Democrats Can Claim Moderate Policies, But They’re Pushing Socialism
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell says there’s a civil war going on in the Democratic Party between the more traditional moderates and the progressives.
Does Bloomberg Stand A Chance So Late In The 2020 Presidential Race?
GOP strategist Ford O'Connell and Democratic strategist Robert Patillo debate.
Play-Nice Approach Of 2020 Democrats Threatens To Hand Trump A Reelection Advantage
Democrats seeking their party's 2020 nomination have largely avoided bludgeoning each other with lines of attack that President Trump has already signaled he's ready to weaponize.
That's likely to change soon.
Whether overseas business activities of Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden or Elizabeth Warren's self-proclaimed Native American heritage, vulnerabilities of top-tier 2020 Democrats are likely to become targets, with the first primary contests less than 100 days away. Rivals of former Vice President Biden, 76, and Massachusetts Sen. Warren, 70, will start to draw sharper personal contrasts rather than sticking solely to policy.
The eventual nominee will face an onslaught of attacks from Republicans and President Trump in the general election. Trump has already started to attack Hunter Biden's involvement with Ukrainian energy company Burisma while he was leading U.S. foreign policy toward the country. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, suffered a heart attack, prompting arguments that he is too old to serve in office. Trump's favorite nickname for Warren is "Pocahontas," a reference to her claim of Native American ancestry.
"If Warren thinks her Native American problem has been put to bed, she's got another thing coming,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist. “It is without a doubt going to resurface."
Warren’s rivals so far have stuck to criticizing her sweeping policy proposals, such as a “Medicare for all” government-financed healthcare plan that would make virtually all private insurance illegal. They've avoided raising questions about her claims of Native American ancestry, which she attempted to end by releasing a DNA test showing at least one Native American ancestor six to 10 generations back.
"You're going to see an aggressive campaign by the Trump folks to educate and persuade voters about Elizabeth Warren because, outside the Democratic process, a Democrat primary, she's a blank slate," O’Connell said. "They're going to say, 'Here is a woman who tried to work the system to benefit herself. There is no way that she's fighting for you. It's always about Elizabeth Warren.'"
A Year Before The 2020 Election, Battleground State Polls Signal Tight Race Ahead
With 365 days until the 2020 presidential election, Republicans and Democrats both have good reason to believe they have a political advantage, but several new polls paint a picture of a race that is closer than either party is likely comfortable with, as President Donald Trump and top Democratic contenders fall within the margin of error of each other in key states.
“This is going to be a barnburner, knockdown, ugly, tight race and frankly neither side should be confident,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell.
President Trump enters his reelection fight with historical headwinds favoring an incumbent and the strongest job market in decades. Although fears of a recession persist, Trump can boast of solid economic growth, steadily improving wages, and a record-smashing stock market.
However, he is also likely to be the first president to ever face reelection after being impeached, his approval rating has rarely climbed out of the low 40s, and most voters do not trust him. The economy is the only issue on which a majority of voters consistently signal approval for his policies, giving Democrats a clear opening if they can figure out how to take it.
Although national polls mostly offer good news for Democrats, they may be less instructive than battleground state surveys that provide a more muddled assessment. A New York Times/Sienna College poll of registered voters in six states Trump won by slim margins in 2016 suggests only Biden is currently ahead of Trump in most of them, and even he is still within the margin of error.
“The state-level polls give us a better indication,” O’Connell said. “Everyone seems to forget it’s all about the Electoral College regardless of what the national polls say.”
Biden Getting ‘Weaker And Weaker’ By The Day: GOP Strategist
Republican strategist and Civic Forum PAC chairman Ford O'Connell analyzes former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Are Democrats In Danger Of Losing American's Trust Over Baseless Accusations?
Democrat political analyst Kelly Hyman and GOP strategist Ford O'Connell debate a potential split in the Democratic Party after Hillary Clinton alleged Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset.
Elizabeth Warren Should Concern Donald Trump 'Bigly'
Move over Joe Biden; there is a new sheriff in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary — and her name is Elizabeth Warren.
Prior to Warren’s rise in the polls, President Donald Trump and his campaign team wisely focused their attention almost exclusively on Biden. The former vice president has not only consistently led Trump handily in just about every general election national poll, but Biden has also been leading Trump among the all-important persuadable independent voter as well as in many key swing states, including Wisconsin.
According to online gambling site Bovada, Warren’s odds to win the 2020 Democratic nomination hit “minus money” for the first time on October 7. When you consider Warren’s middling standing just a few months ago, that’s a heck of a surge to the front of the pack.
With a little less than four months until Iowa, there is still a lot of game left to be played. Even though Biden is slowly slipping in the polls and the rest of the Democratic field is fading away, Warren still has some glaring obstacles to overcome.
Chief among them are Bernie Sanders and the African-American Democratic primary voter.
But let’s fast-forward and say Warren does indeed become the Democratic nominee, which is the most likely scenario at this stage. Conventional wisdom suggests Warren would be an easier out for Trump than other 2020 participants. I don’t necessarily buy that. I see her as a sleeping juggernaut.
So how does Trump secure reelection against Warren? With an aggressive education and persuasion campaign targeting Warren’s credibility and her outrageous policy prescriptions.
Politico Calls Out 2020 Dems For Trillion-Dollar Plans
Republican strategist Ford O'Connell discusses the 2020 Democrats’ high-cost plans.
How Will A Progressive Agenda Affect The US?
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell discusses why Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed wealth tax and healthcare initiatives will severely hurt the middle class.
Democrats’ Newest Climate Platform: Hammering Fossil Fuel Companies
Democratic White House hopefuls are getting increasingly aggressive on climate change — and calling for oil, gas and coal producers to pay for their role in climbing temperatures, rising seas and catastrophic weather.
The sharpened tone includes former Vice President Joe Biden’s promise to "take action against fossil fuel companies," as well as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ charge that the businesses committed "criminal activity" by knowingly producing the greenhouse gases that worsen climate change. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing legislation that could pave the way for lawsuits against the companies, while Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has accused fossil fuel producers of "killing people" and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to create a fossil fuel "excise tax."
The rhetoric echoes the fervor of the climate change activists who have pushed Democrats to embrace an ambitious “Green New Deal” that would wean the U.S. off fossil fuels in a decade or more, and comes amid lawsuits from states, cities and citizens accusing the companies of hiding the evidence that their products are harming the planet.
But Republicans say they welcome the trend, too, accusing Democrats of pushing a radical attack on an industry that has provided one of the brightest spots in the economy and has reduced U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
"The deeper and the longer the Democrats talk about this, the happier the Trump campaign is," said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist who speaks regularly with the White House and President Donald Trump's reelection effort. "They see fodder not so much in the issue but in the solutions being proposed by the Democrats."
For climate activists angry over Trump's rollback of policies designed to fight greenhouse gas emissions, candidates' calls for aggressive action are long overdue.
But the American Petroleum Institute warned that many of the 2020 candidates' plans would hurt industry’s hundreds of thousands of employees across the country while raising energy costs for households. The group also points to a recent trend of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution declining as natural gas displaces coal in electricity generation.
