OPINION:
If anything can be gleaned from watching the Democrats debate, it’s this: President Donald Trump doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to his reelection.
Democrats, after all these months, even with all these candidates, still have nobody for president. There’s no break-away; there’s no front-runner.
There’s no clear leader — certainly, no clear winner.
Bluntly, you know you’ve got a candidate problem when, in a field of 24, the perceived best chance of beating Trump is — Michelle Obama. The one who’s not running.
“Michael Moore: Only former first lady Michelle Obama could ’crush Trump’ in the 2020 election,” Salon wrote.
“Michael Moore: To crush Trump, Michelle Obama needs to run,” MSNBC wrote.
“Michael Moore Says Michelle Obama Should Run For President,” Deadline wrote.
Who cares what Hollywood’s favorite propagandist Michael Moore thinks?
True. But there is this: Moore did predict Trump would be the Republican candidate of choice. He did, too, predict Trump would win against Hillary Clinton.
He did say in a July, 2016, interview on “Real Time With Bill Maher” that he was “sorry to be the buzzkill here, but I think Trump is going to win.” He did write on MichaelMoore.com in the lead-up to the election, that he “gave it to you straight last summer when I told you that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee for president, [a]nd now I have even more awful, depressing news for you: Donald J. Trump is going to win in November.”
He does have a little political credentialing to at least consider, not outright dismiss.
But even without that bit of prophesy, Moore’s pro-Obama comments point to a larger problem within the Democrat Party that goes like this: How is it that anyone on the left — not just Moore, but anyone — could look at this field of 24 and find cause to look elsewhere?
That’s a sign of massive voter dissatisfaction.
And it’s being supported by polls that show one day, Joe Biden’s up, next day, Biden’s down but Bernie Sanders is up, next day Sanders is down but Kamala Harris is up — next day, Harris is down, but Tulsi Gabbard takes the cake. It’s being supported by survey numbers that show at best, Democrats have a shaky identity; at worst, the Democrat Party has absolutely no idea who it is and what it represents.
The party’s in chaos.
Its members can’t settle on a candidate.
Isn’t it high time for the field to shrink?
Democrats can excuse the uncertainty by saying it’s early in the political campaign, voters are distracted by summer, big name funders haven’t yet made their big media splashes. But that’s all cover. That’s a forced-smile excuse.
The political parties plan their presidential runs years in advance. The elections may be held every four years. But the behind-scenes strategizing within both Republican and Democratic camps doesn’t ever end.
The fact the Democrats, as a party, at this point in the game, at this juncture of second-televised debates’ moment, can’t come to consensus on a front-runner — can’t whittle the 24 to, say, five or even six — speaks volumes.
It says Democrats still have nobody who could beat Trump.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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