Riding the Trump Bull: What Democrats Get Wrong
Better believe...
W.J. Astore
Wisdom can be found in many places. I was watching Professional Bull Riding today, and the announcer (didn't catch his name) dropped this pearl of wisdom:
Professional bull riding is not a sport based on hope. It's a sport based on belief.
I caught his meaning. When you're preparing to ride a bull, you can't "hope" you're going to stay on its back. You have to believe you're going to do it. And even when you believe, often the bull is still going to win.
What does this have to do with Trump and the Democrats? Consider Trump as an intemperate bull. Sure, he's ageing, but he's got plenty of kick left. How do you "ride" this bull and defeat him? Not by bringing a weak case of impeachment that you know is going to fail in the Senate. Not by giving Trump several big victories, such as a massive defense budget and a new trade bill, so-called NAFTA 2.0. Not by offering only the most tepid objections to his warmongering with Iran.
Consider the DNC and its preferred presidential candidate, Joe Biden. Is a corporate Democrat who's both compromised and fading really the best candidate to ride Trump out of office? As Joe Biden himself might say, give me a break.
You can't hope you're going to ride Trump out of office in 2020. You have to believe it. And you have to give the American people a candidate with some balls, with firm and principled beliefs, a bull rider like Bernie Sanders or Tulsi Gabbard.
Hope may have been important to Barack Obama's success in 2008, but it's not going to defeat Trump in 2020. To ride that bull, you have to believe.