Political reporter: Can Dems Get Used to Losing?
People may get tired of all the “winning” that President Trump has promised them, but Aaron Blake at The Washington Post wonders if Democrats “can stomach the amount of losing they’re in store for.” Thus far, “they’ve come up empty” against Trump, leading some to suggest “the fight just may not be in Senate Democrats — or at least, not to the extent the base is looking for.” Yes, some vowed to filibuster Justice-designate Neil Gorsuch, and left-wing groups “promised to exact retribution on Democrats who went soft.” But “reality set in,” says Blake: “Democrats have a weak hand.” And “the problem for Democrats is that before they can win again, they’ll have to do plenty of losing — possibly four years’ worth.”
Pentagon ex-official: Don’t Politicize Yemen Raid
Blaming President Trump for the raid in Yemen that killed a Navy SEAL and several civilians “is both inappropriate and counterproductive,” charges Andrew Exum in The Atlantic. He’s no fan of the president, but tells Trump foes to “keep your powder dry” for legitimate grievances. Given the many layers of approval needed before the raid went forward, “the left cannot on the one hand claim Donald Trump is ignorant of military and security affairs, and then on the other hand expect him to second-guess the professional recommendations of his uniformed and civilian military leadership.” Exum, a senior Obama defense official, says risk-taking is necessary, and “it’s not helpful for the default reaction when something goes wrong to be immediately elevating the blame to the office of the president.”
From the right: How Dems Outmaneuvered Themselves
Democrats are citing Republicans’ refusal to consider Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination as a reason to double-down on Neil Gorsuch. But Ramesh Ponnuru at Bloomberg notes that “what Democrats said back then stands in the way.” Calling the GOP refusal to allow even a hearing “obstructionism” was a valid argument, he says, but “in their outrage, they [also] said that the Republicans’ treatment of Garland violated the Constitution.” From Obama on down, they called the refusal to vote on his nomination “unconstitutional.” Legally, they were wrong — “but if you believe an up-or-down vote on a nomination is constitutionally required, you can’t in good conscience filibuster” on Gorsuch.
Analyst: Make Warren the Dems’ Public Voice
David Harsanyi at The Federalist points out that despite her “martyr act, no one has the power to ‘silence’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren.” That’s “a good thing,” he adds, though “the impulse to silence Warren is completely rational,” given that “she’s been a bully her entire career.” Still, says Harsanyi, “I’d let Warren speak whenever she wanted to,” since “the more she speaks, the better for conservatives.” She’s certainly “no Barack Obama on the charisma front,” though the affair has emboldened her presidential hopes. But if that “ensures that Democrats will spend another four years accusing half the country of being moral troglodytes while waiting for demographics to win them elections, Republicans should support their efforts.”
Conservative take: Cory Booker’s Convenient Amnesia
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker has had some strange memory lapses recently, notes Ian Tuttle at National Review. First was his testimony against Jeff Sessions — whom he was once “blessed and honored” to partner with — for attorney general. This week, he voted against Betsy DeVos for secretary of education. Which is odd, since — like her — he was once a vocal advocate for school choice and has worked with her on several occasions. Says Tuttle: “How it is that the woman Cory Booker viewed as an ally less than a year ago is now a threat to children’s ‘safety’ is no particular mystery.” Booker has 2020 fever, “and he needs to make nice with the teachers’ unions, whose outsized influence in the Democratic Party is the only plausible explanation for the unprecedented anathema heaped on DeVos.”
— Compiled by Eric Fettmann
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
