I’m part of a little group (usually four to six people) that meets once a month for an extended lunch and to share opinions on just about anything that comes up—from LSU football to the Louisiana Legislature to world events.
The only subject that is probably off the table is the British Royal Family because…well, because none of us really give a flying fig about Harry and Meghan other than what they choose to do with their lives is their business and we should leave ‘em the hell alone.
Being of similar backgrounds, there is rarely any real disagreement among us and one of the strongest points on which most of us concur is the consensus that the Democrats are doing everything in their power to re-elect Donald Trump.
If the rest of America is anything like our little klatch, and I suspect it is, then folks are getting bone-weary of these so-called debates between candidates for the Democratic nomination for President. I mean, how much yaw-yawing is too much? Truth be told, that saturation point was probably reached some time ago.
It makes no sense whatsoever for the Democrats to constantly beat themselves up over who has the best plan for free college tuition or better health care, who supported the Iraqi war, or who took donations at a wine cave while ignoring the elephant in the room in the person of Donald J. Trump.
Did they not learn a thing from four years ago when a gaggle of Republicans made the same mistake, thereby leaving the door open for Trump, who was savvy enough to press all the hot buttons of his minority base? By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late.
While the other candidates were squabbling like a barnyard full of dominecker chickens, Trump was telling a crowd at a campaign rally in North Dakota, “I will give you everything…I’m the only one.”
And it worked to such an astounding degree of success that he was actually able to claim in an Iowa rally, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” And he was right.
If the Democrats were smart—and so far, not one of the candidates has exhibited any hint of possessing any such trait—they would learn from Trump that you win not by putting the best plan for prosperity, peace and the general well-being of Americans on the table, but by appealing to the lowest common denominator among the voting masses.
Marx and Lenin did it. So did Hitler and Mussolini. And so did Trump.
So, having established the lessons not learned from history, here is my suggestion for a path to victor next November for the Democrats:
Out-Trump Trump.
Instead of haggling about how we are going to pay for eliminating student debt or provide better health care and lower drug prices, go after Trump’s base on Trump’s terms.
Here’s how:
With Tom Steyer or Michael Bloomberg (forget the other candidates, these two are the only ones smart enough or rich enough to pull this off) leading the way, make outlandish promises not unlike Trump’s crazy-as-a-bedbug claim that Mexico would pay for his wall.
No one listens to unrealistic promises of free college tuition, free health care, lower drug prices, or green energy. That’s crazy talk and the Democrats need to ramp it up and talk even crazier.
They could effectively go after Trump’s base and cut him off at the knees by promising:
- Lifetime passes to all NASCAR races. That alone negates the Republican’s so-called Southern Strategy.
- Free huntin’ club memberships. Huntin’ clubs are expensive and this appeals to voters’ pocketbooks.
- National fishin’ holidays once a month.
- Lifetime, paid-up membership to the NRA and free admission to all gun shows. Nothing like a strong Second Amendment plank in your platform to reap millions of votes.
- More double-wide trailer parks. There’s nothing like moving up from a single-wide to a double-wide to achieve real social status.
- The Confederate flag would fly alongside the American flag at all public events.
- Finally, more free-admission swimming pools for those double-wide parks, segregated, of course—no Blacks, no Hispanics, no Jews, no Islamics and no gays.
Poof! There goes 80-85% of Trump’s base. That would probably net the candidate at least 400 electoral votes (270 needed to win) and 40 states.
Of course, while these promises are being made, the candidate is simultaneously winking at Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Banks, and Big Business, assuring them that nothing will change at all. America will continue to send its young men to die for politicians’ wars in support of the military-industrial complex.
And the lobbyists and special interests who pour millions into the political campaigns are secure in the knowledge that pie-in-the-sky promises, like records, are made to be broken— no more reliable than a Hollywood marriage. And, of course, it doesn’t matter that promises are not kept—so long as the candidate keeps insisting they were, his core base will believe him.
But a rock-solid formula for success nonetheless.
Louisiana Voice 
Apparently you are 100% correct. Depressing, isn’t it?
Tom, you make the absolutely correct point that the Democrats are behaving stupidly by not recognizing the reason Trump is successful in maintaining his base.
I see your humor, but there are real examples of talking points the Democrats could use that would appeal to everybody, not just Trump supporters, and these should be repeated over and over and over and over…, just as Trump and his minions do with his “facts.” They use the absolutely oldest and most effective brainwashing technique and it works: Just say the same thing often enough and it becomes true in the mind of the listener. This has worked for centuries and still works today.
Intellectual and ideological arguments among the Democrats are simply weakening each of them and boring Americans. They offered an uninspiring candidate the opposition had already destroyed by the election in 2016. If they do the same this year do they expect a different result?
“Marx and Lenin did it. So did Hitler and Mussolini. And so did Trump”. How absurd. To compare Trump, or anyone to these lowest of the low is to downplay the evil that these people actually did. Ironically, the closest candidate to espouse these ideals (Marx/Lenin) is Mr Sanders, a DEMOCRAT.
It must be special to be so smug, self-assured and self-righteous to enable one to look down on people you disagree with and express all you dislike about them; NASCAR, hunting, fishing, NRA, house trailers,and of course, the Confederate (Battle) Flag as though that were true. Wow.
Why not address the truth; Democrats promise everything to everyone yet, NEVER deliver. What have democrats done for minorities ? At least Trump has elevated their employment levels to far above any democrat ever. What have they done for crime besides mass release or in the case of California, make crimes legal. Why is it that democrat run cities and states resemble third world countries ? What have democrats done for environment ? Nixon created EPA, Carter the Department of Education. Which agency did any good ? All democrats want is more tax money to use to give away free stuff to lazy non-productive citizens who in turn keep demanding more free stuff paid for by productive citizens. Free rent. Free telephones. Free food. free medical care. free education. free day care. free abortions. free student loans, free transportation. Nothing but dependency on government. Hmmmm. Sounds a lot like socialism to me. Hmmmm. Who were the socialists ? Why I believe Karl Marx, Vladimer Lenin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse Tung.
Note the second amendment rally in Virginia. Thousands of gun toting people who even picked up their litter and had zero violence. Typical democrat rally like anti-Trump, abortion rally etc. You have Antifa destruction, vandalism and hatred spewed and cheered.
Trump is in the pocket of industry ? Perhaps you should review who supports ms. Pelosi, and most of Congress (the Swamp). Trump raised money from mostly small donors. Your last three paragraphs sums up the democrat party to a “T”. Accuse those you oppose of doing exactly what you do, the democrat creed.
And finally, why is it that all democrats can do is criticize but NEVER produce viable solutions. Their solution to issues is pouring more money which is stolen from us taxpayers and used to promote the elected officials (Gov Edwards for an example close to home) and never seems to improve anything. More government never helps.
We knew we could count on you, Zoe. Have some more kool-aid.
Zoe, I posted this to an earlier thread and you may have not seen it. Please consider answering it:
Since you are neither stupid nor ignorant, I continue to struggle with your and your peers’ support for President Trump no matter what he says or does.
You choose to be anonymous, so answering the following question should not compromise you in any way and I would very much and sincerely appreciate your answer to these 2 questions:
Since you clearly believe President Trump is making America better, do you believe achievement of this goal justifies any means he chooses to achieve it?
Do you believe the resistance to Hitler was not greater because the majority of Germans believed he could save Germany and chose to look the other way at his atrocities in the belief that end was justified by his means?
I could pose dozens of other questions, based on his actual persona and actions he has taken, but the analogy implied in the above questions strikes at the heart of my opposition to him.
Thank you.
I don’t understand why you would belittle people who live in mobile homes (maybe that is all they can afford with the fast rising prices of building materials and housing in general) or people who enjoy fishing and hunting (a natural heritage of this country).
It’s called parody and I wasn’t “belittling” anyone. I once saw a mobile home in Baton Rouge that was priced at a cool $180,000 (without the land to place it on), so whoever could afford that was in better financial shape than yours truly. And I also fished in my younger days.
But the real question is: why didn’t you defend NASCAR or NRA fans? Were you trying to “belittle” them by your omission?
I did not mention NASCAR or NRA as I am not interested in NASCAR and do not find lobbyist of any kind good for the taxpayers. Why do you have to respond in a derogatory manner. It seems you have some commonality with President Trump.
Stephen, I did respond to your post.
I am anxiously waiting to see who you diehard democrats feel is a superior President than Trump. Again,Trump is no Saint, and I am not sure how I feel about him personally. But I do know that Nancy Pelosi (whom you defend) is a drunken sot whose good days are twenty years behind her. I have pretty much determined that Democrat leaders such as Schiff, Nadler, Schumer are all hypocrites as they have reversed positions 180 degrees from only a few years ago (Nancy also). Hillary and Obama, ditto. None of them have a shred of self respect as they look the camera directly and lie about what they are doing for us. Additionally.all have been in office for 20-40 years and done nothing but enrich themselves. What have they done for Americans ?
I am appalled that anyone elects to compare Trump to Adolf Hitler in any way, shape or form. Evidently, there is a lack of awareness and little actual knowledge of history. Hitler did, in fact, improve the lives of the majority of Germans, and as he advanced his democratic socialism, he was able to implement thought control of young Germans through control of education. He was able to get the bulk of Germans to support him and they did not care who was cast aside; their lives were better. How do you see Trump doing this ?
Stephen, who do you see as trying to replace family with state dependency (govt provided schools, day care, health care, welfare etc,) ? If you say Trump, rather than Democrat Party, you are the one who has drank the kool-aid.
We do not elect leaders because we like them. We elect them to do a job. Look closer to home. You voted for Edwards. A very likable man, however, nothing has improved under his oversight.Out taxes have increased significantly, our jobs are leaving the state wholesale, and what has he improved ? Balanced a budget by raising taxes. That was genius. We are dead last in virtually every category, our state has lost population for 3 straight years (like California).
Albert Einstein said it best; The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting change. Clearly Trump operates in a different manner.
Where do you see any improvement anywhere in USA under Democrat controlled government. Facts are facts. By virtually every measure, things are better since Trump has been in office. His single best contribution is to reduce government intervention via regulation.
And Angelo, thanks for that very insightful observation. You sound like a born leader who will one day make a big difference.
Thank you for your reply.
Mr. Zoe…in answer to your question, “Where do you see any improvement anywhere in USA under Democrat controlled government,” may I provide one example. Think back to 2008 and where we were…the Bush Administration had gotten us entangled in an Iraq war under false pretenses followed in a few years as he left office by The Great Recession. And, who had to untangle that mess? And did.
This article proves just how out of touch Democrats are with the American electorate. So, your proposal ( even tongue in cheek ) is to blanket conservative voters with every stereotypical redneck overture? This primary fallacy is why President Trump will be re-elected. It would appear that you, your core coffee braintrust, and just about every Democrat out there appears to consider Trump voters beneath them…which is why our candidate will win. A booming economy? Trivial. Record low unemployment? Secondary? Surging individual confidence? Silly. Collective support for limiting illegal entry into our country? Unreasonable. Of course President Trump can’t win…just like last time. Enjoy your TDS.
And I suppose the Democrats were so out of touch in 2018 that they were elected to the House of Representatives in record numbers.
CJG, You will note that almost always, in the first post-Presidential elections, the mid year elections go to the other party. I believe it was an overwhelming turnaround after Mr Obama got elected. I believe that will swing the other way this election when Trump “swamps” the Democrat candidate, whomever that might be. Outlaw53 hit the nail on the head.
Your example was a poor one. The problem was a collapse of banking system, major auto industry was failing. Enter Obama. Things fell some more, then leveled, and started to rise. Once one hits bottom the only option is up. What followed was the poorest recovery in U S history. Low growth GDP, lowest labor participation rate, low home buying, low wages, high food stamp usage, etc. And let us not forget the huge growth in deficit spending. And that is a sore spot with me and Trump as well. We need a balanced budget and even a surplus for about 10 years. We have to reduce spending.
And that is Ms Zoe to you.
Tom, you and your best lap dog, Stephen, should take up a hobby besides hating Trump. You both might start enjoying life more.
Well, “Bud,” it just seems kind of important to make people aware of what this guy is doing to the country. Yes, unemployment is down, the economy is good—for now. But try to look past your nose at the big picture. Are you satisfied at his alienating our NATO allies? Are you happy that we used the Kurds and then abandoned them? Do you take pleasure in seeing Trump court dictators and tyrants while calling his generals and intelligence agencies idiots? Do you condone his trashing of women, having an affair when his youngest child is still a baby and then paying the women hush money from campaign funds?
If you can answer yes to those, I suppose you might think Tom is picking on Trump.
It’s the big picture that you and the Trump haters can’t see. While you did list a few accomplishments that could never be a reality for his predecessor and the democrat swamp, the fact he’s not controlled by the Washington elites is what you and other snowflakes can’t handle. As far as If I’m thinking Tom is picking on him is a hoot! And it would appear you share that lap also!
Big picture? Really? If you can’t see that he is absolutely controlled by Putin, oil, pharmaceuticals, Wall Street, and Saudi Arabia, then there’s no hope for you. There’s your big picture.