In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal cartoonist Ted Rall, of whom I am not a particular fan, says that progressives may well prefer that Trump be re-elected than that Biden be elected:
Winning the next election isn’t necessarily more important than the long-term objective of winning over the Democratic Party. Progressives’ broader aim is to move the 50-yard-line of American politics to the left. In the Trump era they feel ascendant. The leftward surge in 2018 gave us Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other celebrity progressives. Most of the major Democratic presidential candidates—Mr. Biden notably excepted—at least pretend to be progressive by endorsing measures such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
But centrists are coalescing around the idea that Mr. Trump is so dangerous that the Democrats must unite behind the most “electable†candidate to save the country from him—never mind that in 2016 that approach gave us Mr. Trump.
Hard as it is for centrist Democrats to fathom, many progressives would rather see a second Trump term than a President Biden, who would govern through Clintonian triangulation. And all those progressives have to do to win is sit on their hands.
So much for the high moral imperative of getting rid of Trump. Let’s engage in a thought experiment. What if the bulk of the Resistance is simply playing politics? What if the opposition to Trump is not principled but tactical?
I think that’s indeed the case for the DNC. IMO the “Trump collusion” theory originated in a CYA move on the parts of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, largely interchangeable terms. Now it’s taking the form of diehard anti-Trumpers making up Trump quotes, history repeating as farce.
“the Democrats must unite behind the most “electable†candidate to save the country from him—never mind that in 2016 that approach gave us Mr. Trump.”
Whoever thought that Clinton was the most electable? Her favorables were bad. He unfavorables were very bad. The only person she had a real chance winning against was Trump. No. The Dems chose their least electable candidate.
“many progressives would rather see a second Trump term than a President Biden”
Guess I will believe that when I see a lot of actual progressives say it.
” the “Trump collusion†theory originated in a CYA move ”
No. It originated because the Russians meddled in the election and got caught. Trump publicly encouraged the Russians to release what they found on Hillary. (He was just joking according to the Trumpettes.) Then a whole lot of Trump aides lied about having contacts with Russians, including secret meetings. Finally, Trump has been almost obsequiously nice to Putin, when he treats most other people awful. (Ok, he was also nice to Duterte, danced with the Saudis and praises Kim Jung Un.) Awful lot of smoke there.
To be sure, Democrats have wanted revenge for all of the fake investigations conducted by the GOP. Those investigations helped to keep Republicans angry, donating and voting. So expect Democrats to carry this out as long as they can. Remember that we had 8 Benghazi investigations with the last 7 finding nothing significant, BUT, it kept the coffers full.
Steve
Clinton did.
“Trump publicly encouraged the Russians to release what they found on Hillary.”
Why should Hillary have had any activity, (especially financial), to hide?
“IMO the “Trump collusion†theory originated in a CYA move on the parts of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, largely interchangeable terms.”
I doubt it. HRC/DNC hired Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS hired Steele to generate dirt, aka opposition research. Before its over I suspect we will find that Sydney Blumenthal is the real author of the “unverified and salacious document,” that was verified enough (snicker) for Comey and others to sign off on the FISA warrant application based upon it. That’s not HRC CYA, that an HRC opposition hit job.
As it unravels almost by the day and more details are discovered (even though it was predicted over a year ago) we see that the initial attempt almost failed. So Nellie Ohr and her hubby stepped in to advocate and make sure the right eyes were on it. And Comey and Brennan were most assuredly the key co-conspirators. That’s not CYA, that’s using the levers of intelligence and law enforcement.
I think Barr and Durham are the right people at the right time to get to the bottom of it.