The 2016 election offered the country a choice between a corrupt, authoritarian New Yorker with serious baggage related to sexual assault and a corrupt, authoritarian New Yorker with serious baggage related to sexual assault. It was an easy election to sit out, as evidenced by the low percentage of voter turnout equal to that of 2004, not 2008.
President Trump’s tenure has oscillated from the nadirs of his Charlottesville, Virginia, conundrum and border negotiation fiascos to sky-high apexes of achieving landmark criminal justice reform and the lowest unemployment rate in half a century. But save for early on in his presidency, his faux pas have resulted from his personal foibles, not his actual policy.
Plenty of Trump’s behavior is patently unacceptable for the White House, be it his petty fights on Twitter or severe abuse of presidential power in withholding congressionally approved aid to a crucial ally for his own personal political gain. Luckily, our legal system has proven resilient, mostly preventing Trump from going through with illegal or ill-advised actions. Still, there’s no question that the country would benefit from a return to a president who doesn’t publicly degrade the presidency or privately try to expand the inflated powers of the executive branch.
Some conservatives are willing to compromise. But the Democratic presidential debate in Nevada crystallized a crucial fact: They have no interest in offering an iota of accommodation.
Conservatives who are wary of Trump’s antics might be willing to trade their tax cuts and deregulatory agenda for Obama-era policies administered by a far more restrained president, ideally one who doesn’t insult women and immigrants. What they absolutely won’t do is trade Trump’s victories for any of last night’s top offerings.
Oh, so you say Trump’s bogus emergency declaration for border security funding shows he has no respect for limits on executive authority? Democrats want to ameliorate that with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a wannabe court packer who has promised to bypass Congress and use executive action to cancel the majority of some $1 trillion of student loan debt, plus restrict the Second Amendment by requiring background checks and raising the minimum age of gun sales.
Oh, you say Trump is a big-government authoritarian who freely admits he doesn’t care one lick about our impending debt crisis? Democrats want to give power back to the people by electing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist who plans to nationalize somewhere between 30% and 40% of the national economy to the tune of $100 trillion of taxpayer cash.
Oh, Trump is a racist, sexist pig? Democrats want to restore the dignity of the White House by electing Michael Bloomberg, an accused serial sexual harasser who’s silenced his alleged victims with nondisclosure agreements so they can’t get in the way of gleefully goading cops into “throw[ing]” minorities “up against the wall.”
Oh, and if you want a centrist, we refuse to offer you Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the pro-choice candidate who will at least pay lip service to allow pro-lifers in her party, the liberal candidate who still believes capitalism works, and a country requires a semblance of border security. Instead, you’ll get the 38-year-old former mayor of the 308th largest city in the country, Pete Buttigieg, who wants to legalize abortion up until the point of birth, pack the Supreme Court, and tax half the annual incomes of six-figure earners.
Oh, and if you’re still betting on lovable old Uncle Joe Biden, just remember: The Democratic establishment was ready to put him out to the pasture and instead embrace the evil billionaire until Bloomberg imploded on national television.
These aren’t compromises. These aren’t 2% tax hikes or pro-choice judges. These are socialist and proto-fascist nightmares. And most importantly, they’re the reason you won’t see many Republicans willing to cede an inch of ground to correct whatever wrongs the Trump administration inflicted on historical norms.
If Democrats want to earn the anti-Trump or Trump-skeptical vote, they have to earn it. But after last night, it’s not even clear that they want it.
