The good old days of the 2016 presidential campaign seem like only yesterday. Yes, Trump won the electoral college. Yes, Hillary won the popular vote. And yes, as each day continues to inform us, Russia played a critical role in rigging the election. There’s no “do over” in our election system. Our founding fathers went for stability when they set up our Constitution, but the 2016 election left things unsettled in a unique way.
The chaos of that time is nothing compared to what we have been living through since Donald Trump was elected. Just think back for a moment, to Trump’s Inauguration day. Our new president delivered a dark and defiant inaugural speech before moving on to make a theatrical show of signing his first executive orders, including one that would advance the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He later demanded that we believe his Inauguration had the largest crowd - ever, despite proof to the contrary, and the term “alternate facts” was coined by his advisor Kellyanne Conway in his defense.
We were off and running, and our country has been operating in a state of political chaos ever since. We’ve never quite reached recovery mode. Trump has gotten used to creating his own style of governing in an attempt to resemble his favored autocratic role models, whether it’s Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, China’s Communist Party bosses, or Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince. Our allies have been dismissed, and too many domestic issues have been ignored or repudiated.
Donald Trump’s time in office increasingly feels as if it should have an unofficial asterisk beside the title.
But the time of rude awakening is coming. There are currently close to 20 investigations surrounding this White House and Trump, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election, the Southern District Court of New York and the state of New York investigations amidst a growing number of congressional inquiries. The Democratic majority in control of the House of Representatives is committed to doing what the Republicans didn’t do these past two years - provide a check and balance system of governance.
The non-legal net result of all of these investigations has been to keep the tumult of 2016 election front and center in the public’s mind, creating the potential for political burnout just as the 2020 presidential race begins. That’s the last thing we need. How can a Democratic candidate running for president in this environment combat voter political fatigue? Come out big, strong and focused for the long haul.
In less than two months, we’ve seen a large Democratic field of presidential candidates emerge, with more announcements expected. The size and diversity of the field alone will make this a totally different kind of race for Democrats. While they seem to be operating with an “all in” mentality, there’s one potential liability based upon their sheer numbers. A big field of Democrats running for President can damage one another in the run up to the nomination. Think debates. Any damage done will absolutely be seized upon by Trump. Just think back.
Three years ago, the large field of Republican candidates in the 2016 race wrecked havoc upon themselves leaving each with some form of scarring. Donald Trump emerged as the last man standing. Amazingly enough, at this point in the 2020 race we can’t even say for certain whether or not Trump will actually be the Republican nominee. The results of all of the investigations surrounding him will, in all likelihood, be revealed during the next nearly two years of campaign time. That leaves a interesting question mark for Republicans going forward.
If Trump leaves office before his term has officially ended, Vice President Mike Pence would assume the office of president. If yet further unforeseen circumstances arise that remove Pence from the presidency, our Constitution dictates that the next in line is the Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi would then be sworn in as President of the United States.
That’s an interesting scenario.