I've written before about Al Hunt, a political pundit who now writes for Bloomberg. Simply put, the guy is amazingly deluded. His latest effort came today in a column in which he says that the Democrats need a "message" rather than a "program". It's a rather bizarre view. Hunt thinks that the Democrats need not come up with a policy agenda; it would be enough to convince American voters that the Democrats understand them.
Think about that for a moment. We had eight years of Obama with Democrat policies that were consistently rejected by the American voters. We know that to the extent there were policies, they did not work. The economy staggered forward, our foreign policy failed, and even social issues got more disruptive rather than less. Seven months into the Trump presidency, only part of the GOP policy agenda has been put in place. Soon, we will see a focus on tax reform and infrastructure. If those work well (and they should), it will be hard for the Democrats to defeat something with nothing.
2016 was a year in which the Democrats ran on a message rather than a policy agenda. Hillary ran as the first woman, the candidate other than Trump, and the purveyor of hatred for the evil opponents. It was, to be sure, a silly and stupid message. Nevertheless, Hillary's lack of any real policy proposals hurt her severely with the voters. You cannot run as the continuation of the Obama years when the voters liked Obama but disliked his policies. Obamaism without Obama didn't sell.
It may be that President Trump will have such a tumultuous term that voters will leave the GOP behind. I don't think that will happen, no matter how hard the media tries for it. Nevertheless, the Democrats just will not pick up a majority unless they have a rational program that appeals to America.
Think about that for a moment. We had eight years of Obama with Democrat policies that were consistently rejected by the American voters. We know that to the extent there were policies, they did not work. The economy staggered forward, our foreign policy failed, and even social issues got more disruptive rather than less. Seven months into the Trump presidency, only part of the GOP policy agenda has been put in place. Soon, we will see a focus on tax reform and infrastructure. If those work well (and they should), it will be hard for the Democrats to defeat something with nothing.
2016 was a year in which the Democrats ran on a message rather than a policy agenda. Hillary ran as the first woman, the candidate other than Trump, and the purveyor of hatred for the evil opponents. It was, to be sure, a silly and stupid message. Nevertheless, Hillary's lack of any real policy proposals hurt her severely with the voters. You cannot run as the continuation of the Obama years when the voters liked Obama but disliked his policies. Obamaism without Obama didn't sell.
It may be that President Trump will have such a tumultuous term that voters will leave the GOP behind. I don't think that will happen, no matter how hard the media tries for it. Nevertheless, the Democrats just will not pick up a majority unless they have a rational program that appeals to America.
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