Why Choose?
By
Leonard Zwelling
We are older. The end is closer than the beginning. Life provides fewer choices, but when it does, we have to make them, right? Who says so?
One of the things that the BW (aka Coach K) and I like to do when we make our semi-annual trips to Manhattan is shop. First, the choices there are vast. Second, we are not busy doing other things and can actually take the time to shop rather than just dash to Target or log on to Amazon. Madison Avenue is pricey, but it’s fun to look.
Inevitably during one of these trips Genie will happen upon a really nice pair of shoes that come in two different colors, both of which she likes.
Just as inevitably she will ask, “which do you like?”
“They’re both nice.”
“But which should I get?”
“Why choose? Take them both.”
We are barely spending our own money any more. It belongs to our kids and grandkids. So if she or I want to borrow a little rather than leave it to them, that seems fine to me.
I bring up the “why choose” scenario because the Democrats have placed themselves in a situation in which they are acting like they have been forced to choose.
With the accusation by President Trump that four freshmen women Congressman of an extreme liberal bent (The Squad) are un-American and ought to go back where they came from which is, for the most part, the United States, the Dems are rushing to defend the four House members in their caucus despite the fact that all four harbor fairly extreme liberal views that do not mesh well with the very parts of the American voting public the Dems are going to need to attract if they are to unseat Trump. This is foolishness on the part of the mainstream Democrats. To them I say: “Why choose?”
Any good Democrat can oppose the rhetoric of President Trump against these four freshmen without in any way backing the political positions of these freshmen some of which border on anti-Semitism and are certainly anti-Israel.
The Democrats in Nancy Pelosi’s caucus need to castigate the president for his mean-spirited tweets while also distancing themselves from the four women who have views that reflect their own constituencies, but not most of the rest of the country. If Trump is able to paint the four as the face of the Democratic Party, the Dems will not only not win the White House, they will not gain control of the Senate and may lose control of the House.
This is still a largely right of center country wary of opening the gates of the southern border to all fleeing violence in Central America. It is still a racist country and still one that does not judge women candidates in the same way it judges men. These may be terrible facts, but they are reality. As such these four women represent “other” to much of America and if they become the face of the Dems, the Dems will lose.
This is the challenge for the Democrats. They need to find a standard-bearer who is a moderate, less than 75 years of age and who does not make the skin of the average American crawl. To me, that’s Amy Klobuchar, but she doesn’t seem to be catching fire at all. It seems to be Biden, Bernie, Warren, Harris and Mayor Pete for right now. If that’s it, the Dems lose again.
The one time “why choose?” doesn’t work is when you only get to pick one. Right now it is looking more like Trump will win even with less than a majority of the popular vote due to the idiosyncrasies of the Electoral College. If the Dems want to change that, they can start right now. Disavow the tweets and disavow the four Congresswomen. Neither is good for the country. Why choose either?
