Yes, Trump Could Win Again in 2020
It doesn’t take a political genius of Henry Kissinger’s caliber to figure out that Donald Trump could win a second term as president of the United States in 2020. It’s not just his former adviser Stephen Bannon who believes this.
Bannon went as far as suggesting that Trump would win the next presidential election by a landslide 400 electoral votes. (Source: “Trump Will Win 2020 Election By 400 Electoral Votes, Bannon Claims,” Newsweek, October 14, 2017.)
Senior British diplomats, many of whom probably have little love to spare for the current resident of the White House, share Bannon’s prediction. They believe Trump is on track to win in 2020. (Source: “Donald Trump on track to win in 2020, British diplomats believe,” The Telegraph, December 25, 2017.)
Notwithstanding the fact that some of the promises he made—including the most radical tax reduction for the wealthy and for corporations since 1986—may hurt the United States, Trump has kept his promises. Specifically, he’s kept the promises he has made to his voters.
Trump won for two general reasons. The first is that he captured the anger and fear of nationalists and social conservatives, adopting positions that would suggest that the New York billionaire, three-time-married former owner of the “Miss Universe” pageant suddenly became a born-again Christian. But Trump is a salesman at heart, and he managed to sell that idea. He criticized abortion and pandered to that most evangelical of demands, moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump’s pants are not on fire. He has proven that he doesn’t lie. He did what he promised, even on an issue so controversial that most of the world has rejected the Jerusalem recognition outright at a United Nations vote. Trump couldn’t care less. One of his campaign mottos was “America First,” and this has not changed after entering the doors of the White House. It’s as if Trump has remained in campaign mode. He knows he won’t win over those who voted for Hillary Clinton (or not yet), so he hasn’t even tried to persuade them. Rather, he has doubled down on his message and his style.
The Trump tax cuts, moreover, will start to deliver their benefits to the Trump base, which includes some of the poorest Americans (many of the truly rich preferred Clinton). This will pay many political dividends in the form of votes for the Republicans in the 2018 mid-term elections. This will ensure that Trump will be able to tick off all the campaign promises he made, further boosting credibility with his base. Yet, the main reason Trump will win in 2020 is that the Democratic Party is in complete disarray.
The Democrats Have No Chance if They Continue to Chase Russian Shadows
The Democrats have not hit rock-bottom yet, because, just when you think they’ve found it, they keep digging a deeper hole for themselves. That hole started with the so-called Russian collusion allegations against Trump. So far, after more than a year, one FBI director, James Comey, and one former FBI director (and now Special Counsel), Robert Mueller, have not found anything that links Trump to Russian hackers.
Meanwhile, as the chances to impeach Trump on a “Russiagate”-inspired allegation vanish, there’s far more credible evidence to suggest that it was the Hillary Clinton campaign that colluded with Russia.
Clinton’s handlers tried to get dirt on Trump, using a former British MI6 agent—though James Bond would have refused the assignment. She tried to build a case against Trump, alleging that he engaged in perverse activity in Moscow involving prostitutes, a luxurious hotel room, and urine. All the while, refusing to discuss solid evidence that suggests that the Clinton Foundation sold strategic American uranium resources to a Russian company. (Source: “Hillary, DNC Bankrolled Anti-Trump ‘Piss-Gate’ Dossier,” Frontpage Mag, October 25, 2017.)
Bernie Sanders Could Have Beaten Trump
Hillary Clinton could not manage to beat the very Trump who was recorded on tape bragging about sexual exploits in vulgar terms. She couldn’t beat the same Trump who mocked a disabled reporter and who committed any number of apparent flops during the 2016 campaign. It should have been an easy win for Clinton.
The so-called “Russiagate” is an excuse so weak that it could only have come from an extremely flawed candidate, who even decided not to campaign in key states such as Pennsylvania. There are no records of Russian agents calling Clinton, advising her not to go to Pittsburgh. She made that decision all by herself.
Bernie Sanders could have beaten Trump, but that’s another article. In 2020, he will be too old to defeat Trump. And frankly, considering what the Democratic Party leadership did to Sanders, they don’t deserve him. The Democrats will have a shot when they drop the “Russiagate” issue and start thinking about their voters, many of whom were so fed up that they voted for Trump in 2016.
The Democrats must rebuild their political platform, present really different ideas, and address people’s fears as Trump did. Their answers and solutions might be different than Trump’s, but they cannot ignore the issues and hide, pretending there’s a Russian bear out to get America. Until they change, the Republicans will win Congress again in 2018 and Trump will win in 2020.