At the Democratic Presidential debate Wednesday night, former NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reacted as if Sen. Elizabeth Warren brought a nice chianti and fava beans to the event; she ate him alive. Ms. Warren chewed through Mr. Bloomberg’s political and moral résumélike Hannibal Lecter. There were moments made for tv and moments missed. There was no talk of foreign policy mere months after Mr. Trump took us to the brink of war with Iran. A discussion is always made peripherally about poverty, centered around the purchasing of homes. Poor people are looking to survive day-to-day and find a rent they can afford, not become real estate moguls.
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar vied for that middle America vote that they so vehemently object to being called ‘flyover country.’ At one point, Senator Klobuchar queried Buttigieg on whether he was questioning her competence, “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?” asked Klobuchar. Joe Biden assumed his role as the favorite uncle at Thanksgiving, imploring everyone to get along, and looking as if he wanted to dare the others to ‘pull my finger.’ All, as expected, took shots at Bloomberg’s money, racial profiling, and misogyny, with due cause.
What was really missed was to attack the abysmal current foe for whom they gathered, President Donald John Trump. I am always baffled as to why the Democratic candidates are so willing to follow and not lead. A bit of history, the so-called Benghazi scandal campaign launched at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a Republican boondoggle, based on innuendo, political rancor, and outright disinformation. Rep. Kevin McCarthy admitted as much in the run-up to the election of 2016. With Ms. Clinton at the height of her popularity, the Republicans launched a hit campaign to smear her prior to the election. Mr. McCarthy said “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable(sic). But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.”
The key phrase is ‘fought to make that happen.’ Republicans manufactured a controversy much like the shot they are taking at Joe Biden, led their people and they fell in position. Democrats have a real issue and need to form their own conga line. Whenever a Democratic candidate is asked why they did not talk Impeachment on their campaign stops they answer, ‘ no one brought it up.’ Of course, they are not bringing it up, they believed that since candidates were not leading the discussion it was not worthy of debate. Benghazi was not worth discussing but Hillary Clinton sits at home, not because of Benghazi but because it fed the narrative.
We all sat and watched a man[Trump] we, the Congress, and the world, knew was guilty of abusing his power. He aligns himself with a group of fawning Republicans who have become so weak and ineffectual in service of their dear leader that people like Sen. Lindsey Graham should change his name to ‘Flimsy’ Graham. Future debates are waiting, and I hope the Democrats lead and not follow. I could barely put the last period to this piece before news broke that the Russians are again committed to helping Mr. Trump in 2020. The President’s response was to fire Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire because he briefed Congress. The threat is not at the podium next to you—Democrats; the problem sits in the White House.
Vote in 2020 for Change.