Dear Friends,
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM and click here to share my blog post.
Charles Goldman joins me on this week’s program. Before I tell you why Democrats should be in full on panic mode about another Biden-Trump showdown, here’s what else we’ve got for you:
One of our chickens swallows a mouse.
Republican policies hurt rural communities. Would it surprise you to learn that the true masters of the Republican Party are the ultra-rich? No, I didn’t think so. Yet without its rural and working-class base, the Party couldn’t even elect Felix the Cat as Dog Catcher. While Republicans regularly deliver the goods for their wealthy donors, many of their policy enactments hurt rural communities. Charles and I discuss some examples, beginning at 18:40 of the podcast.
Little piggies beat big producers. It’s always a blast when Charles and I disagree, as we do regarding the recent US Supreme Court decision on pork chops and bacon. The Court’s 5-4 ruling upheld California’s law requiring all pork sold in that state be raised with certain humanitarian and sustainability requirements. The lawsuit pitted the State of California against the Pork Producers, Farm Bureau, President Biden, and the pharmaceutical industry — proving again that politics makes strange bed fellows. Our discussion starts at the 37-minute mark.
Chickens and rats don’t party together. Elaine, this one’s for you. I know it’s a hill you’re ready to die on, but no, chickens don’t attract rats. Sure, bad management of a chicken coop (as with bad management of any kind of food or feed product) could attract rats — along with a whole entourage of other annoying creatures. But rats don’t want to party with chickens because this descendent of T-rex kills and eats their babies.
Our chickens fight over a mouse one of them caught. Click image to watch video.
For visual confirmation that Gallus gallus domesticus thinks nothing of catching, killing, and eating mice, check out the video I shot today of our flock fighting over a delectable morsel that one of them ran down. Kathy Byrnes and I share this appetizing convo at the 53:21-minute mark.
Now for the main course:
Democrats should be in panic mode about Biden’s poll numbers. The way things are going, Joe Biden is going to lose to Donald Trump in November, 2024. You probably don’t want to hear that, and I hate to say it, but I believe it’s a reality that needs to be confronted.
A May 7 Washington Post-ABC News poll confirms my fear. That poll found that 44% said they’d either definitely or probably vote for Trump in 2024, while 38% picked Biden. The poll also had DeSantis beating Biden, 48-41%.
Democrats ignore these numbers at their peril. But wait, it gets worse. A question on page 18 of a February, 2023, Harris Poll reads: “Is Joe Biden mentally fit to serve as President of the United States or do you have doubts about his fitness for office?”
A whopping 57% of respondents had doubts about Biden’s mental fitness, and 63% said he’s too old to be president. Sure, the same questions could be — and should be — asked about Donald Trump. Regardless, the reality is voters have reservations about Biden’s mental well being, and those reservations aren’t going away.
What should Democrats do? Here’s my advice, and since its free, I’m pretty sure the Democratic Party will ignore it, since they prefer to pay hefty consultant fees for bad advice:
FIRST, champion the rural concerns Republicans have failed to address. Here in Iowa, the key issue is the use of eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines — which 78% of Iowans oppose! Two other issues where Democrats could trump Republicans are water quality and large-scale animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
In fact, it was the CAFO issue that handed Iowa Dems the trifecta back in 2006, the year I ran for governor. Twenty years earlier, in the 1980s, Iowa Democrats stood with family farmers fighting foreclosures and were rewarded with control of the Legislature for a decade.
SECOND, allow a fair, spirited Democratic primary. The DNC doesn’t want that, of course. It prefers to hand Biden the nomination. Don’t let em. Make a stink. Demand that the DNC hold debates. Demand that the DNC’s mouthpiece (the Mainstream Media) provide balanced coverage to Biden’s challengers.
What? Biden has Democratic challengers? Yes, two so far: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Marianne Williamson. An April Suffolk/USA Today poll found Biden’s support among Democrats at 67%, with 14% supporting Kennedy and 5% supporting Williamson. This month, a Fox News poll found that 19% of Democrat primary voters support Kennedy and 9% support Williamson.
Despite those poll numbers, it’s a hard stretch to see Kennedy, Williamson, or any other Democratic candidate beating Biden. Which brings me to …
THIRD, if the 2024 presidential contest is indeed another Biden-Trump showdown, Dems will need massive turnout for Biden to win. The only way to assure that is to begin to generate enthusiasm now. Democrats have to challenge the status quo and stand up to the Party’s big donors. They’ve gotta convince uninspired voters not only that another four years of Trump will Make America Go Away as a world leader, but that the Party is sincere about delivering on the concerns that key voting blocks are passionate about.
FOURTH: Related to that, end the administration’s double-talk on climate change. Sure, the Inflation Reduction Act contains some excellent provisions to address global warming. But take out the tax credits for CO2 pipelines, which aren’t a climate solution and actually make the problem worse. Cancel the Willow Project in Alaska. Don’t allow any more oil drilling in the Gulf. Shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline. In other words, Mr. President, keep the promises you made on the campaign trail in 2019 and 2020.
So, while Dems oughta be in full on panic mode, there is a way out. Will they embrace it? Or will they continue to cozy-up to the status quo and the Party’s big-donor base? Maybe one of our T-rex-descended, mouse-hunting chickens offers a helpful, out-of-the box metaphor for the aggressive change-of-direction Dems need.
If the Party wants to borrow a hen as its mascot, we’d be happy to oblige.
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Ed Fallon