Let the Circular Firing Squad Begin

Four years ago at this time, exactly three candidates had announced their intention to run for the Republican nomination for President in 2016; Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio.  By the time the first debate rolled around in August 2015, that number had risen to 17.  Everyone thought that the Republicans would destroy each other in the primary, leaving the unchallenged Hillary Clinton stronger heading into the general election.  As it turns out, Republicans ended up with a presumptive nominee before the Democrats did.  President Trump clinched the Republican nomination on May 4, 2016; after his two remaining challengers, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, dropped out.  It took until the summer for Hillary Clinton’s surprisingly strong challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, to withdraw from the race.  While President Trump had infinitely many more challengers than Clinton, he won more states than his Democratic counterpart. 

Fast forward to the present day. A total of 19 candidates have announced their intention to run for President in the Democratic primary.  That does not even include the presumptive frontrunner Joe Biden, who leads most polls.  Even though an enormous amount of candidates have already indicated their desire to take on President Trump in 2020, that number could continue to grow well into the 20s.  Check out the complete list of all the candidates who have announced so far, which has grown exponentially since the last time I discussed the Democratic race.  Rather than list the candidates in alphabetical order, I will list them in order of their chances at actually winning the Democratic nomination:  Vermont Senator and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders, failed Texas Senate candidate and amateur skateboarder Beto O’Rourke, California Senator and reparations enthusiast Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Senator and faux Native American “Goofy” Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Senator and admitted groper Cory Booker, South Bend Mayor and aspiring televangelist Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, tech entrepreneur and universal basic income advocate Andrew Yang, open borders extremist and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, New York Senator and total phony Kirsten Gillibrand, Washington Governor and climate change alarmist Jay Inslee, Ohio Congressman and Nancy Pelosi adversary Tim Ryan, former Alaska Senator and shuffleboard enthusiast Mike Gravel, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, author Marianne Williamson, California Congressman and Collusion truther Eric Swalwell, Miramar mayor Wayne Messam, and former Maryland Congressman and gerrymandering beneficiary John Delaney. 

Because of the large number of candidates, the first “debate” will take place over the course of two nights; with the candidates chosen at random, regardless of their poll numbers.  It looks like candidates will have to achieve a minimum of 1 percent in three national polls in order to secure a space on the debate stage.

Former President Obama warned about a circular firing squad during an a town hall in Berlin earlier this month: “you start shooting at your allies because one of them has strayed from purity on the issues.” The former President warned that “when that happens, typically the overall effort and movement weakens.” While a circular firing squad definitely emerged in the Republican primary four years ago, it did not affect them as much in the general election because the other side featured a competitive primary as well.  This time, President Trump has the incumbency advantage. His primary challenges will likely go nowhere, meaning he can focus exclusively on taking out his Democratic challenger; just like Obama did in 2012. 

Perhaps anticipating the circular firing squad, many candidates have already apologized for their past transgressions, which, in some cases, they had no control over.  Beto O’Rourke apologized for his white male privilege while Joe Biden, who has yet to even announce a presidential bid, apologized for the way the Anita Hill hearing went down; dismissing him and everyone else on the Senate Judiciary Committee as a “bunch of white guys.”  Even Bill Maher sees the idea of “white guilt” as a total joke.  While talking with Chelsea Handler, a subscriber to the SJW philosophy that has created the terms “white guilt” and “white privilege,” Maher said that white people hating on themselves for their skin color “doesn’t help minorities,” adding “I don’t think they go, oh, boy, that makes me feel a lot better. She hates herself…We’re kind of like self-flatulating ourself and it’s not helping.”

Speaking of white guilt, many of the Democratic Presidential contenders made an appearance at the National Action Network conference. About half of the declared candidates showed up at the NAN conference in an effort to suck up to its founder, Al Sharpton, who serves as a self-appointed kingmaker in Democratic politics.  The candidates who did appear at the conference promised to institute reparations or at least look into the idea and smeared President Trump as a racist.  If he does get in the race, the pro-reparations crowd will surely aim a circular firing squad at Joe Biden for his record on race; especially now that CNN has reported that the longtime Delaware Senator opposed busing to desegregate the schools.  That, combined with Biden’s support for the 1990s crime bill and his speech on the Senate floor that had strikingly similar rhetoric to Hillary Clinton’s “superpredator” comment could give his opponents plenty of material should he decide to throw his hat into the race.

Perhaps no one will draw the ire of the circular firing squad more than Tim Ryan.  Ryan has done more to appeal to flyover country than any other candidate in the race and has already irritated the Democratic establishment with his challenge to Pelosi as the Democratic leader back in 2016. Ryan, who represents the former Democratic powerhouse of Youngstown in Congress, has already indicated that he does not support the Green New Deal and has spoken in favor of fracking; which even the so-called “moderate” governor of New York will not allow in his state, which could greatly benefit economically from it.  On the other hand, Ryan has embraced Medicare-for-all so maybe that could spare him the wrath of the circular firing squad.

Tulsi Gabbard, who has just reached the minimum 65,000 donors to qualify for the debates, will likely find herself the target of a circular firing squad.  Unlike Ryan, who represents a swing district that President Trump narrowly lost, Gabbard represents a safe Democratic seat in Congress.  Her contrarian position when it comes to Syria will make her a target of those who want regime change in the Middle Eastern country.  Gabbard herself could come up with a line of attack against Buttigieg and Harris when it comes to religious bigotry.  Gabbard had previously taken Mazie Hirono, the Hawaii Senator who used to represent Gabbard’s district in the House, as well as Harris, to task for their treatment of Brian Bruescher, one of President Trump’s judicial nominees.  Gabbard had written an op-ed for The Hill accusing those who opposed Buescher’s nomination to the bench because of his “Catholicism and his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus” of “fomenting religious bigotry.” While the op-ed did not mention Harris and Hirono by name, she implicitly mentioned the California Senator by accusing her of “sacrificing the well-being, peace, and harmony of our country to satisfy their own political ambitions for partisan political interests.” On the campaign trail, Buttigieg has repeatedly called into question Vice President Pence’s Christian faith.  If Gabbard really wants to make sure that America stands “united in our commitment to protect religious freedom and the right to worship or not worship,” then she should definitely give “Mayor Pete” a piece of her mind; even if it means standing up for a man detested by the left.  Taking that course of action would undoubtedly earn her some flack from the circular firing squad.

As for “Mayor Pete,” the new Democratic it-boy, the circular firing squad might gang up on him for his past use of the phrase “All Lives Matter.” Buttigieg has already apologized for uttering those hateful words but his apology might not cut it from members of the circular firing squad seeking ideological purity. Klobuchar could face a circular firing squad from her left; specifically in response to her town hall on CNN; where she dismissed the idea of free college for all and seemed tepid on the idea of immediately implementing Medicare-for-all. On the other hand, the far left had plenty to like from her town hall; including her promise to re-enter the United States into the Paris climate accord.

Believe it or not, Bernie Sanders could also face the wrath of the circular firing squad for recent comments he made about immigration.  At an Iowa town hall last weekend, the Vermont Senator channeled his inner Milton Friedman when answering a question about open borders: “there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world. And I don’t think that’s something we can do at this point.” Sanders, who supports a very robust welfare state, made a logical point championed by the aforementioned late economist: “it’s just obvious that you can’t have free immigration and a welfare state.”  One of his competitors for the 2020 Democratic nomination, Beto O’Rourke, actually suggested taking down the wall in El Paso; which would basically lead to open borders.  Sanders’s classification of President Trump as a racist may enable him to get off with a “warning” from the PC police.  But that may not save him from the circular firing squad that will greet him on the debate stage. In addition to his decision to participate in a town hall with Fox News, another possible source of rage from the circular firing squad may arise from Sanders’s political affiliation.  For nearly all of his time in public life, Sanders has never actually identified as a Democrat.  He has almost always identified as an independent; only switching his affiliation to Democratic as he has sought the party’s Presidential nomination; first in 2016 and then now.  Surely, the other people on the debate stage why he has hesitated to actually join the party that he would like to nominate him for President of the United States.

So, most of the contenders for the Democratic nomination have at least one skeleton in their closet that will force them to face off against a circular firing squad; meaning that the impending primary season will likely go down as one of the nastiest in history.  While Republicans managed to pull off a victory in 2016 despite a nasty primary season, neither side had an incumbent in office; meaning that neither party started off with an advantage.  In 2020, President Trump has the incumbency advantage; which has helped elect nearly every President since World War II.  President Trump seems likely to only face token opposition at this point.  Depending on who ends up walking away with the Democratic nomination, Howard Schultz could play a role in the 2020 Presidential Election.  Schultz’s presence in the race would likely only help President Trump win re-election. With Election Day 2020 a little more than a year and a half away, conservatives and Trump supporters across the country should let the circular firing squad begin.  Whatever material the Democratic candidates and/or the debate moderators fail to bring up in the primaries, President Trump will surely touch on in the general election debates.