By Rick Manning
Joe Biden is the Jeb Bush of the 2020 Democratic primary, a candidate who the kingmakers of the Democratic Party attempted to put into the White House so that they could control the levers of power much like Jeb in 2016.
The problem that Democratic leaders have is that Biden has never been successful electorally outside of Delaware, and has a long history of running for President and failing to even make a mark, let alone win any states.
Given that Biden is the only Democratic candidate with any appeal to the African-American voters in polls, Biden’s failure in Iowa and New Hampshire poses a near existential threat to the Democrats’ ability to hold on to their base. In 2016, then candidate Trump appealed to the African American community saying, “What do you have to lose?”
Four years later, the African American community has a lot to lose: Record low unemployment, rising wages, opportunity zones and an economic policy that lifts all boats.
The President’s controversial decision to drive criminal justice reform with a goal to provide freedom and due process to prisoners who had unfair, unduly long federal sentences is viewed by far-left activists like Van Jones as the achievement that not even Barack Obama could deliver. As Jones noted after the State of the Union Address, Trump’s “strong” address was a wake-up call to Democrats, signaling Trump is going after black votes.
For the first time in history, I’m going to say Jones is right. 50 years of failed Democratic promises will be counted against 4 years of unprecedented prosperity and opportunities for blacks. Just as significantly, wages have been rising faster for those who had been economically left behind than for the top 20 percent, meaning that many blacks have been able to lift themselves out of dependency upon the state to self-sufficiency.
The two current front runners Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg both offer a radical vision of change and the same old failed, race-based policies and virtue signaling.
After Biden’s collapse, President Trump’s appeal to all voters including African Americans, promises to be very attractive. After all, who votes for radical change at a time of unprecedented prosperity.
As James Carville once declared, “It’s the economy, stupid.” And Democrats will be hard pressed to vote their own gains out of blind loyalty to those who make the same old stale, failed and broken political promises.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
