MUSICAL CHAIRS — The Weekly Opine

One seat left. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Getting down to business.

Steyer out. Buttigieg out. Klobuchar out. Bloomberg out. Warren out.

Moderates, just a week ago waxing about Amy Klobuchar, showed their teeth and pushed her out. (It didn’t help that Klobuchar was forced to cancel a campaign rally, when protestors refused to vacate the stage.)

Same moderates, just two weeks ago giddily awash in Michael Bloomberg’s free money, suddenly told him to pack his stop-and-frisk baggage and move on. And he did.

Sensing where this is headed, Elizabeth Warren eased toward the middle, having lost the top liberal mantle to Bernie Sanders. Warren was happy letting Bernie be the democratic socialist third rail. (Remember, the happiest people on Earth - in Finland and Denmark - live under democratic socialist “regimes”.) To her credit, Warren openly states that D.C. insiders are backing the D.C. insider.

Yes, this thing is finally down to the final two candidates, moderate versus liberal, Biden versus Bernie. The others have been like a warm-up band loitering onstage while the main act sets up their equipment.

Warren was handed the embarrassment of finishing third in her home state of Massachusetts.

Tulsi Gabbard, snooping around in Democrat camouflage while auditioning for a Fox News job, hangs on as if she’s seen Biden and Bernie’s medical records and knows something the rest of us don’t know.

On several occasions, The Weekly Opine opined that Pete Buttigieg has star potential. Buttigieg showed situational awareness dropping out of the race, which protects his brand from inevitable losses as the campaign trail becomes more diverse. Had the contest started in Nevada and South Carolina Mayor Pete (and Klobuchar) may have been gone sooner. Either way, Pete, along with Stacy Abrams, among the future stars of the Democratic party.

Interestingly, Pete once chided Biden for espousing tired, old man ideas. Now Pete enthusiastically embraces Biden’s positions. Resurfacing, Beto O’Rourke abandoned his loyalists to hug Biden.

Meanwhile, Black voters, buoyed by those in South Carolina who lifted Biden from life-support to renewed frontrunner, are the subject of unbridled attention from Dems. With an Olympics-like cadence, every two years Black voters are courted like the prettiest girl in school before senior prom.

The obsession is flattering, but when the punch bowl is empty and the lights go out, everyday Black folks are left searching for their date.

Former president Barack Obama is feeling heat, as pressure mounts for him to endorse Biden. If Obama backs Biden, with the establishment already piling on wide and deep behind his former VP, Obama would be akin to a baseball player hitting a grand slam when his team is already ahead 9-4.

Inexplicably, former Obama advisor Anton Gunn told MSNBC that Democratic elites “decide [the] nominee, the public doesn’t.” Nice going Mr. Gunn, incentivizing Dem voters to stay home. As we said in last week’s post, Dems sometimes seem determined to reelect Trump.

Super Tuesday just spoke. (Super Tuesday should begin primary voting, providing a better means of separating wheat from chaff.) Biden won the South on the strength of the Black vote, on his way to taking 10 of 14 contests nationwide. He leads Sanders 509 delegates to 449, with California still not fully counted. Alarmingly for Sanders, Biden loosened Sanders grip on non-college educated whites and independents.

VP choice does matter, as seen with the inept Sarah Palin and lackluster Tim Kaine. (Photo credit The Daily Beast and NPR)

Don’t go rogue again

Vice president chatter intensifies. The Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin ran a Twitter poll listing three potential choices. Rubin, a former Republican desperately trying to influence Democrats to moderation, regularly trashes Sanders while praising her flavor-of-the-moment moderate. Alternately, she’s lavished praise on Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar.

It was almost surreal last weekend seeing Rubin turn on Klobuchar, telling her to act like an “adult” and drop out. Rubin is somewhat goofy, albeit with a huge platform. Her VP poll included Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Gov. Michelle Grisham of New Mexico.

Not feeling Whitmer, Baldwin or Grisham? Me neither. Hopefully, Dems won’t repeat their Tim Kaine mistake from 2016. Virginia Gov. Kaine was uninspiring, lacked charisma with zippo stage presence. He proved remarkably ineffective and was swallowed up by Mike Pence during the lone VP debate. (You gotta be way off your “game” to get outdebated by Pence.)

Dems VP choice should be Stacey Abrams, who won the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race only to be thwarted by corrupt voter suppression. Considering Obama advisor Gunn claims DNC elites control who the nominee is, they surely can decide the VP choice as well.

Along with Rubin, all ex-GOPers and never Trump GOPers should pipe down. As part of the Republican establishment, they failed miserably rallying Republicans to defeat Trump in the 2016 primary. They failed miserably convincing moderate House Republicans to impeach Trump. And they’ve ignored former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the best Republican presidential candidate in years.

Are establishment Democrats committed to this? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

All in (or not)

Keeping the troops intact for the battle against Trump won’t be easy. In addition to Gunn’s ill-advised comment that voters don’t really matter in the DNC equation, the Democratic establishment’s prolonged demonization of Sanders means many #BernieBros will not participate if their bro is not the nominee.

Dems spewing non-stop vitriol at Sanders is stupid. The lack of tact and nuance, which would preserve a relationship with Sanders supporters, may cost Democrats. (If Sanders developed a vaccine for coronavirus, moderate Dems would find fault.) The alleged party of inclusiveness evidently is not up for including Sanders and his enthusiastic followers.

Yep, some Sanders supporters are fanatics. Likewise with some MAGAs. To compete against Trump, Dems need to get comfortable sometimes meeting aggression with aggression.

For example, when right-wing white supremacists, like the Proud Boys, rally and bring sticks and stones, left-wing Antifa meets them head on, also carrying sticks and stones. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is. And it’s nice to know the good guys have some bad asses, too.

Like it or not, hardcore Bernie Bros counterbalance hardcore MAGAs. Dems should be careful not to permanently alienate Sanders folks with the incessant projecting Sanders as a demagogue. Because come general election, Democrats will need every vote they can get.

Based on the Democratic establishment treating Sanders like he’s the enemy from another planet, it’s easy to envision liberal Dems not buying the DNC battle cry, “Anybody but Trump!”

Dems should remember that spirited policy debates are enlightening but trashing a legitimate candidate has unintended consequences. If he’s the nominee, some moderate Dems won’t vote Bernie, after he’s been characterized as a Democratic, Trump-like monster by the establishment and media.

Trump’s gambit, asking Republicans to vote for Sanders in South Carolina, maybe wasn’t because he fears Biden more than Sanders. Maybe Trump is doing something that Dems are missing; forging a relationship with Bernie Bros who are susceptible to cross over (like some did in 2016).

Therefore, regardless of who wins the nomination, Dems may stumble, and lose a second time to the worst presidential candidate, now worst president, in U.S. history.

At a time like this, Medicare For All seems like a really good idea. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

COVID-19

The chickens are home and pecking away at carcasses that once were a fully staffed Centers for Disease Control and National Security Council (global health security section).

Placing Mike Pence, a science-denying liar, in charge of the coronavirus task force is scary.

Initial coronavirus press conferences showed why Trump’s press secretary no longer gives daily briefings. Better to hide Defcon-level incompetence than display it for the world to observe. Tuesday’s coronavirus update was cancelled. Wednesday’s update revealed minor progress re: expanded testing. But the U.S. lags far behind other countries.

Still, Trump, Pence and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar play a game of subterfuge. Given that Trump’s recent deal with the Taliban quickly fell apart, this administration cannot to be trusted.

Days ago, Trump said a vaccine is imminent. Azar, a former pharmaceutical lobbyist who oozes slim shadiness, said a vaccine was developed in three days. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci interceded, saying it takes 12-18 months to develop a vaccine.

A Wednesday cameo appearance by the overmatched Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, did nothing except reinforce Carson’s uselessness.

Unable to mask his primary concern, even at a time of public emergency, Trump encourages Main Street Americans, who don’t have the luxury of sketchy Deutsche Bank bailout loans, to buy stocks. Trump also rails at Fed Chair Jerome Powell for being slow to lower rates.

Earlier this week, Trump sounded a teeny bit serious about combatting the crisis. In a nod to Sanders’ Medicare for All, Trump is providing emergency funding for Americans without healthcare to pay for them to see a doctor.

Wall Street responded Monday with a Dow 1,250-point rise. No matter. Despite the Fed’s deep interest rate cut on Tuesday, the Dow dropped nearly 800 points the same day. Wall Street’s big rally on Wednesday, signaling financial markets are comfortable with Biden, must be a blow to Trump’s fragile ego.

So long as coronavirus cases continue spiraling, and the administration lies by the seat of their pants, Trump’s beloved financial markets will likely be volatile.

All together now. “Anybody but Trump.”

C’mon, let me hear you. “ANYBODY BUT TRUMP!”