When a political party has been on a prolonged losing streak, it is not unusual for the party to find hope in all of the wrong places. Take last weeks’ elections in New Jersey and Virginia. The Democrat Party won the elections for governor in both of these states. Now, every Democrat and every newscaster is proclaiming that the Democrat Party is back and the 2018 elections will prove it.
I say, "Not so fast." New Jersey is a deep blue state that almost always votes Democrat. Chris Christie is the exception, but he proved to be a very unpopular governor because he failed to modify the tax system in that state. New Jersey has property taxes that equal New York’s, and one of his key promises was to reduce not only property taxes, but other burdensome taxes as well. Even though his heart was in the right place, his legislature could not be persuaded to reduce taxes, and Christie got the blame. New Jersey is a Democrat state, and only the most naive would expect the Republican Party to win two consecutive gubernatorial elections.
Virginia has changed significantly in the last ten years. It was once a deep red state, but Terry McAuliffe, the present governor, and a Democrat, has done some things that have shoved Virginia into the blue column. First, Virginia has welcomed thousands of illegal aliens to their state. Next, McAuliffe issued an executive order allowing 200,000 criminals to vote. And then there is Northern Virginia. This area is a Washington suburb where thousands of "swamp" creatures live. All of them are dependent on the federal government for their living, and most of them are Democrats. So for anyone to declare that the elections in New Jersey and Virginia are signs that the Democrat Party is back is simply whistling past the graveyard. Nothing has changed!
Today, the Democrat Party is in shambles. It is on the wrong side of almost every issue, and to suggest that 2018 will be the year for a roaring comeback may be premature. The Democrats hate President Trump, and they assume, wrongly, that everyone feels the same way they do. This could be a bad mistake. If one studies the polling data, President Trump’s favorability rating is at 46 percent, but the American people’s optimism for the future is the highest it has been in many years. Americans are optimistic about their financial future, and the stock market is reinforcing this optimism. So something does not make sense. Why is Trump’s favorability rating at 46 percent and Americans by over 80 percent are optimistic about the future? This discrepancy tells me that Trump’s favorability rating is much higher than 46 percent. Remember the presidential election? Hillary had a 92 percent chance of becoming President. But when the votes were counted, Trump had outperformed his projected votes by an overwhelming margin. I think the same dynamic exists today. The pollsters, for whatever reason, are not getting their polling right. They, too, believe that America hates President Trump as much as they do.
The Democrats proclaim that they are back and ready to win back both the House and the Senate. In 2020, they believe that they will take back the presidency. But let me be the first to give them a word of caution. Who will they nominate for president? Will it be the senile Joe Biden? Will it be a remodeled "new and improved" Hillary Clinton? Could it be Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama? Will the "crooked" Terry McAuliffe throw his hat into the ring?
The Democrat Party is hurting. Joe Biden is nearly 77 years old, and Hillary is over 70. Oprah makes too much money to run for president, and Michelle Obama probably doesn’t want the job. That leaves McAuliffe, a virtual unknown, with enough bad baggage to weigh down a river barge.
So Democrats, don’t get too giddy. The American people like what President Trump is doing. He is a capitalist and a strong leader, and these are traits that no Democrat has. I would hold my celebrations until after the elections. Otherwise, Democrat celebrations may be just a fantasy that didn’t come true.
