JUNE 6, 2017
It’s Comey Week in the national’s capital, as Americans pop their corn in anticipation of Thursday’s testimony of fired FBI director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee that could provide evidence that President Trump obstructed justice in the investigation surrounding (also-fired) National Security Director Michael Flynn. Or it could turn out to be a big nothingburger.
Some bars in D.C. have announced that they’ll be opening early at 9:30am so that their patrons can get all liquored up, and in a move reminiscent of Watergate, all four major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) will scrap their daytime lineup to carry the hearings live.
But in the 48 hours before the anticipated storm, I’d like to speak to my fellow Democrats.
These next few months (if not weeks) are the key time to make yourselves ready for the elections in both 2018 and 2020.
A small request: for the love of God, in 2020, please nominate someone other than Clinton or Sanders. I am so sick to death of hearing the 2016 election still being relitigated by Hillary and Bernie supporters in political chatrooms. Making sure to do all we can to make Trump a one-term (or even one-year) President should be our focus, not settling an unending schoolyard spat.
And, to my mind, if the Democratic Party is to be thought of as the forward-thinking party, we need to nominate a candidate in 2020 that personifies that. Not to be indelicate, but in 2020, Clinton will be 73, Sanders 79, Joe Biden 78 and Elizabeth Warren (pictured above, left) 71. All espouse progressive principles, but they are hardly the faces that read freshness in an election where that may be the most important consideration in voters’ minds.
Here’s a little factoid (courtesy of Chuck Todd from “Meet the Press”). Look at the Democratic Presidents whose election brought them to the Oval Office for the very first time. Obama was 47, Bill Clinton 46, Carter 52, JFK 43, FDR 50, Wilson 56 and Grover Cleveland 55. You’d have to go back to James Buchanan in 1856 to find a first-time Democratic President who was over the age of 60 when he was elected. That’s the playing field on which the Democrats can win.
But to do that, we need a stronger bench on which to rely, and Democrats are sorely lacking in that department. Yes, there are some big names sticking their toe in the water, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) (above, center) certainly being one. Besides Warren, there are three other promising female candidates — Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (above, right) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) — who are now positioning themselves to make a run. Even a few mayors — such as Mitch Landrieu in New Orleans and Eric Garcetti from Los Angeles — are starting to talk the talk. But nobody’s walking the walk quite yet.
What the Democrats are currently missing are new rising stars, particularly among governors and members of the House. That’s because Dems were shellacked in both areas during most of the Bush and (yes) Obama years, which is why recruiting those potential new stars needs to start right NOW.
For potential Democratic House candidates, stay local. Ditch the suit and get to know the needs of your district. I suspect that in 2018 voters will still be attracted to candidates who respond to the things that matter most to them — health care, vanishing jobs, and real tax reform, for example. Don’t waste your breath attacking Trump — voters already know him, and either they like him or they don’t. And if they don’t, make sure to go into detail in just how your GOP opponent has enabled Trump to take away or diminish your constituents’ benefits.
Most importantly for the party, focus your most intensive efforts on the 20+ Congressional districts with Republican House members whose represent districts that went for Clinton in 2016. Those are your most persuadable voters who may be considering returning to their old party. If Democrats can win most of those seats back, they will be tantalizingly close to taking back the House, and that crucial body of Congress is imperative for the Democrats to control.
Because it’s the House of Representatives that starts the process of impeaching the President.
