I’ve wondered if Donald Trump’s election win last year meant that we are doomed now to a cycle of emotional, demagogic, logic- and evidence-free campaigns and that the only way for Democrats to retake the White House (and maybe Congress and state offices) is to adopt Trump’s reality-TV theatrics Twitterrhea. Chris Matthews suggested something similar on TV yesterday:
“You know what’s happened in politics under Trump. But if he runs again, it’ll happen again. It’s not about resumé or qualifications, necessarily, or preparation or seriousness. It’s about how you behave on the stage… It’s on the stage, it’s in the moment,” Matthews said [Jacqueline Thomsen, “Franken: You Don’t ‘Have to Be Trump to Beat Trump,” The Hill, 2017.09.05].
National voice of reason Senator Al Franken of Minnesota holds out hope for a return to a decent, qualified President:
“I’m not sure that you have to be Trump to beat Trump,” Franken replied.
Franked pointed out that “the person who gets elected is often the opposite of the last guy,” noting that former President Barack Obama, seen as eloquent, followed former President George W. Bush, who was often viewed as the opposite.
“Maybe the next person to run against Trump shouldn’t feed into your narrative there, which is always a mistake, Chris,” Franken said [Thomsen, 2017.09.05].
Wow—if the electorate does follow the oppositional pattern Franken suggests, the 46th President of the United States is guaranteed a spot on Mount Rushmore.
Related Reading: Speaking of that man in the White House, former District 16 House candidate Ted Curry is doing a little blogging. In a Labor Day post, Curry explains why the self-obsessed Donald Trump is so out of touch with the regular Americans whom he pretends to champion.
I’d go for Franken Warren 2020. The guy is very popular and not just in MN. (SD doesn’t count). I could see him as a candidate.
I was off in my prediction that Trump would be gone by Labor Day, but Kevin Woster predicted a Trump exit by Christmas or New Years.
At any rate, Trump will probably be impeached, in a straight jacket or quit before 2020. If not, I doubt he’ll run in 2020. Pence will be dirtied by his association with Trump, so he has no chance. That would leave both parties wide open. You will see the Republican Party split into two parties. One of the factions will nominate Nicki Halley. The Democrats will cobble some platform together that will paper over whatever major disagreements there are between the left and more moderate Dems, and nominate Klobachar or Gillibrand. After Trump gives male leadership a bad name, a woman is a shoe-in.
Franken said in an interview recently that being Potus is too difficult of a job. He says being Senator is stressful enough, so it doesn’t sound like he is interested. Having said that, it would be refreshing to have a comedian that understands humor and comedy. Unlike the bad joke we have now thanks to Russia’s mismanagement of our last election. What was Putin thinking?
Here is what Putin was thinking of the US when he put Trump in charge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lkhbD9vkfc
If only. :)
Kamala Harris seems like the front-runner right now. Maybe Franken would consider being VP if not Cory Booker? Of course Bernie may still be considering a run…
I’m open to all of those possibilities, Ben. Mike, I agree Franken sounds like a reluctant candidate at best… but maybe after Clinton, a reluctant candidate would be a positive change. And when disaster strikes and your nation needs you help, it’s time to put reluctance aside and answer the call to serve.
I’d be more inclined to support Warren-Franken. I think Al would be a great clean-up hitter responding to the inevitable knuckle-dragging mouth-breathing commentary on Warren’s good-sense analysis of a variety of policy.
The correct spelling for the idiomatic expression Donald Pay used above is “shoo-in,” not “shoe-in.”
Nobody asked me but I like the bipartisan ticket of Hickenlooper – Kasich. One from each party might have broader appeal.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/25/politics/kasich-hickenlooper-2020-unity-ticket/index.html
[“shoo-in”—true!]
Porter, you like Kasich-Hickenlooper more than Kasich does. However, if Kasich and Hickenlooper can sell their health care plan to save the ACA, they may find themselves the subjects of a 2020 draft.