrick (Mass.)

"Patrick has considerable political skills and was once talked up as a potential inheritor of President Obama’s mantle. David Axelrod, one of the aides closest to Obama, worked with Patrick as well, and both Patrick and Obama adopted “Yes We Can!” as a campaign slogan. But Patrick left office in 2015, and it’s just not clear whether he could — or would want to — come off the sidelines for 2020. He also joined Bain Capital, which is hardly the ideal launching pad for a quest to win over liberal activists." 

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is going to be 78 in 2020 - man he's been old looking forever - is so far left, and has issues surrounding him since the election I think he's going to have form his own party if he plans on running, which appears he intends to do since  he's "already touring the country with political speeches."   I can see him declaring as he's done over and over again with each new Presidential election, but this last time was an anomaly and I don't see him being successful again, even if he forms his own party.  

Sen. Mark Warner

His time has passed and he "once scored an “A” rating from the NRA".  That's a dead blow for a Democrat. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren is as far left as anyone could go but I don't see her running.  She is in my opinion smarter than Clinton knowing she can sit in the Senate and shoot her mouth off forever and not have to face the challenges of a Presidential campaign.  She's all show and no go with a lot of baggage that may not matter in New York but it will play big in the nation.  She has denied she's running and I believe her.  She'll keep shooting off her mouth but she's not in it in my opinion. 

Kanye West

Now we're really going into the political fever swamps.  "Kanye West has said many times that he will run for president in 2020 — at more than one of his concerts, the VMAs in 2015, and later that year."  Who cares? 

Oprah Winfrey

Celebrity isn't a training ground for politics.  Oprah lives in a world of "yes".  She's not stupid and will not put herself in a position to be attacked unendingly.  She's incapable of taking it.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Now we're really in the fever swamps of politics.