OPINION:
2020 vision. Looking ahead to the new year, here are my predictions.
The economy will continue to grow with unemployment hitting all-time lows. The percentage of people working will reach near-record levels. And wages will rise with average household income continuing to hit an all-time high.
In politics, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will win the Iowa caucus a month from now on Feb. 3. Sen. Bernie Sanders be the winner of the New Hampshire primary on the following Tuesday. Former Vice President Joe Biden will prevail in the must-win Nevada caucus on Feb. 22 and South Carolina primary on Feb. 29. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign will quickly start to fall apart after failing to win any of the first four contests.
Former New York City Mayor (and former Republican and independent) Michael Bloomberg will do well on Super Tuesday, picking up the largest number of delegates. He will win California (which has about twice as many delegates as the first four states combined) and do well in other states because of his extensive media buy.
Wild speculation within the media will follow about a wide-open convention leading up the national gathering of Democrats in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this summer. Ultimately, however, Mr. Sanders will be the party’s nominee.
President Trump will hold rallies in Wisconsin and other battleground states all during the convention. He will aggressively label Mr. Sanders as a socialist who wants to get rid of your private health care coverage and who wants to raise taxes on middle-class workers to pay for it.
In 2020, the president will declare war on Congress by signing executive orders requiring members of Congress, their families and staff to live with Obamacare (eliminating the exemptions given by former President Barack Obama). He will also attempt to invoke term limits for all members of Congress through executive action.
One of our friends mentioned to me this week that she had voted for candidate Trump in 2016 because she hated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but was upset with many of the president’s statements and tweets. But she declared to me that if he took on Congress “that would definitely push my button to vote for him.” She is not alone. Voters may not always like the president’s style, but they really dislike hypocritical politicians, and they hate Congress playing by different rules than the rest of America.
Mr. Trump’s efforts to drain the swamp and a growing economy will lead to the president’s re-election in 2020. The GOP will keep control of the Senate (with Alabama Democrat Doug Jones losing in November). And Rep. Kevin McCarthy will be the new speaker of the House a year from now by winning back seats in California, New York, Texas, Florida and Iowa.
A big reason for the shift back to Republican majorities in the House will be the overreach of liberals on impeachment. Swing voters overwhelmingly want people in office who get things done and don’t get bogged down in partisan fights. They gave a number of first-term members of Congress a chance in 2018 to do just that and they failed. The “Do-Nothing Congress” is upsetting to critical voters in districts all across America.
Republicans will also pick up governorships in North Carolina and Montana. Liberals, however, will win judicial races in states that are key for redistricting as the left is obsessed with ways to gerrymander themselves into long-term Congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 census. Republicans will have to wake up.
After President Donald Trump is re-elected, the campaign to replace him in 2024 will unofficially begin by the end of the year. Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will be the early frontrunners on the Republican side.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will resign by to put together the start of a presidential campaign. Others who will take steps to prepare to enter the 2024 race: Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott; Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
National Democrats will begin a major battle between more traditional leaders and democratic socialists. Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar will emerge in the traditional camp. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom will emerge in the socialist camp.
All-in-all, 2020 will be a great year. Solid growth in the overall economy with the positive job and wage gains will lead to electoral success for the president and his allies in 2020. A small group of battleground states — Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — will be the key to the 2020 re-election. The president will carry at least six of those eight states.
Happy New Year!
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at swalker@washingtontimes.com or follow him @ScottWalker.
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