Commentary

Even before Harris lost to Trump last November, Democrats realized they had no message for voters. They surely didn’t have a leader and still don’t.

In the past few weeks, the Democrats have trotted out Sanders, AOC, Crockett and Jeffries, but there’s no leadership there, they’re just doing their bit for the Trump resistance.

Regular readers may recall my quoting from the New York Times column by David Brooks, in which he said, the problem with the Democrat Party is that it is currently rudderless, weak, passive, lacking a compelling message and related how he would advise his Democrat friends.

 “I want to tell them the problem is not the party leaders.  The problem is you.  You think the Democrats can solve their problems with a new message and a new leader.

“That’s not something done by working politicians who are focused on fund-raising and the next election. That’s only accomplished by visionaries and people willing to shift their entire worldview.  That’s up to you, my friends, not Chuck Schumer.”

Pretty good advice, I thought.

Then, however, podcaster Galen Druke, in a Times guest essay, “Why Democrats Need Their Own Trump,” advises potential candidates to avoid falling into one of two camps – moderate and progressive. Instead, “build a majority coalition by attacking the Democrat Parry and offer positions that outflank it from both the right and the left.”

Admitting that “it may seem like an audacious gambit,” Druke reminds readers that a successful candidate provided them a blueprint: Donald Trump,” and details how Trump became the GOP leader.

Without suggesting who that “Trump-like” candidate might be, Druke points to the need for him or her to carve out a distinct political identity in a party in which 60 percent of respondents view it unfavorably, the lowest in more than 30 years, according to Pew Research.

While names surface from time to time like – Newsom, Moore, Whitmer, Buttigieg, Pritzker, Beshear, and even Harris and Walz –I don’t see a Trump-like candidate there.

The leftist Arizona Republic, in its Sunday edition, devoted its entire front page and two and a half more pages to promote Arizona Senators Gallegos and Kelly as possible presidential contenders with White House ambitions.

I could hardly stop laughing when I read the subhead, “Both of Arizona’s U.S. senators are already creating a buzz that could put them in position for the White House in 2028.”

Gallego reportedly attributes his 2024 success to his “working-class upbringing and his ability to credibly speak to Latino men about issues.”

While Kelly’s experience as a combat pilot and a NASA astronaut is impressive, “his low-key demeanor reportedly leaves voters feeling flat,” and that may be why Harris passed him over for the free-wheeling, folksy Walz.

Here’s the way I look at it. If John McCain couldn’t win in his two attempts at the presidency, how can these two “ho hum” senators believe they would have a chance?

From rallies to taking advantage of moments in the news, like jumping in a garbage truck in Wisconsin, to scooping French fries in a Pennsylvania McDonalds, Trump understands retail marketing.  The man of the people.  He listens to them and speaks like them. He’ll be visiting with Texas flood victims today.

And I don’t know of a Democrat with Trump’s knowledge of foreign policy and domestic issues who can answer question after question for more than an hour.

With the Trump-Vance administration, I foresee a booming economy with a renewed superiority in energy, continued immigration control and progress toward peace in the Middle East and Ukraine, all providing Vance with a leg up in 2028.

But yes, a lot can happen before we can get serious about 2028.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.