"There's no question: the White House is just crying out for impeachment. That's why he flipped yesterday, because he was just hoping."
Nancy Pelosi, to Capitol reporters
Trump goads Democrats into self-destruction.
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| Nancy Pelosi |
Yet he survives, and indeed, thrives. He must be doing something politically useful.
Unless the economy seriously falters, he is very likely to win re-election, and if it does falter he will blame it squarely on Democrats and will vigorously sell the notion of "Democrat Recession," their fault, not his. He might well win either way.
Unless the economy seriously falters, he is very likely to win re-election, and if it does falter he will blame it squarely on Democrats and will vigorously sell the notion of "Democrat Recession," their fault, not his. He might well win either way.
His secret: He is popular with his base, and he pushes opponents into weak positions.
His behavior and language is so divisive his supporters know clearly that he is governing for them and only them. He is a brute, but he is their brute. He doesn't compromise. He insults.
There is no middle ground with Trump. They cannot simply be different from Trump. They need a sharper distinction. If Trump says it--crudely, nastily--it has to be dead wrong.
Trump is goading Democrats into impeaching him, and as Nancy Pelosi shared with her caucus, impeachment will create a meta-message that will help Trump. Democrats will appear to be more interested in stopping Trump than helping Americans, and when Trump is found not guilty by the Republican senate, Trump will call it a vindication. Not guilty!!
Trump is pushing Democrats to take an unpopular position on immigration and borders. Trump is happy to present himself as hostile and cruel to immigrants. Rapists. Drugs. Terrorists. Democrats cannot defend being cruel or racist or xenophobic, so they are nudged into an unmistakable not-Trump position.
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| Click: What is said in 2008 cannot now be said. |
Wow! Biden said "illegal!"
Trump's rhetoric on immigrants, on "shit hole countries," on "caravans" and "hoards," and "infestations" keep Democrats in sharp opposition. Democrats do not have a coherent immigration policy, which makes it easy for Trump to accuse them of wanting an open border free for all.
They look weak and confused and conflicted.
They look weak and confused and conflicted.
The rise of right wing parties in Europe are a signal Democrats should notice. Plus Brexit. Plus the recent defeat of the progressive Prime Minister candidate in Australia.
Educated urban people in diverse cities thrived under globalism. They tell a story of the value of diversity. Not everyone likes or believes the story, on left and right. Working people who compete with immigrants and workers in low wage countries are open to the traditional political target, the dangerous "outsider," the immigrant and foreigner.
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| Click: The Nation magazine |
Trump jumped on the wave and amplified it.
Trump made it either-or. Cruelty and racism or not. Democrats don't support open borders but don't dare embrace strong enforcement, lest it sound like Trump.
This sticks Democrats with an unpopular position. The progressive magazine The Nation observed:
"a majority of Americans--in numbers well beyond Trump's base--also want immigration laws to be strictly enforced and the border sealed against illegal crossings. A 2018 Harvard/Harris poll reported that 70 percent of voters support more restrictive laws, with 64%--including 53% of Latinos--in favor of sending back people who cross the border without papers."
This explains something. Fully a third of Latinos who voted in 2016 supported Trump.
Democrats have an alternative to simply being opposite Trump, if they dare to take it, the Canadian approach. Canada is immigration positive, but carried out under tight controls and enforcement. It is actually what Americans want.
Trump may have made that approach politically impossible. No one wants to sound even a little bit like Trump.
3 comments:
Peter Sage claims that Trump "insults". Isn't that what Peter Sage does daily to his political opponents? Mr. Sage's blog is full of insults, and hate, and lies, and distortions. Neither Mr. Sage nor the democrats have anything to offer the voters, so they've gone into the insult mode. As Mr. Sage said, Trump is likely to win again, because the democrats have nothing to offer except for insults.
Mr. Sage claims that "Democrats don't support open borders". That is an absolute lie, just like 99.9% of the drivel Mr. Sage espouses daily. Democrats are the party of open borders. The more illegal aliens they can get to vote fraudulently, then the better. That's their game plan.
Robert Reich made a comment recently that should be noted:
"Trump is a consequence, not a cause."
The definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing repeatedly..." applies here as it has since 1929, so sadly we may need a recession to be the tipping point.
Anyway, the immigration issue is way past border enforcement. As the numbers continue to grow the "detention centers" will become "refugee camps", and we will see the true nature of the crisis. It's the result of failed foreign policy and climate change and will require a lot more than demagoguery and fences to address. Democrats should get in front of this and start telling it like it is.
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