Crush Them!

Donald Trump’s rather overt support for self-declared violent racists and anti-Semites – from various scatterings of white supremacist groups, including very well-armed and trained militia, to the KKK and the neo-Nazis who embrace a political views we fought a major war to erase – seems like an easy set-up for Democrats in the upcoming midterms. Add to that his attempt to decimate healthcare for lower income and a large number of middle Americans, his denigration of climate change responsibility and his bellicose push against Korea and Iran… effectively baiting these powers to accelerate their sophisticated military programs. There are almost no global leaders anywhere – except Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu who is facing serious corruption charges – who support much of anything Donald Trump has to say. How could the Dems fail to take back both houses of Congress in the mid-terms?

But if you dig deeper, it almost seems as if there were a conscious effort on the part of top GOP strategists to lure the Democrats into both a false sense of security (hubris a la Hillary Clinton?) and a focus on the wrong issues and the wrong opponent in those mid-terms.

Harsh reality number one: Donald Trump is not running for anything. Harsh reality number two: most of contested seats in the Senate (which has one third of its numbers up for reelection or election) are in red states, most with very-difficult-to-unseat incumbents. Harsh reality number three: as of now, anyway, the economy has the lowest unemployment rate in years and consumer confidence, the stock and real estate markets are soaring. Harsh reality number four: The Dems cannot promise to end the hated “Washington political gridlock” even if they sweep both houses of Congress; the President can still veto anything they pass. Harsh reality number five: As progressives and moderates battle within the party, the Democrats have yet to develop much of a platform of doable priorities; mostly they have become the not-so-loyal opposition party. Harsh reality number six: in addition to “it’s the economy, stupid,” all elections are local, and the GOP knows these lessons well as the Dems focus on Trump.

“[For] the many lawmakers facing reelection, 2018 is already very real -- as is the possibility that Republicans could get a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate… And given the number of Democratic incumbents facing re-election battles in not just battleground states but deeply GOP-leaning ones, Republicans could be poised to pad their numbers in the Senate even more… That means they would need to pick up eight Senate seats to get to 60 -- a tall order, but not impossible with a map as favorable for them as the one in 2018.” CBS News (11/21/16). Really?

Having lost four consecutive “special elections” to replace members of Congress moving into the Trump administration, the Democrats truly face difficult odds in 2018: “Heading into the election, the Republican Party holds a 52 seat majority in the Senate. Democrats hold 46 seats, and the remaining two are held by independents who caucus with the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is on the defensive in 2018, as they are left defending 25 seats (two of which are held by independents), while only eight seats up for election in 2018 are held by Republican incumbents. The Democratic Party is further weakened by having to defend seats in a number of states which supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

“Heading into the election, the Republican Party holds a majority of 241 seats to Democrats' 194 seats in the House. Due to the general lack of competition, it is unlikely that the Democratic Party will be able to flip control of the chamber in 2018. Democratic gains are predicted though, as the party of a newly elected president has historically lost seats in Congress in the following midterm election.” Ballotopedia.org. Do the Dems even have a shot at recapturing that stalwart, once Democratic, demographic of disenfranchised, under-educated white voters that swayed the 2016 elections? Can they really get minorities and younger citizens to do what they haven’t done in sufficient numbers for years: vote?

So who is that GOP strategist, smirking arrogantly at the Democratic flies swirling towards his spider-like web… and what exactly does he think will really happen? Here are the words of former Trump Campaign chief and senior White House Advisor, alt-right spokesman Stephen Bannon (pictured above), in an interview with The American Prospect, August 16^th.   “The longer they [the Dems] talk about identity [racial, gender and equal justice] politics, I got ’em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.” The same Steve Bannon whom the press suggested was in his final days as a White House advisor, the fomenter of much of the friction and in-fighting that newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, was purportedly hired to stop? The Bannon who told the President that there is no military solution for North Korea? That guy? Hmmmm.

Indeed, Bannon believes that America is worn out over the Russia-collusion issue, doesn’t even care about that anymore, and that “the U.S. is in an economic war with China, tensions with North Korea are a ‘sideshow,’ and white nationalists are ‘a collection of clowns.’” NYDailyNews.com, August 17^th. He thinks that all this negativity about Trump will be irrelevant for the mid-terms and will completely blow over by the presidential race in 2020. Indeed, Donald Trump seems to be looking for a military contest somewhere on the planet, since his perception seems to be that the nation always rallies around its president in times of such conflicts. Bannon wants the Dems to focus on Trump in the mid-terms… since those races are local and not national.

So how would Bannon write the basic GOP platform for these Congressional races – not to mention the equally important state, municipal and special district races? My thoughts, anyway. For those red states when Trump’s seemingly-unshakable base dominates:

“Donald Trump has been bold enough to take on the Washington elite, on both sides of the aisle… the ugly swamp he is draining… and called mainstream media out for its non-stop dissemination of fake news. Meanwhile, he shut down Kim Jong-Un… who pulled back from his threat to launch missiles to Guam when our president made clear what the results would be. Further, as consumer confidence, the stock market, real estate prices hit new record highs under his watch, unemployment is hitting new lows. We have a chance to generate a clear unstoppable majority, ending that horrible Washington gridlock, in Congress and in local politics nationwide, to bring on good healthcare before Obamacare collapses, tax reform to stimulate job creation, to shut down illegal immigration that is taking jobs away from Americans and sucking the life blood out of government programs never intended for them, restore a nation of law and order, live within a budget and make America Great Again. In my district, I need your help to get me elected (reelected) to take on the very important [insert litany of all the local issues that voters care about].”

For Republicans in contests where Donald Trump’s base does not dominate, substitute the following for the first two sentences above. “While there are some pretty strong political and economic benefits to having Donald Trump as president, and we need to keep that in mind, I am not simply a rubber stamp for his statements and policies. For example, I cannot support or condone the slightest impression that I or the Republican Party supports racism, white supremacy, the KKK or neo-Nazis. I represent the people in my district first and above all else, party politics notwithstanding.” Are you listening Republican Senators like Bob Corker (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC) and John McCain (AZ) who have questioned Donald Trump’s words and actions? Oh, and remember that infrastructure, important as it is, is already part of the GOP platform… the differences with the Dems lie in timing, amount and private versus public implementation.

What would I write for the Dems, other than reminding them that “it’s the economy, stupid” and “all elections are local” – with a hint that local state and municipal races are equally important? Hard to advise the party of “no to everything Trump” without some positive and implementable plans and programs. When the Dems generate more than the paltry offerings set out in my July 25^th blog, Schumer Tries to Resurrect a Moribund Democratic Party, I’ll let you know. Right now, I’ve got nothing. They aren’t going to win local races by campaigning primarily against Donald Trump, even though the temptation to do so is great. Stephen Bannon is a whole lot smarter than they think. Just like Hillary Clinton, too many Democrats still just don’t get it…

I’m Peter Dekom, and when there is so much terribly wrong with the mood and direction of this country, the Democrats continue to march like lemmings toward the sea of marginalization and meaninglessness.