The Campaign

By Hank Silverberg

No, this is not another plug for the novel I published in 2017. You can find details on that at the end of this blog. This is about the real-life drama of 2020, which is already hot 18 months before the election and six months before any primary voting. 

I have lost count of just how many people are running for the Democratic nomination. It’s more than two dozen. Next week there will be two debates, a top tier and a lower tier, where most of the Democratic candidates will get a chance to tell us their vision of America’s future.

I am not going to predict who will be the winner, and anyone who thinks they can make such a prediction should stay away from the betting window at the race track, because they are likely to pick the wrong horse.

Here are a few things I hope the Democrats will do:                                           

1)   Give us a reason to vote for you, not just a reason NOT to vote for Trump. (We know hundreds of those without your help.)

2)   You can differ on policy, that’s healthy debate, but don’t attack someone’s personality or private life.

3)   There is little debate that our country’s current immigration process is broken. Tell us how you will fix it, rather than pointing fingers at who messed it up.

4)    Some domestic issues that should be addressed: the cost of health care, the proliferation of guns, clarity on abortion rights, and cyber security.

5)   Avoid the use of the word “Socialism.” It has been abused and misused by Republicans, and is misunderstood by much of the electorate.  Give us practical solutions, not ideology.

6)    Set a positive tone for the party and the election this time around. Words the public does not want to hear include “collusion,” “emails,”  “Benghazi” and “impeachment.”

I would also like to hear some frank discussion on how to repair our foreign policy, which has been mauled by the Trump Administration. Or, how do we deal with Iran, North Korea, Russia and China?  Tariffs and their negative impact on our domestic economy fit in here. We also need to hear what you would do to repair relationships with our allies, which Mr Trump has severely damaged. The primaries and caucuses don't start until early 2020, beginning in Iowa. So there's plenty of time. Here's a map on the primaries.  

(Courtesy DNC)

                                      (Primaries, by color)

   February

   March 3 (Super Tuesday)

   March 7–8

   March 10

   March 17

   April 4–7

   April 28

   May

   June

   No 2020 date

  

For those of you who can spare a few hours of your busy schedule to watch these debates, listen to the candidate’s words,  but also watch their body language, general demeanor and ability to deal with both complex questions and the inevitable stupid ones. Also, watch how they deal with each other. Four years ago, the Republican debates were a rowdy disgrace. 

NBC made a major mistake by including highly partisan MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow among the panelists in the upcoming debates. But the rest are highly experienced and qualified journalists, including anchor Lester Holt, and Meet the Press Host Chuck Todd among them,  so hopefully the questions will be to the point and productive. 

(The debates are June 26 and 27th, in two panels of ten candidates each night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on both NBC and MSNBC.) 

Some other observations about the campaign so far:

President Trump has said more than once he wants to serve a third, fourth, or even fifth term. That, of course, is against the 25th Amendment which limits a President to two successive terms. I would like to think he knows that and that he is just joking about three or more terms. But even joking about it is crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and with Trump you never know when he is serious.  

The President also said this week that he would look at any dirty information on his opponent even if it came from a foreign source. And then “maybe” if he thought it was improper, he would turn it over to the FBI. He later changed his mind and said he would turn it over no matter what.

https://nypost.com/2019/06/14/trump-now-says-he-would-report-dirt-from-foreign-countries-to-the-fbi/

There IS a federal law prohibiting candidates for public office from accepting ANYTHING of value from a foreign government, even a friendly foreign government. That includes information on an opponent. It appears once again Mr. Trump has no knowledge of the law or more likely no understanding of it. 

News Briefs:

 We also learned this week that two tankers in the Persian Gulf were damaged by mines, which the U.S. government says were planted by Iran’s military. There is video showing what looks like an Iranian patrol craft removing one that did not explode.

(Courtesy of the U.S. Navy) 

 Our allies are questioning whether this is true—another example of the deterioration in our relationships with friendly countries. How will the unpredictable Trump Administration react? We should be worried about that!

Ironically, that novel I wrote in 2016 entitled “The Campaign,” had a war with Iran as a focal point of a Presidential campaign. Let’s hope the plot stays fictional. 

(You can purchase a copy of my book at Amazon.com, BN.com or by emailing me at hanksilverberg@gmail.com for a reduced priced and signed copy. ) 

                                       

         

(Your suggestions or comments on this blog are welcome below)