When are people going to get it? Throughout the 2016 primary campaign, Republican after Republican thought they could go toe to toe with Donald Trump, and Republican after Republican was rudely awakened. Remember Marco Rubio's "small hands" slight? Neither did Republicans in Florida who overwhelmingly voted for Trump in that state's primary.
Hillary Clinton, likewise, thought she could go into the mud pit with Trump during the general and come out unscathed. Instead, all she got was slimed. What she didn't understand is that people like Trump live in the mud pit; their modus operandi is to drag others down to their level. The reason Trump won the presidency, in large part, is because his opponents couldn't resist the temptation to try and out Trump him.
The latest victim to fall into Trump's trap is Elizabeth Warren, darling of the Left and - unless the mothership beams her up - future Democratic presidential candidate. Warren, it seems, went to all the trouble of getting a DNA test to confirm she is part Native American. Why? Because Trump keeps calling her Pocahontas and it's obviously gotten under her skin. And that whole thing about Trump supposedly betting her that if she could prove she was part Native American he'd donate a million bucks to a charity was worth about as much as every other guarantee he's ever made; which is to say nothing.
Frankly, I'm disappointed in Warren. I thought she had more common sense than this. I was obviously wrong. Not only did she tarnish an otherwise spotless reputation, she somehow managed to offend the very people she claims a connection to. The Cherokee Nation has publicly called her out for the stunt, and deservedly so. And here's the rub: Warren didn't need to do this. She's an outstanding senator with a track record most politicians would be jealous of. Why on earth she would take Trump's bait is beyond me.
Look, in about three weeks, millions of people are going to go to the polls and vote in the midterms. And about 10 microseconds after the last results are known, the 2020 presidential campaign will officially commence. Warren will be one of what I fear will be a very large field of candidates vying to win the Democratic nomination. We all saw what happened in 2016 when the clown car that was the Republican field humiliated itself in front of the nation. My fear is that the Democrats will make the same mistake and turn what should be the opportunity of a lifetime into the political equivalent of the RMS Titanic.
Warren's inability to ignore Trump's slings and arrows - no pun intended - is an ominous sign. It means that the party hasn't learned a damned thing since its epic loss in 2016. Democrats may indeed wind up taking the House next month, perhaps even the Senate, but unless they can muster the strength to stay out of the flames, like the proverbial moth, they will be consumed.
And with them, the fucking country.
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