Despite the fact that Rahm Emanuel is stepping down from his position as the mayor of Chicago, he knows a thing or two about winning elections. This is especially true considering that he was the chief of staff for former President Barack Obama and a key White House operative for former President Bill Clinton. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, Rahm engineered the Democratic takeover of the House. He’s also known for playing political hardball, while at the same time, dropping a slew of f-bombs onto the playing field. If Mayor Rahm Emanuel believes that the Democrats are on a self-destructing downwards spiral, which he argued about in a piece for The Atlantic, then his political colleagues better listen up.
It’s being argued that the Democrats, who took back control of the House in November by the skin of their teeth, are continuously being defined by their most radical members. All you need to do is pay attention to the last few weeks and you’ll see who’s controlling the party. For example, here are just a few things that have come up in recent weeks: the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, slavery reparations, free college tuition, a 70% tax rate on income over $10 million, the desire to break up Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Needless to say, the Democrats are definitely backing themselves into a corner. And that’s not all. You know you have a problem on your hands when the Democrats continuously delay and water down a resolution to denounce Rep. Ilhan Omar for her LATEST anti-Semitic comments.
Recently, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made an appearance at the South by Southwest conference. While there, she thought it was in her party’s best interest to criticize capitalism by saying that “we’re reckoning with the consequences of putting profit above everything else in society.” She also made sure to add “to me capitalism is irredeemable” at the end, which is not the best way to get elected for president in the United States. And what about John Hickenlooper, who’s running in the 2020 election? The former governor of Colorado continuously refused to call himself a capitalist on the “Morning Joe” the other day. When did that become such a nasty word for the Democrats?
In his piece for The Atlantic, Emanuel wrote that Trump could swing voters by just saying that the Democrats are socialists. “The last thing we should do is serve him slow pitches over the plate that allow him to define us on his terms. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Democrats have been doing since he went before Congress in early February. It’s almost as if we’ve been duped into reading from his ready-made script,” wrote Emanuel.
“Earth to Democrats: Republicans are telling you something when they gleefully schedule votes on proposals like the Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and a 70 percent marginal tax rate. When they’re more eager to vote on the Democratic agenda than we are, we should take a step back and ask ourselves whether we’re inadvertently letting the political battle play out on their turf rather than our own. If Trump’s only hope for winning a second term turns on his ability to paint us as socialists, we shouldn’t play to type,” he continued.
By no means should the Democrats abandon their core priorities, but according to Emanuel, the independents and Democrats are so desperate to win that they have no problem supporting a candidate that doesn’t share all of the same views as them. All that matters is if the person looks like they’re able to win for them. “So the ideological debates often shroud what voters really want — a nominee capable of standing steady and strong as Trump tries to bully his way into an Election Night victory. The president’s low approval ratings suggest that, if he wins a second term, Democrats will have no one to blame but ourselves,” said Emanuel in his piece for The Atlantic. Democrats really need to rethink their game or risk losing their more conservative voters. “The sharp left turn in the Democratic Party and the rise of progressive presidential candidates are unnerving moderate Democrats who increasingly fear that the party could fritter away its chances of beating President Trump in 2020 by careening over a liberal cliff.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has the huge task of reining in those leftist members who are changing the face of the party, for example, Ilhan Omar. Unfortunately, Pelosi doesn’t seem capable of controlling the Bernie-like candidates, who obviously believe that leaning far to the left will win them the nomination.
The Fox News weekend host, Jeanine Pirro, has received a bit of criticism from the news network. Most recently, Jeanine took a stab or two at Omar. On Saturday night, Jeanine said that Omar is “Sharia-compliant” and that she follows “Sharia-adherence behavior” because she wears a hijab. She also asked: “Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which is antithetical to the U.S. Constitution?”
Fox News released an official statement that said: “We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro’s comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar. They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.” In an effort to thank Fox News, Omar posted on Twitter, saying: “No one’s commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth.” Despite the criticism from the network, Pirro is not backing off of Omar. In a statement released on Saturday, Pirro said: “I did not call Rep. Omar un-American. My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don’t support the Constitution.” She finished up by inviting Omar to appear on her show.
The associate producer for “Special Report with Bret Baier” also had something to share with Pirro. Hufsa Kamal, tweeted: “@JudgeJeanine can you stop spreading this false narrative that somehow Muslims hate America or women who wear a hijab aren’t American enough? You have Muslims working at the same network you do, including myself. K thx.”
