Last Night’s Big Winner — Donald Trump
Author: Greg Valliere
June 27, 2019
WE HAVE VOWED to watch every minute of every debate in this long political slog, which is roughly comparable to committing to several root canals without Novocaine. The first inning ended last night with one clear winner: Donald J. Trump, who is gifted at demonizing foils — and he just got plenty of fresh ammunition.
IMPRESSING THE ACTIVISTS: With few exceptions, the candidates want to impress the activists with their advocacy of expensive new government programs, with no plausible way of paying for them — other than higher taxes on “the rich.” Two of the major candidates — Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — want to do away with private health insurance, a vow that could haunt the Democrats in the general election.
TRUMP TWEETED THAT THE DEBATE WAS BORING, but he must have been smacking his lips — the debate last night (and probably tonight as well) reinforce his argument that the Democrats are moving toward a socialist agenda. Yet that gives Joe Biden the opening he needs: he’s hardly a socialist, so Biden is electable, while most of his 23 opponents are not.
BIDEN SIMPLY HAS TO AVOID GAFFES TONIGHT (admittedly a challenge for him) and he will emerge as the affable moderate who can win Pennsylvania and Michigan. If Biden stumbles, the Democrats’s sharp veer to the left would gain momentum, and Trump would become the clear general election favorite. But if Biden retains his front-runner status, we would continue to anticipate an Electoral College cliffhanger.
Meanwhile, here’s our very quick take on last night:
Julian Castro: The surprise winner, on the short list for the VP nod. Might be more formidable if he could speak Spanish.
Elizabeth Warren: Solid, passionate, wonky — still clearly in the top tier, an enormous threat to the financial services industry.
Beto O’Rourke: Not ready for prime time, deer in the headlights, had a very bad night.
Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Bill de Blasio: Probably helped themselves a little.
Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, John Delaney, Tim Ryan: Not gonna happen, they’re wasting their time and money.
ANY WONDER WHY VOTERS ARE DISILLUSIONED? Candidates in both parties make lavish promises — let’s bring factory jobs back to the U.S., let’s solve climate change, let’s abolish private health insurance — even though they know these ideas have no chance of enactment. Student loan forgiveness is the most blatant example of attempting to buy votes with promises that have zero chance in the Senate.
THE PANDERING will resume this evening, undoubtedly to Trump’s delight . . .
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