It all started Feb. 3, the night of the Iowa Caucuses. I mention the term “POM” often in this space. It stands for prisoner of the moment. Call it POM from just one editor/reporter if you like, but in the last month I’ve seen nothing to make me believe the Democrats can beat President Trump’s re-election bid in November.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. That week of Feb. 3-7 was the biggest political roller coaster I can remember. I know I’m young, at least in 4-year election cycle terms, yet stay with me on this.
The Iowa Caucuses were Monday night, Feb. 3. By late into that night, and for about the next 24 hours, the Democrats were supposed to have their moment — the largest field in history was finally going to have a winner picked by voters. That person was supposed to take a victory lap right up until the following night when Trump gave his State of the Union address.
The moment never happened, as everything that could go wrong seemingly did in Iowa. The country watched as the first state in the nation bumbled, fumbled and stumbled its way to muddy waters when it came to trying to tabulate votes, thanks to a faulty app. Several chapters went into the “how and why” it all happened. In fact, we’re still receiving emails at this newspaper with regard to recanvassing. It didn’t help that the results were so close with Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders battling for the first delegates in the race. Sanders won the popular vote but Buttigieg received more delegates.
It was the only time, at least in the last 11 years or more, that all three major political news stations — Fox News, CNN and MSNBC — were on the same page on the same issue. It was Iowa getting knocked out TKO style, one big hit after another. On the inside, I was telling colleagues that it was only a matter of time until Iowa Democratic Chair Troy Price, a Durant man I call a friend, was asked to step aside. With a failure of such epic proportions on a national and world scale, someone had to go. I’m surprised more didn’t publicly step down, like perhaps Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, who piled on in mocking our caucuses and was quoted just a few days ago saying that the DNC would be talking about whether or not Iowa would even go first moving forward.
Let’s go to the State of the Union address, where we saw the unforgettable moment where Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up President Trump’s speech moments after he was done giving it. I remember saying to myself, “This is the moment the Democrats lost the 2020 election.”
No one will remember or care about the failed handshake attempt at the beginning of that night when Trump handed her the speech. She extended her hand and he turned around. It happened in an instant, but it happened. Expected perhaps.
Remember, long before Trump was ever a presidential candidate, he was a TV guy. He ran beauty pageants and had his own prime time show, “The Apprentice,” where millions would watch as he humiliated and fired celebrity after celebrity.
The man knows how to captivate an audience. The State of the Union was filled with those moments. A girl who wanted a voucher to attend a charter school — and she got it on the spot. A family who longed to see their military husband and father who was overseas — wait a minute he’s there. Come on down! Rush Limbaugh, who should be given the Presidential Medal of Honor — not another time but NOW as First Lady Melania Trump put it around his neck.
It was political reality TV and, in my opinion, it worked.
The next day, Trump was acquitted in the Senate of his impeachment by the House. Perhaps the biggest of news and it shouldn’t be hidden in just one paragraph here, but another political win in general election terms.
Where have we gone from there? We’ve seen Democratic debate after debate as the candidates went to New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. And each debate was crazier and more out of control. Plus, we had the introduction of Mike Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who literally bought himself into this race.
In a former column about Tom Steyer, who has since dropped out, I asked him if he was the Donald Trump of the Democratic Party this time around — a business man who bought his way in. Bloomberg plays that part even larger. Can’t fully equate him with Trump because he was in fact a political figure. However there are countless ways that the two can be compared.
This is spiraling out of control. I must interject and say I write this prior to Super Tuesday, where several states will hold primaries. What I do know in these moments is that both Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar have dropped out. Klobuchar didn’t surprise me. Mayor Pete did. He was top four all the way and I thought he’d certainly stay in through Super Tuesday.
Both of them endorsed Joe Biden, who finally won big in South Carolina after underachieving in the first three states. This is a big boost but again, we need to see what happened Tuesday and in the coming weeks. While Elizabeth Warren and Bloomberg are still likely to be in the mix, this is shaping up to be a Sanders-Biden race.
But what’s it say that in 3-plus years, no shining star seemed to rise from the Democratic side of the aisle with Trump in charge? It took forever (in my mind) for candidates to emerge. And even with more than two dozen, Bloomberg still buys his way in and is polling in the top three in several states? Wow. This all spells doom and gloom for me if I try to look at it through a Democratic prism.
I constantly urge all of you to follow Trump on Twitter. The only candidate he doesn’t outwardly mock is Sanders. He wants to run against Sanders. The Republican establishment wants Sanders to be the candidate. Biden represents the center lane, the Obama Democrats as he likes to say. A Sanders vs. Trump ticket is the far left vs. the far right in most minds. Doesn’t leave a lot of middle ground. Sanders calls his campaign a movement. He says he can turn out more young and new voters than any candidate in history. He’s going to need every one of them if he’s the nominee. Because I submit that several in this country that couldn’t see themselves voting for Trump again will. Remember several “on the fence” voters in 2016 saying things like, “I didn’t like Trump but I disliked Hillary more.” Just insert Bernie’s name there in 2020.
Time will tell if the recent economic downturn and/or the coronavirus (COVID-19) will have an effect. I'm not holding my breath.
