A heads-up comparison.
This past Tuesday night (Jan 14), two events took place simultaneously that gave us a glimpse of the November contest between President Donald Trump and the eventual Democratic Party nominee. The contrast was stark.
In Milwaukee, President Trump held one of his signature rallies. To a packed house at the University of Wisconsin Panther Arena, and with untold numbers standing outside unable to get in, the president rocked the house. Wisconsin, you will recall, was at one time considered one of the bulwarks of the fabled “Blue Wall” – the 18 states that pundits have always told us are an Electoral College sure thing for any Democrat running for president.
Hillary Clinton was so sure that Wisconsin was in the bag that she never bothered to campaign there. (It should be remembered, however, that her much more politically savvy husband, Bill, wasn’t so sure.) But Donald Trump did campaign in Wisconsin and in doing so, he struck a nerve.
Wisconsin is one of those flyover states – to which Democrats condescend – that was hit particularly hard by blue collar job losses. Many economists believe that the combination of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the admission of China into the World Trade Organization clobbered manufacturing in Wisconsin.
Donald Trump promised to put an end to NAFTA and to bring China to heel. Just this week, as Trump rallied in Milwaukee, the USMCA deal that replaces NAFTA is tee’d up to be ratified. That follows the signing Wednesday of a new trade deal between China and the U.S. Even some of the president’s critics are saying that the China deal is the first trade deal that holds any real chance of checking China’s trade malfeasance.
Promises made, promises kept, said the president in Milwaukee. The crowd roared. By every measure, workers in Wisconsin are doing better than they have in 20 years and many of them are happily giving Trump the credit.
Even though the Democrats are holding their convention in Milwaukee this summer, it is very likely that Wisconsin will again go for Donald Trump – and this time by a larger margin.
Meanwhile, in Des Moines, Iowa, where the 2020 campaign officially begins with the Iowa Caucuses less three weeks from now, the Democrats were holding a snooze fest trying to pass itself off as a candidate debate.
CNN sponsored and moderated the debate and, predictably, tossed nerf balls and marshmallows at the candidates in lieu of tough, substantive questions. The only real “debate” – if you could dignify it with that label – centered on just how much farther the government should stick its nose into our health care. The ratings, to no one’s surprise, were dismal.
So, there it was, on the same night. Rocking, pulsating, electric energy in Milwaukee. Sleepy, predictable leftist policy pabulum in Des Moines.
If the second Tuesday in January is any indication of the state of the Democrats vs. the state of Trump, on the first Tuesday in November, it won’t even be close.
Another good one my friend. Keep up the good work sir.
You and I have very much the same beliefs, but you explain our beliefs much better than I do.
Paul, thank you for illustrating the stark contrast between the Milwaukee rally and the Des Moines debate. I watched the Trump rally in Milwaukee and was thrilled to see red-blooded Americans celebrate the incredible results of Faith (Trust and Action) in the American Spirit when unleashed and encouraged by a President that believes in the “greatness” of its people: his theme for the MAGA proclamation of his Administration.
It is the ordinary, hard working Americans that have ALWAYS made this country the envy of the World, not the iron-fisted government elite federal bureaucracy and their vaunted regulations and “social justice dogma” that could have never created these incredible results such as those demonstrated by Trump and as outlined in his speech. I am truly impressed how Trump has unshackled the America Spirit from the Obama Democrat Party’s suppression of their natural ingenuity to succeed, independent of the Socialist/Marxist “command and control,” that had been forced onto most thinking Americans for many years.
My faltering faith in the people of this country to achieve new records of success as encouraged and unleashed by Trump and his policies is being quickly restored as they ignore the “care taker” dependency offered by the deceptive Democrats and their snake-oil salesmen. The Democrat doom and gloom propaganda machine simply can’t compete with Trump as coach of this truly outstanding American achievement in the last three years. It’s not bragging if you can do it!
May the elite Democrat dogma be destroyed by example by millions of freedom loving, hard working Americans as they bury this false “Hope and Change” offered by Obama as we let it RIP!
Trump wins Wisconsin in 2020?
Care to make it intere$ting?
Pabulum Indeed! What a great description of the very bland and adolescent interaction of the Democratic front runners on Tuesday evening. It is humorous to see the media spin this “debate”, and how they excuse the many ridiculous and false statements that Biden has made over the decades. They chalk up his gaffes as “just being good ole Joe”, and that his stupid remarks are “what everyone likes about him”. They say that he is the kind of person with which the average person would like to sit down and have a beer. However, that would be a completely different situation than having him negotiate with China or having his hand on the nuclear button, instead of a beer. Has anyone ever suggested that there is a distinct possibility that he is not a very smart person? Well then, his supporters say, how could he ever have been a senator, or better yet, vice president? The very simple answer is that intelligence is not a requirement for advancement in politics or government. Our bureaucracy and political officeholders are filled with low talent and high B.S. individuals who would never be successful in the private sector. The qualities that Biden and the other participants in the “debate” exhibited were…….let’s see……….how about “pabulumitic”?
The contrast between the audience for Trump rallies (both in person and TV audience) and the Democrat debates is stark and telling. I’m not worried about Donald Trump winning in 2020. He will. What worries me is what will come after his second term–be it a Democrat moron or a feckless Republican. Either way, the country will be taken back to the old status quo.