Good morning, everyone. After watching both nights of the Democratic party Presidential candidates debating, I generally have come away unimpressed.
On Wednesday and Thursday evening, the exceptionally wide field of candidates vying to beat Donald Trump and prevent him from winning a second term verbally sparred against one another.
On both evenings, there were candidates who managed to stand out. Kamala Harris was strong on the issue of discussing civil rights, and Bernie Sanders was strong on the matters of income inequality.
Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, and Tulsi Gabbard all had great moments when the presentation of their platforms shined through.
Despite all of this, there is a lingering question of whether anyone on this field can actually win. Running against an incumbent president is no easy task, and American history is not on the side of the Democrats. The last time an incumbent president did not win a second term was George H.W. Bush when he lost to Bill Clinton back in 1992.
The alleged “frontrunner” for the Democratic nomination is Joe Biden, the former vice president. Outside of emphasizing what he accomplished as part of the Obama administration for 8 years, Biden had an awfully hard time defending his record. Kamala Harris hit him pretty hard on his amicable attitude towards segregationists, and he came off flustered. Another matter altogether is this… how does Biden beat Trump, while running on Obama’s record? The Trump victory is a political outgrowth and his administration is in wholly a rejection of 8 years of previous history. How does Biden win over Trump’s base? By saying “You can be racist, but not that racist?” How is this supposed to play out?
Even Bernie Sanders, strident as ever is not having the same impact from 2016. Lightning rarely strikes twice, and people are used to Sanders and his talking points. So much, that the entire Democratic field.. except for that conservative Democrat Hickenlooper.. have coopted his populist talking points.
We’ve heard from mostly all of the candidates, but none of them were convincingly exceptional. The primaries are a bit over 6 months away, and the squadron of candidates will thin out likely before then. As to the question of whether of any of them can run a successful campaign against President Trump next year.. is looking questionable.