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POLITICS

The Democratic establishment is right to panic Katrina vanden Heuvel

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-democratic-establishment-is-right-to-panic/ar-AAJw9j6

The Democratic donor class is panicking. With former vice president Joe Biden burning through cash yet unable to put away his rivals, the chances of a progressive left nominee leading the ticket in 2020 are on the rise. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are outpacing Biden in fundraising and running circles around him on the debate stage. And members of the party establishment are seemingly desperate for someone to swoop in and save them.

Last week, the New York Times published an eye-popping story about a recent dinner at a ritzy Manhattan hotel, where Democratic big donors fantasized about possible late entrants to the presidential race. Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg and Michelle Obama were among those discussed as potential alternatives to the current field. Former secretary of state John F. Kerry, former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have also been encouraged to run. Oprah Winfrey, once considered a possible candidate herself, has even touted Disney CEO Bob Iger as the ideal nominee.

This sort of speculation is a tradition in presidential primaries. It’s also evidence that Democratic elites are detached from reality. Clinton’s book tour and scheduled appearance at a Clinton Foundation conference on “economic inclusion and growth” on Nov. 20 (the same day as the next Democratic debate) have fueled rumors about her intentions. But she and Kerry are the last two Democrats to lose in a general election. Bloomberg is the definition of a plutocrat. What can any of them offer, aside from money, that the existing crop of centrists cannot?

Dems Refuse to Credit President For Baghdadi Kill Trump’s devastating strike against international terror leaves Democrats angry and rattled. Ari Lieberman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/10/baghdadi-killed-dems-refuse-credit-president-ari-lieberman/

Trump’s devastating strike against international terror leaves Democrats angry and rattled.

A United States Special Forces team undertook a risky operation on Saturday night in Syria’s northwest Idlib province to track down and kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations. Baghdadi was the lead commander of the infamous Islamic State, aka ISIS, the group responsible for mass genocide, torture and rapes throughout much of Iraq and Syria, and the beheadings of several Westerners including U.S. citizens. ISIS was formed in 2013 in the shadow of Obama’s order to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq and at its zenith, controlled an area the size of Ohio.

The operation was approved by President Trump a week prior. On Saturday, at 9:23 p.m., he cryptically tweeted, “Something very big has just happened!” Trump was referencing the success of the mission. Baghdadi, who had a $25 million price tag on his head, had been liquidated.

During the nighttime raid, U.S. Special Forces stormed a compound confirmed by intelligence sources to be his hideout. A firefight erupted and several of Baghdadi’s men were either killed or surrendered. Baghdadi then ran into a tunnel, taking three of his family members with him. The SF team and its specially trained canines pursued Baghdadi. Once realizing that he was trapped with no chance of escape, Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest, which also took the lives of the three who accompanied him. Eleven women and children were safely evacuated by the team, which remained in the compound for two hours gathering valuable intelligence on ISIS operatives and operations. Forensic tests conducted on what remained of Baghdadi’s body confirmed his identity. Two of Baghdadi’s wives, who donned suicide vests, were shot before they had a chance to detonate. There were no U.S. casualties, though a dog which chased Baghdadi into the tunnel was unfortunately injured by the blast.

What We Call National Health Care or Single-Payer Is a Crime Against Humanity By David Solway

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/what-we-call-national-health-care-or-single-payer-is-a-crime-against-humanity/

When Bernie Sanders visited Canada’s national health care system on a fact-finding mission, he came away mightily impressed. “Somehow or another in Canada,” he said, “for a number of decades, they have provided quality care to all people without out-of-pocket expenses…And they do it for about 50 percent per capita of the cost that we spend.” His claims are not only debatable, they are fraudulent. Anyone who cites the Canadian model as a medical paradigm is guilty of special pleading.

For one thing, “quality care” does not exist in Canada; indeed, such “care” closely approximates Third-World levels, as we will see below.  For another, according to a 2018 Canadian government survey, out-of-pocket expenses constitute about $36 billion or 15 percent of health care spending. As we know, government reports regularly underestimate in their projections. Out-of-pocket expenses are far higher, not only for dental and many pharmaceuticals—the Canadian system does not cover essential medications—but with regard to value-added surcharges.

For example, in Quebec where I lived for many years, health care consumes 45 percent of all provincial program spending, which did not prevent government tacking on an extra $200 annually as a “solidarity tax.” In Ontario I paid exorbitantly for non-prescribed drugs, including a whopping mandatory payment every June. In British Columbia where I now make my home, every person pays an extra $37.50 monthly, which for my wife and me amounts to $900 per year over and above extortionate ancillary expenses and a massive tax gouge. In more than one way, Bernie is out in left field.

Senate Democrats Warn Hillary Not to Jump Into 2020 Race By Mairead McArdle

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/senate-democrats-warn-hillary-not-to-jump-into-2020-race/

In the wake of reports that Hillary Clinton is considering making a late entry into the 2020 presidential race, Senate Democrats are warning her against it, saying the party has moved on.

“She’s done a great service to our country and public service, and I supported her wholeheartedly, but I believe it’s time for another nominee,” Senate minority whip Dick Durbin said, according to a Politico report.

Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called the move a “mistake.”

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, generally the most conservative Senate Democrat, said, “Absolutely not,” when asked about a possible Clinton 2020 run.

The senators’ expressions of doubt come after longtime Clinton adviser Philippe Reines said earlier this week that the former secretary of state has not ruled out running in 2020 and would consider doing so if she thought she had the best odds of beating President Trump.

“There might be a reason that she’d be the best person, not only to beat Donald Trump, but to govern after Donald Trump, which is a part we don’t talk about much,” Reines said. “You can make fun of her all you want, but 65 million people voted for her and that’s second more to anyone except Barack Obama.”

Establishment Democratic donors have also reportedly been musing about what the 2020 race would look like if Clinton jumped in at the eleventh hour.

Dems Panic Over John James in Michigan Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2019/10/dems-panic-over-john-james-michigan-daniel-greenfield/

While the news is bad out of Colorado, a state that is starting to seem as unsalvageable as California, there’s good news out of Michigan.

Or bad news in this poll, if you’re a Democrat.

That “oh, oh” you hear from the Democratic camp of U.S. Senator Gary Peters is that, in one week, two polls are out showing his race against Republican challenger John James is a statistical dead heat and for an incumbent to be in that spot one year before the election is hardly good news.

In the Vanguard, Dennis, Pubic Sector Consultant poll  last May it was Mr. Peters 42% and Mr. James 37%.  It is now 39.5% for Mr. Peters and 39.3% for Mr. James.

James was one of the most promising candidates of the last cycle, he’s back in, and his numbers look very good. 

More party support last time around could have already seen Stabenow out and James in. Now, Democrats are scrambling to try and stop James in the lamest ways possible.

The Democrats are banging the drum to link Mr. James to the problems President Trump has.

They are showing a photo of Mr. James with Rudy Giuliani and a Ukrainian businessman charged by the Feds with campaign finance violations.

Do they really think anyone in Michigan is going to care? And deploying that, this early on, is a sloppy desperation tactic. Which doesn’t suggest that the Dems have a plan to stop James beyond appealing to Washington Post readers.

Hillary Running? Will a failed politician offer salvation to the Democratic Party? Ari Lieberman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/10/will-hillary-run-ari-lieberman/

In 2016, we thought we had heard the last of Hillary Clinton. We thought wrong. Instead of engaging in humble introspection, the twice failed presidential candidate went on a whirlwind tour giving interviews and lectures, blaming everyone from former FBI director James Comey to the Macedonians for her 2016 rout. But Clinton hasn’t stopped with book tours. According to multiple reliable sources, she is considering a third run, lured by both the thirst for power and the prospect of defeating her arch nemeses, Donald Trump. 

Recently on Fox’s Tucker Carlson show, a close advisor to Hillary Clinton indicated that the architect of the Benghazi fiasco may yet have another go at proclaiming herself leader of the free world. Philippe Reines, who has been a close Clinton confidant since 2009 and prepped Hillary for debates with Trump in 2016, tellingly noted that Clinton has not foreclosed the possibility of joining the race.

Democrats are in serious trouble. Joe Biden, the supposed savior of the Democratic Party and the man who was expected to easily secure the nomination is lagging in both the polls and fundraising. According to the latest reports, Biden only has $8.9 million on hand. But anemic fundraising is only half the problem for Biden. He is now being eclipsed by Elizabeth Warren in the polls. That ominous development spells trouble not only for Biden but also for Democratic prospects for victory in 2020.

Despite being pulled to the left by his challengers, Biden is viewed by many as a centrist Democrat capable of securing Independents as well as causing defections among moderate Republicans. Crucially, his carefully crafted blue collar image and Pennsylvania origins gave him an advantage in the nation’s Rust Belt, an area secured by Trump in 2016. And his past association with Barack Obama gave him an advantage with African American voters.

O’Rourke Defends Comments Comparing Trump’s America to Nazi Germany By Tobias Hoonhout

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/orourke-defends-comments-comparing-trumps-america-to-nazi-germany/

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke drew a comparison between 1930s Nazi Germany and America under the Trump administration during a Wednesday interview Wednesday with the Washington Post.

O’Rourke’s comments came after Costa pressed him over his ability to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans after making intensely disparaging comments about them on the campaign trail.

“I don’t think that speaking the truth and calling things by their right names is in any way disqualifying in being able to do work going forward. I think sooner rather than later, a majority of Americans — including Republicans — are going to see Trump for who he is, and this administration for what it’s done,” O’Rourke told the Washington Post’s Robert Costa when challenged.

“Outside of the Third Reich, give me another example of a Western leader who has called one people of one faith inherently defective, or dangerous, or disqualified from being successful in that country,” he continued. “ . . . How did a modern country, well educated, a source of innovation and ingenuity, and a source of moral leadership in the world, descend into that level of barbarity, producing a shame that lives with every single German to this day?”

O’Rourke also sparred with Meghan McCain in July over his characterization of a Trump rally in North Carolina as an “impromptu Nuremberg rally.”

The Hillary-Tulsi Fault Line Their feud could foretell trouble for Democrats in 2020. By Ted Rall

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hillary-tulsi-fault-line-11571784603

Why would Hillary Clinton attack the 11th-place Democratic presidential candidate, currently polling at 1.2%? In an interview last week Mrs. Clinton said the Russians have “their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii replied on Twitter: “You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain.” The Clinton-Gabbard spat illuminates the underlying conflict between the grassroots progressive left and the centrists who still dominate the Democratic Party’s leadership and donor class.

Democrats want to avoid a repeat of 2016, when enough progressives didn’t vote for Mrs. Clinton to keep her from winning. Beating Mr. Trump is all that matters, the blue-no-matter-who corporatists insist. Progressives reply by asking how that worked out in 2016.

One nearly invisible Democratic fault line concerns the president. Progressives don’t like Mr. Trump and disagree with most of his policies. But there is important common ground. Like the president, progressives favor economic nationalism—putting American workers first and bringing back high-paid manufacturing jobs. They also want to end the post-9/11 forever wars, close overseas military bases, and avoid new wars of choice.

Bernie’s Big, Bolshie, Biden-Boosting Bash By Kyle Smith

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/bernie-sanders-queens-rally-circus-comes-to-town/

The Sanders circus comes to Queens.

Who says Joe Biden supporters aren’t fired up and ready to fight? Twenty-five thousand eight hundred and seventy-two of them showed up in Queens Saturday to bring a smile to Uncle Joe’s lips. All of them were fighting to split the socialist vote that threatens Biden between the relatively spry lady who could actually win (Elizabeth Warren) and the wild-haired 78-year-old Larry David impersonator who just had a heart attack (Bernie Sanders).

The weekend timing was unfortunate given Bernie’s precarious health and even more precarious standing in the polls. (Nine percent in Iowa, behind Pete Buttigieg? Really? Was he even born when Bernie ran in 2016?) You would think the Bernie Sanders campaign would make sure to hold its biggest rallies on a weekday, given the amount of propping up he needs. Hunched over from the shoulders, he didn’t just grab the lectern on Saturday — he clutched it, relied on it, looking like Mr. Burns leaning over his walker. (It’s a good thing he’s a politician; in what other profession do they invariably put a large stand in front of you to help you keep your balance?) Sanders came on stage to the strains of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” which was meant to make Sanders sound exciting and indomitable; in fact the song was written as a tribute to a dead guy (Bon Scott). Oopsie?

Sanders’s speech was characteristically Sandernista stuff: Droning, badgering, meandering, enervating, needlessly, endlessly long. Sanders is the kind of guy who could promise every American free Netflix for life and still make it sound like a shut-up-and-take-your-medicine speech. The man is pure Castro oil. As his brillo-pad-on-sandpaper voice flayed the eardrums, the Bernie signs drooped. Even his most ardent fans looked at each other like they were ankle-deep in a bear trap. Whether Sanders was being uselessly vague (“Our legislation. Will hold. The fossil-fuel industry. Accountable.”) or issuing absurdly unrealistic blue-sky promises (“Our program will eliminate homelessness in America!”), he sounded completely irrelevant to 2019. Five years older than the oldest Baby Boomer, already ten years past the average life expectancy of a man born in 1941, he is not the man to lead America through the 2020s. He’s the man at the deli who wants his tuna-on-rye special Retoasted, the right way this time.

All Hillary’s Russian Assets Her refusal to own up to a bad campaign gives Tulsi Gabbard a moment in the sun. By William McGurn

https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-hillarys-russian-assets-11571696214

Ever since Hillary Clinton suggested Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian “asset,” the Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii has been on the attack. But she ought to consider the remarks an in-kind contribution. Because before Mrs. Clinton’s ham-handed insertion of herself into the 2020 Democratic race, Ms. Gabbard’s campaign for president was going nowhere.

The big challenge before Ms. Gabbard now is whether she will make it into the next Democratic debate on Nov. 20 in Atlanta. She has yet to meet the polling requirements: either 3% support in four Democratic National Committee approved national polls, or 5% in two DNC-approved polls from states with early primaries (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada).

Ms. Gabbard has had trouble cracking 2% in most polls, and her debate performance last Tuesday hasn’t moved the needle. A FiveThirtyEight.com analysis put her at the bottom of the pack of all the Democratic candidates who made it to the stage, and noted her postdebate net favorability had dropped further into negative numbers.

Nor is her alleged stooging for Moscow Democrats’ only issue with Ms. Gabbard. In her call to bring the troops home, many hear echoes of Donald Trump ; her support for a ban on third-trimester abortions breaks with the party’s abortion absolutism; notwithstanding an apology, her past opposition to same-sex marriage has led to charges of homophobia; and her threat to boycott last week’s debate after alleging its corporate sponsors (CNN and the New York Times) worked with Democratic Party officials to “rig” the election had the Times writing how her political contribution was “injecting a bit of chaos” into the race.