Dems Can Thank Trump for Newfound Unity

Dems Can Thank Trump for Newfound Unity

By Ed Kociela

As the 2020 election goes full-tilt between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Democrats can thank the president for one thing: He has shown the Dems how to stiffen their back and find unity.

Historically, Democrats have been an unruly bunch, fussin’ and feudin’ with each other fiercely over everything from candidates to party platform.

Not this time.

In fact, the Democrats seem firmly entrenched and ready for what has already started off as a dirty, nasty campaign, gaining, along the way, Republican stalwarts who have jumped ship to support team Biden-Harris, from Colin Powell and Bill Kristol to members of both the Mitt Romney and George W. Bush election teams who have lined up behind Biden.

But, what has been the biggest surprise so far is how strong the Democrats have been in fighting back as the president’s team heaves muck.

When he did not refute an attack against vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, claiming she is ineligible to become president, Democrats appropriately returned with a body slam that quickly took the air out of that balloon.

When the president put enough money to fund a small Third World country into television ads claiming that Biden wanted to defund the police, Democrats were quick to resurrect the June 10 Op-Ed piece the former vice president wrote for USA Today in which he emphatically stated “While I do not believe federal dollars should go to police departments violating people’s rights or turning to violence as the first resort, I do not support defunding police,” the former vice president wrote, which was fact-checked live during an interview the president gave with FOX News reporter Chris Wallace.

The protests over the president’s desire to handcuff the Post Office, which would, in effect, squelch mail-in voting, have been widespread and unified. There has been, thus far, a coherent, pointed counterpoint to all false claims so far.

It’s the first time since the 1980 election when it fell apart for the Democrats who allowed Ronald Reagan to demonize the word “liberal” that they have shown a spine.

Yes, it goes back that far.

Reagan, a former Democrat, I might add, took to his B-Movie actor training and would screw up his face and spit the word out as if he had just been force-fed monkey guts. Democrats, not a one of them, stood up and proudly declared “I am liberal and I am loud and proud.” Instead, they meekly sat back, watching incumbent Jimmy Carter just get buried in an election that he conceded even before the polls closed in California that night.

It’s been downhill ever since.

Reagan continued his snide attacks on liberals his entire eight years.

George H.W. Bush thought it would be prudent to continue and rode it to the White House for one term.

Clinton went on to take two terms as president, but not through any skills as a street fighter. In fact, he was so cerebral as to be boring, until he found his Sunday preachin’ voice. Even then, he was not one to roll up his sleeves and join in the donnybrook.

George W. Bush, with mudslinger extraordinaire Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, didn’t need to muss his hair as the two alley fighters took care of business, winning an Electoral College decision over Al Gore, and a nasty dirt-fest gutter fight against John Kerry, a certified Vietnam War hero whose service they shredded.

Barack Obama won two successive terms, however, upon close inspection, neither should have been a surprise.

The first was a tidy win over John McCain. However, McCain was not the reason for the loss and neither was dirty politics, as both men conducted themselves in, perhaps, the most gentlemanly race of the modern era. What determined that race was, without question, McCain’s selection for his running mate. Sarah Palin was so unlikeable among voters that her base barely extended beyond Joe The Plumber. Four years later, Obama went on to take down Romney, which was hardly a fair fight as the Republicans fielded, arguably, their weakest candidate since Alf Landon. For all of the nice guy qualities, Romney seems to be reflecting now, he could not cast a long shadow back then in the national contest.

Then there was the fatal decision by the Democrats four years ago to run Hillary Clinton, who made Palin look like Miss Congeniality.

Even though she won more than 3 million votes than the president, she could not capture key swing states because, quite frankly, she pissed off so many people inside and outside of the party.

The support was limp as the Berniecrats stayed home, even after his impotent endorsement. It was a party doomed by its own disunity, a party in complete disarray, a snake without a head, slithering aimlessly until it withered.

These are different times and, as it is becoming clear, the president is the least desirable candidate in this field, at least if you pay attention to the current polls, and he is blowing hard on his dog whistle to rally his disintegrating base. He is falling into his pattern of denigrating, using childish schoolboy nicknames, spreading lies, falsely creating suspicion where there is none, and counting on fear to pull in voters, particularly in his tweets aimed to trigger fear among “suburban housewives.”

Now, I am not foolish enough to put any money on this election because, well, we learned a harsh lesson four years ago when a couple of months out it looked as if Hillary had it in the bag. Truthfully, I would not place a bet on this election with your money, not because I don’t have confidence in the ability of the Biden-Harris ticket, but because there is trickery and deceit afoot.

Regardless, I am happy to see that the Democrats have finally found their spine.

They are coming out of the woodwork to lend their support to this campaign, from the far left to the centrists. And, yes, the Democratic Party does have centrists, in fact, more than acknowledged.

And, they will be needed because even as the GOP appears to be splintering somewhat, the Democrats are aiming for a unified force.

So far, it seems they have it.

Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you! 

Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor