As the 2020 campaign season wears on, only a handful of serious Democratic candidates remain. And with the field winnowing, the claws are coming out.
This tension was palpable at the most recent debates in Nevada and South Carolina, and an exhausted audience took note. The desperation was evident from those such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who once enjoyed front-runner status. Now, she languishes in the low double digits, at best. At the top of the pack is Sen. Bernie Sanders, who, despite his affinity for brutal communist dictatorships, still maintains the lead in most polls. Joe Biden may give Sanders a run for his money in the upcoming South Carolina primary, but time will tell if the socialist senator’s rise can be stopped.
Eventually, the Democratic nominee will have to face off with President Trump. And whether or not the challengers believe they are ready, they truly aren’t.
Trump is unlike any national political figure the country has ever seen. From the moment he stepped on to the political stage in June 2015, he has rewritten what it means to be a politician, mostly to his gain. While others stay within boundaries and operate according to unspoken norms, Trump dismisses them entirely when it suits him.
When debating members of his party in 2015 and 2016, such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, then-candidate Trump came out swinging and stole the show. The audience was often both horrified and mesmerized by the cavalier attitude with which Trump approached each debate and bashed his opponents.
Trump’s performances going up against his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, were no different — and this time, all his fire was trained on one person. On stage, the Republican candidate called Clinton a “nasty woman” and claimed, “you’re the puppet.” She was able to hold her ground most of the time, but not without looking stupefied on numerous occasions.
Trump was no Mitt Romney, Rubio, or Bush. He was, and is, whatever he wants to be.
This time around, Trump has even more reason to feel confident in his abilities to disrupt his opponents. In the past four years, the president has regularly used social media to eviscerate his adversaries. And what’s more, his supporters love the savagery.
In Trump’s mind, there is no difference between sending an insulting tweet and speaking the same insult into a debate microphone. On top of that, the president has survived both the Mueller investigation and an impeachment trial. While Democrats see these as permanent stains on his record, Trump views them as proof of his invincibility.
A second term will mean Trump has beaten incredible odds. In the past, some incumbents have behaved like beggars asking America for one more chance. In 2020, Trump roams around as a winner even before any final votes are cast. And in the debates, it isn’t Trump who will have to prove himself, it’s his Democratic opponent.
Whether one is a fan of the president and his style or not, it increasingly seems that a debate stage battle between either Trump and Sanders, or Trump and Biden, will only spell doom for the Democrats.
Sanders’s socialism is no match for the capitalistic success story from Trump, a man unashamed of his country. Meanwhile, Biden’s sometimes-vacant behavior on stage simply can’t compete with the president’s caustic qualities. No matter the final opponent, Trump is sure to vanquish them in the debates. If the Democratic front-runners are flustered by comebacks and attacks from Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg, or Amy Klobuchar, they are woefully unprepared for what’s to come.
Despite its collective anger, the Democratic Party remains a mess. Four years of preparation have resulted in candidates who may prove just as easy to defeat as last time. And as Democrats hurry to find some sort of winning strategy, their opponent is more capable and emboldened than ever before.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
