Wakeup Calls

Those Democrats who were paying attention had a pair of wakeup calls in the last few days. First was the vote on border funding. Today was President Trump’s dramatic crossing into North Korea.

Most Democrats did not believe there was an emergency at the border. Now it is apparent to everyone. The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill while the House passed a more partisan bill on a party line vote. President Trump threatened to veto it. Sensing that she could lose, Nancy Pelosi had the House vote on the Senate bill. She realized that holding up aid over partisan bickering was a losing strategy.

Trump crossing into North Korea was a perfect illustration of the power of incumbency. Democrats should realize that they have a very hard fight in front of them. Twenty incumbents have run for reelection since 1900. Fifteen were successful. Taft and Bush faced strong third-party challenges. Hoover lost because of the Great Depression, Watergate damaged Ford and Carter was hurt by the Iran hostage crisis.
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Advocating policies that only appeal to the hard left and demonizing Trump 24/7 will not bring victory. Many Democrats realize that but the ones making all the noise just don’t get it.
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