The Democratic Party field of contenders for the 2020 presidential election is so big that one could almost fill an actual field with the potential candidates – and that election is still 21 months away. Running for president requires a lot of preparatory groundwork, of course, and one cannot jump into the fray too late. On the other hand, the earlier a candidate makes their intentions clear – or even lets it be known that they are seriously considering a run – the more time his or her entire life is under scrutiny. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”24″]…icky scope of Democratic candidate weaknesses…[/perfectpullquote]
None of us are perfect but the politics of personal destruction have become the norm, unfortunately, and Karma’s a bit … well, a bit of a problem for some – especially for those seeking the highest office in the land. President Donald Trump was able to shake off the skeletons that fell out of his closet because he was the right man at the right time with the right message. Obama had the luxury of an adoring media, who chose to ignore his many past indiscretions and unfortunate associations. The current crop of Democratic hopefuls may not be so lucky.
Can Harris Set the Record Straight?
Kamala Harris (D-CA) will need to overcome the issues many progressives have with her criminal justice record. They go back to Harris’s time as a district attorney in San Francisco and, later, California’s attorney general. CNN reports Lara Bazelon, a University of San Francisco professor, as saying “Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.”
Though Harris could conceivably fight her way through the Democratic presidential primaries by arguing that her record has been mischaracterized and that she is, in fact, extremely progressive on the subject of criminal justice, that would not help her in the presidential contest itself. While leftists want and expect the criminal justice system to bend always to their political ideology, independents and conservatives prefer a neutral approach to crime and punishment: an approach that defers always to the laws and the Constitution.
Then, of course, there is this tweet from Harris, posted in support of Virginia’s then newly-elected governor who, we have recently learned, had no idea that wearing blackface might be considered offensive by certain people:
Congratulations to @RalphNortham and his team for showing that Virginia won’t stand for hatred and bigotry.https://t.co/ptKySwzmMC
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 8, 2017
The governor, Democrat Ralph Northam, won his election by calling his Republican opponent a racist. Harris, like all progressives, was only too willing to jump on that bandwagon without having any of the facts and, in so doing, put herself on record as having supported an actual racist.
If President Trump were to find himself squaring off against Harris in 2020, he could always replay the video of her shaking her head in disgust as he, during his 2019 State of the Union address, spoke of putting drug cartels and human traffickers “out of business.” Perhaps he could remind the American people that Harris intends to put the health insurance industry out of business, which would cost hundreds of thousands of Americans their jobs and leave millions suddenly uninsured.
Failing all of that, Trump could simply allow the voters to discover for themselves that Harris is one of the most arrogant, smug and thoroughly unlikeable human beings on the face of the planet.
I Am Not Really Spartacus!
Cory Booker
Cory “Spartacus Jazz-hands” Booker (D-NJ) has Harris beat in the likeability stakes until he gets – or pretends to get – emotional. At that point, he comes positively unhinged, almost literally foaming at the mouth. Probably not a person who should have the authority to launch nuclear weapons.
Booker wasted not a moment in condemning now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when uncorroborated allegations of sexual assault were made against the Trump nominee. The senator hailed Kavanaugh’s primary accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, as a hero, but he is entirely uninterested in discussing the allegations of something close to rape made against Virginia’s Democratic Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax.
To be fair, Booker told CNN “I have not read the allegations but it takes tremendous courage for someone to come forward in the way that she did. This is a deeply disturbing allegation that should be thoroughly investigated.”
There is still a huge disparity, however, between the way Booker reacted to the Kavanaugh allegations and how he is treating the situation involving a fellow Democrat. Booker’s comment to CNN is almost non-committal. He is not insisting that the mere existence of an accusation of sexual assault amounts to proof of Fairfax’s guilt, as he did with the judge. The senator’s CNN statement was a matter of necessity, but he seems entirely unwilling to give this very serious matter further attention.
Asked by another reporter about the allegation against Fairfax, Booker responded “I think we should be focusing on what’s right now happening with the Governor. I know you guys are going to try to focus on a lot of things right now, but right now my focus is on again calling for the Gov. to step down.”
So, is wearing blackface or dressing up in a KKK costume for a party a worse sin than forcing a woman to perform oral sex? Perhaps someone should directly ask Spartacus that question.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren’s Trail of Tears
For Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, it seems cultural appropriation is something of a hobby. Long criticized for using a fabricated claim of American Indian descent to get a job at Harvard, Warren recently apologized to the Cherokee Nation. She has no regrets about her deception, of course, but she needed absolution to clear the way for her presidential run.
Before her war paint was even dry, though, the senator’s White House dreams have all but been dashed: As it turns out, Warren entered her race as “American Indian” on her 1986 registration card for the state bar in Texas. Aides for Warren are now declining to say whether more proof could emerge that Warren consistently lied about her heritage. The senator’s detractors – including President Trump – have often referred to her as “Pocahontas” or “Fauxcahontas” but, at this point, Minnehaha (From Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha) might be more appropriate.
Also-Rans Also Have Their Problems
Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders has had to apologize for the harassment of female staffers on his 2016 campaign team – not by himself personally but by other male staffers – and The Huffington Post reports that no-one wants to work for Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) because, apparently, she has a “history of mistreating her staff.”
Joe Biden
Then, of course, there is always Hillary Clinton. Enough said. Joe Biden is still considered a strong candidate – assuming he decides to run, which does not seem likely – but he has some issues of his own: Quite apart from being an old white man who perfectly represents the dying Democratic Party establishment, he will probably, at some point, have to explain some shady business dealings with the Chinese and the Ukrainians. There is also the not insignificant issue of his possible trichophilia problem that has led to multiple examples of inappropriate touching of any female within reach and his well-known (at least, in D.C. circles, it appears) fondness for putting his hands on young children.
Undoubtedly, this article has not covered the full, icky scope of Democratic candidate weaknesses but prospects for 2020 are not looking good. The political left has set such strict standards for both ideological purity and political correctness that it will have to think very carefully about who it thrusts into the struggle to get Trump out of office at the next general election.
