Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour
President Trump gives a thumbs-up after disembarking Marine One Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House following his trip to Charlotte, N.C.
Donald Trump immediately demonstrated just how ugly the remainder of his presidential term will be after subservient Senate Republicans brazenly exonerated Trump for his corrupt, unconstitutional actions in an impeachment trial without calling any witnesses or demanding the government documents he refused to release in order to hide his crimes. The next morning, Trump disrupted the National Prayer Breakfast by viciously attacking the deeply held religious convictions of Mormon Utah Sen. Mitt Romney—the lone Republican who cited his oath before God for voting to remove Trump from office—and the devoutly Catholic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who says she routinely prays for both the president and her country.
The following day, Trump fired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman—a decorated military hero and Ukraine expert—from the National Security Council (NSC), along with Vindman’s twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an NSC lawyer. It was retribution for Alexander Vindman testifying truthfully under oath about Trump’s attempt to extort foreign election interference to smear the president’s potential Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. As for his brother, Yevgeny, Trump simply doesn’t want anyone in the White House who even resembles a truth-teller. The horrifying fact that Republicans have now freed Trump to commit any political atrocity he wants heightens the importance of all Democrats, independents and other decent Americans focusing their hopes for our country’s future on the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Iowa Delay Doesn’t Matter
That’s why the mess delaying the reporting of results from the Iowa caucuses, the traditional opening of the Democratic Party’s presidential voting season, was so frustrating. But because angst-ridden Democrats have a habit of reacting to every minor annoyance as if it were an apocalypse, let’s be clear: A delay of a couple of days reporting the final Iowa results really doesn’t matter. The reason the media focuses so much attention on the Iowa caucuses is they’re the first indication of any voter preference for the candidates.
|
|
But the overwhelmingly white, rural state of Iowa doesn’t really represent the nation. In fact, the complicated, time-consuming caucus process, which attracts fewer than 1/3rd of Iowa’s Democratic voters, may not even represent Iowa. When those results finally were released, they separated two candidates essentially tied for the lead: former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, by eight and 10 points, respectively, over the third and fourth place candidates: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Biden. Buttigieg is projected to win 14 delegates to 12 for Sanders.
Anyone Would be Better Than Trump
The New Hampshire primary this week is an immediate check on the order of finish for the top candidates. The top four candidates so far are split evenly between the so-called leftists—Sanders and Warren—and the so-called moderates—Buttigieg and Biden, but those distinctions get fuzzier all the time. Every single Democratic presidential candidate, including two billionaires, would drive the nation in a far more positive, progressive direction than the current totally unqualified, corrupt, ignorant, racist, hate-monger-in-chief. The biggest difference is how rapidly each believes we can achieve major goals such as providing universal health care, reversing growing income inequality and halting the climate crisis threatening life on Earth.
After the predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire provide their versions of who’s leading, two more racially diverse states, Nevada and South Carolina, could have something different to say later this month. Nevada—approaching 30% Latino with substantial African American and Asian American populations—is another confusing caucus state, but thankfully it’s scrapped the vote tallying technology that failed in Iowa.
Biden is counting on his popularity with African Americans, who are 2/3rds of South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters according to a Quinnipiac poll, to overcome what he admits is a disappointing early showing. But polls there also show rising support among black voters for Sanders, as well as billionaire Tom Steyer who is advertising heavily. Buttigieg, whose surprising top finish in Iowa has called attention to many of his strengths as a candidate, also will be tested in South Carolina. He has to increase his support among African Americans to be considered a viable Democratic nominee.
The Democratic contest is front-loaded with rapid-fire races in the next four weeks. The serious choices may (or may not) become clearer on Super Tuesday, March 3. That is the day 14 states (along with American Samoa and Democrats Abroad) award 34% of the delegates needed to win the nomination. It’s also when we find out whether billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the world’s richest men, will become a major factor in the race by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in those states.
The most important challenge for all the Democratic candidates this month is to make the strongest case for themselves without shattering the united front of their party working in concert to defeat a hateful, corrupt demagogue who should never have been nominated to the presidency by any legitimate political party in our democracy.
