Hi Frank ...
Regarding a crucial component in this article (Trump's media domination) ...
perhaps a look in the mirror? Why cover everyone of his vicious venal lies on the front page? You (the NYT, WP, and more or less every major news outlet, even the administration's critics) are his witting or unwitting collaborators in the big lie, by acting as a megaphonic echo-chamber, deadening us to his relentless assault on the truth. Please adjust! State the event once. Call out the lies clearly (and in the headlines), then let his lies trail off into his lost base. Cover meaningful policy proposals and allocations and misallocations of government resources. All of us, and especially MSM, need to stop being the liars' megaphones. Thanks.
29
all the above- plus be themselves. cant fake this.
4
How about one with the correct number of chromosomes for a human being, a vocabulary of more than 300 words, and an IQ at least in the high double digits.
10
I believe the successful candidate should treat trump like the baby he is. A little like Stephen Colbert, but even more direct with over the top mocking. And then the ability to talk authoritatively about real solutions. Never the hint of a lie, but savage mocking. Laugh at him to the point where he looks like a ridiculous idiot, which he is. The ideal candidate would get coaching from some top comedians.
7
Dear Beth Myers:
It's easy to practice "message discipline" when you know next to nothing.
8
Thanks for a well thought out and spot on perspective. We Dems should heed this road map
4
How about progressive ideas and substance?
This country is hurting because there has been no progressive agenda.
I'm talking about you, Democrats.
What - and who - do you stand for?
7
Sorry Frank but Amy Klobuchar is the exact Democratic nominee that will put Donald Trump to shame. She will not play his game and people will see him for what he is.
5
.. now it appears that there is no reasonable prospect that anything Mueller does or says could result in Trump's removal and replacement by Pence.
Trump famously said "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes" .
That has now been replaced by "Trump could be caught on videotape handing American military secrets to Russia and still not have any Republican votes for impeachment".
Whatever evidence and proof of criminal acts that Mueller could come up with, it is certain that such evidence and proof could not be as a powerful indication of wrongdoing as the evidence in the public record that Bret Kavanaugh was lying in the senate hearings relating to his confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice. Once Ford’s account included three people she said were there AND his calendar had them all at Tim Gaudette’s house on July 1, 1982, AND Ford’s description of the interior of Gaudette’s house in Rockville, MD exactly matches that of the actual house, which still exists: the only way that Kavanaugh was not lying is either: Ford somehow obtained access to his 1982 diary/calendar, or Ford has a time machine or Ford stalked Kavanaugh in 1982 and planned to do this, if and when he was nominated to the Supreme Court...."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4216597
8
Good ideas – perhaps too sensible, though for the ideologically, mentally rigid crowd that controls Democratic politics :-( .
Also, I wish Mr. Bruni had sought and passed along political wisdom from Frank Luntz. Democrats have long needed their own Luntz.
3
"...the vividness to loosen Trump’s stranglehold on the media. To that end, any serious challenger has to figure out how to tell his or her story in a riveting way."
If I were part of the press, I would flock to the candidate that didn't call me an "enemy of the people," insult me & my colleagues, accuse me of writing fake news, and who treats me & my colleagues with the respect the press deserves in a democracy. Duh.
6
Assuming he's not impeached, the Democrats need to pick someone who is: progressive, likable, smart, and witty. So far, I've yet to see that person, but Kamala Harris comes close.
1
Depressing reading. But just solid advice.
3
It seems tragic to me that the bar is being set so low. Most people can see that anyone but Hillary Clinton could have defeated Trump in 2016. How about instead of focusing on bringing down this most inept and unpopular President, pundits strategists and wealthy kingmakers of both parties consider nurturing someone smart and articulate, beyond the baby boomer generation, devoid of salacious baggage, who might bring the best to the office? Is Mr. Bruni so dismissive of the American public that he doesn’t think we would choose to elect that person? That we don’t deserve them?
Kasich should run as either Democrat, independent or, better yet, as the candidate of a new Liberty party. Bloomberg should do everything he can to make this happen, and then the American people should wake up and overwhelming vote for Kasich! It's up to us! We the People must save America! This is the way to do it!
1
The Sanders kind. If the democratic party establishment doesn't get in the way this time. Sanders would have mopped the floor with trump. Many of the themes and promises were similar. The democratic party establishment gave us trump by thwarting a practical progressive with a message that lower income republican and independent voters could resonate with, anti corruption by the financial elite.
13
Smarts and star power. A strong Presidential candidate who can build a case for a better road ahead coupled early on with a well-known and well-liked person for Vice President, like a Tom Hanks-type person. I think that would be the ticket.
1
We need a great wit, someone who can laugh at themselves and also communicate the humor of some the current stupidity without making voters feel stupid. Al Franken could have done it, but . . .
10
If only more Democrats sounded like Stacy Abrams I’d be tickled pink!
7
Too soon to be talking about 2020 and I'm not interested in anything that Cory Lewandowski says about anything. Three days before the election and Bruni is still having trouble finding something to write about. Send him back to reviewing movies, bars or pretzels.
5
Good insight. Calling people idiots , rednecks, ignorant, etc is no way to win back one time Trump voters. Many of those midwestern Trump voters voted for Obama twice. Democrats should try to figure out why they switched. Also try to remember it is a 50 state election not a popularity contest. Winning by huge margins in the Northeast , West coast & Illinois is fine but work harder on the rest of the states. There electoral votes count.
9
Our next president needs to be a scientist.
5
I gently suggest that "Rust Belt" should be retired along with "basket of deplorables." I doubt people who live there call their home "Rust Belt." Sort of like working people don't call themselves "working stiffs."
Language matters.
15
Trump is the symptom, not the disease. The disease is rooted in globalism, which Democrats embraced under Clinton and which, unlike any anyone else running, Trump promised and delivered on. And Citizens United, which broke the faith Americans had in their Democracy. Trump is just the ugly scab covering over these insults to the body politic.
6
I’m not seeing any candidate on the left who can beat Trump.
4
I’d say Bruní has some excellent advice. However, my theory is that the candidate will be running against some other Republican, with Trump jeering on from the sidelines. Consider, please: Trump never has had to work as hard as he is being required to. He isn’t even half way through his term, and he will be very tired in a year. Also consider that the chances are good that the “best ever economy” will be wobbling before the campaigning begins in earnest, and he will be considering getting out while he can brag for the rest of his life and not take the blame for it. Assuming the Republicans lose the House, his job will get harder, even though he will try to convince us he relishes it. Meanwhile, he will prepare for ending his reign on top: a Democratic House will give him all the blaming he needs for his own policies’ disasters, and he will continue to crow about his successes so that he can say he has accomplished more in four years than any other president did in eight. He will adore the pleadings of his base as he exits. Then he will be, as usual, unlike any other president as he helps the Republican nominee eviscerate the Democrats. Yes, he has a huge war chest already, and that will be his leverage to get a nominee who will do and say what Trump wants, bow down sychophantically, and, oh, by the way, guarantee that Trump will not be prosecuted for his many crimes.
So be prepared for a 2020 election unlike any we have ever seen, and keep your powder dry.
3
Oprah Winfrey is my candidate: she is the best antidote to Trump.
Read FDR's first inaugural (March 1933) address..
2
I'm someone from the middle of the country, might I suggest Bloomberg? One would expect that he'd been vetted fairly well during his time as mayor. He's a competent administrator, has stood up to the NRA, can speak Republican but hasn't sold his soul to that dying party.
Think big.....
4
James Carville quipped,"It's the economy, stupid" back in the 1990's.
In the contemporary world, taking into numerous recent global election results, "It's immigration, stupid".
Brexit, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Trump, etc are all examples of elections largely won based on the salient issue of our time, illegal immigration. It's Trump signature winning issue and why he keeps campaigning on it (and likely why he won't ever want to find a legislative resolution).
Moreover, along with Miller and Bannon, they have been able to push the democrats further to the left on the issue, which has alienated many moderate democrats and independents, who see illegal immigration as an affront to the rule of law and placing illegal immigrants over tax paying citizens.
The democrat who can beat Trump will need to moderate on the issue with concrete solutions (everify, increased border control, etc). Otherwise, Trump will simply define them as open borders and win again.
It will take strong leadership among a democratic candidate to take a stand against illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the current candidates are battling to go further left (Harris, Warren, Sanders, Booker, etc), with the primaries resulting in a losing candidate in the general election.
Mark this post as the 2020 Trump's electoral victory will be similar to Reagan's victory over Mondale in 1984. Democrat's greatest fear should be of a Repulican supermajority in my opinion.
3
Talking about constitutional amendments strikes me as pie in the sky nonsense with the current political allignment. It makes more sense to me to focus on actually achievable goals that will really help working and middle class people.
2
Two years away from the 2020 presidential election, I don't think there is or will be a Democratic candidate who can beat Trump. Trump will win in 2020; the only question is whether he will have a Republican House and Senate or a Democratic House and Senate. I think Trump will win again because of gerrymandered districts and the Electoral College. I live in MA, so my vote doesn't count or matter. Only those who live in the old Confederacy, Florida, Wyoming, and other "swing" states matter. That is where the campaigns will be focused, not on New England or California.
The Democrats would need another FDR or a Kennedy, someone who could repackage the New Deal ideas as new and market them to people who currently hate government, hate liberals, hate social safety net programs, don't believe in education or health care for everyone, hate unions and anyone who wants to fight for better wages and working conditions.
I don't understand the appeal of Trump to people who are hurt by the very policies the Republican party proposes. I suspect racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and a lot of fear of anyone who doesn't look like them and pray like them. Trump does a great job peddling fear, fomenting hate, and conning people. This playbook has worked before, and it will work again for Trump.
If Democrats want to win, they can't play nice. Yes, they need to simplify their message, too, but turning the other cheek only gets you slapped harder.
6
Al Franken was the best bet at taking down Trump.
I like our guy here from Colorado, too... Hickenlooper... he was against marijuana legalization in our state but when we voted it in he said "hey, it's the will of the people..." and he has backed it at every turn. He's pro health care reform in a genuine way that benefits all. He's moderate concerning business and respectful of the environment... a balancing act few handle well. In a word, I'd call him "genuine"... we'd do well under his leadership... we have here in Colorado...
But still, Franken would have owned Trump. That's why they went after him so quickly. And that he bowed instead of fighting obviously suspect accusations, is even more of an indicator of how good he would have been.
This is all just so sad. The very idea that we need a perfect candidate to beat the least perfect president ever.
6
Much as I don't like to think it's so, I believe the Democrats will lose in 2020 if they pick a woman and/or a minority candidate to oppose Trump in our current political climate. Sad but true.
11
Bob Kerrey? Seriously? As if he mattered to the party today. As if he's, under any circumstances, said anything BUT "mix some Republican in with your Democrat; that's what Democrats need to do." Clearly that's where the increasingly terrified Times is heading--and you'll have 10 columnists explaining why that's not the most tired, futile and hopeless-leaning Republican party is supposed to be a consrvativean-leaning Democratic party. And that will be called "the center." But not by actual Democrats.
3
John Hickenlooper seems the best choice to me. A successful two term governor of Colorado, he brings a unique combination of political experience untainted by the brush of being a Beltway insider.
He has an interesting mix of centrist and liberal positions, and seems primarily guided by common sense rather than doctrinaire ideology.
True he lacks foreign policy expertise, but a good team and the right VP can fix that easily.
Biden also looks a good choice. No radical lefty can win, since centrists, if faced with a choice between a hard right winger and an equally hard left winger, opt for the right winger by a margin of two to one. Only a moderate progressive can beat Trump, or any other Republican, since all the so called "Rino's have been culled out of the party.
4
So many words but nothing to say. The Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 has to be fresh, has to be passionate, has to have a great comeback line, has to be able to withstand the cruelty of Trump, has to defend the environment, highlight the advantages of bring allied with our former allied nations, has to embrace multiculturalism, and gays, and women’s rights, and be a person of color or at least not a standard-issue caucasian candidate, has to outline a plan to save public education, has to be honest, has to be real, has to have charisma, has to not expect to win.
What the Democratic presidential candidate cannot have is much of a history with the tired, corrupt Democratic party, cannot have a heart of gold that’s going to save the world’s poor, cannot play to the extreme, or placate or patronize, they can’t come off as calculating and ambitious, and cannot be a Republican masquerading as a Democrat.
I’m out as a candidate, and so are all the potential candidates Frank Bruni mentions. It’s an impossible task, but somebody’s got to do it. Four more years of Trump and we need not worry about 2024 because the USA will be irreparably torn and broken. Who is this person???
4
@Pietro Allar Bernie Sanders is the only potential candidate who would beat Trump.
Most NYT readers seem to be timid and out of touch with why Obama voters voted for Trump.
Now is the time for a bold agenda, loudly proclaimed with authenticity by someone with ideas to match the times, and by someone with good judgment.
Bernie Sanders 2020!
3
The elephant in this room is what will eventually be learned about Trump's involvement with Russian Money, before and perhaps during the election, and what may be learned from his Tax Returns if a Democratic House can get ahold of them. I suspect the Mueller investigation might well reveal enough to get Trump to quit.
Then we have a brand new ballgame with...Pence?
6
Anyone notice that for all Democratic candidates itching to run in 2020, not one is emerging who has the feel of a winner? The press and pundits are looking in the wrong place.
If you want Trump out in 2020, don't look to the Senate or even rising star governors. Dems need their own outsized personality with Trump's innate ability to attract. A traditional politician will stand no chance.
Hollywood.
2
Swing voters in swing states
It's been the same for every presidential election for the last 40+ years. The candidate that wins is the candidate that wins over the narrow group of swing voters in just a handful of states, PA, OH, FL, WI and a few others.
If the DEMs want to win the White House in 2020 they have to be ruthless about selecting a candidate with an image and manner that will appeal to swing voters in PA, OH, FL and a few other places.
But just because they "swing" does not mean they are "centrist". That's a serious mistake to make. No, "centrist" is something else entirely. Centrist DEMs tend to align with Wall Street and the Big Money. But the swing voters are for the most part in the rural areas and smaller cities. They don't want New York City (Clinton et al) telling them how to live. They often work in major industries such as automotive, steel and coal, which are now struggling. They may not have gone to college. They work hard and struggle to stay ahead. They're very sensitive about having their threatened incomes be even more threatened by taxes. But they're no friends of the rich. So proposing a tax package that raises the highest bracket rates while supporting the working class (as Bernie Sanders proposed) could actually be popular with them.
Too much to say in this limited space.
Focus on the swing voters in the swing states.
3
The top recommended comment by Edward from Wisconsin, really hits the nail on the head: Obama had a mandate to restore the New Deal, and restore the economy with massive stimulus, and emergency loans to home owners. But instead, he established a new norm for Democrats: That of rejecting any initiative not approved of by donors and lobbyists.
In 2008, Democrats won *huge*. Why? It was because the housing bust and financial crisis laid bare the corruption of our financial system, our politics, and our economy. Obama energized voters, with the the more economic populist, reformist, unifying messages - during the 2008 campaign.
Yet in 2010, Democrats were *routed*. Why? Because it was obvious by then, that Obama's populism and calls for reform were fake. As Wikileaks confirmed, Citigroup had picked Obama's cabinet (Geithner, Summers, etc) - long before the general election. And Obama (a Democrat) *cut* SS.
Democrats were once the party of FDR, and Truman, and Kennedy, and LBJ. The party of honesty, and workers rights.
Our nation will not survive, if donors continue to have veto power over the candidates for both parties. Slowly growing corruption, is the path we are on. Just because Trump is corrupt, is no reason to accept corrupt Democrats. Obama has cemented the norm that we cannot attempt legislation opposed by *any* donor - and indeed must cede control to lobbyists. It is critical that we elect candidates who will challenge that norm - particularly on economic issues.
7
Trump is not popular - no matter what he or Fox News thinks. He is historically unpopular - he has never polled above 45%. Although I agree with much of Bruni says - I think Hillary was a horrible candidate - I think she's a nice person - I don't dislike her but she ran on Bill's platform. Democrats need to reclaim FDR's legacy. The goal should be to enroll as many millennials as possible. They are not going to buy the GOP lite version that Joe Biden and the Democratic establishment are selling.
Beto O'Rouke or someone a lot like him is what we need. Integrity, articulate, strong, and unapologetically progressive.
8
@Moonwood Your describing Bernie Sanders!
3
I agree that with this assessment. To take it a step further, someone with great comedic wit who could humiliate him would fit the bill—someone both unflappable and impervious to his jabs and provocations. Jon Stewart we need you!
1
Even after all this time I still think that Trump is vulnerable to the right kind of attack -- and I am amazed that none of his opponents have done it.
Trump's vulnerability is his ignorance. Has anyone heard him speak about any issue whatsoever in any depth? I haven't. I'm willing to be informed if someone can point to a source.
The attack needs to be something like, "Of course Trump wants us talking about his lying and name calling! Those are the only topics he knows anything about! He knows nothing about government, or trade, or immigration policy or anything else. If you don't believe me, listen to him struggle to talk about policy! He's barely a bumper sticker. We need a leader who actually knows what he's doing.
"You can't govern if you don't read, you get angry at anybody who doesn't lavish praise and you spend the bulk of your time watching Fox or CNN."
"There are educated and thoughtful conservatives. I disagree with them on some things, but they earn my respect. Trump doesn't -- because his entire Presidency is like a kid faking his way through a book report on a book he didn't read".
And, then, when Trump name-calls, "What a surprise! Of course he wants the conversation to be about name-calling. He doesn't know anything about government!".
4
RE: “There are a lot of people who are exhausted by the daily rancor that Trump has treated the country to and by this kind of tribal politics,” said David Axelrod,...
The mainstream media is responsible for 90% of the rancor. Their treatment of Trump makes their horrible treatment of Reagan look like a lovefest.
You know the mainstream media had lost its mind when Trump asked the NATO partners to start paying their fair share and the them media attacked Trump instead of siding with the US!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!!!!
Not one story or article asking the European leaders why they don't meet their spending targets. Especially after the US saved Europe from itself three times in the last century WWI, WWII and the cold war. Since WWI its been a one way flow of lives and money from the US to Europe.
3
Democrat has not still get it how to beat the Economic Booster, Job Job Job President, Trump in 2020. The key to beat Trump in 2020 is that which Democrat candidate is able to real work out of strong Economic plan with detailed strategies how to boost, restore and rebuild rust factories, coal miners and so on. Why I voted for Trump 2016 even I was not Republican? In July 2016, he announced his Economic Boost Plan in the rust Aluminium Recycle Factory in small town in PA, OH, MI and WI and Energy Independent in N. Dakota. Nowadays GDP growth 4.2%, lowest unemployment rate, 3.7% are enough to prove that the President is action of man as well as the Economic promises kept.
2
I want a boss matriarch to run this country.
Frank, I beg you to sit down and replay Chris Matthews and Beto O'Rourke on "Hardball" last week. Not only is Beto ready for prime time, but he is thoughtful, centered, and quite willing to work in a bipartisan manner to actually get things done that will have lasting impact on our country. Contrary to how he is being painted by Cruz and Trump, he is not an open borders, let 'em all in candidate. However, being raised in El Paso he does bring life experience and the knowledge that immigration reform doesn't include the military, separating familes, and a "scare the hell out of everybody" approach.
There are many young, qualified Democratic candidates entering the arena. They actually have a positive and forward thinking agenda. And in case your memory has completely failed-so did President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Jobs training for twenty first century opportunities versus coal mining, desperately needed infrastructure investment, need I go on?
5
Wouldn't it be inspiring if we could manage to turn this national travesty into the unifying moment that it truly has the potential to be? Isn't anyone else tired of dividing people by zero and waiting to see what happens?
The biggest obstacle to achieving something productive is nihilism, conscious or otherwise. Without hope, there is just hopelessness. The choice does not seem particularly difficult.
1
I’ve avoided your columns recently because I thought they were irrelevant. This one is different and I thank you. The comments are perceptive and but if campaigns were won by perceptive insights we wouldn’t be where we are.
3
Yes, Frank, we understand the need to shake up Washington in an inconsequential way, something which it's easy to agree the Democrats failed to offer in 2016. But let's be fair, Obama offered that in 2008, only to have McConnell and his race-baiting Republicans infamously declare on the night of his Inauguration that their only priority for the next four years was to prevent a Black Family from inhabiting a White House for another four years rather than working to get our country on track again.
What's not so easy to understand is how otherwise well-meaning, sound-thinking people can overlook the most viciously divisive candidate in our history and cast their votes for Trump despite his consistent record of utterly disgraceful behavior. And we have yet to touch upon the inherent evils of the McConnell era.
The tone of rationality with moderation and tolerance which you urge is what the overwhelming majority of the electorate is seeking. It's convincing enough for me to sign up for your weekly email newsletter despite my reservations of having to filter one more email of significant import from the flood of trash that clogs my inbox every day.
Just as I suspect many Trump "supporters" didn't vote for the candidate they actually preferred in 2016, neither did I when I voted for Clinton. Tragically, as things turned out, those were the only two candidates the major parties offered us. Will we be satisfied to allow a repetition of that travesty in 2020? I certainly hope not!
2
It's hard - next to impossible - for me, personally, not to embrace the advice of Holder or Clinton when they talk about "they go low, we kick 'em" because heaven knows that's what they deserve AND MORE! Still, I would apply the advice that I've always applied to how Israel has been able to avoid Armageddon for so long: we can't (or won't) kill ALL of 'em so we have to find a way to live with 'em even if we hate 'em. In the case of American politics, I despise those people I see on the screen behind the fraud that calls himself our president BUT since I don't see our country splitting into separate entities in my lifetime, my goal is to figure out a way to WIN all the powers of government that the sane get the keys back to the asylum which the inmates currently possess. I should add that by "sane" I don't necessarily mean "Dems" because I have no faith in their ability to WIN. Still, so long as you're against the GOP then I'm for them - that's what it's come to. I realize some decent candidates might not provide me with everything I'm for BUT as long as they're against the direction this country is going in and will roll back the policies of this heinous government then I'm for them. Some parts of the country will respond better to one route to victory than another route, therein lying the problem. SO whichever route a candidate takes, that being the high road or kickin' 'em hard, is fine with me but for heaven's sake their route better lead to victory!
4
Democrat House need to find out tax release of 45th. What is the reason for refusal by 45th? If you don't release taxes, you don't have to come in public platform/ service. This guy actually came to White House to make money, not for public service.
2
It's funny that Sen. Bernie Sanders is not mentioned. He was the most popular candidate at the end of the 2016 primary season, and many Trump supporters expressed admiration for him. Clearly, he could have attracted voters away from Mr. Trump, and very probably would have won. The fact that the Democratic liberal establishment ignores and distains such a proven candidate may be an indication that they will lose again to Mr. Trump in 2020.
10
@David
Ignored by the media, it would seem, as well. Shocking that, given the scope and direction Bruni took in this piece, not a nod to Bernie?? The further I got in the article, the more I was convinced he was saving him for last but *wait for it, wait for it* ... nothing?? Did NYT learn nothing from 2016? Bernie, I believe, is Trumps worst nightmare. And to Trump's credit, I think he knows it.
6
Biden and Warren (and Sanders!) will be too old in 2020. Whoever the candidate is, it will be someone no one considers now. My money is on LA Gov. Edwards.
2
I want a President who is a great politiciann. Eg like FDR on Lincoln. It is a political job and, I think, deserves a Professional.
I would also favor one who does not have young children. I understand Obamas decision to be a good parent. But I need a President who can work evenings with Congress etc. A cantidate with young children would be neglecting at least one of her/his responsabilities.
Democrats' message is "we have some ideas for how to solve the problems we face". Republicans' message is "we promise to hurt the people you hate". How can you reason with that?
5
@imr90
Not letting illegal aliens invade our country is not hurting people who are hated. It's making sure that the US sets its immigration policy not illegals.
2
Let me remind my fellow Democrats to consider the primary calendar while you are either handicapping the race or determining which candidate to support for the presidential nomination. Unless the schedule changes, remember this: the crucial late February South Carolina primary is followed by several Southern state primaries in early March on Super Tuesday and a few more later that month. To win these Southern primaries, candidates will require strong African-American support.
2
To beat Trump, Dems have to take the center. They will get everyone to the left, so stop falling all over yourselves trying to out-liberal each other and waste time preaching to the converted. Get the unconverted to show how the Republicans are screwing their rank and file bypassing them with largess to the rich and marginalizing their employment opportunities, denying them affordable healthcare.
Rest assured, I'm going to vote Democratic up and down the line, but here goes.....I think you need a guy (yes, a guy, because Trump will rain insults all over a woman and obfuscate any real debate. It's got to be a fair fight in a political barroom). The guy should be from the MidWest, South, or west and preferably a big red state where this guy is popular. He should have been in the armed services and be ready to play that card when necessary. It's about casting and winning – not high-minded principles. The principles, legislation and judges come AFTER you win. No win, no principles, no nothing. In other words, "just win, baby!"
5
well said!
So in other words, you’re arguing for a candidate to deliberately misrepresent who they are to get votes, so that when they are in office they can push another agenda that the people who voted for him did not support?
That is disgraceful.
1
Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke. That’s the ticket.
7
'Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke. That’s the ticket.'
Yes that is the dream ticket the GOP has been praying for.
3
@AutumnLeaf
That's almost as good as Sanders/Warren
As a Hispanic woman I think it’s offensive that Mr. Rourke poses as a Hispanic. He’s not. He’s a liar. That is cultural appropriation and it needs to stop.
Hispanics/Latinos should be able to have their own candidates instead of this clown trying to manipulate us to vote for his liberal agenda.
The midterms will answer, where this country wants to go, sadly Trump has a good size followers, they are all right wing Christians, no education, does not like blacks, Muslims, Jews, and gay people, if they win this midde term election , we, the whole nation must look to ourselves who really we are, and the answer is very scary , but if they do not win than 2020 looks much more bright , n more Hillary or Biden, or Bloomberg and so fort , but we do have young, high IQ young people in our country, we can find a true American from either party and can be our President, if not our country in danger , so let pray for our Country's future
2
Go to rural areas and listen. People are very anxious about their families' futures.
While I am far from being a Trump supporter, his observation about black voters, "What do you have to lose?" rings true to me for those who are struggling.
If the democrats do not sell hope, we'll have 4 more years of DJT.
My prescription... sincerely promise:
1. Jobs.
2. An education system that works for everyone.
3. The people before K Street.
4. Compassion.
5. No more wars on the China credit card.
6. Infrastructure. Be honest and say, "We need to raise the gas tax by a dime (or whatever), and we're going to spend those dimes on roads and bridges."
7. Fiscal integrity.
5
I have great appreciation for Frank Bruni's nimble mind, his intuition, his subtle humor, and his clarity. This time I can only say: "What's the rush? The mid-term elections they will not have ended even next Thursday, I predict, and will not be 'Old News.' Therefore, talking about a candidate in 2020 is, shall we say, like the news of the death of Mark Twain in 1890, 'a bit premature.'
On the other hand, my preliminary advice to all the would-be Democratic candidates --apart from reading Frank Bruni's article -- is to convene a get-together after pretty much all of have announced their candidacy, and to talk about avoiding a Democratic bloodbath. If this will be a race we [they] want to win rather than an Ego Trip, we'll need to winnow down the field to no more than 5 candidates (my preference is 3-4, at most). Each must be charismatic; must be willing to follow Tom Styer's, Eric Holder's Michelle Obama's, and Bill Maher's advice on winning; and must understand that, should Trump be their opponent, traditional, civilized niceties may not be winning options. Let's try it after the dust settles on a harrowing 2018.
4
Actually the word that comes to mind is none.
1
It’s Immigration, stupid.
We NYC Democrats have no idea how much anti-immigration feelings pervade throughout the country. I travel all over, and have many friends and relatives in the “fly-over states”, and speaking privately, most don’t want ANY immigration. They say, “pay the grape pickers and the slaughter house workers an honest wage. Yeah, things will cost a bit more, but we get to keep things as they are. More immigrant employees means lower wages, higher rents.”
Democrats just cannot phantom how important anti-immigration feelings are, and they are not shared with pollsters, it’s too embarrassing to be seen as xenophobic.
Yes, it’s silly to have one issue be so important. But, people have not recovered from 2008, no matter what the statistics say. And, in times of economic uncertainty, voters don’t want more people arriving.
3
@Lily
You're on the right track, but not entirely there.
Anti-immigration sentiment does *not* pervade the country, except to the extent that Democrats have fraudulently conflated "illegal immigration" with "immigration".
3
@Lily: The Democrats are in favor of a minimum wage of at least $15 / hr. The Republicans are against it. But it would make a lot of jobs that Americans now refuse to do more attractive to them, and reduce the need for employers to rely on illegal and therefore easy to exploit immigrants. It would indeed make things they produce more expensive, but that's the price we'd have to pay.
@Lily
Even more so most illegals go to inner cities. 500K illegals in NY metro area. At 4 people per household that's 125,000 housing units off the market. No wonder housing is so expensive in the US.
Hopefully Trump won't be around by then and Mueller has indicted the entire administration.
5
@Jacquie
That's a good, thoughtful strategy.
2
Frank,
As a European born American, I was a registered Democrat for a long time; then I declared myself an Independent. I am at odd with my European family members who claim that I have abandoned my roots. However, in my 25 years in the US and in academics, I have seen many changes.
The Democratic Party has abandoned its roots, i.e., factories and the country-side, moving instead to Hollywood and the big east and west coast cities. Frankly, I don't care whether Hollywood millionaires endorse my candidate. I have nothing in common with Hollywood.
The Democratic Party has espoused a feminist and Marxist agenda with which I cannot identify. The #MeToo movement is the ultimate example of Hollywood hypocrisy. They objectify women and human sexuality in general, but pretend to be virtuous.
The Liberal elite has no respect for the religious people in the country; I heard Obama poke fun at those who read the Bible;
Liberals accuse Republicans of being racists, while they live in 'white' only gated communities and send their kids to private academies where the tuition is higher than at a state college.
Since I do not consider myself an ideologue, I would gladly return to vote for a Democrat if he/she could abandon the current Democratic identity politics and move to a more traditional broad-based agenda that took care of the poor rather than the liberal elite.
5
I am a 25 year old carpenter/construction worker, and I have no reason to vote.
Our great States full of beauty and potential are currently relates to a stagnant body of water. Our politics have grown to a stalemate, making the water stagnant and prone to unhealthy conditions.
We have blue and we have red, and each one is what it is without the possibility to change. This lack of change has been the exact thing that has led to the disease that is Donald Trump, 25th president. Completely at fault is the political manner of both sides, both of whom are now simply trying to "deal" with the potus. Democrats cant beat him, and Republicans wont beat him, they are all him. They are white supremacy, they are ignorance, they are stubborn power brokers, they are greedy. I dont know enough about history to know why this has happened, and quite frankly i dont care as it might lead to finger pointing like always, but I do know that our country cant move on, dammed up like this with close to 1/2 of everyone always feeling marginalized.
The lake that is our country has not flowed, and now it is growing to look like a disgusting moldy swamp, unmaintained and polluted. Water does best in movement, no doubt.
Upon this idea, I heard someone talking about something called sortition, and did some research. Sortition is a evolved form of democracy from what we have, and would help us make decisions away from the idea of red and blue. It would finally give our citizens a choice. I vote for it.
1
Get off your duff and go vote; gabbing is just an excuse for laziness and indifference. Because while it might be hard to get where you want to go via Denicrats, you can firget about getting there through Republicans.
2
Even if his "solutions" are (nearly) all very bad ones, it makes me very sad that it was Donald Trump who finally addressed the concerns so many have about our trade deals. The candidate needs to be able to speak to blue-collar workers, without sounding wonky.
2
Do the Dems really think that the emphasis on preexisting conditions is a winner? The vast majority of Americans either have insurance with no preexisting conditions applicable, are on Medicare, or are young & just do not care. It's inconceivable that this is a winning issue for most Americans. It will likely disappear with the results of this election.
3
Sigh. The reason you have insurance without prexisting condition rules is called “Obamacare.” The GOP will dump it, if allowed.
4
@JAM: Most Americans have family and/or friends with pre-existing conditions and when (not if) the economy tanks again, those who lose their jobs will lose their health insurance. And you do know that about ANYTHING, however benign such as flatfeet, can be considered a "pre-exising condition" for insurances and a reason to increase your premium. Forget about affordable insurance if you ever had a bout with cancer, diabetes, asthma, thyroid problems, or other chronic disease or disability.
1
It’s the ultimate choice between the Id and the Superego in all of us. Usually the Id wins but the Superego returns to clean things up. Let’s just hope there is something left of American democracy to grow hope again.
2
What Democrat can beat Trump in 2020? It doesn't matter. Trump won't run for re-election, even though he'll spend the next two years campaigning. It's easier and a lot more fun than actually doing the job of president.
1
Democrats can win by embracing a livable minimum wage, a strengthened Social Security System and infrastructure programs that will lead to more manufacturing jobs in the industrial mid-west and rural south. Tell the electorate how we can transition to Medicare for all. They will win by reestablishing economic ties with our neighbors and allies, strengthen immigration laws and strengthenthe integrity of our infrastructure (power grids, etc). But Trump voters must be made to understand that Trump is a huckster who enriched himself at the expense of those he pretended to support-- in other words convince the Trump base that he defrauded them.
Democrats will surely lose by adopting the memes of the "woke" generation and by belittling "flyover country".
2
@Paul
A livable minimum wage is nothing more than a big tax.
How about better paying jobs intead of trying to make entry level / part time jobs careers?
1
Dear Candidate:
Here's a simple answer that is powerful now and may be irresistible in 2020. Run on climate change. Not a doom-laden, recriminatory, lofty "I believe in science and you don't" version of climate change but a simple, factual, hopeful - and deeply capitalistic - version of climate change.
Start with the simple facts. It is happening. It is bad, and it is going to get worse. Something has to be done. People know that in their bones and will admit it if it is not presented in apocalyptic terms.
Then pivot to the economic facts. Changing in a decade the way that humanity fuels its homes, cars, factories and mega-projects will create a boon for the nations which propel it. Look back to the 1800's oil boom. Massive, widespread wealth was created. It will happen again when we replace fossil fuel with wind and sun.
Then ask the simple question: Why not America? Why should the east, not the west, lead and profit from this inevitable transformation?
Then sketch in government's role. Sell a carbon tax not as a burden but as a spur to action-- kick starting innovation and investment. Pledge that the government will make sure-- not just promise but guarantee-- that the bounty will be steered to the states hurt by the transition. Make that pledge sound as uplifting as it can be.
Don't soft-pedal any of this. Make it a solution to a desperate problem combined with a future of limitless potential and prosperity.
There is a good chance you will win. Please try.
2
Any kind, as long as all the dems get out to vote as a matter of course. This needn’t be a judiciously weighed decision, based on whether the dems have a sexy candidate; it’s a moral obligation to anyone who’s appalled by our current poor excuse for leadership.
4
After reading Bruni’s oddly clueless column, I’m less hopeful than ever.for our country’s future Has it come to the point where we must go to Corey Lewandowski for counsel on how to beat Trump? Presidential politics is 95% imagery. In his public appearances Trump usually stands or walks alone, with his trademark long red tie and long dark overcoat emphasizing the unbending vertical. That the strongman posture is (so far) mostly an act doesn’t matter; it’s the image of ramrod strength that reassures many at a time of scary social change, to the point where they’re willing to look past the personal flaws. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the economy keeps chugging along. Hardly anyone thinks long-term anymore.
Trump is a centripetal figure who has united the GOP around him even as he has divided the rest of us. We Democrats, for our part, are in centrifugal disarray. Apart from opposition to Trumpism and defense of ACA, we’ve had no compelling message for the midterms, let alone a forceful messenger who might credibly challenge Trump in 2020. Identity politics is a great turn-off in the rural heartland. After the Kavanaugh hearings, where the Senate Democrats went for broke and lost, we have the sad spectacle of red state Democrats desperately distancing themselves from their “crazy” liberal cousins. Even if we manage to take back the House on Tuesday, count on Trump and his minions to capitalize on this disarray.
1
I agree that policy is important. But, can one neglect the ability to manage interactions and communicate? It would be great to have someone who is good at interaction (e.g., good at something like Prime Minister's Questions) who can satirize as well (excellent banter). This would keep Trump (and many others) off-balance and the satire stands a good chance of irritating Trump. As well as policy, why can't we have politicians who are good at interacting and communicating? Both the show and the policy matter.
1
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is the ticket.
1
He won't be around to beat in 2020! It will be the fake xtian Pence. Via Mueller we'll see all the rot, the phony tax returns, all the lies signed by this fat fraud's little fingers!
2
Joe Biden! Or Hillary. You know she's going to run again.
The only obvious choice is Joe Biden, for all his flaws. He can speak to both the Democratic and the Trump base and he speaks their language. He is also a gentleman. I realize his age is an issue but he has to be very wise in his VP choice. Michael Bloomberg isn't a democrat and neither is Bernie Sanders and that matters to lots of party faithful. I don't think we need a healthy debate but we need to keep our eye on the ball and remember, Obama got elected twice. He is as good a model as Donald Trump who didn't get elected at all.
2
Think it best if Trump were challenged by a Republican, say a party-changed Bloomberg. Don’t believe it would be difficult as Trump isn’t a real Republican himself.
Maybe Mitt returns promising to restore honor and dignity to office. Or the #MeToo supports Nikki Haley.
If Trump continues to poll in the 40s, there are a lite of voters out there who would love him out.
Why do Democrats have to have a candidate from middle America? Trump is a NYC slick con man meme how did he resonate with middle America? Because he was on free TV and do not underestimate the Rush Limbaugh's on free loud and clear radio. I do agree the next Democratic candidate will have to be from the wide open spaces. Beto O'Rourke could do it if he wins the Senate election just like Obama. I am a boomer and do not want another boomer President.
Beto O'Rourke is the only possibility at this point.
1
The greatest need is for a disciplined campaigner who can ignore Trump. Which is extremely difficult. He says so many annoying, stupid things. But once you engage those, the debate shifts.
Trump is excellent at distracting, and changing the subject, and keeping it changed. Trump is excellent at not engaging where he is weak, and being outrageous enough that people cannot help but respond where he wants the response.
The democratic candidate cannot run a campaign based on responding to Trump's outrageous tweets. The proper response is always: that is just a distraction by Trump from his terrible record on health care. That is just a distraction by Trump from his terrible record on racism. That is just a distraction by Trump from his terrible record on gun safety.
2
Really kids, you all know the answer and its not in one person: get money out of elections, a national voter registry, and a tax system that rewards earned income but taxes unearned income at appropriate levels like 70 %.
Oh ya, cut the military budget in half.
You do that, you gift get some respect back. But like an alcoholic you, the U.S. must make amends for the genocide, slavery and waponized corporatism.
Easy one: Good record, experienced, and for those who feels it matters, Good Looking!. The Governor of Washington State.
The last paragraph says it all. Democrats should tape it to every mirror, every wall and every television camera.
I've read through many of the comments on this article, both those picked by the NYT and by the Readers. Many smart comments that should be considered by all potential candidates. But I've seen nothing about authenticity.
Yes, hyperbole, grandstanding, scripted words out of the mouths of these potential candidates, both men/women, but nothing that I can truly believe in. Or believe.
Yes, DJT is absolutely obnoxious, corrupt and repugnant, but he knew how to recruit his base and now how to retain them. They, so utterly disappointed by promises of both Dems and Repub politicians, wanted DC and their state houses upended. Can you blame them/us?
I'm a Dem, but I also could seriously consider ideas advocated by Repubs. No one -- maybe Kerrey -- has articulated that. I think the American people are adults, most of us anyway, and can handle the truth about so many important issues that affect us daily, but this is not what we're given. We're given pablum. Authenticity and ,additionally, a likeable personality. I want to believe; I want to like my leaders. So far, two days before mid-terms, I see no one out there who fits those criteria. The old have too much history; the young need some experience, but I really think they harbor the potentials. Please, authenticity. Be real.
2
Any you would re-elect DT? The most unauthentic person who ever lived. He tells the truth when he can't think of anything better. He is as phony as his hairdo and his lifestyle. PLEASE
"Trump can’t ever claim to be an agent of healing."
Sure he can. After all, this is the guy who claims he will protect those with pre-existing conditions.
There are some obvious things the Democrats need to do:
1) Nominate someone who will energize the youth and minority vote. They were there for Obama and went missing in 2016.
2) Develop positions that appeal to working class Americans that demonstrate a commitment to American jobs and economic growth. Stop focusing on raising taxes. Talk about raising wages.
3) Stand up for sound immigration policy. People are scared. Don't say you will abolish ICE as an answer. Talk about how you will establish border controls that will still protect our values, in a more structured way.
This would seem to be easy for Democrats to do these 3 things, but they have been missing the mark so far. If Trump is reelected it is more due to Democratic leaders missing the mark than anything else.
7
@Observer The Democrat will also have to reach white men. That's the reality.
4
Democrats lost the election to Trump long before the voting took place in November 2016.
It started with a shift left in the Democratic party. Hillary and Bill Clinton had supported traditional marriage between a man and a woman. This position had started to appear bigoted to liberals by 2016.
Feminist pushed the extremes. Bill Cosby had been accused of sexual assault and had reached an agreement with his accuser. Gloria Allred decided to use tactics beyond the usual legal system, even if they jeopardized due process.
The tactics employed involved trial by media. The New Yorker published accusations of 60 women that were too old to prosecute. A district attorney ran for office on the platform of convicting Bill Cosby. A first trial with one of the former accusers testifying resulted in a hung jury, so a second with five accusers got the expected conviction.
The Me Too movement pushed further. But questions arose.
What if a man's life is destroyed by public shaming? Since he didn't go to jail, the notion of due process doesn't apply, right?
Men who have become successful are often aggressive. They often harass, even when it is not for sex. Harassment seems to be a mechanism for success in a dog-eat-dog world. So claims of harassment are persuasive, even if we can't say exactly what the term means.
Some don't buy this reasoning. Some believe that Kavanaugh should be presumed innocent because the evidence did not reach the standard "more likely than not."
1
Democrats lost in part because of this sort of lazy coloring-book history, that’s for sure.
1
A previous comment stated the need for a candidate that campaigns on the need for a Constitutional Convention or Article 5 of the United States Constitution. Democrats and Republicans could then debate current contentious issues endlessly for decades and then have a nation we all could agree on. Democrats could seek to have the totalitarian state they desire one that tramples on the liberty of the individual. Republicans probably would leave the present Constituiton as is except for an amendment seeking Congressional and Judicial term limits to purge the government of the fossils in both branches. The Senate particularly looks like the dementia unit in a senior facility.
@KB
Good Lord, what makes you think endless debate would result in "a nation we could all agree on"? We would make the Balkans appear a single cohesive polity.
@Wine Country Dude
Precisely,sir there is no compromise with Democrats consisting of aggrieved masses led by a professional managerial elite who could careless what happens between New York and Los Angeles
How about a smart campaigner who actually visits states that can swing the electoral college? Or someone who hires a marketing team that understand that effective campaign slogans require verbs–ideally verbs that tell people what the candidate is going to DO.
HRC was a TERRIBLE campaigner with a TERRIBLE strategy and she STILL won 3 million more votes. Trump is beatable. More than anything you need someone who plays smart, doesn't overthink, and says what he or she believes and believes what he or she says.
part 1 of 2 (not everyone will thumbs up both parts)
4
@Amanda M.
In other news, the Chiefs outrushed the Broncos, but still lost the game because they scored fewer points. It's as though the rules mischievously disenfranchised those rushers.
How unfair is that?
2
Trump has never been a president for all the people--only those who agree with him and wear his hat. That's why those who don't wear the hat hate him so much. The Dems need someone who is hard to hate. The model is in Texas. Beto O'Rourke goes to places where he won't get many votes. Yet, he is communicating a bigger message: you don't agree with me, but I want to understand why not. He leaves. And often Beto signs pop up in deep read cities. He listens with a smile on his face. He wears no one's hat except his own.
2
@James Allen
It is important to listen and smile, even with those with whom you disagree, but Beto’s plan to offer an amnesty, to everyone who is here illegally, would undo our country. The PEW Hispanic Trust estimates there are 11.2 million undocumented immigrants. Professors at the Yale School of Management put the number at 22.8 million. If given an amnesty, every one of these people would be able to legally bring in their spouses and children, including unmarried adult children. Those who become citizens could bring in their parents, siblings, and other extended family members. (And, then, these new immigrants would be able to bring in their own relatives.)
Virtually all of the illegal immigrants are poorly educated. They are heavily dependent on government services and subsidies. If legalized, they would become eligible for even more government aid (such as housing). Most of their relatives have also had little to no education. Poorly educated people cannot find jobs in our information-based economy that would support them and their families, without massive amounts of government aid.
The 1986 amnesty was supposed to stop all further illegal immigration. Rather than stopping it, the amnesty inadvertently encouraged others to come here, on the bet that they, too, would eventually be legalized. Beto wants to offer another amnesty. This would inspire even more people to move here without papers.
4
He's not going to be on the ballot. Pence is.
2
Any kind. Hillary won the popular vote but lost by the electoral college. You can jigger with policies to get at the minutiae, but really, Democrats win elections, Republicans steal them...
3
@James Igoe
"Republicans win by the rules which were clear to all participants at the outset. Democrats complain".
There. Fixed it.
3
@James Igoe A candidate doesn't "steal" the election with more Electoral votes, even if he has less popular votes overall. I hate Trump, but to say he "stole" the election this way is incorrect, to say the least!
1
this was a terrific article to show what we don't need in a Democratic candidate. I wish there was someone who can stand out and start their campaign now well ahead of the election and get a message out that there is hope for a better America not thru racism, hate and fear of immigrants. So far I don't see anyone who stands out and shows that definitely Hillary should not run again nor any of the old faces that have failed in the past. Bloomberg can finance his entire campaign without being beholden to any group but can he beat Trump at his own game? If Mueller can show that Trump is a fraud , not a billionaire, ran scams all his life and leads his followers in the wrong direction and is beholden to Putin as many believe then Trump will lose his base except for the racists and neo Nazis.
2
I’d also suggest that Democrats and lefties really better start getting over the notion that they need a candidate who’s gonna put Trump on the spot and get him to burst into tears and confess his sins.
There is no “Spot,” for this clown. He doesn’t care if what he says is true or not. There is no moral core to drill down to. You can’t appeal to his patriotism.
He doesn’t have any of those things. And he’s supported by the cynical likes of Mitch McConnell, and those guys sold out the truth, the country, and common decency about three years back now. And his strongest backers are a bunch of white loons who’ve whipped themselves into a frenzy about “losing their country,” and simply don’t care about the flags they wave or the Bible they thump. They care about themselves, like Trump does, and not one other blessed thing on the planet.
So stop pretending otherwise. I know three perfectly decent guys who voted Trump because they lean Republican and couldn’t stand Hillary. These guys, you can talk to.
Trumpists? Fahgeddabouttit. These folks have gone nuts, and ain’t coming back from la-la land any time soon.
3
We Democrats do indeed have "a damned good game" to play. Follow the lead of groundbreaking Congressional candidates Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in highlighting the tenets of inclusion, fairness and decency that underpin today's progressive agenda. Stay fixed on ideas of responsibility and service, compassion and sacrifice, ideas advanced 50 years ago by Robert Kennedy.
During his campaign for the presidency Kennedy witnessed the chasm between those who give and those who expectantly take. Lives of entitlement fabricated on the backs of others. He learned that the first step in addressing social and economic inequity was to ask people what they wanted and how government could help, then devise solutions through community guidance and outside support, including federal guarantees and private sector investment. Moral outrage as public policy.
Kennedy believed that participatory democracy at the community level stimulated productive and creative interaction, not debilitating dependence. He saw that regeneration binds us together. As he stated in 1968, to be engaged in social change in a time when divisions are deep and inequities profound, that IS the United States. "We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others." Fifty years on it remains a call to action.
2
@Peter Myette
"He learned that the first step in addressing social and economic inequity was to ask people what they wanted and how government could help, …”
Many people are now asking for paid maternity/paternity leave, free or subsidized pre-school and college tuition, and one payer health care. All of the countries which currently offer these programs have traditionally restricted immigration severely. No country that offers these services can afford to do so if many of its residents are not educated enough to get good paying jobs which enable them to pay a decent amount of taxes.
For example, Canada has been able to offer health care by restricting most of its green cards to people who could contribute a needed ability to its economy, who know English and/ or French, and who could easily assimilate. These immigrants start working at good paying jobs as soon as they arrive which means they also start paying hefty taxes which help support the health care system. Until the last couple of years, Canada has had next-to-no illegal immigrants, and the ones they had were not automatically eligible for health care. Now that migrants have started entering the country illegally and requesting asylum, the country is very unhappy. With an election coming up, Trudeau is trying to deport those who have been denied asylum as fast as possible. No country can afford to offer everyone government services if a large contingent of people pay little in taxes.
1
How about running on the issues? For example, an article in today's paper is about the lack of clean water in small rural communities across the midwest. Many communities face their own "flint" crisis due to pollution from chemicals used in farming and processing plants. The deregulations that the GOP so love do help the profit margin but have consequences. Those consequences go unseen or under measured due to lack of a desire for accountability by the GOP, no funding of water testing for example.
In this pro business atmosphere under the GOP, the issue of clean water will become even more dire as more rural communities face 2 more years of deregulation.
When you have to buy water every day to drink, cook, brush your teeth or bathe and the government looks the other way then life is not good, easy or safe.
Run on the issues and let the Democratic candidates sort themselves out.
3
Wow. An entire article in which policy is barely mentioned, and then only peripherally. Bernie Sanders nearly beat Hillary Clinton because he talked New Deal policy. All of this other stuff, sure, okay, a candidate has to run a good campaign. But Bernie Sanders hit on the key: this country needs a New Deal. And the corporate Democrats and their donors don't want to talk about it, and fight anyone who talks about it. Barack Obama harnessed energy through his speeches, but blew it when he gave the banksters a free pass. If O'Rourke loses Tuesday, don't be surprised if he's the front-runner in a year.
6
As long as Berniacs keep pushing phony vote tallies and screaming at guys like Obama for not being pure enough like this, why yes, it’ll be hard to beat Trump.
3
People may pay some attention to theatrical candidates, but vote for a candidate who shares their ideas and knows how to get things done. The successful nominee must have specific plans for Congress to pass.
A president cannot just say Congress is at fault for not changing our immigration laws. He or she must be specific about which laws need to be changed and how. For example, the president should specifically say that the current law which gives foreigners up to a year to request asylum, after entering the country, needs to be changed to require any foreigner who needs asylum to request it as soon as they come here. (Exceptions could be made for those where the conditions change in their own countries after they have legally entered our country.)
The president could also ask Congress to specifically change the law on Special Juvenile Immigrant Status which has been used to grant green cards to tens of thousands of young adults from Central America. This law refers those who claim to be minors to state juvenile court judges rather than to immigration judges. Any minor who can convince a juvenile judge that he or she has been abandoned, neglected, or abused by at least one parent becomes eligible for a green card. Despite federal aid, these poorly educated young adults have a difficult time making their way in our country. They are becoming a new underclass.
We need a president who knows how to work with Congress to write laws that work for our country.
1
Trump has already proven to be a political master: he overshadows everything in our political universe and is the only politician that anyone really talks about. He gains media attention because he attracts eyeballs to the media outlets and inspires fidelity or hatred to his themes. Right now, for good or ill, he is a political colossus who presides over the Republic. He does not try to accommodate his political enemies, he dominates them. He doesn't care what the elites think about him; nor do his low poll numbers sway him away from the same messaging that he has reiterated since the start of his campaign.
We will soon know the results of his campaign by the results of this election. If the GOP expands its base in the Senate and can retain its majority in the House (even if by just one vote), it will be trumpeted throughout the world that Trump is an unstoppable force despite tremendous opposition to every iota of his platform. Then no Democrat will likely defeat him without some help from a bad economy or the results of the Mueller investigation.
The Democrats don't seem to understand that a large plurality of the voters want someone like Trump to smash the political correctness and liberal culture that has developed in the country over the last 60 years. No amount of demonization of these people will likely change their fierce loyalty to Trump or keep them from voting next week. And no current Democratic candidate looks formidable enough to defeat him.
5
Hey, know Who Else was a “political colossus?” Just so’s ya know, this is America: we don’t do political colossi.
1
Any good and decent Democratic leader with thoughtful policies can beat this failed president and his now repugnant party. IF Trump were to run for a second term, his lies, name calling, dog whistles and race baiting, and failed policies will not work in any primary campaign and debate this time around. The only spoiler for a Democratic win will be if a loud mouthed, finger pointing, Ultra Progressive, Independent Bernie Sanders runs in the primary. Remember, he is NOT a Democrat, and he spoiled the election for Hillary.
3
You have it backwards. Hillary spoiled the election for Bernie.
5
@joel dibkin
Touché
The notion that Trump supporters must be given the respect they vehemently deny those who question their hero requires examination.
Too many Trump voters and analysts treat as disrespect reasoned critiques of the effects -- and, critically, the intent -- of Trumpian governance. How inconvenient, then, are the oft-scathing and intemperate denunciations by, say, the Tea Party of, say, President Clinton, President Obama, and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Or are we to forget the effigies of President Obama in nooses? My advice to those demanding respect for the Trump crowd is ancient: Physician, heal thyself.
On who should be Trump's 2020 opponent (assuming neither Russian collusion nor obstruction of justice deter Trump from reaching that year's competition): Someone who is policy-fluent, as distinguished from the nonreader, to be charitable, who currently occupies our Oval Office; who, to draw the sharpest possible contrast, is a self-confident progressive; who can attract the very best to government to replace the burlesque troupe we laughingly call a Cabinet; and who has a sharp sense of humor. In this last vein, (a) Trump hates being mocked; and (b) has anyone else noticed that Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum demolished a Trump attack by comparing Trump to a pig, after which no further Trump volleys were launched?
The prize is for the taking in 2020 if Democrats recall their heritage, within which is a person named John F. Kennedy.
2
Is there something that suggests Phillipe Reines matters to anyone anywhere that I'm unaware of?
3
In response to Mr. Bruni, as we express our comments this morning, armed U.S. military troops are uncoiling barbed wire at the U.S. -Mexican border. The next Democratic candidate for the nation's highest office must rise to acknowledge and openly stand against the real threat of Trump's corrosive, uncivilized, dark "New Order" agenda. This will require a person of keen intelligence and ironic wit, who is well-informed of History. And, like Trump, he or she will not let up, not let up, not let up.
1
He or she must “be willing to go toe-to-toe with someone who I believe to be the greatest counterpuncher that politics has ever seen.” Please. I teach middle school. I could find one at recess.
2
@Sasquatch
So - you think that your middle school playground has better counterpunchers than Trump. Who beat Hillary.
Since you're a teacher, a guess you realize then that, by the transitive property, Hillary is a worse counterpuncher than any middle-school.
I like the campaign Beto O’Rourke has run in Texas and there is precedence in our history for a person like him. That person was Lincoln.
Just like Lincoln, O’Rourke was a little-known Congressman from the far western part of Texas running for Senate against a better known candidate.
Just like Lincoln during his failed run for the Senate in Illinois in 1858, O’Rourke has become a ‘national’ figure. It’s likely that O’Rourke won’t win this time either but it will be much closer than predicted.
Just like Lincoln, O’Rourke is a moderate but also a very tough politician and seems to know his way forward.
Granted, Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 largely due to a four-party split enabling the republicans to achieve a victory.
But watch for Beto to be a force for change in the Democratic Party and possibly a go-to candidate in 2020.
4
Assuming facts not in evidence?
After the elections, there will be so many indictments of the Trump Organization and family, the Administration and corrupt campaign, who is to say that at least the attempt of Trump's Impeachment will allow a favorable GOP nomination?
What is astounding is the co-opting by the GOP of the very points of the Democrat's healthcare talking points - the very same points they have voted against.
Don't the Republicans know there is a Congressional Record?
2
Just thought of another problem: Trump and the GOP have a way of distorting the message of their opponents. 'Democrats want open borders,' etc. Whoever runs is going to have to avoid the trap of constantly having to say 'I didn't say that'. If you respond, you let Trump set the agenda. If you don't, people downwind of the megaphone think it's true.
And by the way, Clinton never said all Trump supporters were deplorables. She said half of them were people with legitimate concerns and half of them were the deplorables who simply didn't get it. Pretty accurate, I'd say. It's the half with the legitimate concerns who need to be addressed by the next candidate.
@ss Candidates shouldn't say something even if it realliy is true. She put down a sizable slice of the electorate. I shuddered when she said that.
1
@ss
I don't care about parsing her statement.
Trump never said that Mexicans were criminals and rapists, but that among those coming across were criminals. Which was intuitively true, when you have large scale illegal entry.
That didn't keep the press from demanding his head. To his credit, he told them to flip off.
With all respect, this column is premature. Let's see what Tuesday brings. Let's see what Mueller and possible House investigations bring. Let's see whether the economy begins to teeter in late 2019. The successful message for the last two successful Democrats has been, change is coming and we can make change good. Think Bill Clinton: "Bridge to the 21st century"; "Can't stop thinking about tomorrow." And Obama: "Change"; "Yes We Can"; "Hope." Hilary Clinton, aside from other factors, ran into the brutal facts of the financial crisis, which had undercut Obama's "Hope," made it seem a fraud. Palin's line, "How has that Hopey-Changey thing worked out," told a certain truth. Obama certainly laid the groundwork for this long recovery but the upfront losses were devastating. That laid the groundwork for "Fear" and "Stop the Future," which has been Trump's message. I think a forward-looking message requires a relatively new entrant. Someone like Beto O'Rourke is appealing precisely because he is not battle-worn and the varnish of cynicism is not thickly applied. Not saying it's him, but his qualities seem trans-partisan. What we've learned from Dukakis and H. Clinton is that to be the best qualified and the most competent, in a governing sense, counts for very little. In every election since 1960, the most charismatic candidate has won. (Nixon-Humphrey was something of a tie; the unusual circumstances of the 1960s are also a confounder.) Now for Tuesday!
1
Let's not forget that Hillary Clinton had millions more votes than Donald Trump. He won because of the electoral collage and having more clout by getting more votes from lesser numbers doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
@Robert McKee. But it just happens to be the way votes are counted under our Constitution. Given that an amendment to change that will never happen (it would require smaller states to vote against their interests) one must play by the rules of the game that actually exist if one hopes to win. The popular vote is irrelevant.
9
Then maybe Trump shouldn’t still be obsessing over it.
@PR People also don't realize it's a two-way street. EC favors a lot of smaller blue and purple states as well.
1
Since the Republicans are using fear to get their voters to the polls the Democrats need someone who can calm those fears and expose them for what they are--hysteria.
Someone who can exude strength and confidence, possibly with Reagan's line of "there you go again."
I think that Trump is such a disaster to ALL Americans that there are many democrats who can and would beat him. But many would enjoy a narrow victory because they wouldn't be able to draw away any of his base. Not even the fringe. So we'd then still be a divided country with divided legislatures at all levels. No good will come of this.
What America needs is a candidate who can and will unite us all. I don't know who this is but he/she/they is young, has some experience in government, and isn't nasty. Their campaign will be clean, on point, and respectful of Trump and of his supporters. Nevertheless, this candidate will tell Americans, in no uncertain terms, why Trump is a disaster and why they are not/will not be.
2
"Standing out will require one nonnegotiable quality: the vividness to loosen Trump’s stranglehold on the media." I think Oprah can do this. The Dems may just have to draft her.
He/she who can win all Clinton’s states plus Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan (even if loses Florida) will beat Trump. Candidates like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Eric Holder will loose at least one of these three states. Deval Patrick, Beto O’Rourke, Jason Crow ( CO-6 candidate), Ralph Northam and Conor Lamb can win the three states and more. It should not be about making a point about progressivism (will work in some states) but about “Trump, You’re Fired!”.
2
Personally I’d love to see Adam Schiff go for it, but if Trump is still hold up in the Oval Office in 2020, I will literally vote for anybody the Democrats run. They can’t possibly come up with anybody worse than Trump because frankly I don’t think there IS anybody worse than Trump.
2
'“You’re going to get angry at me, because I’m going to embrace a Republican idea if it feels good. Don’t expect me to be 100 percent — 100 percent may make you happy, but it won’t pull this country together.”
I love the sound of that. I also suspect it’s a doomed fantasy.'
I think you're wrong about that. I think that that is exactly what people like me want to hear. I'm a middle of the road moderate. I'm not a right wing nut job driven by fear and I'm not a liberal nitwit driven by a distorted sense of how the world really works.
I want someone who recognizes that governing is not the same as politics. You may have to go through the latter to get to the former, but you better do that in a way that lets me know that once you're in, you will take the best ideas - from every quarter - and use them to help the majority of Americans.
Democrats need to stop being the party of Anyone Who Isn't White, drop the dishonesty of identity politics that requires turning a blind eye to the disastrous willful choices people make that leave them disadvantaged; stop blaming me because prisons are full of young black men who tried to get rich quick dealing drugs; stop defending people who break the law to enter the US; and for the love of Mike, stop telling me that I'm a racist and a sexual predator even if I don't know it; stop passing gun laws aimed at law abiding citizens.
And stop telling me that hip hop is art. For the love of Mike, stop telling me that.
5
#me too McCarthian overreacting destroying any chance of milestone first female U.S. President.
4
A "nice guy" is going to get steamrolled by Trump. Some of his insults and degradation sticks long term. Rubio is still "little Marco" and will never shake that tag off. I am not a fan, but the only DEM that comes to mind is Bernie Sanders who has a personality strong enough and gritty enough to shrug off Trump's degrading personal insults and trash-talk. Warren, Biden, Booker, Oprah, will be crushed by Trump. The strategy to beating Trump should involve ignoring him personally, staying as far away from him as possible, and NOT debating him. Being in the same room with him is fatal. He treats others with a certain needling disrespect and it sticks to them. Trump is an evil demonic force. Someone with no morals, no conscience is tough to counter if you are someone who doesn't want to lose those things.
3
Four words for the Dem candidate to employ: "There you go again."
1
@Mark Heisler
Good start. If he (or, the obligatory "she") continues to emulate Reagan on attaining office, we'll all be the better for it.
1
The Democrat Party needed James Webb in 2016. Unfortunately not many Dems knew much about him then, and probably even fewer now. He’s Biden’s age, and seems to be out of politics for good. A bit rough around the edges for a real progressive, but his heart was (is?) in the right place. And Mr. Bruni uses the phrase “cleaner and calmer”. Sounds like Nikki Haley. If a Democratic House sticks lances in charging bull Trump for 2 years, she could easily finish him off if Republican economic and social policies still hold sway for 2020.
1
Biden as a declared 1 term President. Kirsten Gillibrand as his running mate.
What amazes me, among other American realities is that too many believe the Republicans are pro the working guy. Even more bizarre is that the Republicans some how 'protect' the American democracy. Racism, sexism, scapegoating immigrants & those who are not Caucasian, discharging the realities that science has taught & feeling good because one elected a television reality star to determine America's future, is short sighted when the race is won only by those who look to the future.
At which point in time after all the truly educated have been vilified, ignored & fired does America actually move forward? Sure the DJTs & Republicans will make their money, but what will happen to ones' grandparents, parents, friends, etc., who will lose the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or pensions they worked for & were promised? Sure, if the families choose to save their lives, they will remain, if not, they will be dead. Will the disabled be treated the same way Hitler found palatable?
I can go on & on about what American society will become as the wreckage caused by the Republicans & their agenda of making money now & forget about the future. Here I point to South Africa or WW2 Germany, etc., with its legacies of white supremacy, racism, sexism, nationalism & what eventually occurred. Remember he/she who doesn't study & understand history, are doomed to repeat it. Let's hope this isn't America's opportunity to be foolhardy and short sighted.
Frank, don't take advice from Alxelrod. He's the guy who dreamed up No-Drama-Obama and almost lost the election. Americans, for good or bad, want their cowboys, a fight, a show. I'm afraid the Dems will once again rely on policies to see them through. When will they learn that most people don't know, except for the headlines what the issues are (we in the media are an exception and we are surrounded by people reinforcing our views). Most people vote their gut feelings and you have to admit that Trump gets to your gut. Why did Ronald Reagan and Obama get elected? Both were likable and could convince an audience. Contrast this would Walter Mondale who fired up the base by reading from a spreadsheet. I'm not kidding! Just look at 2016; personality carried the day over issues. Enough said.
JD
2
Go Oprah!!!!
It will take a Democratic Party that can provide a clear message as to what they stand for, in clear unison, with no internal dissension, a party with steely strong determination, no apathy, one that can show undecided voters why going Big Blue makes America even greater. Not one type of Democrat but all Dems.
1
And not a mention of any of the current women who've expressed an interest in running. Avenatti gets more space than GIllibrand or Warren? Wow.
3
@Donald Hullerman but the dude stated that a woman wouldn't appeal to enough swing voters to make it...and Warren and Gillibrand are classed as nut-jobs by moderate Republicans: Warren's inability to see the folly of publishing her DNA result renders her incompetent to run international policy...would you want somebody so dopey negotiating nuclear treaties?
2
Tough but positive and not too old.
1
I don't have a answer but as many do I have some suggestions.
Stop alienating people like me.
I support Trump's position on illegal immigration and that include asylum seekers.
Why is it wrong to enforce the laws we have.
It is obvious those 4 or 5 thousand people coming from central America do not plan on crossing the border legally.
If they did before they enter the country they would apply to come here.
Why don't they do that.
I supported Trump when he moved the embassy from Tel Avis to Jerusalem.
The Democrats have stated in the past that they supported that move.
I support the police.
This doesn't mean I will always say they are right but they should not be constantly be verbally abused when one of them has done something you think is wrong.
When you call me a racist or a white supremacist or a member of the one percent then you are rejecting me not just my positions.
I will oppose you when I can even if I agree with you.
We can have a discussion and at the end of that discussion we can still be friend if you do not belittle my position.
11
@lucky Your hope for an orderly process is totally reasonable. And in fact the refugees plan to present themselves at the border and ask for asylum, so it's all legal. We can ramp up for that and process them in an orderly way, and we should do so. We'd better get used to it, because global migration is going to increase with climate change, and immigration policies that are moral and practical will need to be developed.
2
Unfortunately the Democrats chose to throw their best 2020 candidate under the bus. The perfect foil to Donald Trump would've been Al Franken.
10
@Hotel Thanks to Kirsten Gillibrand who led the charge against Al Franken.
In a million years, she could not beat Trump.
On second thought, Franken’s transgression pales in comparison to Trump, so it could be an interesting matchup.
Anyone with half a brain could see that the photo of Franken “groping” a woman was comic schtick.
I, as a woman support the #Me too and Time’s Up agendas. But There is no comparison to the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby with Al Franken.
7
Someone posted:
The Democrats need a candidate who would champion the following:
1) A call for a Constitutional Convention to renew and revise the current one which no longer reflects life in the 21st Century.
Human nature is the same today as it was 200 and 2000 years ago and as it will be 2000 years from now. The founding fathers were addressing human nature not contemporary politics or technologies or culture
1
As a life long democrat I don't see anyone with the chops to beat bone spurs. Clinton, Schumer, Warren, Biden. Not a chance. The party also needs a couple of issues to fire up the troops. I don't see anyone doing that.
2
@Bruce Northwood Bernie Sanders has the highest favorability ratings. Bernie, because he has always focused making life more equal for all of people.
Bernie is the only potential candidate who could attract some of Trump's voters.
Bernie would beat Trump.
5
@Lucy Cooke As much as I love Bernie's style, I cannot accept his substance. He has no more idea how to pay for universal health care or higher ed than a Republican has how to fix the damage from tax cuts. He will never, ever win over anti-Trump Republicans--or a lot of Democrats, for that matter. We need a candidate for 2020, not 2050.
3
Any person who can get more airtime on cable tv than Trump but for positive reasons
2
@Peggysmom but mom, half the country think Trump is positive....they see him as hugely entertaining, his ideas are constructive... build a wall, fix trade with China, get N Korea to stop sending rockets, get more jobs for non-members of the establishment.... what else do you want?
1
@GJ Philip Saw your PM on tv. Perhaps we could swap her for Trump cause then he could build a wall
to stop so many sheep
from coming in to destroy NZ
@Peggysmom. Love it, can't quite figure out your meaning though.. we like sheep here: bring them in!
I must say our PM is hopeless... we have a native NZer called Winston who actually runs things, he's the Vice PM from a party called NZ First. Sound familiar?
I live in a border suburb of Philadelphia, which was red, then got purple. Obama won here twice. Then people voted in droves for Trump. Hard working, working class families, far from the media portrayals. Really, really far from the characterizations fostered by Neo Progressives and Liberal elites, whose limited roster of concerns (race, gender, immigration, fact checking Trump) seems all but irrelevant, bizarre, even. From here, both parties seem pretty far out, with the Democrats sounding especially foolish.
Then there is Trump, who, no matter what, appears to be his own master. He keeps it lively, with the world seemingly in his pocket. In the absence of anyone addressing the real concerns of these people, with what it takes to pull it off, the default is a quasi-tribal voting wave. Obama made the correct promises, but was easily rolled by the Republicans and only seemed to realize it, too late, at the end. And the Democrat trap is that, since he was black, if you said this aloud on any news program, you'd be labelled racist. So no one did...and Clinton offered a continuation of the same. Or socialism with Bernie.
So now Americans are stuck living in a paradox. Our personal aspirations, our hopes for our nation, our very civility, would seem to require that a "Philosopher King (Queen)" lead us. But history shows, and the primitive in us knows, that good things only happen when people have basic confidence in their leadership, even if that leader is base.
4
I don’t know whether the bit about Trump keeping it lively or the bit about Obama getting rolled by the Republicans is dumber.
One word -- AUTHENTICITY! Why did voters respond to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Because she really believes what she is saying. She doesn't need "talking points". Voters can smell inauthenticity (I'm looking at you Cory Booker). What else can explain why Bernie Sanders had the support of so many millennials -- he really believed what he was campaigning on. Trump has it - he's an authentic jerk and never pretended to be anything else. Voters just happened to be looking for a jerk in 2016 to stick it to Washington. I really think voters now want sanity, civility and if democrats get down in the mud with Trump, it'll be their undoing.
6
@J Johnson well put J. But don't forget that once you launch your rocket (candidate) they need to actually go somewhere: hard left commies like Cortez and Sanders are never going to command any loyalty amonsgt the Dem rank and file, so they'll only be lame ducks filled with outrage. Trump's enormous popularity prevents him from being lame a duck because the senators and congress people are afraid of his supporters kicking them out of office.
Perhaps the answer is to form the socialist party of America and be honest about the whole thing?
1
@GJ Philip agree that Cortez and Sanders are too far left of center to win over the Dem rank and file. My point is that the party needs to find a center left candidate who really truly believes in the policies and values they espouse and can communicate them in a compelling and meaningful way.
@J Johnson. As a Portlander, how do you see gun rights working for a centre-left dem candidate? Or abortion? (I'm not winding you up)
1
There's a reasonable chance that Trump will have defeated himself by 2020. His luck up to now has been astounding. However, his ignorance and lack of study is bound to catch up with him in a bigger way than up to now.
4
Good grief, this is such rubbish. Trump is president because of the Comey letter. That's it. This gibberish about him being some kind of political mastermind is embarrassing. Sure, I spent 2016 furious that Clinton could have been so stupid as to use a private email server, and she had other drawbacks, but anybody, virtually anybody at all would have beaten Trump if not for the despicably stupid, unprofessional Mr Comey.
The reason Trump was not crushed in the primaries was that nobody would do the obvious thing and simply mock him out of the race. "I don't want a president that spends more time with his hairdresser than his National Security Advisor." Mocking him out of the race is going to be easy in 2020 - if he is running, and I don't think he will be. All the more reason this is exculpable rubbish. The media should have mocked Trump out of the race too, but they pulled their punches for the profits.
My choice for the Democratic ticket in 2016 is Kamala Harris with Beto O'Rourke as her running mate. What we need to deal with Trump is a person skilled in the cross examination of criminals. Harris would shred Trump in any debate on any topic. Balance that with O'Rourke and the money would pour in - the perfect blend of age, gender, race and experience.
What people like Bruni should be concerned about is the evil and insane stuff Trump is going to resort to once he is cornered by Mueller and a Democratic House. He's going to start a nuclear war, let's focus on that first.
2
@Colin McKerlie. Colin, brother, you ignore the calculated political and criminal scheming behind HRC's email server. It wasn't stupid it was brilliant, as the lack of progress on it by the Republicans shows.
Factor in this well-publicised email-server palace intrigue and HRC is seen as an impossible President: unless you believe that rule of law is meaningless and the white-controlled Dems deserved to win...which makes you an entitled euro-centricist I guess.
Thus it becomes evident that the Comey letter is insignificant: what matters to voters is HRC's duplicity and cold political calculus, which even the diabolical Comey couldn't cover up.
2
No mention of Sanders, wow.
Bruni is continuing the fantasy Krugman called out that we are a center right country. Buttigieg's comments point to how stale all the other commentators are. He is calling for calls to amend the constitution as a main campaign strategy!
From Brent Budowsky in The HIll, exactly one year ago today:
"Fabrizio (Trump's Pollster) was right that white voters with lower income and lower education, who were fooled into voting for Trump in 2016, would have voted for Sanders and will support Democrats for the House and Senate in 2018.
America is a far more progressive nation than most pundits understand. They are waiting for the next great progressive Democratic president, whoever he or she may be. That person will lift the nation after the Trump nightmare ends and the post-Trump America begins in earnest in 2018 and 2020."
3
• What Kind of Democrat Can Beat Trump in 2020?
The midterms will answer some questions, but not the biggest one of all.
Certainly not Hilary Clinton or any Clinton avatar.
5
Trump has turned the Republican party so far right that it hardly matters who gets the Democratic nomination, as long as it isn't Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren. Trump's Republicans will never vote for a Democrat, but moderate Republicans who have buyers' remorse after voting for Trump will not make the same mistake again. They would vote for Dems like Booker, Castro, Biden. I think Castro would be the most formidable candidate. He possesses the decency, empathy, honesty, and intelligence absent in Trump, and he would energize the Latino populace who voted for Trump in 2016. The next thing to do is to repeal the Electoral College amendment and end gerrymandering. Remember, Hillary won the popular vote by 3 million. Where did that get her? So, combine Castro with the popular vote and you have a formula for saying adios to Trump.
2
@nzierler This is the time for bold.
There is too much entrenched inequality for moderation to prevail.
And regarding the foreign policy of the usual elites. democrat and republican, you can all thank Hillary for the rise of far right demagogues in Europe.
She disallowed a UN sponsored peace for Syria in 2012, because it did not remove Syria's elected leader, Assad. And then Europe became terrified of the mass exodus of refugees.
The U.S. needs the boldness and good judgment of Bernie Sanders.
1
@nzierler: good points but don't forget that Trump, unlike HRC, planned his campaign around the electoral college. If it had been about the popular vote he would have campaigned differently.
That fact alone makes HRC unsuitable because she wasn't smart enough to have the right strategy, a strategy that even the 'stupid' Trump could figure out.
Who wants a President that has to have her hand held to get out of the mall?
1
@nzierler Castro, as in the non- entity from Texas? Keep looking.
The fact that Trump won makes the next Presidential election confusing at best for all the reasons mentioned in this article. A Dem candidate doesn't want to look like a wannabe Trump or a Trump type of political rebel but at the same time doesn't want to appear too lofty or elite.
Whoever is chosen will have to walk a tightrope like we've never seen before, threading the needle effectively and with a flourish.
It's clear that at least 40% of the electorate hears Trump's dog whistles and applauds them, and while the other 60% may not like the 40% much they will have to find some common ground.
Healthcare may be that common ground since Trump dropped the ball on it. A fair and reasonable immigration policy might help.
But what's most important is that the Dem candidate must appear above scandals and in fact be appalled by them and convince the 40% they should be too. That's going to be difficult with a good jobs market.
1
@Ken Solin. Ken, my man, you're so right! The dog whistle thing is perfect: the Dems can't hear what Don is saying, because they aren't 'dogs'.
Republicans and others who are mere dogs respond to him because he shares their common experience: unlike the share-owning, property-rich, establishment, white-collar, never-get-dirty democrats who live in green-leafy neighbourhoods that have beautiful water and delicious air.
My advice, as a foreigner, to you: become a dog. Roll over in the dead leaves and enjoy yourself. Go hunting and forget about 'progressives' and conservatives' for a while. Enjoy a sunset, get drunk.... go fishing, drive all night. She ain't no good for you Rick, let's just go away until she leaves for Lisbon on that plane...
Sorry, got caught up in Casablance there, apologies, but you get my drift.
0f course, some individual or individuals in the Republican Party could grow some, primary Trump, and afford the more reasonable members of that party the chance to retire Trump before he has a chance to render even more indelible the stain he has already laid across great swaths of your country.
If there are any Republicans with a still-intact conscience and who, in their hearts, believe that their country is more precious and worthy of saving than the personal and political life of the sitting narcissist-in-chief, then I beg of you: do your duty and step up to the plate. If you went into public service to serve your country, you should know that it has never been in more dire need of your help than it is now. Just do it. It may seem that
Trump is vanquishing Democrats but he is working to vanquish you and the country as well.
The country needs citizens, not consumers!
Citizens have rights, but above all they have responsibilities.
7
For the Dem to have any chance, he or she must not pander to the ultra liberal leftists who are a small percentage of the party but make the most noise. The country as a whole is not ready for such radical ideas. But how does a more centrist candidate win the primaries without spouting the far left ideology? That’s the conundrum.
2
Gee whillikers, but I am tired of oxymorons like “ultra liberal leftists.”
1
@Robert
Oxymoronic why? There are many differences between old style left wing labor organizers like Saul Alinsky and the Barbra Streisand wing of your party. He's describing a subset of leftists.
@Me. Succinct and useful, but lacking in acumen: you forgot about George Soros and his machine.
What dems need is either someone like Don who can get free airtime by tormenting the media into doing exactly what he wants, or a benevolent sqillionaire who'll fund that magical centrist candidate through thick and thin: they could run as an independent until the primaries are over if necessary, then fall into the arms of the party of FDR, sloughing off the manic extremists like scum off the top of fermenting moonshine.
Frank, in my neighborhood you would face an inquisition for blasphemy. How do you convince the rest of the Democrats?
1
I know who we don’t need. The Clintons. Go away. Someone who can win. Anyone who can win.
4
Mark Warner and Kamala Harris ticket
For all the partisan passion Trump inspires, the 2016 Electoral vote was probably a high-water mark for Trump...
With that, the question becomes – who can pull Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin back into the Democrat column...
There’s only one answer – Michael Bloomberg...
To realize that, you need to look through the other end of the binoculars – don’t think about how passionate a rally your favorite Progressive could foment for the liberal media...
Realize that – for each one of that entourage – the GOP already has devised and focus-group tested a Trump-led strategy to flame any of them in each of these states till they flame out...
Realize that – for Biden – his main appeal is that he’s a half-measure in the direction of Democrat centrism...
PS
If you persist in your thinking...
Realize that Trump may get to pick one more SCOTUS Justice for every two more years he’s in office...
Realize that Beto O’Rourke may do as well in Texas as George McGovern did in 1972...
1
@W in the Middle I am curious as to how you think Michael Bloomberg wins Michigan, Pennsylvania or Ohio???
Maybe someone who does not favor illegal aliens over US citizens?
Maybe someone who does not relentlessly attack law enforcement?
Maybe someone who does not tell Americans they're all racists*?
*Mainstream media does this. But makes sense they might be "Progressive neighboorhoods such as UES, Georgetown, Pacific Heights and many others are segregated - over 90% white.
4
Maybe somebody who doesn’t hallucinate, and then scream at their hallucinations?
4
Mr. Bruni? Pay attention. No Democrat will defeat Trump in 2020 and no Democrat will have to. If Democrats win the House and do not impeach this lying, degenerate slime ball as their first order of business, they will have failed their party, their duty and their country. You do not let a cancer metastasize, you cut it out ASAP!
4
Somebody with a pulse. The Republican party is in a death spiral.
3
@Keith
What are you saying? That Hillary didn't even have a pulse?
@Keith
Oh, gee. As of the close of 2016, the Republicans had won the Presidency, both houses of Congress and the Democrats had lost more than 1000 seats across the country; they've just solidified conservative control of the Court; and they're in---a *death* spiral?
I always hate to miss out on death spirals. Must have been when I was napping earlier.
It disappoints me about Bruni that here is a consultation with many of the traditional politicos, dinosaurs who've been rendered nearly extinct by the times that produced Trump. Accordingly, it continues to amaze me that Bernie Sanders and his "Our Revolution" still gets no mention in any of these types of discussions. I've followed Sanders and his nationwide tours over the last two years (plus), and they are phenomenal (borrowing a label from Noam Chomsky). There are overflow crowds, showing Sanders' direct contact with the public--sometimes with Trump voters in their voting territories and winning them over. But to read discussions like this one, you'd think he and his multitude of followers of all ages (but significantly among the young) hardly exist, if at all. I'm not saying he should be discussed as a candidate in 2020, but there needs some mention of the influence of the movement that he has engendered. My hope is that Trump won't outlast this term, so the discussion about his potential opponents will be moot. Please!
4
A full page article by an NYT Op-Ed regular on this subject without a single mention of Bernie Sanders? Who'd a thunk it?? :-) It just goes to show yet again how fervently corporatist the NYT is. The small-money renovation (unfortunately, not a full-on revolution) of the Democratic party started with Sanders and still gets a lot of its energy from him. You'd think at least this would be very much worth a mention in an analysis piece of this length. Mr. Bruni, you are thoughtful and eloquent, but you can and should do better.
3
"assuming that nothing interrupts the president’s bid for a second term,"
I hardly know where to begin with "interruptions" to get him out of our government as soon as possible. I will just hold on until 11/7/2018 for guidance.
2
Mr. Bruni please write about what you know and not about the democrats. You obviously have zero understanding of what a liberal is or what a progressive wants. Your Party dealt a nightmare running against him should not be a problem for anyone with a few dollars, some patience and a platform that will clean up Trump's never ending mess. If the last two weeks has proved anything it's that Trump has gone over-the-top on tearing our nation apart and reducing our status in the world to a pathetic joke. The real question Mr. Bruni is what are you and the rest of Trump's supporters going to do to stop him from completely wrecking the GOP's reputation forever?
Inquiring minds want to know . . .
1
Forget the progressive vs. liberal vs. conservative labels. It's a dead-end discussion - unless a Dem wins in 2020, we can simply "Kiss it goodbye".
Promote a Dem candidate that can WIN over the disaffected former Democratic voters and reluctant Trumpsters. Possibly Joe Biden or Michael Bloomberg and ????
Get real people, our nation's future is at stake. The VP candidate can be / should be one of the next generation Dems, but that class is not yet ready to lead our nation against the GOP and the propaganda machine of Fox News.
1
It's fascinating that even FDR could not be the Democrats' nominee these days, were he to return suddenly from the grave. He interned many thousands of Japanese solely on a racial basis--and they were mostly people already citizens and residents.
In a day when statues of Christopher Columbus (celebrated for his deeds six hundred years ago) are coming down, the Democrats couldn't defend him without twisting itself into the same pretzels it did 20 years ago with Bill Clinton.
In fact, it would be appropriate for Democrats to lead the way in demanding that FDR Drive in Manhattan be renamed, say, the Barbra Streisand Expressway. And forget about--fuhgeddibout it--the Kennedy Center in Washington. How could you honor a man who was taking advantage of his enormous power to bed scores, if not hundreds, of women in the White House?
3
This may come as a shock and all, but pretty much everybody I know is perfectly well aware that locking up the Japanese was an ugly mistake and that JFK was more than a bit of a horn-dog.
We also have this dratted propensity for remembering the past, warts and all, so we also tend to recall that FDR steered the country through the Depression and the Second World War without shrieking and lying on an hourly basis, and that JFK was a wounded war hero who lost his oldest brother in the war before he did little things like pass the Test-Ban Treaty and get us through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I dunno about the weird assertion that we while away the sunlit hours tearing down Columbus statues, though. Are you really complaining that we have a bad habit of wanting to know our past as it really is? Cause hate to break it to you, but Nathan Bedford Forrest was a murdering racist jerk, Joe McCarthy was a cheap crook, and Nixon richly deserved to flee the White House in disgrace.
And let me offer a tip, free of charge: Trumpists really, really want to stay as far as they possibly can stay from yakking about the morals of alley cats. Especially when they’re trying to aim at guys who actually went and fought for their country. Were I so unfortunate as to be one, I’d also tiptoe real careful around topics like greed and corruption, too.
1
@Robert
In your party's treatment of Al Franken, I just don't see the perspective and good judgment--the determination to see the big picture--that you do.
I have never seen an acknowledgement or discussion of the fact that while FDR did much that was right, he also was (at least by present day hysterical standards) an arrant racist. He wouldn't even draw on his enormous wartime capital to integrate the armed forces.
There has been no great Democratic moment of introspection about this, although Democrats deliberately but fraudulently conflate the president's forceful call to end *illegal* immigration with racism or a desire to end all immigration. They treat the word Trump as a proxy, no a synonym, for racism and, indeed, among your party's small minds, it is.
Referring to JFK's being a horndog is of a piece with arguing that all Bill Clinton did was receive some oral sex, platitudes about abuse of power that run rampant in your party notwithstanding (to say nothing about Juanita Broaddrick's highly credible accusation of forcible rape).
And, there are actually things Trump does that I dislike. Hard to get your mind around that? Cf. reference above to small minds.
@Robert: So Robert, you're not really interested in dialogue then?
1
Hope none of those mentioned today ...
.... also wish people would look back and understand that it's only been 25 years since the GOP got any real congressional power ... and they have not held on to it like the Dem's did for 40 years previously. The GOP's power in the 80's was RR.
The Dems need a leader! ... and - not another Kennedy or clone.
The Dem's are all about voter suppression and Russia .... all plays to Trumps base .... and they have no answers to immigration.
The Dem's gerrymandered for 40 years -- making safe seats in every urban area .. some for racial reason. It worked until it did not ... they lost at the very game that kept them in power.
1
The Democrats will probably never get it together, so I don't hold out much hope. I think what people are yearning for is CHANGE in Washington. Trump promised change but brought more of the same old, same old. Corruption and increased deficits. If the Dems could find a fresh face who is moderate and who could start talking to figure out how we can all live together in peace and work for a better country, they might have a chance. The country is currently broken. Civil discourse is no more.
3
There is something missing in all the pundits’ advice for electoral strategy: we need to make the case for what most people at least believe to be deeply American values. It goes by varied names. Truthfulness. Honesty. Honor. Respect. Kindness. These are the fundamental contrasts with Trump and his un-American presidency.
But, most important, is to get out the vote. People who remain in Trump’s corner are simply a lost cause.
1
@Alan Gambrell: Deeply considered points there, Alan.
I can't say that CNN, MSNBC and the other Dem channels and leadrs reflect much of that truth or honesty or honor, can you?
It's worth noting that the US is just another country in the world, too. Other countries have much longer histories, with honesty, kindness and respect championed by their peoples: perhaps you Americans ought to study history and learn from others too?
Take Britain's Magna Carta, for example, signed by John in 1200 AD, that guaranteed due process and outlawed mercenary armies, protected private property and so on. (OK, it wasn't quite as nuanced as today's offerings, but Britain was inhabited by the invading Norman hordes and the crouching and starving Saxon majority, with the original welsh restricted to their hill country forts, so the Magna Carta was pretty good considering)
It would be really productive if someone, anyone, but especially potential dem presidential candidates would sort through the many comments prompted by this column and take them seriously.
Please, Joe Biden (same old same old, please forget that I plagiarize my stump speeches), get a clue. You are not the answer.
A "sneering and condescending Hillary?" She's the one who did NOT campaign in Detroit and Milwaukee, thus losing Michigan and Wisconsin, thus losing the election. Right?
Bill Clinton, some of us didn't need "Me Too" to remember that you cost us the election in 2000.
Barak Obama, you, like Bill C., botched health care reform your first six months into office (you took the summer of 2009 off and when you went back to work the Republicans had convinced the majority of Americans that single payer was a bad idea). In other words, neither you nor Bill C. are as popular - among dems - as you think.
Dems need to take back the narrative: some of us do not think we should be sending an obscene percentage of our GNP to Afghanistan. Dems need to lose the inferiority complex: please vote for us: we do not really stand for anything, but at least we are not Republicans.
3
Liberals/progressives have been saying to the Democratic Party since at least 1980 that hey, foreign competition is a threat to American jobs, better address it, think FDR not neoliberal. That’s only 38 years and I know it takes awhile to sink in. Maybe it did in 2016.
2
Bring back Howard Dean, or at least his ideas. He had a 50 state strategy which was discarded after Obama was elected. I knew at the time that was a boneheaded mistake. Every State and county and town in this United States are important. Don't write off anyone. Recognize the value of all citizens.
Make personal contact with as many people in as many districts as possible.
AND message simply and clearly and repeat repeat repeat.
3
Trump will win again because people are single-issue voters. Republicans understand this. Before 2016 the top 2 issues that drove these single-issue voters to the polls to vote Republican were: abortion and guns. Those people will always, always, always vote Republican. In the past year, Trump has made immigration the new single-issue voter magnet. Immigration used to be a nuanced subject but Trump has dumbed it down and made it something to oppose. With those 3 clearly defined single-issue voter tropes, there is no beating this unless Democrats can clearly identify and define their own positions. And be obvious about it. They can't just be the opposite of the Repubs: it cant be pro-choice, abolish ICE and common sense gun control, that is a losing platform.
2
Medicare for all, social security, living wage, over and over. Keep it simple.
Common sense is a losing platform.. that's a sad state of affairs
Bernie Sanders !
He has a clear message and young folks love him.
5
In response to New World. Young people have one if the lowest turnouts and I hope that they react to
the Midterms and turnout to vote because defeating Trump favored candidates is if the utmost importance now. Hatred and bigotry need to be defeated now because if not their future is in doubt
Bernie raises many valid concerns but preaches solutions that are unrealistic and do not fit with the majority of Americans' values, notably independents like me who are socially progressive but fiscally conservative. As long as the Dems keep moving in Bernie's direction they will ensure they never win national elections in the next 50 years. This nation badly needs a viable third party that recaptures the vast centrist void. Mike Bloomberg should fund it and find a younger, more dynamic person to be its figurehead. Watch how fast this party would attract the millions of disaffected people who previously supported Obama but turned to D...ump in 2016.
1
@New World Someday, Americans will vote for a Jewish (I'm Jewish, BTW) avowed socialist from Vermont. Not in 2020.
Trump is exhausting, but he won't go away for anything. I'm not sure he even exists when he's not getting in everyone's faces. For that reason, we need an aggressive Democrat who can hold his or her own.
We need someone who can hold the middle ground, which can be labeled far left by Republicans who have moved the goalposts so far to the right that Bill Clinton looks like a communist. We need someone who can reclaim the Democrats' mantle as defenders of the working class, regardless of race. And we need someone who can attack Trump while at the same time maintaining a positive message of his or her own.
We need someone who can inspire, not just destroy. We need someone who won't hold themselves so far above the fray that he or she just looks ineffectual — remember Michael Dukakis and Hillary Clinton!
Enough people will be so sick of Trump by 2020, assuming he survives, that a competent but aggressive Democrat has a chance.
1
Bernie would have beat Trump, so we wouldn't be in this dystopian nightmare if the DNC hadn't torpedoed his campaign.
3
How about a nice moderate candidate that may steal some Republican voters, not pander too far left stereotypical platforms, wants to strengthen middle class, not be a Washington insider, or child of privilege? Is there anyone like that out there? Maybe potential options like Elizabeth Warren and others have already been so vilified and maligned by the right that they have no chance. Divisiveness is killing any semblance of democracy the U.S. had left.
2
A white man decides that a white man should probably be the Democratic presidential candidate for 2020. I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Senator Warren would be the most progressive choice, but the corporate media is determined to undermine her for non-infractions like publicly sharing her own DNA results. The real story is that Trump refused to pay up when she proved him wrong. But the corporate media profits from Trump and is afraid of losing power under Warren, so they protected him and vilified her. Warren has my vote. And I will NEVER vote for a white man for president again. Never. They have far too much power over the rest of us. I'm done.
@Penny White
You represent the soul of today's Democrat Party. You're just more open about it, that's all.
The problem with most of these comments is that they are coming from a group of NYT readers who likely didn't vote for Trump. I think this article's analysis of how to appeal to the rest of the country, who voted for Trump, is very well done and should be studied by anyone thinking to beat Trump in 2020.
2
What Kind of Democrat Can Beat Trump in 2020?
A Democrat that promises not to undo everything Trump has done--almost none of Mr Bruni's observations matter compared to that one overriding consideration.
Even Democrats are getting jobs and raises under Trump's economy, and by 2020, even more Democrats will have gotten jobs and raises. I doubt seriously if they'd vote to give those up just to get a less repulsive president.
It keeps getting observed that Democrats are emotional, not rational, creatures. That appears to be true of NYT "Opinion Columnists," but I expect that huge bunches of Democrats are a lot more rational than emotional and would decline to vote against their own wallets.
In my opinion, Joe Biden is the only Democrat on the horizon capable of beating Trump. He made a mistake in giving Hillary a pass last election. Had he been on the ticket, I believe he would have won. Hillary was damaged goods and always will be, but the Democrats are in thrall to identity politics, so after a black man, they demanded a woman. As a Trump supporter, and one whose friends happen to be Trump supporters (many of us accomplished, intelligent, and wealthy, so you may dispense with your simplistic prejudices) I can confirm that Trump has not disappointed us--quite the opposite. We will vote for him in 2020 and we will turn out in force, so the Dems had better have a candidate who has some chance of winning, or we'll prove the polls wrong again.
1
Nominating Democratic Presidential Candidate spouting self congratulatory virtue seeking pablum guaranteeing another trump win.
3
I believe Senator Amy Klobuchar has the right combination to take on Trump in 2020.
She has a super resume (high school valedictorian; B.A. magna cum laude from Yale; J.D. University of Chicago; private/corporate attorney and prosecuting attorney for years; U.S. senator for 12 years).
Her questions during the Kavanaugh hearing were respectful, direct, on-point, and eye-opening, and Kavanaugh seemed most revealing in his non-response response to her inquiries.
Senator Klobuchar's smarts, cool under pressure, and keen abilities to get to the heart of the matter while treating others with respect and fairness seem to me to be the best antidote to Trump's pugilistic, hit before thinking approach towards anything that challenges his perch at the top of the U.S. political structure.
I think she could take him down. And what a good thing for our country and for the world if she agrees to take the plunge and take on Trump.
Game on!!!
4
The last thing anyone should be taking up space with for the next two days is the 2020.
How can you ignore your own advice?
Unless the Ds win something tomorrow, 2020 becomes a moot question.
Talk about taking your eyes off the target.
A personal request and a caution for the Democratic party---the party I have supported all my life. PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Do not surrender to your INCLUSION reflex and give us a twenty candidate carousel for the next twenty months. It's exhausting and even those of us who support the party will tune you (and them) out. Pare it down early and pare it down quickly, PLEASE!
2
What you say about Trump's vowing to end birthright citizenship by executive order is true. What you don't say is that, outside of the Hispanic/immigrant population, most people understand that, in 2018 if not in 1868, the concept is ludicrous.
1
To be successful any Democratic candidate must have captivating sound bites. So far, the only sound bites with any bite have come from Oprah.
3
Trump’s 60 million followers were easily swayed. They can be swayed back. Case in point: the thousands among them who are still left waiting for those empty trumpian promises.
What is the Narcan to Trump? An honest, genuine, smart, witty, relatable, level playing field all American whose character can combine great world leader with a friend who takes a sincere personal interest in our lives.
1
That Mr. Trump will choose or be permitted to run for re-election in 2020 is an assumption, which may be erroneous for a variety of reasons.
It’s regrettable that few members of the print or electronic media note when assessing the next presidential campaign. There’s the Mueller probe, the possibility that the Democrats may control the House and thus its Judiciary Committee, the chance that Mr. Trump will be challenged by members of his party for the nomination (Gov. Kascik, for example) and who knows what else may change the calculus.
Great article with great advice for the Democratic Party. I hope they follow it, it will put a lot of Centrists and Independents in play. I suspect the majority of candidates will take a different tact? It only takes one, but are the party loyalists willing to accept Frank’s insights?
1
I am would like to see someone do an op-ed about republicans that could run against Trump for the 2020 presidential election. I like to think there are some qualified candidates in the Republican party. Does anyone dare?
1
@Jeanne He or she can't win in the primaries.
The 'establishment' Democrats like Biden, Sanders, Warren etc. are not going to be able to beat Trump. I see Beto O'Rourke and Gillum as the future of the party and best positioned to beat Trump. Win or lose in Texas, Mr. O'Rourke comes across very well and seems to have broad appeal across all demographics. He reminds me of Obama, extremely articulate, intelligent, progressive and decent. I hope he runs for President in 2020.
4
The key success factor is knowing how to drill through and deconstruct the meme programming layered inside the minds of all those Trumpsters with the disturbingly beaming beatific looks on their faces. Once you're down at their code level you need to reprogram them with your replacement meme which has been specifically designed to keep their serotonin burning at the previous level.
Testing political messaging with focus groups is last millennium thinking. The efficacy of all messaging must now be tested, screened, and targeted with biochemical tools.
Additionally, the candidate chosen to oppose Trump must also be biochemically screened and adjusted.
That's how you win against Trump.
1
Who can win for the Democrats in 2020? Two things: Someone with wit- REAL wit- who can counter Trump's version of same (lame wisecracks and thoughtless insults). Plus, a recognition that the only two groups of Americans whose identities need to be addressed are the super-affluent and everybody else. Racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, homophobia and misogyny all derive from financial anxiety and insecurity. Focus on that issue and the rest will largely take care of themselves.
6
What’s the difference between Trump and any of the potential Democratic candidates? A sense of humor. Trump has none. He is sarcastic. But that’s not funny, unless you equate meanness with funny which most Americans do not. A genuine sense of humor humanizes a larger than life figure. It is what people can relate to. For example, Obama has a sense of humor that is disarming and engaging. As President it was important in offsetting his sometimes intellectual side. He also knows how to be vulnerable, and charming. Let’s elect a real person!
8
Celebrity is perhaps most crucial quality.
We need a George Clooney / Corey Booker ticket. That's right, Clooney for President and Booker for Vice. We already know that having held previous office is not a requirement, in fact, it may be an impediment. Think of the success of George Bush Jr. with his lack of national experience backed and guided by the consummate Washington insider Vice President Cheney. Or even anti experience Trump and his professional politician Vice President Pence. Clooney has the unofficial political experience of social activism, advocating for many leftist ideals. He's the opposite of the Trump coin who's unofficial political experience was organizing the "birther" movement and angry letters to this News Paper calling for the death penalty for the accused Central Park 5. If Booker could be convinced to take a back seat to Clooney's celebrity and steer the ship from the back through Washington's swamp, and if Clooney could be convinced to forego a few months on his yacht in the Mediterranean, we'd have a winning ticket. Also, most handsome president ever wouldn't hurt as a media catch phrase...
2
Nothing against George Clooney, but a far better choice would be Dwayne Johnson, the Rock.
@Shane
A Clooney/Booker ticket would sweep the Bay Area, West Hollywood and Manhattan. Go for it!
1
Let's be honest. Hillary Clinton was not a strong candidate. And yet she won the popular vote by almost 3 million. But she was not really able to take it face to face at Trump. It could be what Trump said - "she's low energy."
Bernie Sanders happened to have the energy to get into Trump's face. We all realize, "now," that Sanders could have beaten Trump, and he would have done it by mocking Trump's attacks, and by sticking to facts. Jerry Brown, were he not 80+ years old, has that power, too. Forceful, intelligent and unrelenting works. Joe Biden could hit hard and take the fight to Trump, which is desperately needed.
The fight mentality is needed for two reasons. First, if Trump wins the energy prize, he gets an advantage. Second, the argument has to be made clearly and effectively about how Trump is taking us down the wrong road - in so many ways.
But in terms of specifics, it is a few things:
1) The tax cut had 83% going to the top 1% as opposed to 83% going to the middle class and lower
2) The Congress voted over 50 times to repeal the ACA, which is now respected as a guarantee for pre-existing conditions coverage
3) The lack of honor and integrity, i.e., the lies; the lack of decency, i.e., the immorality; and the dvisiveness with world leaders and within the country, need to be all addressed
Instead of asking, "Who can beat Trump?" find the candidate who can forcefully articulate the case against the direction Trump is taking the country.
3
@Srose "We all realize, "now," that Sanders could have beaten Trump." No, we don't!!! Trump would have taken a lot MORE EC votes.
I think the kind of candidate that can win against Trump and the Republicans is relatively young and addresses the issue of the loss of stability in jobs. How can people have a stable family if there is no continuing support of children which is not welfare.
I submit that the candidate be male as so many women are jealous of other women and white to eliminate the issue of prejudice which seems to exist. A younger Joe Biden would be perfect.
1
Common-sense article - thanks!
2
Talking to The Base:
1. The base is paranoid... So they are definitely vulnerable to hearing/believing "He's tricking you." (He lied to every wife... He grifted & stole from strivers at Trump U... You think you are magically getting truth out of a chronic liar?... You are getting humiliated and fooled.)
2. The base is pre-existingly angry and afraid... They want something to explain their rage, and Trump provides scapegoats they can use, and validates their fear and rage, while fanning it. We on the left need to validate it while calming it. We need to be "the calm parent" talking to a tantruming child. (Yes, you're angry; you have been shafted by the system, but the solution is not coming from a person lining his rich cronies' pockets, while lying to you. Jared paid zero in taxes and he's worth hundreds of millions. How much are YOU worth, and how much did you pay? Who is getting taken care of?)
3. Focus on the future and growing the country holistically, which provides solutions to the problems of the Base. -addiction treatment -Infrastructure projects: jobs for blue collar workers. --If the bottom 50% have more income, their spending will fuel an economic surge; the opposite of trickle down. -Clean energy jobs in America, not dying fossil fuels -free community college
-decent medical care THEME: investment in our children & grandchildren and the world they will inherit.
4. Be the clean party. End corporate influence, gerrymandering.
4
@Megan
The supporters that I know KNOW that' he's a grifter and hope that he will use his dishonorable methods in order to serve us even as his family fattens itself now that the public treasury is a trough. My sense is that the current economy makes them feel justified in their decision.
Me, I think that after 9/11 and the financial crisis the moneyed class saw how much harder people were willing to work without increased compensation. If I were a corporation that wanted more tax cuts I'd hold off from hiring and use that as leverage until I got what I wanted. And here we are.
It will be a republican that beats Trump in 2020
@Emily Brown great idea, but Republicans don't eat their own. Maybe a former Repuublican turned Independent or Democratic.
Stop litigating and relitigating 2016. Get a clue on immigration. Leave phrases like white male privilege to third-rate academics. Don't refer to everyone who disagrees with you as a racist, a yahoo, or a deplorable. Realize your allegiance should be to citizens of the Republican. And generally try to be less whiny and childish when things don't go your way.
6
There's a good chance he won't run. If Mueller teams shows criminal obstruction of justice or illegal activity of any sory, then my bet is Trump resigns so that Pence can pardon him, even if the Democrats choose not to impeach. If he waits till the results of the 2020 election, he is at risk. Trump is the master of survival especially when the peril was self-created.
Oh how I wish this were true! But Trump will have to be carried out in a straitjacket or an orange jumpsuit before he will give up his addiction to his pedestal. But I join you with fingers crossed!
Here is a list of Dem candidates who will be defeated if they challenge the President:
Warren
Booker
Bernie
Biden
Harris
Beto
Holder
Nancy
Schumer
Schiff
Let's see a list who can win.
6
Agree with all names on this list but for Biden. I’d add Bloomberg.
@sftaxpayer it almost has to be some one the Republican propaganda machine hasn't gotten their teeth into yet. So, a complete unknown.
Jesse Ventura
1
I've always thought ignoring what's his name was the best approach. So, Andrew Gillum's response to being called "stone cold thief" is a good, really brilliant, approach:
It went something like - My grandmother always told me not to wrestle with pigs; you only get dirty, and they like it.
Still makes me smile: with just a few words Gillum turns his back on the bully and leaves him imaged as a, "domesticated hoofed mammal with sparse bristly hair and a flat snout for rooting." Apologies to pigs everywhere.
8
Do not count out Ohio. Watch the outcome of our governor race on Nov 6. We will likely be aligned with our Rust-Belt friends in the run-up to 2020.
We look aghast at the Nigerian army using Trump's words to justify executions, while forgetting that we would consider "W." and Cheney, had they served as executives in any other government but our own, war criminals.
In other words, the ideal Democrat will not be a hypocrite. (We broke with Europe but expect them to embargo Iran and... Cuba [remember Cuba?]).
Most importantly, the ideal Democrat will be a mayor or a governor, someone who has to deal with the real lives of real people, not make choices based on ideology. And, the ideal Dem candidate will not forget that "it's the economy, stupid," a lesson Trump learned well, and set aside identity politics. Jobs, jobs, jobs. Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. Less war, more domestic investment.
3
Beth Myers claims that Trump has message discipline - that is not discipline - its rabble rousing through hate and exciting the feral urges in us.
2
I think Mr. Bruni you have fallen into the Trump/ Republican/Media Trap of false equivalencies. You don't want to talk about voter suppression, Russian collusion (MI., WI.,PA), lies and a hate filled campaign as a reason for his squeaker of a win? These are real issues. Maybe Democrats have to learn how to cheat, since it works so well for the Republicans?! The Democrats have many possible candidates and someone will emerge and it won't be someone like Trump.
3
Please define “tone”. If by “tone” you mean a clearly articulated, exciting, positive, fearless, vision for the future of our country, undertaken for the common good, the proper “tone” could be transformative.
2
Can Obama run again? Or non-consecutive 3 terms are also prohibited?
1
I checked. Looks like they are. He could be Secretary of State, though, and lord knows our place in the world is gonna need some serious repair.
All potential democratic candidates for President need to read and understand this column.This is no time to be smug and self-righteous.
2
Avannetti can’t be an option for the Democrats. He’s an opportunist and nothing else. His personal debt issues alone will sink his campaign.
1
Whoever the candidate is, I hope he or she has the guts to physically confront Trump if he pulls that little trick of moving into camera range and standing menacingly behind his opponent during a debate.
In my opinion, the Dem must be prepared to rush Trump, kick him in the shins and stand his/her ground.
Rushing Trump would show courage in the face of hostility, kicking his shins would demonstrate both anger and determination to stand in opposition, the aggressive approach would reveal Trump's true weaknesses -- his passive-aggressiveness and his lack of courage in face-to-face stare-downs.
1
Try Hillary Clinton. Surely she will beat any Republican. Just like the last time. I know you want to give your readers hope so you can keep selling Newspapers. I just don't think you are right. Republicans will win again and above that I am sure Trump will win again.
2
Let’s just hope Trump is in jail, where he belongs, when 2020 comes along.
5
Bruni buys into the lie that Hillary was sneering and condescending. Here is the comment in context. Read the last line.
"You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?
The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America. But the other basket — and I know this because I see friends from all over America here — I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas — as well as, you know, New York and California — but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroine, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."
3
@Len Charlap: first place, she said it. Sorry. You touch it, you broke it...you bought it.
Second place...she estimates his supporters at 11 million (!!!) because at the time of the speech...Trump was widely predicted to lose in a landslide, with as few as 10% of the vote. He got 63 million votes, so she was off by....52 million.
Third place....she managed to call 50% of the voters in the nation "deplorables in a basket" DURING AN ELECTION and we heard her loud and clear, and we voted accordingly.
Fourth place....making excuses for her horrific failed campaign at THIS POINT is just pathetic!
Please go to the library, Len and get a copy of "Shattered" and read it. She was running a pathetic, entitled, clueless campaign and this quote is just the cherry on top of a very rotten sundae.
3
Wouldn’t it just be nice to say “any kind” and just be done with him?
I cannot stand the thought of getting old with the possibility of only seeing that buffoon at the helm and his phony family and his horrendous picks of Cabinet, and militias, and treatment of healthcare, education, voting rights for the rest of my life!
4
Frank
Your timing is all wrong here. Ask the same question post Mueller report.
1
Dems need to reestablish that we are the party of a government that steps in when the private sector can not or will not provide essential service and protections for health, safety, and welfare.
We need to take back faith, particularly Christianity, and its progressive ideals: What Would Jesus Do about the caravan, indeed. We need to reassert our own patriotism...taking a knee is about as patriotic American as it gets.
Overall, we need to focus on what we do and why and throw a hard light on what Conservatives have actually NOT done for America. Conservative means rejecting change, letting you go without electricity, paved roads, education.
Remind voters that if had been left to Conservatives, most of them would be driving on cart paths and reading by candlelight.
2
Why are we talking about 2020 when midterms are in a few days and they are the MOST important thing right now?
Is the media trying to throw out a bright, shiny new thing because they don't want to, or know how to, report on the nearly unprecedented grassroots movements that are taking place across America and around the world?
STOP TALKING ABOUT 2020. Help get out the vote for next Tuesday then report on how The Con Don intends to try to overcome the blue wave that is coming and keep a bright light on he and his corrupt brethren's maneuverings.
OUR democracy - and yours Mr. Bruni - depend on it.
3
45 has a " stranglehold on the media" only because the media allows it. It is easier and cheaper to cover his tweets than the issues behind them.
4
One of the reasons this has become so prevalent is that none of Trump's policies has been accurately reported in the mainstream press. This goes all the way back to first speech when he characters immigrants from Mexico as generally speaking falling into two groups: those who are fine and those few who engage in crime. This was reported as "all Mexicans are rapists."
As the Israeli ambassador as notes, Trump is the strongest friend of Jews in the world, yet the media describes him as an anti-Semite and Hollywood calls him a Nazi. Trumps says over and over that he supports immigration, and arguing that we need it for economic progress, but he continues to be described routinely as an immigrant-hater. This because he prefers legal immigrants to illegals who are frequently forced into criminal narcotics sales to pay their "cayote" (smugglers) for helping them survive. MAGA supporters like him because of his policies, not for his sexy body or his wit. Being asked by the media to see Trump as a loser and an ignoramus helps convince potential supporters that Trump is not up to the job. This tactic was used against Reagan who was always called stupid by the liberal press. Telling the American people that Trump was not only losing in 2016 but was completely unelectable worked to undermine the unity for which the press calls for. In short, we are in for a few disappointments in the coming years. Some of these are Trump's fault, of course, but some are due to his restless opposition.
1
Oprah would wipe the floor with Trump and is the only potential candidate he truly fears. She's an ACTUAL self-made billionaire and a media mogul who influences public opinion as much as he does. She'd also siphon off millions of his white, female voters. She'd crush him and be a great POTUS.
If she doesnt run tho, good luck beating him.
3
@Jay
Trump would dismember her, with a wolfish grin on his face.
1
The most depressing aspect of this column is that despite the investigations, corruption, incompetence, scandal, arrests, and convictions, the Democrats are fretting over how to beat a president who is a vile human being. This says more about the citizens of the USA than it does about the Democratic party.
With that said, my opinion is stop being the proverbial tail to Trump’s and the GOP’s dog. I am sick to death of all these coulmns and articles about how to ‘deal with’ this president and I am even sicker to death seeing articles about his supporters (another one today in this paper and I stopped reading these months ago). The best way to deal with him is to focus on what the Democrats stand for, have done and will do and to treat Trump like the irrelevant, clueless failed clown that he is. Stop the outrage. Stop the shock. Stop counting the lies. His supporters are dug in. THE worst thing you can do to Trump is to stop talking about him.
I am just bored by Trump Talk. So ready to move on from a guy who reached his sell-by date a year ago.
1
Why does it have to be a "Democrat??" Support ranked-choice voting so that we have more viable voices represented!!!
www.fairvote.org
1
What kind of Democrat can beat Trump 2020? One with a pulse?
1
@Carl Center Jr
You failed to mention the other requirement: a mind not debilitated by Democrats' obsession with identity politics, which is a form of mental illness.
@Carl Center Jr
To avoid the same result as in 2016, I would suggest the Dems employ a strategy different from the one they used in 2016.
I think Bloomberg is the Dem's only hope. It's definitely
Not Kamala Harris (She is a cop killer's best friend. She refused to prosecute them as San Fran DA. Even Feinstein call her out on it. That will be an election killing ad.)
Not Elizabeth Warren. A Mass. liberal does not play well nationally = ask Presidents Dukakis and Kerry.
Not Gillibrand. She is Hillary 2.0 A political weathervane who needs a focus group to answer every question. Plus backstabbing Al Franken (over nothing) killed any presidential hope for her.
3
@Reader In Wash, DC
"Political weathervane" is a great phrase, and seemed to be a concern about both Clintons. Such a pattern is not only obvious and off-putting to voters, it often leads to bad and inconsistent policy - if it did not, societies with direct democracy would run circles around all others!
1
One good way to star there, in line with your media discussion, would have been to IGNORE Trump's campaign stumping the last 2 weeks to a month of the campaign. Ignoring him altogether would be even better. After all, it's just the samo-samo of lies, calumnies, insults to one and all. Why bother covering such an idiot, when he's not even on the ticket? When will the media get this?
1
@MickNamVet It would have been profoundly irresponsible if the media had done that.
It may be good politics not to sneer at Trump and condescend to his supporters and perhaps those who voted for him won’t be lured back into the Democratic fold if they’re made to feel ashamed about their decision and told that they were duped. But truth should matter and people should be held accountable for their actions. I am sure that many--perhaps most--of the Germans who voted for Hitler in 1933 did not think that he would actually carry out the horrendous policies he promised in regard to the Jews and other disfavored minorities. But enough of them hoped that he would that they can fairly be blamed for the events than ensued. Trump's followers certainly knew that he would coarsen our culture and put into effect xenophobic and racist and homophobic policies. Their continuing support for him and those policies cannot be forgotten or glossed over. They bear responsibility for what their vote has wrought.
1
Sanders. That´s what kind of Democrat could beat Trump. Perhaps, I should try Beate Juice sorcery. Sanders! Sanders! Sanders! Now he can appear in your revised editorial. Seriously, what do you have against this political giant? The papers bias undermines its and your credibilty.
1
Sanders? Great guy. Smart. Innovative. President? No. Too old. That’s not ageism; it’s just a fact. Same with Biden. This has nothing to,do with the NYT which has covered Sanders from stem to stern. He’s just no longer center stage.
Sanders would have easily beaten Trump had the DNC not been set on coronating its Wall Street queen.
5
Why I voted for Trump 2016 even I was not Republican?
Trump had had strong Economic plan with detailed strategies how to boost, restore and rebuild rust factories, coal miners and so on. In July 2016, he announced his Economic Boost Plan in the rust Aluminium Recycle Factory in small town in PA, OH, MI and WI and Energy Independent in N. Dakota. Nowadays GDP growth 4.2%, lowest unemployment rate, 3.7% are enough to prove that the President is action of man as well as the Economic promises kept. If Democrat candidate want to win against the Economic booster president, Trump they should have real economic plan and workable detailed strategies. No porn star lawyer, radical liberal agenda like to abolish ICE neither porn stars, cerebraties in Hollyweird.
3
If we take the advice of Corey Lewandowski — if we win with an inexperienced, loudmouthed dope who genuflects in the direction of idiots and racists — I would rather this country just collapse.
2
@Walter Bruckner
From a Democrat, a well-reasoned and stated comment.
Solution: just move to Canada, like you and your friends threaten to do almost every election cycle. You're close--right across the border. Don't let the door hit you.
On behalf of those of us remaining, we'd prefer that the place *not* collapse.
I agree with the advice to run a dynamic candidate who is glamorous, media-savvy, and who has a clear optimistic message.
And I agree that there is no point in talking bad about Trump's supporters.
But where in this entire argument is the reminder that what we really need to do is rebuild the Obama coalition and turn out those voters? Democrats can win with turnout, and this is certainly true in those Rust Belt states that Clinton lost.
Sure, be nice to the Trump supporters. Find the Democratic equivalent of Ronald Reagain. Someone who can inspire like Obama inspired. But we have got to turn out our base in the teeth of gerrymandering and vote suppression. That is way more important than hand wringing about the voters who went for Trump in the Midwest.
IMO, one that doesn’t stoop to his level of criticism, name calling, and lies. Make their issues known, and don’t stop talking about them. Be realistic with those issues. Prove that you’re going to accomplish the reachable goals. Have a Vice President chosen that shares the same issues. Most of all, don’t criticize the republicans as he does with the democrats. Don’t be about what the current administration hasn’t done, be all about what your administration can do to reunite republicans and democrats and their ability to work together on making our entire country greater. One thing we don’t need is a leader that will reduce this out of control decisiveness that we have been living for almost 2 years.
I agree – “the Democratic opponent must emerge’” and reclaim our imaginations. While Trump focuses on imagining future catastrophes – Isis, MS 13 hiding in the caravan! - the catastrophe is already here living among us evidenced as in recent terror in Pittsburgh. From Walter Benjamin who lived and died under tyranny: “The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule.”
As such, it will be the suddenly emergent, Yeats “rough beast,” who can succeed by awakening us to something new and never seen before - someone who can drive a barge pole into the cultural imagination now strengthened and buried beneath a palimpsest of distorted beliefs.
1
“Why should people who hunt, fish and go to church trust you? What is your answer to globalism?”
Fact: fewer than 5% of Americans hunt. What are we really talking about here? I really question the premise of who Trump supporters are. They are not the left behind, Rustbelt poor. They are the cynical monied powers that have always called the shots.
2
Everything I read here, in both this excellent (responsible, contrary to one prolific commenter) column and in the several comments I’ve sampled, is about strategy. Even Kerry’s claim that he’ll anger some people is a strategic statement that “he won’t lie” like Trump does.
People don’t typically vote for someone on the basis of their strategy, although a large number did vote for Trump because the deadlock between Obama and the racist McConnell appeared to bring the country to a standstill. Trump promised to break the deadlock, although we soon found out what Trump’s promises mean. Voting for strategy doesn’t work.
What Democrats (and even a very significant number of Republicans) will be voting for is character. This is almost always the case, in America’s voting history. We’re too busy working to analyze whether some politician has the best strategy or whose “slate” is even in our own individual self interest. No party will get a typical American’s vote because of their candidate’s strategy. They’ll get that vote if they have decent human character.
Character doesn’t always win, which is why we’ve had Ted Cruze, but it’s what voters want and need. It won for Obama (twice) and he had the disadvantage of being an Afro-American in a still racist America.
1
Your last thought rankles me. There is enough doubt about the past election and the lack of actual oversight investigating by the republicans in congress makes me very unsure that Trump actually won. It was very close with 75,000votes making the difference across 3 states. Trumps lies always have a”tell” and he said repeatedly prior to Election Day that if he lost it would have to have been rigged against him. Ever notice how he accuses others of what he is or does himself.
2
Let me provide my Progressive friends some advice.
The working men and women of America who are seeing wages increase and job opportunities increase and not going to throw that away for Kamala Harris type.
I'm sorry, but you have to consider the facts.
Donald Trump is a Nationalist Populist Independent.
Bernie Sanders is a Nationalist (he was before 2016) Populist Independent.
One wears a Capitalist cape while the other wears a Socialist cape.
This country will never elect a socialist (where Harris is getting her mail these days).
So..it requires some unpacking.
If you want to beat Trump, you need a Populist who is also a bigtime Capitalist.
Nobody in today's Democrat Party hierarchy fits that bill, so it requires you to go outside.
There's only one person I see who can beat Trump, and I'm n not convinced the Tom Perez's, Keith Ellison's and Kamala Harris's will allow it.
Howard Schultz...he of Starbucks fame with a Servant Leadership Ideology that strikes a chord with those seeking Fairness and an End to Oppression...as well as one that respects traditional values, institutions and sanctity...while being a Capitalist.
It's your only hope...but embracing and elevating him to this role will require so many people who've worked so hard (Spartacus, etc..) to give up their dream in favor of a win.
In my book...this isn't going to happen and a guy like Bloomberg will try to serve as Schultz's proxy and fail miserably.
There are some very good messages here. However, another good start to deposing Trump would be for the liberal media to end its continuous coverage dwelling on his every tweet. The media got him elected with endless free press on his obnoxious behavior. Ignore him as much as possible and focus on the policies or personalities that need to be promoted with some creative, public-catching journalism. It is already clear that outrage about anything Trump does is only fuel promoting his brand.
Upbeat style? Empathetic? Tough yet not callous? Wealthy and savvy in all things media?
This kind of reads as an endorsement for Oprah. Sure. Why not?
Bob Kerrey is right: the election will be won or lost in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan......and a few other states. Elected officials in Massachusetts, New York, California, and Vermont have not proven they can win in the states that matter. Sheered Brown (Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) have proven vote-winning ability in the type of states we have to win. Their records are sufficiently progressive, without having done dumb things like advocating abolishing ICE (reform immigration instead). Candidates from deep blue states can't help coming across to many voters are out of touch.
Don't make the Democratic campaign about the current president, for two reasons. (1) There's no need to talk about him; everyone in the nation (heck, most of the world including remote parts of New Guinea) already knows what they think of him; and (2) For a Democratic president to have a mandate to govern, the campaign has to be about more than rejecting an ignorant, bigoted narcissist. It needs to draw clear contrasts with the party of Pence, McConnell, and Gingrich. The Democratic nominee needs to be one who genuinely cares about the people Trump only pretends to care about.
Speaking only as someone who lives in Pennsylvania: plenty of Democratic nominees have proven over the years that you can safely ignore "people who hunt, fish and go to church" when people in Philly, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and State College get out and vote for them.
1
Who says Trump's going to make it to 2020? With all the allegations of criminal and treasonous behavior, he could be forced out of office by then. We can only hope.
1
One of the most potent ways to gain trust is to tell the truth...and then prove it. Facts, facts, and more facts, attributed to actual studies, research or people of trust will start to have more people questioning empty bombast.
That sounds simple and overly optimistic, but it serves as a strong launch pad for a candidate. And I'm not suggesting fact-checking everything #45 spouts or getting down in the mud; just listing facts (not expounding on them), will begin to break through the filthy fog.
The winning candidate must be a scholar of American democracy, the Constitution, and — as Bruni says — of the American people. Simple, look-them-in-the-eye speeches just might do it.
Here's hoping.
Thanks Frank. Another one of your thoughtful articles on our current life in American politics with Trump and his supporters. And thanks once again for appearing on Don Lemon's program that I watch nightly before I go to bed.
Yes, Democrats need a leader. Someone as smart as Hillary, the strength of someone like Elizabeth Warren who's not afraid to stand up to a bunch of lying, intimidating Republicans but no one like the embarrassment of a whinny Corey Booker. Someone who can restore civility and respect to the office of our president and understand his/her duty is to serve all of America not just a certain segment of the electorate.
Perhaps, however, we live in a period of American life where all the preceding qualifications just aren't important anymore in a president. The audience prefers simply a lying, ignorant, crude, name calling Performer who cheats on his pregnant wife and has a low or no regard for women.
Bernie Sanders is the one candidate who could beat Trump.
He is authentic and his oratory is directed to all citizens and people respond with enthusiasm and a desire to contribute and work for a more equitable future for all. Only he would attract some of Trump's voters.
The elite are scared of Bernie's message, but the time for change is now.
A less bold message is a guaranteed loser.
1
Crossed a bridge lately? Or a pothole? How about a swim in freshwater nearby? The infrastructure built by employed Americans after WWII and during the Depression is crumbling. Young America returning from Europe and the Pacific built the Interstate Highway System. A Democrat who can make the case for infrastructure will address jobs, the environment by updating our energy sources and redesigning waste systems. More jobs, less despair, less crime. Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure!
2
You're right about what a bad idea it would be to condescend to Trump voters, telling them they were duped.
Instead, Democrats should thank Trump for giving THEM a clue about what is important to voters -- ECONOMIC FAIRNESS, not multiculturalism, not identity politics, just a fair shake. Macaques understand that, why can't Democrats? (Bernie also tried to give them a clue, but that didn't take.)
4
Kamala Harris is the candidate to beat Donald Trump. She is my pick to pull an upset and win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Why?
The California junior senator will win because she has the greatest abundance of candidate assets, which include: female gender, triple minority status, newness, strong progressive fiscal and social policy credentials, strong credibility with the women’s rights and immigration movements, strong law enforcement credentials, good public speaking skills, good debating skills, strong likability, and the critically important ability to connect with voters from different backgrounds.
But what separates her from her likeliest chief rival, junior New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, is her smart, tight embrace of the economic justice agenda. She has proposed a plan to provide middle class families with a $500 per month tax credit that some experts say is essentially a guaranteed income. This proposal may keep Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders out of the race, and should neutralize Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who in my opinion is a great intellect but an inferior candidate.
Booker is also a great candidate who has even proposed a $15 per hour jobs pilot plan but has a long history of being a fiscal conservative. This could be his undoing among African-American voters in South Carolina and in the Southern states on Super Tuesday and beyond.
4
@Howard Gregory
Not Kamala Harris (She is a cop killer's best friend. She refused to prosecute them as San Fran DA. Even Feinstein call her out on it. That will be an election killing ad.)
2
@Howard Gregory Suggesting Kamala Harris as a 2020 presidential ticket depresses me.
Within hours of being elected senator, CA democrats were drooling over Harris’s “demographic allure”, seeing her as the perfect 2020 presidential candidate.
As CA Attorney General, Harris’s office declined to prosecute Steven Mnuchin’s OneWest Bank for foreclosure violations in 2013 after finding over a thousand violations of foreclosure laws by his bank, and expecting to find thousands more. In return, she was the only Democrat who ran on the national level to receive money from him that cycle.
Such simple-minded Democratic identity politics and its lust for big money are embarrassing and will guarantee Trump’s reelection.
Harris is ambitious, not progressive. The Jacobin has a thoughtful article “The Two Faces of Kamala Harris”.
Having no convictions that would impede her ambition, she voted yes on her first defense appropriation bill, though it was a huge increase and included $285 billion more than the Pentagon requested. She voted no on the latest defense appropriation bill, realizing that a no vote was appropriate to appear progressive.
If Democrats can’t come up with better candidates, they deserve to lose.
3
@Lucy Cooke
You are a progressive who supports Bernie Sanders. I am a progressive policy advocate who supports the economic justice agenda. We share the same economic philosophy. I support living wages, a guaranteed income for all citizens, a progressive taxation scheme, worker participatory rights, free public college, targeted social responsibility taxing of large corporations, strong congressional oversight of large corporations and banks. I thought Bernie would sit out 2020 in favor of Elizabeth Warren. I am not yet convinced that she can overcome the silliness and focus the electorate on the progressive economic agenda. You are underestimating Harris’s appeal and skill set. Obama was a similarly blessed, talented, and ambitious blank slate who went all the way. Below is an opinion piece I wrote this year on Trumponomics.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/13/trumponomics-is-21st-century-reaganomics-and-thats-bad-for-working-america/
The Democrat candidate that will beat Trump will be the one that motivates the African-American and youth bases to vote. Both bases will be motivated by dollars spent and promised to their members. African-Americans are most likely to vote for an African-American candidate, as we saw during the Clinton campaign. Therefore, Harris and Booker have a built-in edge, as they can get that base out. Also, by being younger, they will appeal to the youth base. As for issues, it will be tax credits/universal income plans and free college/student loan forgiveness that will win the day for Democrats. Harris already has a "free money" plan in the works. But beyond the promises of free stuff, they will have to "invest" more money in the ground game in African-American districts. Community leaders/organizers were disappointed that they didn't see more dollars from the Clinton campaign, so the weak turn-out was no surprise. Those votes are bought, not won. Given Booker's difficulty with the truth, the state of Newark, and the popularization of the idea that African-American women have all of the answers, it seems Harris has a lock on the nomination. This is despite the fact that she has zero legislation to her name and her primary skillset seems to be browbeating old men at committee hearings.
1
If you look at the US Presidents who got elected in the last 50 years, the biggest thread that pops out is that they elect someone who has qualities that are the opposite of the sitting president. Carter was elected after Nixon because his personal honesty was beyond reproach, Reagan succeeded Carter to compensate for Carters policy failures, HW Bush succeeded Reagan because Reagan had no stomach for details. Clinton brought the common touch back to the presidency, GW Bush was a reaction to Clinton's personal failings and Obama was a reaction to GW Bushes military and economic debacles. Trump is in many ways, the Anti-Obama. So if you are looking for clues about who Americans will elect to succeed Trump, they will look at Trump's biggest failings and elect someone who compensates for them.
4
I think we'd all like to know why people who disliked being lied to by Washington politicians voted for and still adore a man who lies to them constantly.
4
Ouch. Painful truths. I sit in Connecticut and wonder how this happened. I am completely ignorant of who America is. Take the blinders off, Democrats. THIS is America. Hillary, et al, still don’t get it. Find a message and a messenger, Democrats. For the love of democracy. Now is not a time for progressives. Get our country back from this racist, provocateur. Or there will be no country left. Then, maybe 5 years from now, your progressives can try again.
1
America is a violent country in many, many ways. Not fighting Trump the way he does will be considered as weakness.
1
This election is about winning...The team that can win: Joe Biden & Oprah Winfrey. Trump would not have a chance against these two.
2
@Kathy
They would be hard to beat.
@Reader In Wash, DC
They would not turn a single Trump voter. Better get to work on the Electoral College, pronto.
JFK could beat Trump. So could LBJ and FDR. But, not Carter, Muskie, Kerry, or Gore. Certainly not Bernie or Warren or Biden.
Where does this leave us? The only putative Democrat with the demonstrated leadership skills and broad appeal is .... Jim Mattis.
Unless, of course, the country follows the course of Major League Baseball after the Black Sox scandal installing Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis as commissioner and elects Republican Bob Mueller.
1
Is there a potential Democratic candidate who isn't frumpy, dull, and taking corporate cash?
1
Beto O’Rourke
1
"Midwesterners who voted for him won’t be lured back into the Democratic fold if they’re made to feel ashamed about their decision and told that they were duped."
What then should Democrats do? Pretend that Republicans fulfilled every promise made during the last presidential election such as rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, providing healthcare superior to the A.C.A. and tax reform that would benefit the middle class?
Whoever voted for Trump was duped and it must be pointed out. I suppose we should, however, try to avoid using words such as "deplorable" and "moronic."
5
Maybe if the democrats stopped demonizing everything straight/white/male/Christian they’d have a chance. Oh, and a dash of support for lawful immigration.
8
While it's generally true that belittling Trump voters is both lazy and a losing strategy, we must also contend with the specter of the other Times article today on female Trump voters, one of whom expounds on the odious but sly Trump talking point that "he wouldn't be surprised" if George Soros were funding the migrant caravan. I understand Trump's all-too-typical deviousness on this absurd claim, but the stupidity of someone actually believing it is right in front of us, unavoidable.
6
Doug Jones for President! A class guy with a serious mind.
Stay away, far far away, from Hollywood endorsements.
3
@Karen Battersby
Very well said. Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey and Katy Perry have *extremely* limited appeal west of the Hudson River and east of the San Francisco Bay.
Right on, Frank! Yes, we want civility but we also want a person who will draw a red line & then enforce it! Did anyone believe Obama would?... Maybe Michelle Obama!
It’s a tough world out there & all the weapons in the world won’t protect us if our adversaries don’t respect(yes,& fear) us.
I am hopeful that Trump will not be around for the 2020 race. However, if he is, then we need someone who can take his ugly taunts in silence and move on. Trump lives for the fight and if the candidate does not engage with him, he will look as small as he really is.
We do need a younger, more vibrant candidate. Trump is old and fat, ugly with his continuous lies. The electorate will be tired of him by 2020, even his cult of supporters.
1
The underlying thesis of this piece is that Trump actually won the race in 2016. He didn't. Hillary lost and the Russians won by swaying the brain dead to vote for the most incompetent, corrupt, demented person to ever hold the office of president. How do you beat such an "intimidating" opponent? How about actually campaigning the way Obama did? Send some genuine time in places like Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania instead of kicking back on weekends. If a candidate can't campaign with the vigor Obama did, don't run.
2
How many states that went to Hillary will flip to Trump in 2020? Let's say zero. How many people who voted for Hillary in 2016 will vote for the Democratic candidate regardless of who it is? Let's says 90 percent. What percentage of new voters will tilt Democrat vs. Republican? let's go 53-47. And how many Trump voters will be fed up in 2020 and go the other way? Let's say 10 percent. I think those four factors will put Trump in a bad spot...regardless of who the candidate is. And importantly the Dems will work hard to get the votes to flip Ohio, PA, and Wisconsin.
1
As we look ahead to 2020, what Democrats need are candidates they can believe in, candidates they can trust, candidates
For now, I am way more focussed on Nov. 4, 2018. Once those results are in and the dust has settled, we will have a pretty good sense of the political lay of the land as we begin to look to 2020. But clearly, we will need to find candidates we feel we can TRUST and who will represent us with dignity, a real vision for America, and the intelligence and courage to articulate and pursue that vision unrelentingly. May I suggest a ticket that would fit that bill: Mitch Landrieu and Amy Klobuchar. Guts, intelligence, moral courage --I could cheer for that combination in 2020.
1
Lurking behind what Bruni is saying is that we are no longer a majority rules country. We have institutionalized minority rule, through gerrymandering, voter suppression, Citizens United and the outsized power of low population states each having 2 senators to match very high populous states. Our current system is “rigged” against reflecting the will of the majority of U.S. citizens, which is why the policies coming out of DC don’t refect most public opinion poles on the issues. Thus, Bruni’s main point that a Democrat needs to appeal to the Midwest or Rust Belt in today’s rigged environmend is key to victory in 2020.
2
Um, hey Frank, there is a guy I'm told that polls as THE most popular politician in the country, and true, while he is technically not a Democrat, although he votes Democratic more than some of his Democratic friends vote Democratic, I think he may have a good chance of beating Trump. You may have heard of him. His name is BERNIE SANDERS.
What a ridiculous article. Asking Cory Lewandowski who would have a good chance of beating Trump? Do ya think that he DIDN"T mention Sanders for a reason Frank? Good grief, the guy is playing you like a fiddle. Yeah, go ahead and run an establishment Democrat against Trump, how'd that work out the last time? That would be Lewandowski's dream. Ugg. Is it any wonder why the Democrats are clueless losers?
5
(E) All of the above.
EXCELLENT piece, Mr. Bruno! I plan to send it a LOT. Thank you!
1
Trump key negatives stood out before the election for this ex-republican: first, courts ruled he should repay his scam Trump University degrees to the people who'd signed on to the empty content. Second, he was known as a welcher, didn't pay his contractors at Mar a Lago, welching noteworthily on a ma-n-pa paint store for $20K. Last, his "cute" (and sinister) suggestion in Aug 2016 that second ammendment people might handle the Hillary problem.
Enough was enough. And thus Hillary won the popular election. But evil forces don't stop, and today we have an ever more gerrymandered system that caters to Republican rule. When and how do the starry-eyed campaigners attending Trump rallies realize his damages to our nation?????
3
With our luck it will be Donald Trump Jr..
This column is all about political style and not at all about content. It's what happens when you hang out with campaign managers for the most part.
While style matters, the next Democrat is going to offer that plus policies that most people can get behind. Right-wing populism helped Trump and the Dems need to reply with left-wing populism, because it's still the economy that matters most.
Democrats need to win back some of those Obama-Trump voters in key states and can only do that by not being in bed with Wall St and Silicon Valley and the big corporations. The suburban GOP defectors to the Dems are mainly in states Dem win anyway (e.g., California). But, the Dem strategists think they are the key to winning the electoral college and they are not.
The Dems also have to stop being free trade junkies. That issue helped Trump, even if he was being cynical. They also have to stop the hawkish Clinton stance which cost her with young people. Trump is an idiot to embrace Kim Jong-un, but nothing can be done about him without starting a catastrophic war and so, weirdly, Trump's fantasies are better.
4
@Milton Mankoff Trump is not an idiot to get along with Kim Jong-Un. The U.S. should have agreed to a peace treaty to end the Korean War long ago.
The Democrats attitude regarding the Korean situation is very hard to understand, except the U/S. simply want to keep South Korea as its military base against China.
The Democrats need to go populist bold or they will lose.
Go Bernie!
It should be clear to Democrats by now that if Americans can elect an outsized moron and thief to be president they can and will elect an outsized decent, intelligent man or woman to beat him.
The messenger and the message has to be powerful and simple. Expose the Republicans for what they are today-they're thieves, stealing us blind. They've stolen elections, the country's wealth and our decency. That's the winning message.
3
It is becoming painfully, PAINFULLY, clear that the only person to beat a blatant narcissist is another narcissist...are we doomed?
1
Ignorant or elitist? Ignorant AND elitist. the NYT continues it's journalistic malpractice. Not a single word about Bernie Sanders and it because Bruni doesn't understand for a second what drove 13 million people to support Bernie in 2016. Nary a word about issues that voters care about. Stunning for the "liberal beacon". Not a word about stagnant wages, health care, minimum wage, nothing. People don't care about how glamorous the candidates are or about how big their campaign war chest is. They will support a candidate who understands their struggle and will lead them in policies that improve their lives. Stunningly, the candidates mentioned don't understand that and the New York Times certainly doesn't understand it. So many people people have said "Bernie's time has passed." The issues Bernie talks about are the same he's talked about for decades. They are issues voters care about. Medicare for All. Not a single word about the fact that a majority of Americans support the idea, Democrats and Republicans. How is it possible to ignore that issue? I guess it's possible because the writer and a huge majority of the NYT readers don't have to worry about health care even for a minute. The Democrats are doomed to failure if they think the status quo is going to win the White House.
7
@Ross Sherrod Brown has a long record of supporting working Americans; but unlike Sanders or Warren, he knows how to win in states like Ohio, where the 2020 presidency will be decided.
1
It takes a village to beat a Trump. We need a national cast f characters. When Hillary wants to make an opinion, when Obama does or any of the pantheon of politicians, we also need a set of national pundits in Congress and on the News stations. United, as long as we feel like a crowd, we reflect a crowd in the local world of voters.
Two words. Joe Kennedy.
@Pat Lagace
No way. Too liberal.
#JerryBrown2020
Where there is no vision the people perish.
Let's try some wisdom.
@JDK
As California's AG, Brown argued that Prop 209, which forbade racial preferences, actually *violated* the Equal Protection Clause. And people argue that Trump's position on birthright citizenship offends the plain language of the Conatitution and represents a perilous overreaching.
My vision is just fine and I'll pass on old baldy.
Fabulous piece Mr. Bruni. I have one other suggestion, how about 'facts'. Counter his braggadociousness with facts. Relentlessly.
1
Sharrod Brown.
1
Frank, you were so full of hate on Don Lemon's show, talking at Steve Moore. He was so embarrassed at your accusations and false diatribes that he he tilted his head down, wondering why he should give the panel of disdain, his time, while your chin edged ever higher, Obama like, to preen in your arrogance. I won't forget it.
2
why doesn't anyone write about the similarities between Trump and Obama??
1
remember this man took down 17 professional politicians in 2016. And he did it by being a jerk and a bully. Remember that he learned his technique by reading speeches by Adolph hitler at night according to Ivana's memories. Whoever he or she is, has to be a brawler. Has to have a dynamic personality. Has to be free of the obvious tint of scandal unlike Hilary but be able and willing to throw back at Donnie each and every thing he's done; his cheating with women, his lies as president, his failure to release his taxes and lack of transparency about his finances, his failures as a businessman. There's so much to lay at his feet but ALL of its' got to come out and leave him reeling so he cant respond. And whoever it is cant be a fiery extremist because Donnie will use that against them; for instance if Donnie talks immigration you have to say your for protecting the country and regulating it at the same time pointing out the heartlessness of separating children from their families and the obvious parallels when it comes to building concentration camps. You have to come down heavy and hard on him so he can't respond and when he can't respond and looks like he's failed, he'll not only look weak; he'll be weak
1
Equal coverage of Democrats and Republicans would level the playing field. Every editorial and every photo is of Trump - the media is his puppy dog - one headline “women for Trump” half a dozen blonds - you never show the crazed bomber or tHe Philadelphia shooter. Dump the media - Trevor Noah for me:)
2
Slogging through one term of this ignoramus is a tragedy.
There is no suitable word for 2 terms. None.
3
Biden/Warren
1
You mention every one but the only one, Bernie Sanders. We don't need, nor will I vote for another millionaire. We don't need, nor will I vote for another "establishment" democrat. They are, after all, the ones who inevitably gave us Trump. You talk of igniting the press. Like the empty podiums while Sanders was attracting thousands? Comprmise? With whom? and by how much? For the radical, reactionary right compromise is never enough, witness Obama's bending over backwards to compromise. Where did that end? In the Republicans getting everything they wanted and the people gettinng nothing. This midteerm election will, indeed show us something: can the people overcome the jerrymandering, voter purging, and ballott tampering . And the republicans, oh,the republicans: methinkss they protest too much.
7
If there is one key point here it is outsider-ness. The DNC reflexively ignored this when they promoted and then essentially prenominated Hillary Clinton, and, probably worst of all, when they begat the Gore-Lieberman disaster. They love insiders. And the 2020 campaign currently looks like a remake of Sunset Boulevard. They love the limelight. Hillary says she'd still like to be president. Nobody can get Biden off the stage. Bernie's not going anywhere.
2
Donald Trump is a rounding error. He won by 70,000 votes spread out across three critical states. As such it was Clinton’s ground game in the upper-Midwest that lost the election; the bad polling, the lack of voter turn-out initiatives, the lack of listening to insiders on the ground and the candidate herself not visiting those states often enough (or at all).
Secondly it is the press the gave us “Trump” as we know it. News divisions across the market were in dire straights, remember when CNN covered that missing plane all day for like 3 months straight? Then Trump came along and gave them something to really chew on...empty rally podiums and all...
The fact is this; a good economy won’t last forever. There is a good chance in the next 2 years we will be in a recession (which happens every time a GOP economic policy is allowed to run wild). In that event all we need is a Democratic candidate to basically say “have we had enough of this Trump clown, yet? I think we have. Here’s what he did right and here’s what we are going to fix...”
3
@Dudesworth
Yes, a rounding error. Don't waste time commiserating about the Electoral College. Find 70,000 Blue retirees to live in Purple States for a few months and vote! Not really that hard!
1
Remarkable that this hasn't come up: If, as Lewendowsky says, Trump is a great counter-puncher - the one thing that somehow hasn't been exploited yet is ridicule. Every weapon that Trump uses is so stealthily deployed- and revealing about him: Low IQ- that's him; Corrupt- that's him; "lyin' Ted"- that's him; a face no one could vote for- that's him. The only metaphor that he isn't guilty of, apparently, is low energy. While he is vulnerable on scores of issues, the one weapon never used directly against him is humor (by directly, I mean by a candidate, not on late night TV). Sadly, Al Franken was forced to the roadside, but for me, if he were to come clean about the issues, and perhaps joined on a ticket with a woman (please- is any among us without sin?), he would destroy Trump. He's a policy wonk who would skewer the President in every sound bite. Exactly what would Trump say about the issue that pushed him aside? Not only is he guilty of the same behavior on steroids- but he is proud of it. Humor, Ridicule- that's the ticket.
2
It does seem the only way to counter Trump wrapping up the blue collar vote again is with a blue collar progressive. Someone actually blue collar to counter trump’s fake one.
Anyone else will lose.
Democrats need to face this reality and be very strategic with their nominee.
1
The majority of the American people want a progressive professional political to be President of the United States. These experienced Senators and Governors would make excellent Presidents:
1. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Senator
2. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Senator
3. Sherrod Brown, Ohio Senator
4. Brian Schatz, Hawaii Senator
5. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Senator
6. John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado
7. Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington
3
@David J. Krupp
Michael Bloomberg has my vote. He is honest and has proven experience governing.
"Too many Democrats spend too much time trumpeting Clinton’s popular-vote victory, blaming the Russians or combing the shadows for anything that absolves them of error. They dismiss Trump as an accident, a freak or a fad. It’s consoling, sure. It’s also an invitation to his next inauguration." Powerful. Sadly the Democratic echo chamber is on full blast and this sage advice will not be absorbed.
2
@Ted Baker We must really live in an age of alt.facts if it does not matter that Clinton won the popular vote and the Russian campaign of disinformation is similarly discounted.
The media bears some of the blame for empowering Trump by publicizing every grunt and groan he emits. It would be more enlightening if when a statement like "We will cut taxes by10% for the middle class before the midterms" or "I will cut birthright citizenship by executive order" (both quickly absorbed by his untutored supporters as gospel truth)---the media would react where Republicans fear to tread and say something to the following effect: "Mr Trump has made a tax cut proposal which is a lie---he speaks of cutting middle-class taxes by 10% within the next week . This of course is impossible, as Congress is not in session and only Congress can cut taxes. So Mr. Trump is lying to the American people". And then interview one or two respected Americans (even a moderate Republican with some respect, not Lindsey Graham) and ask , "Is Mr. Trump lying ?" Then move on to "Why did he lie?" This last question should become the point of emphasis, repeated every time he tells one of his lies---there are so many. Why did he lie in this case? What does he hope to gain? And certainly the media should not simply broadcast Sarah H. Sander's string of lies, self-serving falsehoods , without interruption. That Trump and cohorts have rained a torrent of lies on the public is a truth that only the media can make clear. [Of course there is always Fox News, which is not only a repeater of Trump lies but often the source.]
4
@shimr
"His untutored supporters".
Democrats are the gift that keeps giving. To the Republicans.
We have a president who is simply not up to the job and is not doing the job. Our institutions are being dismantled - no one is hired or replaced and regulations are destroyed - these are great jobs - with benefits and pensions - Americans should be furious. What kind of country do you want? -
Vote like your life depends on it
Vote for democrats cross the board
Vote for decency
Vote to put a check on this corrupt administration and a complicit Republican Party.
2
I want a candidate who doesn't insult people. I want a candidate who goes door to door. I want a candidate who doesn't rely on experts to tell him or her what to say. I want a candidate with a thick skin, one who laughs, has a sense of humor, and one who has a sparkle in their eyes. I want a candidate who doesn't look at an iPad all day long, who reads books, who listens to music, goes to plays and dance performances, appreciates art, and gets mustard on their shirt at baseball games. I want a candidate who is a human being and not the product of a political machine, or a rich old man who buys his way into the game. I want a candidate who has made human mistakes, who owns up to the errors, and has learned how to move past all of that nonsense.
3
What kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020? I’ll speak for myself here(although I know others that absolutely agree.)
That Democrat will have more than slogans, but instead will have concrete realistic answers to everything that is of utmost concern ( and often urgency) to the electorate.
One quick present example of how to LOSE voters:
The caravan. We know what Trump’s position is. But who knows what the Democratic position is??? When Nancy Pelosi was specifically asked about the caravan, she said she wanted to talk about health care!
I’m not talking in THIS message about “what” that position is. But constantly avoiding giving a position, and a well though out plausible position at that, puts me off big time.
Just so you know, Trump disgusts me and I voted for HRC. But I can see why many people are being put off by the Democrats. If they want to win in 2020, they better stop it pronto!
2
@SAH I cannot see why more people are not put off by trump...I just can’t...he’s a racist..a liar..I am just so tired of the vitriol and it starts with him...it started during the primaries in 2016...he is reprehensible.
@Cheryl Kay
Many more I’m sure are upset with Trump. But when they look for an alternative ( a real workable alternative) from the Democrats to consider they find nothing but slogans with no realistic plans to implement anything. So some vote for “some sort of plan i.e. Trump’s) while others don’t vote at all because, sadly as usual, the Democrats don’t propose anything that has any chance of working, if they propose anything at all.
Too bad too! I’d love to see the Democrats regain control but they must have a “workable” plan or their tenure will be extremely short lived!!
Judging by all the noise concerning immigration, especially of refugees, what is needed now is a Harriet Beecher Stowe who can show all those supposed Christians in Red states just how people are suffering in Central America, and how critical it is that they be given freedom in the United States. Trump's policies are an affront to humanity very much like the Fugitive Slave Bill, but extended to the Americas, not just the present US as in 1850.
@czarnajama
As a Republican, I can only hope that Democrats campaign to open the country to all suffering Central Americans who mass at the border and demand entry. And once they're in, there are millions of Venezuelans who are suffering and would gladly vacate Caracas for a shot at Florida.
And untold millions suffering in Africa. Why should our compassion extend only to those who originate from a land mass contiguous to our country? Or to those physically able to present themselves at our border? I argue that they--disproportionately young males--are precisely those *least* in need of entry, compared to the old and weak back in Honduras who can't make the trip.
Compassion alone as a basis for policy has no limits and is logically inconsistent.
@czarnajama
As a Republican, I can only hope that Democrats campaign to open the country to all suffering Central Americans who mass at the border and demand entry. And once they're in, there are millions of Venezuelans who are suffering.
And untold millions suffering in Africa. Why should our compassion be limited to those who originate from a land mass that is contiguous to our country? Or to those physically able to present themselves at our border?
Why is it that even the most perceptive of journalists assume that Trump will be running for President in 2020?! There is a man named Mueller that some of us have heard of.... he's got a little project under way that is going to lead to some conclusions that will have a serious impact on the political prospects of anybody associated with a certain Donald J. Trump, even the man himself will be impacted by what Mr. Mueller unveils. Don't believe me? That's okay, you didn't think he'd win the election either!
1
Your arguments make sense and I agree with them. But one factor you did not mention is Trump's legal jeopardy. He faces many hurdles, legally, and it remains to be seen if he can survive them. If he doesn't he won't be running in 2020...so time will tell.
2
Two things:
First, an effective Democrat needs a strong, clear, and simple message about what he or she will offer the American people. The Democratic message now is fragmented, complex, and unclear. The message needs to be the Democrat's own and not a reaction to Republican messages. Don't let the Republicans define the turf you'll do battle on. If it were me, I'd focus on providing a cost-effective and fiscally responsible safety net so that no American has to fear losing health care coverage for him- or herself and for his or her children. Capitalism, low debt, modest taxes—but all surrounded by an effective safety net that ensures no American has to go bankrupt to care for his or her family—this is what Democrats want for the US.
Second, mostly treat Trump's comments as jokes. Laugh at his provocations. Say they are silly. Dismiss them. Treat them as a bit ridiculous. Laugh them off. And never, never get angry. Stay calm, don't be triggered. But do regularly dismiss Trump's words with just a subtle (not overt) tone of ridicule. You need to stay above the fray and not let yourself descend into childish name calling with Trump or even addressing him directly. But you have to treat everything he says as irrelevant and silly childish babble not worth your response.
4
The United States is a very sick society and the cause of its malaise is its economic system, which I would call unbridled neoliberalism. The next Democratic candidate for president should be a real socialist in order to provide the profound change that is needed.
2
@Robert Dole
I am all for the next Democratic nominee proudly proclaiming him or herself to be a real socialist. Even fielding a Republican candidate in response would be overkill.
Seriously Frank the media created this Frankenstein. We are exhausted by this. Yes because all you do is push him on us. I agree with one reader who said this column could have waited until after Tues. Do not worry if Dems lose on Tues we are doomed. Trump will declare himself Dictator or maybe Civil War will break out. Who knows?
It's time for the geriatric set to step aside. Biden, Sanders, Clinton, and Warren will all be over 70 by the time of the 2020 election. Biden and Sanders will be pushing 80.
Even more importantly, the Democrats need a platform. Right now we can summarize the Democratic platform in only four words: "We hate Donald Trump." There are plenty of issues upon which we can disagree vigorously with the Trump administration--inequality, environmental protection, compassion, opportunity, concentration of wealth in the hands of the elite, and others.
The Democratic National Committee misread the electorate completely in 2016 by forcing the nomination of an unpopular candidate with considerable baggage who ran a terrible campaign. We can't let this happen again. There are perhaps fifty candidates identified by people commenting on this thread. But I think that we're going about this all backwards. Let's come to at least general agreement on the platform for 2020 first, then identify and nominate the candidates who will be able to deliver the message most effectively.
We on the left side of the political spectrum need to recognize that Donald Trump is a formidable politician--as Mr. Bruni has said, an effective counter-puncher and a street brawler. Too many of the left continue to claim that he is stupid, or mentally ill, or about to be impeached and removed from office. Let's get our heads out of the sand.
2
No mention of Sanders.
That pretty much sums up the value of Bruni's analysis.
5
I am a Republican and although Trump sickens me, I don't see a Barrack Obama that I crossed over to vote for twice. I do see a bunch of panderers that will do anything to get elected and will make ridiculous promises to get there and a bunch of re-treads that are past their expiration date and won't inspire anyone (particularly younger voters). What I would like to see is honest rational people like Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Bloomberg as Trump alternatives instead of the usual suspects
1
Since our legislature seems unable and unwilling to do it, the candidate who comes up with a sensible, workable plan for immigration is the one who could win. Amnesty is not the answer to the 24 million (estimated) undocumented foreigners in our country. Neither is deportation of people who have lived here for most of their young lives. This isn't rocket science. The answer to caravans and border walls is control of immigration through a strict worker visa system, something we let slide since the Reagan amnesty.
2
Predictably, Mr. Bruni focuses on image and tactics, rather than substance and a vision for the country. He's creating a narrative frame for the Democratic field for 2020 and has settled for predictable responses from each person he interviewed. For me, Bruni's most significant point was the following: "Standing out will require one nonnegotiable quality: the vividness to loosen Trump’s stranglehold on the media." What an admission of weakness from a prominent member of the political press corp. The failure of media organizations to look beyond Donald Trump's political theater is part of the reason he was elected in the first place. The dependence on prefab templates of candidates and issues has reduced politics to a game, misrepresenting what's a stake for people in our elections. Instead of demanding better performance skills from politicians, Bruni might ask how come so many in the media allowed Trump to manipulate them and overcome their judgement. The 2020 campaign will be underway in earnest once the midterms are past. Political journalists need to do some soul searching of their own if they haven't started already.
7
What kind of candidate will inspire people to vote? A candidate with a good record that focuses on real issues people care about rather than on attack ads, memes and polling points. Progressive populism will be far more effective than milquetoast corporate centrism or identity politics. I would love to see Sen. Barbara Lee run.
2
One of Trump's most politically effective features is an ability to make voters believe that what he says is what he actually believes. This is very unusual. Professional politicians running for national office are not believable, and regardless of which identity group Democrats tap for their 2020 candidate, they will not defeat Trump unless they, like Trump, portray themselves honestly.
1
Q: what kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020?
A: not the kind that will get the nomination.
Face it, the Democrats have a real problem. The candidates that stir the liberal base now- Warren, Sanders, Harris, even O’Rourke- are not the candidates who can win a national election. Rather than complain again about the electoral college after the election, the Democrats better choose someone who can compete throughout the electoral map rather than one who wins CA by four million votes but loses the Rust Belt by 200,000 votes. Prediction? They won’t.
3
Micheal Bloomberg should scare republicans because he is actually the real deal, and they know in their heart of hearts that they never liked Trump. They were voting against Clinton and not for Trump.
I like Bloomberg. I just don’t know if the Democratic base, the Bernie Sanders wing, can get behind a billionaire. But this is a billionaire who was mayor of a liberal city for three terms. That should count for something.
6
@Oliver I doubt that the Bernie Sanders wing would support Bloomberg.
If the Democrats don't go bold, they will lose and they will deserve losing.
Not much seems to have been learned from the 2016 disaster.
Let's start with who not to run: Clinton, Sanders, Warren, Pelosi, Feinstein, etc. The Democrats need someone who is much younger, than Trump, and has the oration skills of a Kennedy or Obama. Also, the person has to be a proven leader; that is a current/former governor. Also,a person who is a centrist and has worked with both parties effectively; he comes from a "purple" state. John Hickenlooper, the soon to be former governor of Colorado, fits most of the bill. He certainly can wipe the floor, with Trump, in debates.
9
@Nick Metrowsky Sanders has the oration skills of a Kennedy, but he scares the elite.
Scared won't win.
1
No thought for a candidate who will ask: "Is this right?" Until Americans yearn for such a leader. they will remain in the morass they have created.
3
Reading this column, if I didn't know better, I would think that Trump was enormously popular and "overwhelmingly won" the 2016 election as Sara Huckabee Sanders continually lies. He received 3,000,000 fewer votes than Secretary did and has never broken 50% approval by the American people. He won the electoral college with the help of the Russians and his own brand of disinformation. With the help of gerrymandering he also had the fortune of a compliant Republican Congress. Trump should not certainly not be the model that Democrats emulate in 2020.
9
@Claude
Really ! It is not like he is FDR or JFK or Obama....someone who can win the popular vote AND speak intelligently.
1
@Cheryl Kay
Who can intern Japanese citizens purely on the basis of race, who can decline to integrate the armed forces notwithstanding overwhelming popularity (a 4 time winner!) and who can use his enormous power to bed scores, if not hundreds, of women (including barely "legal" women) while in the White House.
1 out of 3 ain't bad.
Hey, you guys started this. A black student body leader at UVA announced his offense to the college's president quoting Thomas Jefferson, because he owned slaves. There's no end to the retrospective empaneling of the Star Chamber.
Dr. Phil, Jay Leno or David Letterman. One of these three might be able to win.
1
I don't disagree with Kerrey's point about reaching out to the Trump midwesterners who can be persuaded to vote Dem, but in addition, how about registering more people to vote and making sure that they can vote? How about adapting the Republican "overturn Roe" drumbeat to "overturn Citizens United"? More voters is the better strategy for Dems rather than fighting over the malleable middle.
6
Excellent column. I am sure it left a lot of people squirming, having to face the reality of Trump. The last sentence was a gut punch. Great writing.
4
Yes, we do have multiple candidates from Massachusetts which makes me proud to be a resident.
I think it should be a newcomer, male or female, someone who served in the military with a good education by a family who worked hard for their piece of the American dream. We need a patriot and an unquestionable one. We definitely need a Democrat because of the moral dissolution of the GOP.
He or she should not get down in the mud with Trump or the GOP because that is their overall strategy for winning. Stand apart and above the fracas and most of all do not hate Trump or the GOP because they will call you on it and make you no different from them.
2
I would like to add a corollary to what Bob Kerrey said about his excellent advice on just focusing on what the voters want in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as sort of a polestar.
As much as I hate to say this, look at Hillary's campaign and do the opposite. Specifically, as an example take universal pre-K daycare, a major pillar of Hillary's platform and campaign in large part, because it spoke to professional women in particular with the struggles of balancing a full-time professional career with the expenses of daycare, as opposed to a stay at home mom. This further engendered Hillary to a constituency that was already her most avid loyal base members, and it somewhat alienated her from the stay at home moms in PA, MI and WI. Preaching to the choir will not get you elected as Hillary discovered.
Also, I recommend that the Democratic nominee be required to visit Wisconsin at least once during the campaign.
2
I don't know how it could be accomplished, but it seems to me that there is plenty of money floating around the airwaves that is wasted. If the Democrats lost the last election by about 15,000 votes spread out in three states, it seems to me that a separate, non-political organization could find 25,000 people needing places to live, and a job of some sort in these states, that are filled with cheap housing in small towns, and work that needs to be done. If we can't change the Electoral College in the next two years, then we have to make a small effort to re-populate the Rust Belt and the Midwest with blue-thinkers. How about putting Blue political organization headquarters in places like Eau Claire Wisconsin, or Dayton Ohio or Hibbing Minnesota? There are dozens of such organizations in existence now, mostly based on the coasts--and I know that because they're all in my inbox ten times a day. Want to turn states from Red to Blue? Go live where we need your votes!
4
Thanks Mr. Bruni, but Trump will easily win re-election as the Democrats bumble about trying to find a message. And the country will inch closer to dissolution as progressive states choose a forward-looking path rather than pining for the "good old days" and tire of supporting red states.
3
@Lucien Dhooge
Sorry. Abraham Lincoln determined once and for all that once a state was in the Union, it was in forever. Even at a cost of 600,000 young mens' lives. Or are you more sympathetic to the notion of secession now that it involves liberals' desire to leave the Union?
If Frank was running for President I would vote for him. Though it would be hard to work for him with enthusiasm. And I wouldn't want to fake it.
No matter how "reasonable" he would want to sound, his Republican opponents would make him seem ten times worse [really better] than Bernie Sanders. They would say he wants to abolish ICE , for example even if he makes it clear he doesn't. They might even say he was for open borders no matter how many conversations with Laura Ingraham he has.
The version they would paint of him would be someone I could enthusiastically work for, not only vote for. So instead of continually trying to placate his more vicious reactionary friends, maybe Frank can let loose the most deeply poetic liberatory Frank inside himself. The one desperately craving to be free.
3
These lessons are not new. Kennedy defeated Nixon. That was light vs dark. People were delighted to be inspired, and delighted to vote for someone they admired.
It isn't all about what works. It is also about who the voters like and respect and trust as a person. It is hard for Democrats to hear, but that is what Reagan knew. He ACTED, as an actor can, as a President "should" in the eyes of voters. Democrats know that is not the real story of his Administration, but that is the real story of why people voted for him. Watch him give the Challenger Disaster speech. He was the President we wanted.
Find the person voters like, trust, respect, who can give a speech like the Kennedy brothers did. That is why people wanted Robert to be President, not because he was a hard man (he was) but because he inspired. That is why people cried when he died shot in that kitchen. Who would anyone cry for today?
When pundits like this say "moderate" they mean Republican-Lite, trying to take Republicans away from their own party. When they say "Progressive" they mean someone who will say the words, but with caveats, and then can be relied upon by donors not really to do any such things.
Their defense "debate" has been whether to add or cut a few billion from a defense budget near $700 billion up front, plus hundreds more for dark programs, intelligence, nuclear power, Homeland Security, and more.
Give us that person who will actually talk about things, and mean it, while being trusted.
7
@Mark Thomason Bernie Sanders is the person who is talking about things and meaning it, while being trusted.
Wake up! Listen! What is wrong with you that you do not mention Bernie Sanders?
He is the most Kennedy of the bunch of wannabees.
3
To defeat Trump, Dems will need someone with the wit to instantly turn the tables on Trump and put him on the defensive. Remember when Reagan was asked about how age should be considered during a debate? His reply was that he vowed he wouldn't use his opponent's youth and inexperience against him. But at the end of the day, that person also needs to have policies that people want. Not just mentioned on their campaign website, but known for being passionate about them. Hillary supporters kept pointing out how obviously qualified she was. Richard Nixon was also qualified. But if you're not going to push policies I want, what good does that do me? In fact, if you're going to be pushing policies I hate, I'd rather you were incompetent. Bloomberg is qualified, but does anyone seriously believe he's willing to raise taxed on billionaires to fix the Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid shortfall? We live in the wealthiest country on the planet. There is no reason, other than a lack of political will, that we should be short-changing education, retirement, and health care.
5
We need to lose the assumption that there are only two candidates from two parties that should be considered. If we've learned nothing else from Trump, it's that anyone can win. By dismissing valid third-party candidates in any election as a wasted vote, we are losing good people in office in favor of more of the same.
Mr. Bruni is probably right, though, and the back and forth between two dysfunctional parties soaked in party politics will continue. At the very least, let's get every candidate up on the stage for the debates.
1
So long as the Democratic party is about self-indulgence, safe spaces and identity politics they will struggle. A good Democrat will be able to achieve those qualities without demonizing people who are legitimately concerned about the changes the party wants. Shame is very off-putting and counterproductive.
So the Democrat who can beat Trump is someone who can stop grandstanding their sanctimony, can reform campaign finance laws, implement a viable health care system, reform tax laws to ensure everyone pays, create an infrastructure program for the 21st century that includes airports, subways, rails, roads, bridges, hospitals and schools, and can avoid conflict diplomatically and militarily stands a chance of beating Trump.
4
"Standing out will require one nonnegotiable quality: the vividness to loosen Trump’s stranglehold on the media. To that end, any serious challenger has to figure out how to tell his or her story in a riveting way."
What a shame that the media loves and rewards catchy slogans instead of sending journalists who take the time to understand and explain the dramatic policy choices at stake in each election.
3
Frank Bruni had to decide whether to use the most cogent quote high up, in the lede, or as a closing kicker. He chose the latter. Bob Kerry: "...don't think about anything other than what you're going to say in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan...Why should people who hunt, fish and go to church trust you?"
If you were surprised at the depth of Trump's support, then also appreciate the issues that motivates those supporters. Truth is, until Trump, people spoke about China's trade policies hurting (yes, hurting) the United States, but no one did anything about it. We may understand the intrinsic benefits of global trade, especially in the post-industrial economy, but we neglected its collateral damage -- millions of industrial era workers. Truth is, the Democrats have to be clear on what they favor, not just what they oppose. And what they favor must also account for the folks who, in Kerry's words " hunt, fish and go to church."
China’s trade policies? American CEOs moved their manufacturing to China, India and other lower labor cost locations. Those CEOs now make 280X the median $income versus 75X about 40 years ago. Mission accomplished! The US Chamber of Commerce was a facilitator in those moves to China because they wanted to reduce the impact of US Labor Unions.
2
Almost any Democrat if the economy tanks as many pundits predict.
1
Wrong question. Can anyone beat trump. The answer is NO.
Have to mention gerrymandering, Electoral College, severe voter restrictions. Need I go on?
3
@esp Gerrymandering has no effect on national elections
Trump may not be running for President in 2020. He is bored with the Presidency. He just likes the spotlight, and might prefer his own show on Fox News.
Or Trump may skip out of the USA and move to Russia, to avoid trials in the USA for treason and other serious crimes.
Or be impeached, tried and put in prison. A small cage in Gitmo would be appropriate.
If Trump is not nominated, the GOP will run Mike Pence, especially if he completes Trump's term. Pence would be unelectable as President.
The Democrats should run a Presidential candidate under 60 years old, but under 50 might be even better.
The Democratic candidate should be progressive, not a Rockefeller Republican like Carter or the Clintons. Whoever it is, that candidate should advocate universal Medicare at birth, higher taxes for the wealthy to offset lower taxes for the real middle class. The Democrats should advocate rebuilding and enhancement of the infrastructure, and better public education.
6
You go, Frank! Let the next nominee be one who, even if a coastal bluestocking, visibly loves the agricultural life and rhythm of the seasonal cycle that colors it; who reveres faith without bigotry; believes unconditional love of and dedication to family is a mark of character; understands that preservation of the economic safety net for those who truly need it is vital to the health of the nation; and insists decent basic health care with attention to addition, clean air, and potable water should be rights. Let all of that be shared with manifest respect and dignity for all while allowing little attention to one gobbling his cheeseburgers and watching Fox New in self-indulgent opulence.
4
Jon Tester
John Hickenlooper
Love Bernie but too old and too left for an entire nation. Instead of discussing how his policies could be advanced we’ll spend the entire cycle explaining that socialism isn’t communism and he’ll still lose.
We need someone who can explain in simple terms why health insurance is a good thing, why we need to reinstate glass-stegall, how they will not support racism or nationalism and that doing so doesn’t make them anti-American.
3
Oprah Winfrey is the only person with the capability of defeating tRump in 2020 but it's getting more and more difficult to imagine that she will run.
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Waren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Michael Bloomberg et. al. have no chance whatsoever.
3
When we take back the House, we'll have to confront Trump his Republican Party. The Democratic Party will need an articulate spokesperson with wisdom, charisma and charm. The battle for the nomination will fought and won, or lost, by confronting Trump in 2019, not by debating other Democrats in 2020.
4
The DNC must remember ABC ...anyone but Clinton . No war mongers . The idea is to convert people . Get a short list of good ideas and stick to the issues .
Vote them out, but never vote based on strict party litmus tests. They don’t reflect the diversity of this nation’s views and interests.
“Kerrey said that in a perfect world, a Democratic candidate would go even further than that in the primary and tell voters: “You’re going to get angry at me, because I’m going to embrace a Republican idea if it feels good. Don’t expect me to be 100 percent — 100 percent may make you happy, but it won’t pull this country together.”
4
Forget all this: All that will matter in 2020 is which candidate has the best meme team.
41
@Travis Neal Todd -- That is just one tool, and is a left over from last time.
Next time will have its own tools, new and fresh and used better in ways the other side hadn't expected.
3
@Mark Thomason
How does "a chicken in every app controlled crock pot" sound? The classics are classics for a reason.
@Travis Neal Todd. It's "better" meme team, Travis.
1
American politics has truly become Reality TV. Who can fake emotion the best? Phoniness sells! We want the best lying mud wrestler!
Issues? Who cares? Deficits? Taxes? Increasing the size of an already bloated military? Poisoning the environment? Destroying our schools? Bah! These are all tiny distractions from the real issue, which is who can lie the best, the longest, and the most repulsively.
This column is the most depressing thing I have read in a long, long time.
Obviously, the Democrats should run the all-time winner of the Survivor TV show. That is apparently what Americans want. An advertiser's dream! "The Greatest Survivor vs The Apprentice."
We are doomed.
3
"Convey strength. More than ever voters seem to crave that, and many see it in Trump." Incessant lying, blathering bombast, and bigotry are strength? Sorry, but I still do not understand those who support Trump. What I see in him is a self-serving, loudmouth narcissist who is perpetrating an incredible fraud on the American people. His "Oh, come let us adore him" rallies are disgusting. And to my mind, if "the media" wants to play a role in putting an end to this madness, "the media" can begin by ignoring him.
9
Ans: A former Democrat who has seen the light and is now a Republican.
1
Robert Muller for president
4
How does Mr. Bruni go through a whole piece on the 2020 democratic nominee without even one mention of Bernie Sanders is beyond me. Is he writing from planet earth?
7
Bernie is very good and could have won in 2016 . Too late now .
1
Here's hoping he's impeached, exiled, the victim of a freak hand gliding accident or is captured by a well intentioned group of Junior Leaguers who just want to get him off the streets and teach him some manners. Thinking that maniac could actually mount another campaign is too much for the soul to handle.
5
People seem to think that Trump is this unbeatable force because he acts like a jerk and still managed to win. But Trump is a clown and buffoon and only was elected because so many people hated his rival.
You ask what kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020, assuming he is still in office at that point, which is a very tenuous assumption. Essentially any Democratic politician can beat Trump handily as long as that politician is not Hillary Clinton.
6
Ever since Reagan, the Republicans have had it easy in picking a “Hillary “ to effectively demonize to help their cause. Next up, Nancy Pelosi.
So it’s not as simple as you think.
1
Gov. Jay Inslee (D) Washington.
If the next Democrat to run for President does ANY of the things offered here as advice, they will lose. We only have Trump because we had Obama/Clinton and they were perfect examples of this playbook. Leading our country is not a game, nor a personality quiz. It is not the path to a Netflix show or a dynasty featuring your daughter. Obama and Clinton's egos are only surpassed by Trumps ego. Obama and Clinton's for profit existence is only surpassed by Trumps. Trump out Obamaed and out Clintoned us - while laughing and enjoying the people all the time. That is also key. The candidate has to like the US - and us.
If the Democrats want to win. Give us substance, experience, character and grit. No celebrities. No lawyers. No one who disparages the hard working, law abiding citizen.
38
@me -- "We only have Trump because we had Obama/Clinton"
Look again. Obama was a black man with a Muslim middle name raised in part in Indonesia, fathered by a commie, raised by a radical mother. Yet he won. Twice. Big both times. Why? It wasn't that identity. It was the man. The content of his character.
Find us someone with character.
13
A politician with character. Isn't that an oxymoron? I mean, if you are going to be an effective politician don't you have to be good at lying? Don't you have to suffer from a big hole in your superego? Don't you have to be a sometimes right never in doubt kind of narcissist?
Sorry, DEMs need to have really good ideas that are reasonable and rational. And they don't, not know, and apparently not going forward.
Being against something or someone is not the answer and the DEMs haven't gotten that yet, especially with whack jobs like Steyer.
Characters, yes. Character, no.
1
@me
No lawyers. Neither Obama nor Clinton seriously practiced law as a lifetime profession. Both saw law as a spring board for a political career. However, going to law school prevented them from assuming that the FBI and the DOJ owed their loyalty to him. They would have known that immigration is the responsibility of Congress and wouldn’t have even thought of barring people from the Middle East from entering the US by executive order. Let’s elect another person who couldn’t pass high school Civics.
4
O'Rourke.
2
When I was a boy we played our hated rivals twice a year.
We lost the first game to them because the Referee
was not very good.
In the Locker roomed we complained and howled about
the blown calls that cost us the game.
Our Coach listened and then said:
Gentlemen, it will be the same Referee for the second
game and I don't expect the opposing team will have
shrunk or lost any talent by the time we play that game.
Improve your game and stop complaining.
Democrats - do the following:
Nominate a Governor who is Middle of the Road.
Who will look Trump in the eye during the debates
and say:
Be a gentleman President Trump.
You represent the United States - Act Like A President
and stop interrupting me like a child and behave yourself
or do I need to take you over my knee and give you a
good paddling.
Meanwhile, don't do what the Democrats did in
1968 and via divisiveness hand the election to Trump
like it was handed to Nixon.
Be practical.
Be practical.
Be practical.
The Nation is on fire
grab any and all hoses you can to put out the fire
but don't argue about whether putting out the fire
is a good use of water and healthy for the Environment.
Improve your Game.
6
@John Brown, Be practical and run Hillary Clinton again.
1
@FXQ
Third Time is the charm ?
She will be 72 during the campaign and
turn 73 the week before the Election.
Both she and Trump could wear themselves
out in the campaign - so choose your
Vice President nominees carefully.
1
ABC...anyone but Clinton !
1
Beat Trump?
The world in which we live in does not care about complicated, educated or even intellectually solid arguments.
This is why Trump has a very good chance to win the mid-term elections AND a re election.
He has none of the issues listed above on his mind.
So any candidate that will be able to beat Trump will have to:
Understand modern social media.
"Argue" straight towards the voters guts and never mind their minds or even hearts.
Not use long words or complicated messages you have to think about.
Not be afraid of attacking others or telling lies.
Ignore any insults or personal attacks coming from the competition.
Have a simple message and plan.
And most of all, have the backing of large but cheap media like Fox&Friends that has an impact on the guts of their viewers, not their minds.
And, last but not least, have a support team of the likes of e.g. Antony Scaramucci, someone who you may laugh about but this guy has found the recipe to bypass the brains, minds and hearts of the voters and go right to their guts and who understands that you do not need to win big, the states with the small electorate are just enough to get the job done.
So, not much of a chance for a Democrat.
You just endorsed Bernie Sanders for 2020 .
4
A normal white guy. But the Democratic Party will insist on nominating a woman, a person of color, or a Muslim, because winning is not what they are about. Any candidate that might appeal to a Republican must be avoided. Losing on principle is the Democratic version of victory.
7
Amen , Brother .
Bingo!!
Winning the election, a novel idea. But they’ll rather give the heartland Nancy Pelosi.
@Peter Avanatti is correct- Dems need to run a more mainstream white male candidate to have any chance of winning
We do not need a member of any identity group-especially groups which have emerged-almost wholly "formed", yet without much identity but denying the very nature of "gender" or the binary nature of mamallian sexuality, if not its binary nature of sensuality.
Most of us Americans-from the red to the blue end of the spectrum, are one of either or-we are not here to demand that everyone else agree with our definitions of humanity anymore than we would attempt to enforce religious conformity-(which was still often done in the various states until the 1st half of the 20th century!)
We need a candidate who is no worse , if not a heck of a lot better, then either "Ike" or JFK or LBJ , all three of whom-both Republican or Democrats, serving in the middle of our American 20th century, tried to act with an average guy approach to humanity & voters and politics-even though now, over a half century later, we know they led far from ordinary, far from monogamous lives. That even "Ike" wanted to leave his wife during the War, but was forced by events & politics and the cause of the allies to throw it all over for his driver.
Few don't know of JFKs erotic flings;less than a few know who Alice Glass was.
We need men l and we can wait longer, without another "minority identity" president or a woman. Trump would savage any woman candidate. We need someone as tough but immune to pain as FDR was-one more imperfect man according to new, woman's rules.
2
Taking the moral high ground and being upbeat about compassion, and equality for all is the only way to go. It will not win over many, if any, from Trump's base because they really have no where to go. If you're a racist, a white supremacist, anti gay, anti gay marriage, anti immigrant, you would not be able to find a place within the Democratic Party, and there is nothing any one can do or say that would win them over to a different point of view. Tip #1, do not get bogged down in a debate with haters.
Combined with some meat and potatoes, like rejuvenating health care, and, this is where it gets tricky, presenting a list of obtainable goals, backed by grounded thinking, so that if asked, one has a clear and succinct message. Energy independence from fossil fuel is a great message, but it will draw such a back lash from the oil industry that would create more than one front to the war, and you don't want to do that. The list needs to be short and to the point. Equality for all, which includes income, defined as a descent job with descent pay, and access to affordable health care in a cleaner less toxic environment is straight forward and simple enough. Pointing out that the oil industry has run the same commercial for the last 10 years or more on turning algae in to clean fuel should be panned for what it is, baloney. And what all good politicians need is a closing statement, and that one should be that every citizen should pay their fare share in support of the country.
1
Nobody would run their own businesses, families or personal lives like the government is running today. Trump has brought the chaos, lies and narcissism of his own life to the presidency.
But the Democrats are not blameless. A big reason for all the Trump support is that a huge swath of the country doesn't want us to be an economic Sweden nor have every single nationality, race, creed, color, gender, non-gender and sexual orientation to have his or her own designer set of rules and rights. In their fervor to oppose hate, the Democrats have also seemed to promote separation of Americans into tribes and ostracizing those who don't agree.
I am a Jew whose grandparents were immigrants, so I don't find a place in today's hate-mongering, cowardly GOP. But I am also a white male, so I also do not find a place in today's Democratic party, in which I have to renounce my "white male privilege" and accept the premise that anybody who didn't get what they wanted out of life must have been the victim of discrimination.
What kind of Democrat can beat Trump? Who cares? What I want to know is what kind of person can unite the country and do what's best for us as a nation. Neither the right or left currently offers that option.
2
Take a stand!
The environment and the deliberate weakening of public education is going to effect you before any caravan of Central Americans or an Iranian missile.
1
I think that though an excellent insight from Frank's many highly placed and experienced political operatives, most of them are missing one important thing now; a big chunk of America, including some "well-educated folks", are behaving in a manner that can only be described as willfully ignorant.
Willfully ignorant. I see it when I look at friends of friends on Facebook. They are citing so much fake news and absorbing it while they do, that I doubt they can ever be reached by a rational argument based on facts.
What the next Democratic candidate for president must do is address the Independents. They will decide who wins the next election. Something like; "I would like to talk to the independent voters in our country, those of you who maintain your right to move between the parties based on how you feel about the candidates. This is why I am the man (or woman) for you and your families."
There isn't a Democratic candidate out there who can reach my Republican siblings. They are willfully ignorant Evangelicals and they are on board the Trump wagon, seat belts buckled. But there may be one who can talk to a few of my independent friends if only they will frame their message so that it appeals to their independent natures. Give them some credit for not belonging to either tribe and you will get lots of votes...
3
Why should anyone automatically assume that Trump will be a candidate in 2020? If the Democrats take the House and if the Mueller investigation continues to drop bombshells, both of which are very likely, the remaining Republican Senators will start to realize that if they continue to support this abominable president, they may need to consider a career change.
The man is toxic and doing great damage to this country every day. Why should we unnecessarily prolong the agony?
2
@Maggie There has been no Mueller bombshell about Trump. Time to get down to the hard work of finding a decent candidate and stop the wishing well process
Perhaps the Democrats should not run against Trump, they should run on their platform. That's what Trump did.
132
@Beaconps. Did miss something? I thought Trump ran on locking up "Crooked Hillary".
@shend
You did miss something, and he did not. He ran on "Make America Great Again", which is actually a very powerful, compelling theme. His political goals were all a product of, and clearly related to, that theme.
"Stronger Together" was a meaningless, anodyne response that reinforced, not masked, Hillary's determination to cobble together as many disparate ethnic groups' endorsements as a path to victory. It didn't have a chance. And rightfully so.
2
@shend
Trump needs the SWAMP and his Justice Department to help him do that. Besides he is kept too busy keeping his government running. Will never happen. CROOKED is too crooked to catch.
First of all, the candidate must make a clear break with the public perception of Democrats as warm-fuzzy apologists and protectors for illegal immigrants and holier-than-thou shamers of our citizens who are legitimately concerned. The foundation of every right-ward, nationalistic political shift around the world is migration from poor and war-torn countries, which means they are not white and they may not be Christians. Those racial and cultural differences exacerbate the defensive and fearful reactions. The day of his or her announcement to run, the candidate must declare, "America is for the American citizens, of all races, religions and national origins, who have worked, fought, sacrificed, obeyed our laws and paid their taxes to make America great. It is not for any who would violate our borders and our laws, take advantage of our good hearts and hospitality to steal the fruits of our civic labor for themselves and their heirs." After that declaration, they can talk about our traditions as a "nation of immigrants," about "desperate people fleeing poverty, oppression and violence" and their plan for handling asylum seekers at the border and reforming the immigration system. But if they are not willing to assert the right of our nation to determine who gets to live and work here and promise to enforce our immigration laws, they should bother running.
2
The type of President the Democrats should put forth in 2020 to beat Trump?
I don't know which type the Democrats should put forth because it seems the U.S. is locked in an affirmative action battle across all of society and both sides (the major parties) cannot imagine any other method of winning than to match affirmative action by affirmative action whether or not this is the best chance of winning, and in fact it may be the best chance for winning if not the best thing for society.
By affirmative action battle I mean of course Republicans putting forth candidates not really based on merit but rather based on wealth, interest, like Harvard's legacy admissions. And Democrats in turn not at all given to deciding people by merit but merely trying to make society more diverse, socialistic, which means just elevating this or that minority when they can and playing down white males especially as much as possible.
There is no real justice here, no real call for quality people, for actual merit (I suppose true justice associated with genuine meritocracy), but rather a low level war between protecting wealth and spreading wealth, between protecting or undermining this or that religious, racial or ethnic group interest, etc. The Democrats whether winning or losing seemed locked into gathering as many minority groups and what white people they can against a largely white other group (Republicans) but neither side particularly serves meritocracy and therefore success of society.
Yes, Trump is an excellent counter-puncher...but the referees out here can see they are mostly low blows. We need sincerity, honesty, and morality in our next President. This one is lacking all three, and always has.
104
@Jean Boling The best counterpuncher was Bill Clinton. After a while (and before Monica), the Republicans stopped quizzing him because he could always "see 'em, and raise 'em five" on a challenge. He knew the issues and he could think on his feet...quickly.
@John
Trump goes low with lies.
The Ds need to go low with the truth.
@Jean Boling
Yes I agree we need the sincerity, honesty and morality that we did not see in Obama's lies, Bill Clinton's ORALITY, Hillary Clinton's CROOKEDNESS and yes JFK's women morality behind closed doors.
We have to give it to Trump that in his public life he has been sincere, honest and moral. He punches where it is felt but never acts like he did not punch, he is sincere when he says he wants to Make America Great Again and to him morality is doing what is legal and saying what he does. Even Obama failed at all three but is back out again claiming the economy is his.
I live in rural, northern Wisconsin. I am the rare liberal living in Trump Country. And I completely agree with Frank Bruni when it comes to condescension. Most of the people I know are honest, hardworking, intelligent folks who were willing to take a chance on DJT; mainly because the other viable choice was unacceptable. I made the other choice....for the same reason.
Democrats need to realize that not everyone lives on the East or West coast or around the greater Chicago area. If Democrats truly wish to defeat Trump in 2020, part of their message must contain at least a respect for those whose experiences are different than those living in San Francisco or the upper West Side.
Hillary Clinton's "deplorable" comment went a long, long way in sealing her fate.
1
Don't forget the Electoral College - the candidate must be able to flip the Rustbelt states, Florida, and potentially NC and Georgia. Piling up more popular votes on the west coast and northeast is not the goal.
2
A recent PBS documentary on Dayton, OH showed the world as it is experienced by millions of Americans. It's a hollowed out area once vital with industrial strength now being colonized by foreign investors paying just north of minimum wages to people who grew up in a thriving, industrial city dominated by the American auto industry. Perhaps an interesting contrast to this would be a visit to Manchester, NH, currently seeming to thrive on high tech and new lifestyles lived in formally industrial buildings along the Merrimack River. One similarity between the two is the depth of the opioid crisis as it continues to rage.
Finding a candidate who can re-imagine our heartland while integrating it with a new American spirit will not be easy, but optimism must serve as the goal. The one hope I found in the story of Dayton was that people can adjust and keep on seeking to thrive, when they work together. One can only hope!
3
Fortunately, the next election might no longer be about whose party its leader belongs to, but about the characteristics that leader possesses. Don't forget, Republicans used to be Democrats and vice-versa. While we all now know what we've all now got, why not now first think about who we all next want regardless of that person's political affiliations. It's about time we think about that option because it's probably a more efficient/effective way to determine what's best for each of us as well as our country and its democracy. Remember 'smoke filled' rooms? Remember 'brokered conventions?' Perhaps, just perhaps, political parties will go the same way sooner rather than later so that we can move past that pesky middle man or woman and vote most directly for the right person.
I remember that the NYT endorsed Hillary even though Bernie Sanders polled better against Trump---but he is still the most popular person in office. He may be too old. People will have to decide that, but to not include Harris or Sanders as possible candidates may come back to haunt Mr. Bruni. The world has very extreme problems that can't be fixed by conventional leaders.
4
Here's what's missing in the conversation - any talk of the future beyond the next 2 to 6 years. We' discovered the four corners of the world, there hasn't been a tangible new art form (and no social media is not an art form) in forever, and most people have the things they want IF they can afford them. There's negative talk - climate change, war, etc. But no vision for what the world could be. Until that conversation takes place, countries will just consolidate the power they have. During this whole campaign, have you ever heard the word 2030? Again, aside from climate change.
This is a good article. It's nice that you're listening to the other side. However, you mention Bloomberg at the beginning but never go back to him. To me, he is that unifying candidate.
1
Fear is something really basic that republicans have been using for many years now, especially racial fear, but also manufactured fear. Dems need to use some fear too, but they can use fear that's based in fact. Elect republicans and say good-bye to Social Security, Medicare, etc. etc...
5
It feels like any "this is what we need in 2020" speculation is just pointless. Very very few people saw Obama as the likeliest winner as of the 2006 midterms, and we saw where that ended up.
Trump gains votes because the U.S. as a world power is declining and many parts of the country are hurting and not gaining from globalization. In contrast to AEI data, Brookings and Pew data show how the middle class is stable to shrinking or how those in the lowest income tier increased. A visit to South Korea or Japan will easily show how vast parts of the US infrastructure are second or third rate. While there are many rich enclaves, significant parts of the country face poverty or rotting infrastructure. A reporter from The New York Times is invited to check out the Times Square main transit hub and compare that to equivalents in Berlin, Stockholm, Seoul or Tokyo. Any candidate from the Democratic Party must make these comparisons and promise a Green New Deal revival rooted in a manufacturing and infrastructure renaissance. If some U.S. green manufacturers, it is often because these firms operated outside a substantive industrial policy framework backed by the government. Republicans have stopped this and the US declined. We need a candidate who is more loyal to the country, than financial elites who are indifferent to the US decline. Trump rhetorically pointed that out, but was actually aligned with part of the elite. If the globalists Trump alienates buy the Democrat's candidate, Trump will probably get re-elected. That's why 2014 was a three way race between Sanders, Clinton and Trump. Please do not forget that we'll face a three way race again.
4
The stretch between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is "Alabama," someone (James Carville?) once said, and it is there where 2020 will be won or lost.
So, wherever the successful Democratic candidate comes from, it should be a Southerner, by these lights. That candidate should step over Trump's gutter, of course, yet be passionate, forceful and uncompromising about restoring d e m o c r a c y to our land.
1
If it wete my choice today, recognizing no one is the perfect candidate, I’d go with a pro, Joe Biden.
In any case, I’d plead with the Democratic leadership to coalesce around an electable candidate, not tear themselves apart in the primaries.
2
"Plant yourself in the Rust Belt." Unfortunately, that's our system. But the vast majority of the population live in coastal large cities. Why don't we count?
7
We don’t count because the Electoral College says we shouldn’t. Get rid of it.
A woman still can’t win, especially in the rust belt. We dems ought to admit it.
So far, Beto embodies the most winning qualities as defined herein. Never mind someone “like” him, let it be him!
4
@Kevin Davis
Say you are Blue, living in Massachusetts. Time to retire, so can you retire to a Red County in a Red State or, better yet, a Purple State just in time to vote? Then after you've helped the nation win, go to Florida. You're young, Blue living in New York. Can you run your little internet business in a small town in the Midwest for a few months? Don't tell me we can't find 30 or 40 thousand people, placed carefully, to turn the tide. And, you may find you like it there!
1
Could we possibly have a few days after the election to ignore the 2020 race?
In the UK, campaigning is only a few months, and TV ads are not allowed. This is taking money and energy away from our very real problems, and propping up the ridiculously high pay of our celebrities on TV as well.
5
Thank goodness we have seen the back of Axelrod.
1
Hi y'all, I live in NZ and don't have any right to criticize, so I won't. Since Trump your politics has turned into the most entertaining soap ever produced, the most compelling reality TV yet aired, so thank you, USA. I might make a comment or two though, because your obsession with single-payer is something I know about.
Here in NZ everyone (citizen's that is) gets free health care. It costs 75% of out total government receipts: we can't afford to have a real army or air-force, so we hitchhike on you guys' military protection.(which makes me personally ashamed)
We also have a 1,500 mile ocean border, so we don't have a migrant problem, although the two last governments have just let in millions of Chinese who won't integrate and who are mostly money-laundering criminals escaping their regime. (which has wrecked our housing market)
Lastly, Bruni's remark about addressing the people who go to church is a conundrum for dems: churchies don't believe in abortion and it is a single issue that they will vote on, even if the economy tanks.
2
Bernie sounds like the perfect candidate to me. His authenticity, gravitas and intellecct will leave Trump in the dustbin where he belongs. Bernie has the right ideas which most other Democratic contenders have now adopted. Get behind Bernie. He can beat Trump!
6
@Wheels
Bernie is no Democrat, rather he's a minor league Trump whose failure to win the nomination remarkably proved good for his brand though it cost the desperate and the disenfranchised he's claimed throughout his career to care about so very dearly, and, in the final analysis, only worked to hand the presidency over to the worst nightmare possible of anyone whose eyes weren't fixed entirely on their own navels.
3
@Leigh
Establishment Dems ganged up/lied about Bernie becoz their minds were made up for Hillary.
They did their own sorts of rigging, ignoring the "yuge" crowds overflowing night after night across the country @ Bernie rallies. I remember 1 particular bit of rigging w/former
Senator Boxer lying that Berniebros had ' thrown chairs,' signifying their 'outrageousness.
Bernie was then & remains today the most popular politician in the country.
@Wheels You're right but he'll have to contend with the Democrats working against him again, see above. Ben Jealous is experiencing the same in Maryland. Democrats witholding their support. Ask yourself who is on your side?
There will be no Trump candidacy in 2020 after next week's election, once he is impeached.
3
@A. Stanton: Sigh.
@A. Stanton
Unclear on the concept.
My advice to the Democratic candidate is to get the immigration issue out of the way. Give the guy his wall. Send the caravans back home. They don't vote.
Focus on health care for the middle class instead. Propose a health care minimum wage. Everyone who works for a living gets single payer health care. Keep it simple.
Just a few good issues, that's all it will take.
4
The person to beat Trump is Trump. In fact, Trump has already lost the 2020 election to Trump 2018.
There is so much anger that someone with a softer direction might be overwhelmingly welcome.
Though anger begets anger, eventually reason wins out. We will come together, as we have so many times in our history, and we will get it better the next time.
I think it will be a corporate titan: Howard Schultz maybe? Anyone not in politics who has a real record of business success will grab us and we will marshal behind that person. Maybe a general? We have a history of that too.
We cry out for a proven leader with a personal story we can be proud of.
Meanwhile the Trump Companies may be indicted for being a criminal organization, RICO. All of the pieces are in place: a long history of intimidation, abuse of the legal system and outright cheating (See Trump University e.g.). The Southern District of New York is poised and prepared for it and the President has no way to fire Mueller to stop it. Assets will be seized. Corruption on a par with a criminal organization will be revealed.
We are dancing with a gorilla. When you dance with a gorilla you don;t stop dancing when you are tired; you stop when the gorilla is tired. Just keep dancing and it will end sooner than later.
2
As much as I respect Mr. Bruni, this is definitely not the time to be talking about 2020.
This is the time to be urging everyone to get out and vote NOW, not in 2 years.
The Democrats need to decide what the party stands for after the midterms.
4
Frank, you give the President too much credit. You really think Trump will be in office for 2020? His administration and this country are a powder-keg and it won't make it two more years before exploding then imploding.
3
moot point, when he loses the house on Tuesday he won't be on the ticket in 2020.
5
@oskayak
Just like Obama saw the writing on the wall in 2010 and decided not to run in 2012. And Bill Clinton chickened out after losing *both* houses in 1994 and avoided running in 2016.
I think the winner is usually the most telegenic.
1
@Annied
Well, the Democrats' preoccupation with mocking Trump's weight, hairdo and hair color kind of knocks that one out of the water.
Who can't beat Trump:
Kirsten Gillibrand and anyone who threw in with her to drum Al Franken out of the Senate without a hearing.
Sen. Gillibrand - you have no respect for due process. Or common decency.
I will not vote for you even if its the only way to get rid of Donald Trump.
Destroying the career of a fine public servant to serve your own political interests is a step too far.
One reason I support Amy Klobuchar for president is she had nothing to do with that mess and never called for Franken's forced resignation as part of the "Gillibrand mob."
We need public servants who put the common good and the will of the people (the voters of Minnesota) before the crass political needs of politicians.
16
It's much to early to be planning a game to beat Trump in 2020, although it's useful to identify what not to do, which Bruni does pretty well. We have no idea what Trump will have to answer for, and what he might legitimately claim as accomplishments.
What is Trump good at in a fight? Is he really a great counter-puncher? Examples?
Most of all, Democrats have to be able to claim credit for accomplishments, not just in the form of nullifying what Trump and the Republicans want to do. They have to change the tone and the tactics that get things done for the nation, especially in those areas that are hurting most.
1
@Jon Quitslund come on Jon.... counterpunches: Leakin' Diane, cryin' Joe, Pocahontas, Lyin' Ted, Texas Ted, 'I've got more Indian Blood than her, and I've got none!', 'I don't know...but I had one beer!'
Trump is the ultimate counterpuncher. He turns enemies carefully crafted attacks into mockeries of themselves in moment, apparently without reflection or consultation.
Perhaps because he's lived in the real world of business where people will eat you up if you don't defend yourself.
It is all about the industrial Midwest. Lose there and even winning Florida is most likely not enough to recover, sweep the industrial Midwest and the election is almost won.
This probably means the best choice is a male candidate who does not represent a coastal state and does not demonize gun owners. One does not need a female candidate to motivate women voters, Trump does that on his own. Obama, Bill Clinton and Carter were all males from non-coastal states, and they all happened to win.
1
@Alan: Unless I'm missing something, Georgia has a coastline.
2
@Alan: The overwhelming majority of Americans live in coastal states. Don’t you think they’d want to be represented in a presidential candidate?
1
@Rufus
I do not think a large percentage of Georgia's population lives especially near the coast. In this sense an elected official representing the entire state is mostly representing non-coastal areas.
The 25th amendment is the "President's" only democratic opponent.
Any Democrat, except Hillary Clinton, can beat Donald Trump in 2020, just like any Democrat, except Hillary Clinton, would have beat him in 2016. This is not a difficult question.
This is an excellent article. I’m impressed you found former Nebraska governor Bob Kerrey.
John Hickenlooper won governor of Colorado without using negative ads and is a former geologist and brew pub owner. He might be a good choice.
@Chris McMasters John "fracking" Hickenlooper. Think again.
The predominant response to Trump after 2 more years, yes, there are 2 more years to go, will be... enough! The man is exhausting and does not have the substantive base to overcome that. His lack of overall popularity despite the good economic news is predictive of this. Nor is there any reason to believe if the Democrats take the house that he will somehow become more "Presidential". Fun is fun, for some, though not so much for the rest of us, but...being shouted at continuously for 4 years is not a recipe for re-election.
Think the nation is tired of this now? Give it 2 more years.
5
I know just the person, Janet Mills, the next Governor of Maine, a traditionally Republican state. Her dealings with Gov. LePage while Maine's Attorney General make her uniquely qualified to handle Trump. Oh, and she has a vision and a story to tell.
1
Democrats would have a better chance if they understand why they lost with Hillary, her agenda of identity politics is the flip side of Trumps tribalism. And she had nothing to say about offshoring of jobs and onshoring of illegal unskilled labour. Polls show These are issues that working Americans care about.
2
A total unknown, from nowhere, who can charm the crowd and get under Trumps skin at a debate to have him implode. Taunt him at the debate. Like when he stalked Hilary at the debate she should have turned around and gone towards him laughing. He’s a punk and a bully and the only way to deflate Trump is to take away the aura of his power. As far as the issues go, just say the same things as Trump. Agree on closing the borders, agree on repealing the ACA.....everything...just taunt him and watch him implode and his base fade away.
2
The GOP is brilliant at one thing. Keeping their constituents stupid. Why bore their voters with facts and knowledge when they crave chaos as entertainment. The country is suffering for their lack of a good education, which was perpetrated on them by GOP design.
4
There is a lot of advice, following Axlerod's here, that we need to avoid the trap of assuming that every Trump voter is a "toothless, ignorant racist." Nobody seems to be taking seriously the fact that nearly half of all Americans may actually be racist. And if they are, how do we deal with that? That's the question that our candidate has to take seriously.
3
Why is it OK for Biden to mention beating somebody up, Frank? Why is that a good instinct?
2
One with a PULSE.
Seriously.
1
@Phyliss Dalmatian
No. A brain would be fine. Seriously.
I don't know who I do want to run against the Rump but I am absolutely sure who I don't want to see running: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden. They are all too old and in the case of Clinton, too shop worn. Unfortunately while Elizabeth Warren is a bit younger than the others and her humorless school marm approach may work well in New England, it's unlikely to work on a national level. Although Obama was a good president, I'm more than a little upset that he did so little to promote Democrats of his generation and the next younger.
11
I think the “message discipline” exhibited by Trump is less clever strategy, and more a sign of a simple mind. A simple mind is unencumbered by doubt or new ideas. ‘Ignorance is bliss’ is an adage that crosses my mind frequently these days, as I suffer daily from its opposite: at present, an informed, questioning mind is almost torture.
3
Our presidential selection process has become engulfed by shtick, glitz, superficiality, gross hypocrisy and an obscene amount of money. So, for a change of pace, why don't we try sheer competence? Combined with integrity, too?
For instance, a ticket of Sally Yates of Georgia and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota would meet both those requirements. And, as a bonus, we'd have our first female president and vice president -- making history in the very best sense besides being long, long, long overdue.
We could do worse, of course. Which means to continue doing what we have been doing.
4
if you see the michael moore film Fahrenheit 11/9 its clear that the reason the democrats lost in 2016 is blunders by HRC and Obama. their failure to take trump seriously and their disdain for voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan led to defeat. in their debates HRC made a mistake by not physically confronting trump when he was hulking over her. she appeared physically weak. the democrats popular vote plurality was due to Calif. and NY. you cant claim any kind of moral victory if you ignore all the rest of the country between the coasts.
4
If you want a Democrat who is a real gutter fighter and wouldn't be afraid to go toe to toe with Trump look no further than Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is on the verge of making history for if he is re-elected as New York's governor for a third term. Even Andrew Cuomo's re-election campaign ads are really a dry run for his possible presidential run in 2020 as he attacks Trump again and again. Democrats have tried running smart candidates with disastrous results because smart people come across as snobby and patronizing. It's time for a tough guy Democrat to take on a tough guy Republican.
2
I'm not sure about this "eloquent summons to civility" stuff.
True civility is simple. It's lending your tractor to a neighbor when he's on the brink of ruin, even if you don't much care for the fellow. It's asking "Can I help you" when you see a foreign visitor looking very lost on a subway platform.
Just live it. I've been reading transcripts of Eisenhower's old press conferences lately. He might be the most un-eloquent person we ever put in the White House. But he embodied a basic decency that went a long way.
3
The Democratic candidate would have to be expert at responding to and disarming a narcissist. Among countless possibilities -- "The only subject you're qualified to opine on would be another man's narcissism. It would irk you that someone else thought he was magnificent."
Above character, talent, intelligence or message the Democratic candidate must come without baggage that can negatively label him. That’s the first thing Trump will try to do. Some name calling by Trump is inevitable but it better not be another “Crooked Hillary”.
I disagree with the concept that a person of color would be unelectable in 2020. Cory Booker who is the right age, 49, intelligent, articulate, the right temperament and, so far, Mr. Clean might just win the day.
3
@Dave Gliserman
It pains me to say this, but I am not sure the electorate is ready for a vegan president. I might run if I thought otherwise.
I hear all the time from Republicans I know that as long as the Demos want open borders, that is a sure way for them to keep losing. I tell them that Obama had deported a record number of people, but that is discounted when they claim to hear and see rhetoric from the left encouraging people to breach our borders. Certainly Donald Trump is exploiting this perception (with some reality?) every day as the fateful mid-terms approach.
From my perch, I believe Democrats should be loud and clear that they support America having full control of its borders. The big difference would be that the immigrants be treated like human beings, not rogue animals.
The way it appears, the border issue plays prominently in the thinking of many Trump supporters. Stripping Trump of that anger-trigger would be a real positive for regaining the White House, along with a laser focus on rebuilding our middle class.
11
Moderate Democrat here. I know many more like me. We are wary about the new left’s tendency to just promise a bunch of “free” stuff without being honest about where the money will come from. (That is, a huge middle-class tax increase.)
And can we please wait to see if O’Rourke even gets to the Senate before we start coronating him? This celebrity worship used to be a GOP trait, now it’s swept our party too.
15
As usual Bruni is more concerned with style than substance. Democrats could certainly do with a charismatic Presidential candidate, but they had better pay attention to major issues and the direction of the party. Voters do pay attention to issues - Bernie Sanders has been the most popular active politician and I don't think this is because of his youth or slick personality.
Democrats can avoid the reacting-to-Trump syndrome by establishing their issues and getting behind them relentlessly. The issues must be clearly in favor of low-income people. Democrats should not be in the position of defending their support from big-money interests.
8
It has taken Bruni only two years to wake up. Now all that is needed are a candidate and a message. Any suggestions?
2
Yes, please, we need a governor or a mayor (not a business man, we already have one of those) to run as a Democratic candidate in 2020. We need someone who can list and show physical accomplishments achieved by working together with, perhaps, a Republican legislature. This person wouldn’t have to brag about “his greatness” since she or he could show it. Someone who’s whole city or state population has benefited from this office holder. It’s much easier to pull a rug out from under a braggart with REAL accomplishments.
4
Why does the media continue to effectively collude with trump by frantically focusing on his antics, rather than exercising judgement about what news deserves to be highlighted and the level of focus on specific topics? They have to make these choices every day - the real "fake news" is the press"s knee jerk reporting of his lies and posturing. Self restraint and considered judgement are a necessary part of the press's effective discharge of their role in sustaining and strengthening democracy. Ultimately, the press will decide if an attempt at balanced and civil opposition to trump succeeds. Based upon their track record so far, be it liberal or conservative media outlets, there is reason for real concern about whether any civil alternative can compete with the press's apparent inability to resist mindlessly and endlessly focusing on more extreme views. I absolutely believe in freedom of the press, but this, like all our freedoms, carries a corresponding responsibility to exercise judgement.
4
@aea. You're right. I wonder if Rupert Murdoch and George Soros had a bet one day about who could win if they adopted counter positions with their money in the USA?
Murdoch puts all his forces into Fox with a conservative push while Soros goes all out with progressivism and they laugh about the result over martinis at Martha's Vineyard at the weekends, rather like the machines allowed the humans to believe they were free in the Matrix?
I mean, two or three individuals control the entire media: Bezos, Murdoch, Soros (though his foundations and activists) and the owners of Reuters. But Bezos is late to the party and doesn't know what he's doing yet.
I hope some of Frank Brunei’s fellow columnists read this one, particularly those who made continued cracks about Trump’s orange skin and haircut (shout-out to Timothy Egan, et al). Not an effective way to win over any Trump supporters or maintain focus on important issues.
8
Someone who speaks directly to people, not responds to Trump. Imagine a Bernie Sanders in debate with Trump. First Bernie would glower at Trump, then turn to his audience with a slight shrug and begin, "Now about this income inequality..." staying on message like glue.
15
How about someone outside “the usual suspects” running for President? Someone not from the political world, but from an institution which currently enjoys respect in both sides of our divided country... the military.
I’m liking William McRaven, retired four star admiral and military hero, who led the special ops navy seal team that tracked down Osama bin Laden.
Who wrote an open letter to President Trump this past summer on the occasion of his revoking of former cia director John Brennan’s security clearance, praising Brennan and stating the following: “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security system as well so I could add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency...” that he had hoped Trump “would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great country needs” but instead had “embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and worst of all divided us as a nation.”
A U of Texas graduate who later became chancellor of the U of Texas system where he made strides against campus sexual harassment and assault and improvements in gender pay gaps.
How about a strong, decent and cool-headed man for President paired with an unflappable, intelligent woman as Vice President?
I’m liking an
William McRaven-Amy Klobuchar
ticket.
9
@MarilynO
Flip that and I'm fine....
Michael Avenatti doesn't represent Democrats or the Democratic party. He saw an opportunity to promote himself by taking on Trump. He and his company cheated small business owners and the state of Washington out of humdreds of thousands of dollars and thought they could walk away from their obligations by declaring bankruptcy. They've been named in more than 50 state & federal legal complaints. We don't need to go lower by making unethical self-promoters into heros.
5
@Raingal: How can a party claim to have any scruples at all and allow Frank Avennati to be a member?
What Kind of Democrat Can Beat Trump in 2020?
Gen Colin Powell.
Not only he will beat Trump. He will literally eviscerate him.
5
@MorGan: Colin Powell is a Republican. I’d sure like to see him on the Republican ticket. I’d never vote for him as a Democrat. His lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq got the US there.
2
@Anna
If only more Democrats thought support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq was disqualifying!
@Alan: Yes, but the Democrats at the time believed Colin Powell's lies because he was seen as bipartisan and trustworthy. I do hope they learned their lesson since then.
I admire Bloomberg. He gets climate in a way few leaders do, and the role of government at all levels. He would bring some in the business community other Dems can't. I think he would bring together experts to try to fix health care. What I doubt is that a mayor who ordered stop-and-frisk of mostly African American males in NYC can be the Dem nominee, no matter what his rationale for doing it. And no independent will be president in the forseeable future, as I think he knows.
5
Amy Klobuchar for President. And here’s the campaign slogan: Basic.Human.Decency.
7
Sherrod Brown would be a very strong candidate and may well be someone else's VP. What I don't know is if he wants to spend two years raising money and running for the nomination: his wife says he's happy where he is. But Brown is a smart, savvy guy with instincts and stage confidence Hillary lacked. He would take away Trump's union and blue-collar vote, or much of it. He gets policy and cares and it shows. He has vision. He also got it in 2016 that Bernie Sanders style politics was not going to win a national election, even though he and Sanders are close on many issues. Plus he can get in a word edgewise on Chris Matthews' show, a miracle on the order of the loaves and fish.
15
Large fields give even more advantage to candidates with name recognition. Is Biden too old? I don't know. My concern is that Democrats not learn the wrong lessons from 2016. Sanders couldnt even win the left-leaning party and it wasnt close and he wasn't robbed by anybody. You admit your proposal would raise taxes $5000 per American and nobody hears the rest of that sound byte. Dems of course need to stand for affordable universal access to health care, undoing GOP looting for the rich, and strong action on climate. Sanders' platform would have lost handily to Trump in 2016 and will lose in 2020 -- it's too easy to attack and loses too many of the moderate voters who decide national elections.
6
Trump was successful in 2016 and continues to enjoy the support of the majority of Republicans because he is a master at fearmongering and character assassination. The genius of that approach is that it stimulates the primitive need for self-preservation. Frankly, I don’t know what the Democrats can do to counteract that.
2
It is an absolute pipe dream that the Democratic candidate can be a woman or a person of color in this Trump world of deep seated misogyny and racism. His base is already ingrained in his messages.
Let's face it. A candidate like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the 2020 election cycle is not a winning strategy. Maybe 2024 is more realistic when the climate of the nation is less sexist or racist.Then again, that day may never come in just 4 years given the current polarization and division of the tribes.
Democrats must present a few winnable candidates and get them out soon so voters get to know them long before the primary cycle. Democrats must stop being so complacent. What exactly is the Democratic National Committee doing to find them? The Republicans have already found their man and he is filling his coffers with fundraising money.
7
As the saying goes you can put lipstick on a pig but still have a pig. Trump is the accidental President, void of principle, willfully ignorant, dishonest, who views winning as the sole barometer of success. Corey spins the Trump message and that is fine.
Agonizing or resorting to handicapping the field of Democrats ought be viewed through the lens of the "deepest field of Republican candidates in years" easily dispatched by the outsider.
Trump remains a deeply flawed candidate, a one trick pony based on fear and loathing. The GOP a moral and intellectual wreck. Reality suggests he is in a worse position today than in 2016. The Democrats did him and the GOP a monumental favor by nominating the most flawed candidate possible.
The Democratic rules decidedly undemocratic led to losing a contest that was impossible to lose. Trump has pivoted into the abyss by any reasonable standard of judgment. Writing off all voters except his vaunted base. Addition by subtraction holds little promise.
In two years Trump may be happy to pack his bags and leave Washington.
1
Whatever Hillary did, do the opposite. She made so many mistakes. She allowed Bernie to change her staunch support of TPP. She revealed herself just as she is.
My advice, a center-left socially, center-right fiscally position from a charismatic, energetic candidate. Stick to your beliefs.
People in red state middle America need to know you hear them. They also need to learn that people in cities work just as hard as they do, love our country just as much as they claim to do. Opening that conversation, sticking to your positions will be a winner.
Remember, wrestle with a pig, you get muddy, and the pig likes it. Do not stoop to Trump's gutter level antics, rather ignore them, do not be drawn in, do not allow him to frame the conversation.
2
This might not see the light of day, but here goes...
First, and to give proper credit to the person who said it, Donny Deutsch, the Democrats' pitch should be (and referring to Trump, "Do you want YOUR country or do want HIS?"
Sadly, I think there are only two things that can defeat Trump in 2020. The first is Trump himself. He'll do or say something so far out in left field, by his already low standards, that even a good chunk of his base abandons him. The other is enough moderate Republicans, if they exist, coming to their senses combining with enough moderate Democrats to form a viable third party. Yeah, wishful thinking.
Sadly, there are enough people who will jump up and down, bark and run to hump their master's leg when Trump blows his dog whistle--the one that makes sounds like "fake news," "lock her up," "build the wall" and anything involving immigrants and Muslims--that'll keep our country and politics polarized for quite a long time yet.
5
It should not be difficult to unseat Trump if he continues his unilateral destruction of our democracy. There will be enough disgruntled voters to squash Trump.
3
We have the model. Robert Kennedy. Empathy laced with irony. Recognition of life's realities but refusal to be imprisoned by them. Genuine love and care for those left behind.
The higher level point is to talk about values. 14-point plans are boring, even to insiders.
Progressives and liberals should engage in a full-bore fight on values. Hate vs love. Caring vs. ignoring.
This is fight we can win.
274
@thomas briggs I believe US culture has changed in ways that make a Kennedyesque "now the trumpet summons us again, bear any burden" tone less possible, even if I am referring to JFK. I'd suggest that Barack Obama's combination of idealism and pragmatism -- an Affordable Care Act that passed vs government insurance for all that won't -- is as close to an RFK that Democrats can now get. And that was good for the nation. What I dont see is an Obama.
7
@thomas briggs
I heard a phrase spoken recently.
It was about Robert Kennedy by chance.
Kitchen Economics.
which translate to values .
Values based upon the Homestead and Family, expounded to umbrella as many possible governmental policies on using that mindset as the foundation.
you certainly used a fine example !
9
@thomas briggs
I worked in Robert Kennedy's campaign in 1968. I saw him speak to a small crowd at an elementary school in a poor neighborhood. It was unforgettable.
Oprah Winfrey is the closest thing we have to that now because Michelle Obama - who like Oprah has the same political gifts as RFK - is never going to run for president.
6
I knew a psychotherapy client who survived the Las Vegas Oct. 1 mass shooting. He was an emotionally compelling guy. Still traumatized a year later, he grieved (loudly) for the injured and dead he saw, raged quietly and righteously at the shooter, and was horrified at the mere thought that his daughter might have been at the horror with him, though she wasn’t. He worked hard every day to support her. He loved Trump – “a great man.” He also disclosed that he had been a childhood victim of the most outrageous multi-perpetrator incest I’ve ever heard of in twenty-five years of helping troubled people. For many souls, being “good” and “decent” has an extremely different meaning from the sense of those virtues that others have, others who early on got some help from pain, even if it was just from one person (an “enlightened witness,” as Alice Miller described such a person). “Good” means something different to people whose foundation was to be alone in their pain and who, deep inside, remain there. They are not soft: They can never afford to be. They will love a hard president informed by anger and a fundamental alienation.
5
I like Beto but he’s being naive. Avenatti does represent some of “us” who consider ourselves Democrats and are sick of being pushed around. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that the establishment democrats are going after him now—he’s a real threat. You can maintain your principles and aggressively defend yourself at the same time. The high road won’t work in 2020. Times have changed. He’s the only one who would even make it competitive (based on the current contenders).
4
There are so many current issues, and Mr. Bruni has to borrow one from tomorrow. For instance, a few days ago there was a report on how outside money pits state legislatures against voters across blue and red states on a variety of ballot issues. It would be helpful to highlight the issue in the opinion section and tease out all the implications.
1
To know who and what would beat Trump in 2020, look at who would have beaten him in 2016. That's Bernie Sanders. Yes, every poll showed him beating Trump handily, like no one else.
Thus, if not Sanders himself, someone like him. Someone with a clear and consistent progressive message. Someone who doesn't fight his opponent but just keeps presenting her progressive program.
Sanders is still available, and still the most popular politician in America. Why didn't you consult with him? He should have been the obvious choice--not Corey Lewandowski or Vietnam baby-killer Bob Kerrey.
11
Republicans have one idea: rigging the economy for the rich and against average Americans.
For 40 years the Republicans have defined the Democrats brand from tax and spend liberals to Nancy Pelosi worshippers. Unfortunately many people vote by brand and not performance.
Most Americans know the booming economy isn't booming for them. It's time for the Democrats to remind them why.
Republicans are rigging the economy for the rich and against average Americans.
Republicans voted against affordable healthcare insurance and for high premiums, high deductibles, low maximums and no preconditions. Republicans are rigging the healthcare economy against average Americans.
Republicans voted to eliminate regulations that were put in place after the bankers crashed the economy but made billions for themselves. Republicans are rigging the banking and investment economy against average Americans.
Republicans voted to lower taxes for corporations and the rich and give the rest of us a trillion dollars of debt. Republicans are rigging the tax economy against average Americans.
Republicans have stacked the courts with judges like Kavanaugh that consistently rule for corporations and the wealthy. Republicans are rigging the legal economy against average Americans.
It's time for Democrats to brand the GOP with the only idea the Republicans have: rigging the economy for the rich and against average Americans. No Democrat can beat Trump if the GOP still has a positive brand image.
7
Why don’t you run? You’ve got my vote.
2
What will smart folks watch on TV on election night? My bookie tells me it will be Duke-Kentucky, then Michigan State-Kansas. From Indianapolis. Alas, the local Pitt squad will be stumbling over Youngstown State, mercifully, not on television.
&&&&&
Hurray for the start of a new college bb season!
5
Some commenters have already stated parts of what I am going to say, but I think that in order to beat Trump in 2020 (assuming he is not impeached, or resigns, because of findings by the Mueller investigation) the Democrats need to run a moderate, White, Christian male, preferably from either a mid-western state or a swing state. They absolutely should not run a woman or racial / ethnic minority candidate at the top of the ticket. Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Eric Holder and Elizabeth Warren would be the kiss of death, and they would all lose to Trump. I say this a Democrat and a Liberal, who hates Trump. After Obama, and now Trump, I think it's been shown that a large percentage of the electorate is simply just to racist and misogynistic to ever vote for another Black, or the first female President. It's sad, and pains me to say that, because I agree with all of the Democrats listed above, in terms of policy.
7
I met Avenatti and heard him speak at a fundraising dinner for my local Democratic Party last month. Other than being willing to be more aggressive than some possible candidates, he seemed to represent local Democrats pretty well.
I'm not one of the "kick-'em" Democrats. We need to be firm, we need to be assertive, but we do not need to be aggressive in an unseemly manner. It's partly about modeling the civility we believe in, and it's partly about doing what is right, like adults should.
We'll know much more after Tuesday.
4
@Barbara Avenatti, Hollywood's mouthpiece to the stars, would take all the campaign donations to his cause.. and pay off his debts.
2
This article doesn't even mention the biggest problem Democrats face: winning the primaries and getting selected as the candidate.
In order to do so, a candidate has to win the votes of the most liberal individuals in the U.S. It's hard to do that without alienating independent voters. Take a look at Obama's playbook -- sweeping generalizations carefully crafted to mean different things to different people. It's a tightrope act and most Dem politicians do not do well on tightropes.
2
Are you working on the screenplay?
1
if we American look and listen Trump, should tell to ourselves this person does not have what it takes to be the PRESIDENT OF OUR NOTION , tis goes all the republican and democrats and others, again this is not a party issue but it is our country's future, please god give some sens to our people , Trump is like a cancer must be remove
1
@akin caldiran If Trump didn't have what it took to be president.. he wouldn't be president.
1
Plain and simple: Democrats are anti White.
@Ray: You mean they’re not racist.
@Anna
Reading comprehension check there, Anna.
Demonizing white males (other than ones like Bernie Sanders, who meekly gave up his microphone to two female BLM activists, or Martin O'Malley, who ignominiously folded his tent for the abomination of declaring "All lives matter!") is central to Democratic appeal. It has little use for a white man who is strong, clear and unapologetic.
Fortunately, the Republicans do.
@Wine Country Dude: Beto O'Rourke? Jon Tester? Andrew Cuomo? Jason Kander (before he had to withdraw from politics due to health reasons)? Doug Jones? Joe Biden? Just to name a few. Strong white male Democrats can be found all over the Democratic spectrum. But I agree that Gillibrand's treatment of Al Franken was despicable. The only woman if she became the Democratic nominee I wouldn't vote for. I don't trust her as far as I could throw her...
What kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020?
See Michael Tomasky's op-ed piece today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/opinion/sunday/the-democrats-next-job-bury-supply-side-economics.html
1
And what does the Democratic candidate say or do about F(alse)ox? About Limbaugh? About the cesspool of lies that t rump and his party swim in? How does any Democrat debate with anyone who feels privileged enough to make up their own facts?
For this Democracy to survive the real news business had better get back into the business of facts and reporting those facts. No more "Well republicans say this and democrats say that. You decide." We need some "Mitch McConnell took to the microphone today to lie once again about the impacts of----------- (fill in the blank)". Had some of that been reported the last ten years we might not be in this current place.
And this current place is right on the precipice of this Nation's death as a democracy.
I sincerely believe that if t rump survives the investigations and the scandals and the way he has stained the Nation and actually runs again in 2020 the death spiral of our Nation will be in free fall.
@Bob Laughlin Folks...THIS is what untreated acute TDS looks like....
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@Bob Laughlin. Bob... how do I put this....nobody believes the news media anymore. There isn't an 'establishment news media' today.
Rather there are two sides, each with their own set of facts, called their world-view. The right has a traditional Christian worldview, the left a post-modern, atheist-materialist world-view.
This has coalesced under Trump to the point where the approach to reality is more important than 'truth', because 'truth' is defined by your world-view. Just consider whether abortion is right or wrong, then you can see what I mean.
Biden and Kamala Harris 2020
@Plumeria "A few days later, Biden's plagiarism incident in law school came to public light. Video was also released showing that when earlier questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, he had stated that he had graduated in the "top half" of his class, that he had attended law school on a full scholarship, and that he had received three degrees in college, each of which was untrue or exaggerations of his actual record." --Wikipedia
+++++
We need another "honest" lawyer in the White House?
1
Trump got less votes than both Romney and McCain. Without the help of Anthony Weiner, he would have lost to a widely unpopular, charisma challenged candidate driven by an analytics team of idiots. The votes are there to beat Trump if the dems don't blow it. Booker, Warren and Harris have shown they aren't ready, and a socialist would be Trumps dream opponent. Biden and Klobuchar would be hard to beat, but there will be other good choices if the dems don't blow it.
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"...And it better not sneer at Trump and condescend to his supporters. No baskets, please, and no deplorables. ..."
Thank you. Heck, in New Mexico, my fellow Democrats think folks like me are deplorables.
What we need is someone who will win red states, not just someone who will win safely blue states and replay that mess of red paint that washed over the nation in 2016. I'm not sure my party will tolerate that requirement when we get to the primaries. My suggestion, should she be interested, is Kathleen Sebelius or someone like her who has been successfully elected in the red state hinterlands.
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A businessman who is a moderate and believes in Capitalism. But then the party of Marxist Democrat “ Free-Stuffers” would never elect an American of this caliber.
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The Democrats need to get a candidate that will capture the publics' imagination. Donald Trump captured a segment. Hillary Clinton was not exciting and was too political and careful in her language. She tried to be provcative with her deplorables comment, but it backfired. She is not a natural. I like Elizabeth Warren as a Senator, but she is not presidential nor a bull dog that can take on Trump. In sales, people are told to work the business plan in order to make the most in commissions. Meaning that both Clinton and Gore did not work their business plans of capturing the most electoral college votes. The Democrats have to work with the existing system or business plan. These are smart people, but the Dems will need a bull dog who can go mano-a-mano with Trump and win back the upper midwest.
3
Can we focus on next Tuesday?
Besides, I am hoping U.S. Marshals do a perp walk with him in cuffs walking out the White House by April 2020.
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What Kind of Democrat Can Beat Trump in 2020?
Michelle Obama
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@JammieGirl
Nice thought! It certainly would drive Trump crazy to run against an Obama!
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@JammieGirl Absolutely NOT. The Obamas, like the Clintons, will not be returning to the White House. And the first woman president will be one that the country did not meet as First Lady. Enough with the celebrity worship and the House of Cards scenarios.
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@JammieGirl
Hummmmmm,
Maybe, just maybe.
My politics are the deepest shade of blue. Yet as a communications professional I admire Trump's message discipline. Repetition of message is one of the fundamentals we teach in media training. Too many politicians change message with the weather. Trump's consistent messaging has been a big factor in maintaining his base. We don't have to share Trump's values to emulate what he does well.
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@nancy hicks He talks like an idiot with a vocabulary of 3 words, "disgrace, witch hunt." It may be effective but only because the masses in the U.S. are so undereducated. What a crime.
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@nancy hicks, beautifully said.
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@nancy hicks Anyone who deals with any facet of communications from teaching to counseling to advertising knows that a consistent, brief message is what sticks. Trump manages to do that, when he's not rambling off-script. Dems need to do the same, but with our own message of decency, caring and inclusiveness.
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Joe Biden
I'm too lazy to look up who said this, but someone once said "Never wrestle with the pig, because you get dirty, and also the pig likes it."
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A Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020.
A Lyndon Baines Johnson kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020.
A Colin Luther Powell kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020.
An Angela Dorothea Merkel kind of Democrat can beat Trump in 2020.
While Beto O' Rourke speaks Spanish, he is as white and male as Ted Cruz, George Bush, Rick Perry and Donald Trump.
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Im reminded of the Liberal trashing and boycott of Senator Sanders in 2016. The DNC, Liberal Media and especially the Times, discounted Sanders who then and now is a threat to the Democratic Party elites...and perhaps our last best hope for President.
Leave it to Bruni to omit Sanders entirely from this article. Disgusting.
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@Bob Dass
The NYT did NOT discount Old Bernie and "Doctor" Jane. They published many hundreds of comments from the bros who supported them.
(And who threatened not to vote at all if Hillary's supporters did not stop pointing out how angry Old Bernie was. How he interrupted Hillary and talked over her, jabbed his finger at her, etc. The poor man's Donald Trump.)
He would have beaten Trump.
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Andrew Cuomo.
Sorry Frank, but there is a real "basket of deplorables," and they are linked to each other by their LOVE AFFAIR (sexual attraction), with their father symbol trump.
If the Democrats want to win, they need to resurrect a SON symbol, and you know who I mean. Maybe someone like Beto.
Psycho babble? I think not.
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It's not that difficult a question.
Nor its answer.
The last election, for example, would have been easily won by for Biden. But, and this is the real question to ask:
'Why wasn't Biden on the map?'
The Democrats were and are still drownend in overachieving political correctness. That was and will be the reason for future losing. Hillary has lost the elections for two reasons:
A: When she called men voting for Trump, backwater rednecks (I agree she used politer words, but the message was clear.)
And secondly when she declared that she should be voted for (not on merits but) because she is a woman ?!?
Or as many of my friends, declared, after the vote (the ones that voted.) They didn't vote for Hillary but simply against Trump!
The only thing that the Democrats have to do is to get of their high horses and start talking the language of the people again. If Trump (p.ssy grabbing and all) has shown one thing, it is, that the public isn't simply not shocked that easy anymore. But that also means that the Democrates have to do some soul searching. Because they are just a poralised as the Republican camp. So it's time to stop drawing rainbows in black and white and to dare to use all the colors that are available.
People want a choice. Not dogmas.
So you State runners, forget about big ego Trump and run a campaign for your people and your State. That's what the people want, an honest (human) candidate, (not a saint) ready to represent, them, in Washington.
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Jacksonian.
In the world of true Karma, Trump would lose re-election to a Trans Muslim Climate Scientist.
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“If Democrats are going to win in 2020, it can’t be with the careless presumption that everyone who voted for Trump is a toothless, ignorant racist”.
Wrong. If you still support conservatives and Trump after the last 2 years, you are a straight up bad person. Not stupid--bad. That's just the truth. I realize it's terrible that 1/3rd of our country is immoral, perhaps irredeemably so, but that's where we are. Sorry.
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If every registered Democrat contributed $100 to the pot the DNC could buy Trump out of the 2020 election. By just buying him off. He takes the money and goes away.
+++++
It could work; it makes more sense than running old, stale, boring, $M-aires for president. See: the usual suspects.
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Women are where, here?
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@MAmom2 Where did they go in 2016?
@MAmom2
I agree. Bruni includes us with the pronoun "she," but there are no women named in this column except someone bemoaning, "we have multiple women" interested in running. As if there should only be one. A single Smurfette living in Smurf-ville. Guess what? We have multiple women on the planet and we would like to be represented, for once. Not to mention that women are now the backbone voters of the Democratic Party.
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@MAmom2
I hate it too, It seemed painfully clear that a woman brought out the hate more than skin color with Obama.
And women - stop voting just as your husbands, fathers and boyfriends. Think for yourself.
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Honest, hard working, experienced, pragmatic, civil and focused on the common good. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper comes to mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hickenlooper
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Beto.
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Mike Blumberg. He's got it all.
To defeat the "Hollow Man;" Democrats need to love him to death.
Michael Bloomberg in 2020.
He is far richer than Trump, appealing to those who wanted to see a businessman in charge. He actually amassed his fortune through intelligence and hard work and not from inherited wealth from daddy.
He is a tough New Yorker who as mayor of that city was able to negotiate the rough and tumble politics of the hardest political playing field in America. So he knows how to govern.
He is not afraid to take on tough positions and call things as he sees them
He is a mega-philanthropist, who understands the words “compassion” and “service” and the notion of helping others.
He recognizes that climate change is slowly killing the planet and favors steps to reduce it.
Why, he even speaks in complete sentences and has a sense of humor.
Most of all, he has the kahunas to make Trump look like the man-child he is.
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Bloomberg.
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@Dave The great advantage to Bloomers running is no one has to finance his operations!
Biden in 2020 with Beto or Gillum to take over in 2024
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Ohioan Sherrod Brown?
Jon Tester.
Eric Swalwell
Avenatti
Kamala Harris
Jeez, stop it. May we get thru the midterms, first before you start the horse race coverage?
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Please NYTimes, give more print to Kamala Harris, senator from CA! She is the shining star in the Democratic Party.
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What Kind of Democrat Can Beat Trump in 2020? Uh, NONE!
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I would remind Mr. Bruni that Fritz Kuhn, the Fuhrer of the American Bund who led huge rallies in 1939 and a massive parade in New York, enjoyed a popular backing, including Trump's father, Fred, of approximately the same number of Americans as Donald.
Kuhn was still popular after being convicted of several counts of theft from the Bund's funds on December 7th, 1939, two years prior to Pearl Harbor and our entrance on the side of the Allied forces in World War II. Fritz Kuhn was a chemist in Ford Motors. By the way, Henry Ford, like Joe Kennedy, was an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler's initially too. And both shared large portion of anti-Semitism on the side. They viewed Hitler as a Hero, just as many of Trump's fans think he can do no wrong, Hitler too, was considered infallible.
Of course, like the Russians do today, Germany spent tons of money propagandizing Americans prior to each World War. The Fatherland newspaper prior to the Great War spent prodigious amounts promoting the Kaiser and the German side of that war along with the wedge issue of Irish grievances against England. And, the Bund in America, similarly, promoted fear of Communism, Jews and Catholics in its propaganda, which was a one step progression from the formerly ascendant Ku Klux Klan that dominated the 1920 presidential convention post Woodrow Wilson. So blame the Russians? Absolutely. And blame the Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, Dana Rohrabacher along with Devin Nunez, too!
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I've lived on both coasts and now live in the Middle where the toothless racist Trump supporters supposedly reside. I'm of the opinion that anyone still supporting this man cannot be swayed.
In my experience they are angry old white men who have a chip on their shoulder and like his bully ways or religious people who would vote for Satan if it pushed their religious agenda.
I would spend my time getting the people who don't vote to vote. You aren't going to change the minds of anyone still supporting this atrocity.
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They need a good looking, blue eyed, tall and preferably blond candidate. Americans vote with their eyes. Maybe Brad Pitt?
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“Some morsels are just too delicious for journalists and pundits not to sup on.” Some?? Almost without exception, you guys gobble up EVERYTHING he tosses out there! If many Presidential tweets are obviously red meat for the base with no substantive intention behind them, why put them above the fold, day after day?? Editors, I’m talking to you!! Ignore most of his transparently “political only” tweets and he’ll wither from lack of attention oxygen. Starve the beast...please.
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His name is Robert Francis O’Rourke, he appropriated the Hispanic nickname "Beto" when he was young because he already had political ambitions in south Texas.
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Please, please, not Elizabeth Warren. I love her, but she has shot herself in both feet with this ridiculous genetic testing for Native American heritage and the resultant disrespect toward indigenous people that it's caused. Trump will never let her get past that and I'm terrified that wavering voters will just peg her as another Hillary Clinton they can demonize.
And please, nobody sanctimonious. I'm liberal and I can't believe how snooty and self-righteous some of my fellow liberals are and how quickly they dismiss you as an idiot if you put one foot wrong or disagree with them on a point.
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Having been a 50 year Licensed Family Therapist, I watch, aghast, as these people talk about Reasoning with a Sociopathic
“President”. His chronic Lies and blatant claim of Never having
No done Anything Wrong....he Believes! He is Psychotic...We,
The People, are in Need of Treatment!
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The Democratic counterpart of Nikki Haley
When the NY Times Editorial Board declares
" Nikki Haley Will Be Missed"
You know that you deal with a gifted politician
“If Democrats are going to win in 2020, it can’t be with the careless presumption that everyone who voted for Trump is a toothless, ignorant racist…”
But of course, this has been liberals’ characterization of any voter for any Republican candidate for generations. It’s exactly why we have Trump today.
Ironically, the fact that liberals own the culture is a challenge for Democrats, as it means they cannot control their own messaging. So even if a Democratic candidate pretends to respect would-be Trump voters, Bill Maher, universities, Charles Blow, Saturday Night Live, the Oscars, etc. will use their bullhorn to voice contempt for anyone who is not fashionably liberal. Trump is counting on that.
Any smart Democrat should be ready with a “Sister Souljah moment,” ready to hit back at a lefty who gets ugly. This will be seen as both “strength” and “healing.”
And let’s not forget that 2016 was a watershed. Rank and file voters of both parties challenge or rejected the status quo, the Establishment’s let-them-eat-cake economic globalism and interventionist foreign policy. This is an “America first” moment no matter how one wishes to define and pursue that. It would be best for Democrats to embrace that reality and shape it, rather than allow the cretin in the White House to do so.
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A veteran like Seth Moulton would eviscerate Trump and reveal him for the fraud he is.
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One simple request: please stop writing about Michael Avenatti as a possible presidential candidate. He is just a self-promoting lawyer who has already had his 15 seconds of fame several times over. He has nothing to contribute to this country.
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Interestingly your discussion contains no discussion of Democratic policy. Free health care, free college educations, more regulation, higher taxes, open borders, foreign policies and trade agreements that weaken America, enforced political correctness, identity politics and anti- Trump hysteria. That is why Democrats lose. If you did not have the media so firmly on your side, bashing Trump daily, you would have no support at all. You stick to the crazy Russian Collusion narrative, claim that a fascist state is imminent, and that Trump is anti- Semitic because he wants to enforce our immigration laws. All the anti-semites I know have Jewish in-laws, a daughter that has converted and are vocal supporters of Israel. Meanwhile, the rest of us see a strong economy produced by de-regulation and tax cuts, low unemployment and rising wages, new and improved trade agreements, a strengthened military and at long last a president who will defend our borders. Stop looking for a Democratic presidential candidate with a winning personality and start working on a platform that is not overtly socialist and identity politics base and you might have a chance.
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Michael Avenatti.
Perfect age.
Smart.
Polite and respectful. Would bring back dignity to the office.
Not intimidated by the Liar-in-Chief and his enablers.
Very successful at his very difficult job.
Am I the only one.....I didn't learn anything new from this piece.
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ELIZABETH WARREN by a landslide!
Who is the anti-trump? Oprah of course!
Seems to me that Sherrod Brown would fit the bill.
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Bruni's making the same exact mistakes. What drivel. Bernie Sanders is the most popular Democratic politicians in this country and he scares the likes of Bruni and everybody else because he's going to beat the establishment. Not a single mention of him in this article shame on you
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It is a sad commentary on America that this country has fallen so far so fast. When you tell potential Democratic candidates that they can’t point out to Trump supporters that is a psychopath and pathological liar because it will hurt their delicate feelings and cause them to stick with a man who is doing visible harm to them and the country, the problem isn’t with the left and its candidates, it is with the right and its stubborn, thought-free, ignorant base. If that hurts their feelings, maybe they should grow up.
The first mistake was to listen to Lewandowski about ANYTHING. Or the Mooch, for that matter, or any of them.
These guys aren’t smart, and they aren’t even very capable. They surfed on a wave of hatred and resentment that was lit from within by racisms and Christian bigotries, they got to take advantage of a media that was either really just Pravda or thought their revenues and their amusement was what mattered, and they ran against gutless Republicans and squabbling Democrats and lefties.
And they still just squeaked on in.
If Beto wins, which isn’t likely, he’d be good. Gillum might very well be. Joe Biden’s old. Kamala Harris just ain’t showing the moxie. Gillibrandt IS Hillary Clinton. Booker? Obama lite, sans the skill with words.
So I dunno.
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Finally someone who gets it!
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What kind ? Here’s a clue: Make America DECENT Again.
Seriously.
Answer: A leftist populist who a) disempowers the 1% that the ClintoObamaDems created and who b) ends the hopeless "Global War on Terror" that all current Dems support. The GOP gets all its power from those 2 sources, and those sources are totally righwing.
What the author fails to say and (as one on the left) continues to ignore are facts.
Trump won on facts.
Hard to beat someone by denying facts and that is what's being ignored in this article.
Stupid border laws, birthright laws,treaties and trade to name a few.
Fearlessness in the face of a nuclear threat ie N. Korea. Fearlessness in the face of a out of control media. Just not as easy as the author thinks.
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Missing here is any mention of a sense of humor. Privately I have heard Hillary has a wicked sense of humor, on the campaign trail it was absent. A real sense of humor is spontaneous, it reveals an underlying intelligence, it can be deployed in almost any situation by a master and it can dismantle and expose an opponent, bullies in particular, especially ignorant, foolish, inarticulate, boorish ones, without insulting the boor's boosters. Whoever runs against this idiot needs to have Ronald Reagan's avuncular smile, the laughing sparkle in his eye as he said,"there you go again," disarming his opponent and offending no one.
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@Kelly -- True. Others with that power of humor were Lincoln and FDR. It served them well, very well.
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Ronald Reagan was an idiot. he was demented the whole time he was in office. I cannot believe that people still laud him for anything.
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Yes!!!!
There is no possible way I could care less about what Corey Lewandowski thinks about any topic.
And now, again, the Times has elevated someone to the national stage who should be deservedly ignored and forgotten.
Frank, please listen to Ezra Klein's interview with Jay Rosen about how the media, despite any good intentions, has made this political situation worse.
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Beto O'Rourke stated that he has not and will not take any money from PACs (Political Action Committees).
I already (absentee) voted for him for this reason only!
This means that he is not intending to become a MAINSTREAM DEMOCRAT member of the alligators in the Congressional Swamp that needs to be drained!
If FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS and H.1.b. VISA INCREASES were known to destroy US industry, increase the US foreign trade deficit, relocate US manufacturing jobs to foreign nations, reduce US wages, and create mass unemployment in the USA, then why did our elected Mainstream Democrat and Republican congressmen, congresswomen, senators, presidents create all of this legislation?
Almost all of our “MAINSTREAM REPUBLICAN” and our “MAINSTREAM DEMOCRATIC” elected US officials and Presidents have also participated in “PAY TO PLAY” Agreements do divert US Treasury Funds VIA NO-BID contract awards to their campaign contributors at highly inflated prices!
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