Donald Trump facing mid-term massacre or will fractious Dems implode?
· Toronto Sun
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The guy sitting next to me in the Ohio watering hole outlined the American dilemma succinctly.
“I hate them both,” the barfly said in September 2024, before guffawing.
The “both” he was referring to were presidential candidates Donald Trump and rival Kamala Harris . While Trump romped to victory two months later, that sour sentiment persists in the Land of the Free.
‘Administration is out of control’
“Sometimes it seems like there’s a staggering amount of random carelessness with Trump,” former New York Post political editor Gregg Birnbaum told the Toronto Sun. “The way policy is made appears chaotic and problematic.”
That sentiment is echoed in recent polls that show the president as the most unpopular commander-in-chief since the measurement has been tracked. Hitting historic lows with the mid-term elections in November is not a great harbinger, Birnbaum said.
“He and the Republicans look like they need a course correction and fast,” Birnbaum said, adding that Trump revels in surprising opponents and political enemies alike. “An example is over Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel but there was confusion.
“Few at the White House knew this was coming. They were completely taken by surprise. Trump didn’t tell his own staff.”
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‘What the hell is going on?’
He added: “Some of that was at one point welcomed. Now, even some of his own voters are asking: ‘What the hell is going on?’ It’s hard to find any coherence to it.”
Now an adjunct journalism professor at University of Florida and Florida International University following stints at the Post , New York Daily News , Miami Herald , CNN and NBC News, he said this fall’s mid-term elections will be “very interesting.” No predictions, he told me he’s terrible at it.
However, Birnbaum notes that the Democrats are on the cusp of fratricide with the way-out-there Democratic Socialists scaring Mr. and Mrs. America in flyover country to death.
But let’s stay with Trump for now. The commander-in-chief’s latest bizarre tariff salvo is another example of an administration in crisis. And if the Republicans lose the House in November, that essentially makes The Donald The Lame Duck.
The Economist ‘s YouGov Tracker has stated that Trump is “hitting historic lows for an administration’s early benchmarks.” With the tycoon’s second term in office almost at the midway point, his latest net approval rating can be pegged at minus 25.
Democrats in civil war
Birnbaum — a friend and former Post colleague — said the political landscape portends a disaster for the 80-year-old Republican president.
Except, except, except …
The Democratic Party appears to be in the embryonic stages of a bitter civil war that threatens to leave the party in the wilderness for generations.
Traditionally, the Democrats have been the party of the working class, unions and a broad coalition beyond the country club. But that big tent is now on fire at the hands of the theatre kids in the Democratic Socialists of America on the party’s outer fringes.
About 85% white, well-educated (if not well employed) commie kids are honeycombed in the Northeast, West Coast and a number of major cities. They hold little sway in the flyover states. Still, in recent elections and run-offs, the DSA is winning the day.
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Terrifying the public
And scaring the bejesus out of the hoi polloi.
“Some of their [DSA’s] more out there positions are calling for the abolition of cops, prisons and even borders for that matter. They don’t believe serious, violent criminals should be in prison or deported,” Birnbaum said.
This does not fly with average Americans who are only looking for a fair shake, not a faculty-lounge driven revolution.
“The Democrats are managing to implode when they have a really good issue — affordability — and its splitting the party in two,” Birnbaum noted. “New York Mayor Zohran Mamdami says he’s a defender of the working class (he grew up rich) and that he’s going to tax the rich, well, he can’t even define the rich or the working class. Is it $200,000, $300,000? Is it less or is it more.”
Equally concerning for the unwashed middle are the unceasing attacks on Israel.
DSA worries Black and Hispanic leaders
Ironically, Birnbaum noted that some Black and Hispanic leaders are concerned by radical DSA.
“The radical DSA is so disruptive and the party’s message is not coagulating, and it’s breaking the party,” he said. “They’re not even coming together to defeat their hated enemy, Donald Trump. They are breaking the party.”
Birnbaum — ever the political historian — cites former president Bill Clinton and the Sister Soulja incident of 1992. Then presidential candidate Clinton slammed the race-baiting singer and activist and put distance from his campaign.
“Clinton made it clear where he was coming from and he put distance between himself and the more radical wing of his own party in order to win over moderate voters,” Birnbaum added.
Now, in the wake of key DSA primary wins over more centrist incumbents, a centrist Democratic group is launching a $15 million effort between now and the 2028 election to discredit the rebels. Third Way believes the DSA poses a “mortal danger” for Democrats and could derail their chance of victory.
“A big swath of American is purple,” Birnbaum said. “Most people don’t want political extremism on either end of the spectrum. It’s early but neither of their messages are not coagulating with the public.”