Democrats won’t come back if they don’t discover their version of Donald Trump
It’s been remarkable to witness what’s happened in this nation in the weeks since the 2024 election. President-elect Donald J. Trump is finally receiving the popular accolades he’s
merited for years, and suddenly, even long-time Trump foes and antagonists are giving him his due.
As if from spontaneous generation, Americans have accepted that our government needs a thorough overhaul and its leaders must be open to letting in non-traditional outsiders to start making decisions. Like an old car that’s been in a garage for years without any kind of attention, the federal government is finally being exposed to daylight with interested eyes looking under the hood.
Better pump some air back in those tires, people. It’s going to take years for Americans to adopt an “out with the old, in with the new” mentality. This is doubly true for the Democrat party, which is receiving bits of advice from every direction whether they seek it or not.
In an opinion piece titled, “Democrats Need Their Own Donald Trump”, J. Peder Zane wrote at Real Clear Politics just before Thanksgiving:
“…Democrats need their own Trump – a wrecking ball who will challenge the party’s dogmas; a disruptive outsider who can force them out of their ideological cul-de-sac. The radical transformation Democrats need seems beyond the capacity of the party’s entrenched leadership: To expect people who cannot admit error to change their minds and ways seems like wishful thinking. They probably don’t need a Trump-like figure to win elections, but they need one to find a way to govern effectively. This would not require abandoning progressive ideals, but developing new ways to actually achieve them.
“This will not be easy. As a spur, Democrats should consider the fate of their allies in the legacy media. The partisan, left-wing turn many news organizations have taken in the last decade has undermined the trust Americans once had in their reporting – while contributing to shrinking audiences and mass layoffs. That failure is a major reason millions of Americans are turning to alternative outlets, including X, Substack, and podcasters such as Joe Rogan, for news.”
All true. In the month or so since the election was decided in Trump’s favor, I’ve heard precious little non-emotive soul-searching from most Democrats, the preponderance of which can barely believe they lost. As everyone knows now, Democrats had talked themselves into assuming Americans would ignore the common sense signals in front of their faces and agree to four (or more) years of Obama/Biden-ism, where, as Rush Limbaugh used to say, every morning begins by asking themselves, “How do we fool ‘em today?”
Democrats also permitted the fringe voices among them to persuade the most gullible to buy-in to the “Trump’s a felon” line of argument, a non-truth that violated the sensibilities of people who recognized otherwise.
On the whole, yes, Democrats do need their own Trump, though most of them would never admit it, and even the ones who do would probably choke as the words exited their mouths. It’s a well-known fact liberals never admit to being wrong on anything, so contrition is not exactly their strong point. The terms “know-it-all” and “liberal” go hand-in-hand.
And many, many liberals still aren’t ready to let go of 2024 yet. As Zane pointed out earlier in his piece, most Democrats gave other rationales for their loss last month, such as failing to get their message out, or Kamala Harris simply not have enough time and opportunity to let the voters know her, or Republicans and Trump lied through their teeth and the mind-numbed MAGA zombies lapped up every Trump-ian word like a hungry canine perched over a bowl of Alpo.
Essentially, Democrats reason, anything – anything – explains why they lost. For example, they’ve blamed senile Joe Biden for hanging on too long. Whereas they were thanking him profusely just a few months ago for “putting the good of the country” over his personal legacy ambitions, Democrats lit into the poor old doddering dolt recently for being mentally enfeebled and deserving of a quick trip to the care facility after he abdicates the office.
Democrats have also tried hard to concede that their own fill-in candidate was, in a word that might be too kind, awful. So was her running mate. The first rule in politics (at least at the presidential level) is to advance a leader who’s relatable and likeable to the greatest number of people. Kamala Harris wasn’t that, was she? Remember how, when she first started her candidacy, that Facebook liberals kept running the picture of high heels to embody all that is Kamala?
American voters – just over half of them, anyway – were sick to death of being bombarded by less-than-up-to-it candidates who got far simply because they had two X chromosomes and/or pigmented skin. The notion engenders a natural negative reaction from men and social conservatives because these days, such imagery automatically equates to abortion and radical feminist ideology.
So, there were lots of reasons why the Democrats lost. And historians (assuming a truth-telling side wins out to write the record the way it really happened) will record how the 2024 election was a turning point in this nation’s journey precisely because Republicans had a man like Trump – and why Democrats failed because they couldn’t offer a competent alternative.
It’s taken decades for the concept to sink in, but voters no longer trusted the political class to provide the ideas and leadership to sufficiently improve the way things are in America. Most thinking folks don’t want government to do everything, just fulfill its constitutional duty and leave the rest to those who do the working and living and tax paying.
Donald Trump is a rich man, but he’s not an elitist. He likes tailored suits but he understands those who put on jeans in the morning. Trump also enjoys fine cuisine but appreciates a Big Mac as well. Is there someone on the Democrats’ side who can say the same? Democrats are snobs and obnoxious activists at the same time. Who likes that?
For their part, Democrats couldn’t find their own Trump fast enough. And while they’re at it, they could use their own Elon Musk, too, a hybrid business leader/celebrity who isn’t a “woke” kook. Mark Cuban wasn’t the one, was he?
Republicans went through their own wilderness time prior to Trump
It’s difficult to recall now, but it wasn’t all that long ago when Republicans were themselves struggling with the notion of allowing an outsider to come in and wreck things so that the party could grow in a positive – and electable – direction.
Think of the natural landscape after a catastrophic volcanic explosion. Everything looks dead or destroyed or buried, but after a period of time, cracks develop in the lava and plants start to emerge and small animals appear. That’s the Democrats now – they’re just like rodents scavenging for food on a blackened panorama.
Lest we forget, Trump and MAGA spent years battling to displace the stodgy Republican establishment, the Mitch McConnells and Paul Ryans of the old guard sticking around to try and throw him off course.
Some of those people are still there, too, particularly in the U.S. Senate, where good ideas go to starve to death and the old Washington swamp ways thrive virtually uninhibited by conservative boat-rockers.
Democrats will struggle for a good long while, but a look at past history suggests they’ll soon discover a liberal politician who makes them viable to the masses. Such an occurrence won’t necessarily be good for America’s future, but it is inevitable. And Republicans, post-Donald Trump, had better be prepared to keep the momentum going.
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