We are coming up on the end of the first 100 days of the
Trump administration, and the Democrats have a real problem. Far from imploding
(though CNN has tried its best to make it look like that), Trump has actually
moved ahead smartly to fulfill the very campaign promises that got him
elected. He has eliminated many of the
Obama executive orders that conservatives and businesses didn’t like, he has
toughened our immigration policy (with the result that there has been a drastic
drop in illegal immigrants across our southern border since January), and he
will today get his first Supreme Court nominee approved. And the stock market
and the economy have both improved markedly. It is true that his first attempt
at repealing ObamaCare failed, but that may just be a tactical setback. Already
the Tea Party Freedom Caucus, seeing that they can’t get it all their own way,
has softened its opposition. And if he does nothing, ObamaCare is in a fiscal
death spiral anyway, despite the valiant attempts by its supporters to claim
otherwise.
And last night he showed, with the missile attack on the
Syrian airbase in response to the Syrian nerve gas attack on a rebel village a
few days ago, that unlike Obama, he is willing to back up his red lines. That
will strengthen his support among voters, as well as strengthening his hand in
dealing with people like the North Koreans or the Chinese.
Liberals have spent this time getting outraged and
hyperventilating over one thing after another, and pursuing one conspiracy
theory after another, mostly to do with Russian interference in the election
(apparently Obama administration interference, or DNC interference, or media interference doesn’t bother them).
They have been almost childish in their response. What they have not done is
get organized to try to win back some seats in local or state or national
legislatures, which is the necessary first step to getting back into power. In
fact what was most noticeable about the Democrat’s futile effort to filibuster
Neal Gorsuch’s nomination was that they were rudderless and leaderless,
responding almost mindlessly to their most extreme hyper liberal base. I see no
sign of any strong leadership emerging yet, nor any sign yet of serious
strategic thinking and planning.
Liberals clearly hoped that Trump would simply fail
spectacularly in office and their liberal candidates could walk in next
election and pick up the pieces. That isn’t going to happen. They are going to
have to work, and work hard, to get back in power. They are going to have to
talk with - not talk at - people they don’t agree with in order to win them
back over. They are going to have to
rethink some of their more left-wing positions and reshape them enough to be
acceptable to more people. They are going to have to stop being emotionally
outraged (as good as it makes them feel)
and start thinking tactically. And they are going to have to wean
themselves off their fascination with the wealthy Hollywood and Wall Street set
and get back on friendly terms with their historical base – the working class.
And it’s not clear to me that they are willing, or perhaps even capable, of
doing that.
This worries me, because I actually support many – perhaps
even most – liberal causes. Not the far-left socialist ideas, which appealing
as they sound are simply unworkable and unrealistic. But certainly the more
centrists goals – eliminate gender and racial discrimination, equal opportunity
(opportunity, not outcome) for all, protection of the environment, job security,
etc, etc. But the way things are going so far it will be a long time, if ever,
before Democrats regain enough political power to defend these causes
effectively.
I hope I am wrong.
Bill Clinton managed to revitalize the Democrats last time they were in
the wilderness, and perhaps someone like him (and Hillary certainly isn’t the
one!) will eventually emerge to get the Democrats off their childish whining
jag and back to serious politics. I hope so.
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