Democrats Don’t Need 23 Presidential Candidates

Time to end McConnell's power.

One has to wonder what kind of vanity pushed some of the 23 Democrats vying for the Democrat 2020 nomination to throw their hats into the ring.  Some have almost zero name recognition outside of their own states and are currently registering close to zero in the latest polls in places like Iowa.  They seem only to be making the process far more complicated while having a snow ball's chance in Hell of winning the contest (polls also show Democrats want a number to drop out of the race).  Meanwhile, some could be engaged in far more winnable and important U.S. Senate races that could flip control of that body to Democrats and end the foul and democracy destroying reign of Mitch McConnell, a man some see as doing more harm than even Der Trumpenführer.  A column in the Washington Post looks at this reality and names some names of those who would be perhaps better serving their party and the country by changing races.  Here are column highlights:

Dear Democratic presidential candidates: I know all 23 of you want to run against President Trump, but only one will get that opportunity. If you truly believe your own righteous rhetoric, some of you ought to be spending your time and energy in another vital pursuit — winning control of the Senate.

I’m talking to you, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who would have a good chance of beating incumbent Republican Cory Gardner. I’m talking to you, Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, who could knock off GOP incumbent Steve Daines. I’m even talking to you, Beto O’Rourke, who would have a better chance than any other Texas Democrat against veteran Republican John Cornyn.

And I’m talking to you, too, Stacey Abrams of Georgia, even though you haven’t jumped in. You came within a whisker of being elected governor, and you have a national profile that would bring in a tsunami of campaign funds. You could beat Republican David Perdue — and acquire real power to translate your stirring eloquence into concrete action.

As the Republican Party has long understood, it’s all about power. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could not care less about lofty words and high ideals. Coldly and methodically, he has used his power to block widely supported progressive measures such as gun control, to enact a trickle-down economic agenda that favors the wealthy and to pack the federal bench with right-wing judges whom we’ll be stuck with for decades.

That’s how McConnell rolls. He exercises his power to its full extent and is not bothered by what you or I or anyone else might think. Charges of hypocrisy do not trouble his sweet slumber.

McConnell is not going to be reasoned, harangued or shamed into behaving differently. The only way to stop him is to take his power away, and the only way to do that is for Democrats to win the Senate.

That will not be easy this time around, but it is possible if Democrats can build on the blue-wave momentum they generated in last year’s midterms — and if they put forth the candidates who have the best chance of winning. But fortune favors the prepared. Good things are much more likely to happen for the Democratic Party if it backs up the presidential nominee with down-ballot candidates who have their own appeal and their own pizazz. Imagine a Texas Senate race featuring O’Rourke, whose near-miss campaign last year against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz resulted in nearly twice as many Democratic voters turning out than in 2014. All of a sudden, Texas’s 38 electoral votes don’t seem like such a mortal lock for Trump. Texas begins to look like a state in which Trump has to spend time and money — resources he would rather deploy elsewhere. Likewise, Georgia’s 16 electoral votes look genuinely up for grabs if the electrifying Abrams is on the ballot. There and elsewhere, whatever boosts voter registration and turnout is likely to help the Democratic Party — and ultimately make our government more representative of the nation it serves.

Who am I to tell Hickenlooper and Bullock not to run for president and to go for the Senate instead? A realist. In a Des Moines Register poll released Saturday, each was the first choice of 0 percent of likely Iowa caucus participants. Yes, it’s early. Yes, Joe Biden could stumble. But will Bernie Sanders stumble, too? And Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala D. Harris, and Amy Klobuchar, and Cory Booker, and all the rest who at least have measurable support?

O’Rourke, at 2 percent, is at least on the map in Iowa. Maybe he’ll light up the first debate and climb in the polls; if he doesn’t, I urge him to assess his options. And Abrams, of course, has a perfect right not to run for anything. I just wish she would reconsider.

We don’t need 23 presidential candidates. Some of you, please, fight for the Senate.

AP Declares Clinton Winner of Democratic Primary

While Bernie Sanders continues to have a tempestuous love affair with himself (I am beginning to wonder if he is equal to or worse than Donald Trump in this regard) and appears unable to concede that he has lost the Democrat presidential primary race to Hillary Clinton, the Associated Press has declared that Clinton has enough pledged delegates and super delegates to clinch the Democrat nomination.  Moreover, even should Sanders perform reasonably well in tomorrows primaries, given the proportionate allocation of delegates, Clinton will merely expand the cushion of delegates that she needs. Both the Washington Post and Politico are carrying stories on the delegate count.  Will this be enough to bring Sanders back in touch with reality?  My guess is probably not. With Sanders, it is now all about him and satisfying his overweening ego.  Here are excerpts from the Washington Post:

LOS ANGELES — Hillary Clinton has secured enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, according to the Associated Press, emerging from a long and bruising primary season to become the first woman to lead a major party in the race for the White House.

A bitter nomination battle that Clinton was once expected to win in a walk ended abruptly late Monday, as she claimed exactly the number of delegates needed to secure victory in her contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, according the AP’s latest tally.

Clinton was widely expected — even inside her own campaign — to clinch the nomination Tuesday, when California, New Jersey and four other states are scheduled to vote. But according to the AP, Clinton continued to pick up new commitments from delegates over the weekend and on Monday that effectively guarantee her the nomination.

President Obama could endorse Clinton as soon as this week, not waiting for the Democratic convention in July, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
An Obama endorsement would be a significant boost to Clinton as she seeks to unify Democrats after the difficult primaries. It would send a strong message to Sanders and his supporters that they should coalesce around Clinton, something Sanders has indicated he is far from ready to do.

Politico adds this:

A combination of pledged and super delegates put Clinton over the mark in her contest against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the AP count.

Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, shrugged off the news, pointing to the upcoming contests on Tuesday.

"This is an important milestone, but there are six states that are voting Tuesday, with millions of people heading to the polls, and Hillary Clinton is working to earn every vote," he said in a statement. "We look forward to Tuesday night, when Hillary Clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledged delegates."

Before the AP updated its count and put her over the top, Clinton was just 23 delegates shy of the 2,383 needed to clinch the nomination, and with six states holding primaries or caucuses, she was expected to easily cross that threshold.
 But given her reliance on superdelegates to reach a majority, Sanders has vowed to wage a bitter battle all the way to the Democratic National Convention in July, insisting that nothing is official until the ballots are tallied in Philadelphia.

Through out this primary contest, I have gone from somewhat liking Bernie Sanders to now seeing him as a delusional crank who cares more about placating his own ego than anything else.   In terms of egomania, he has turned int a Trump mini me.