Conservatives from President Donald Trump on down are weaving a fiery, comforting fantasy about Democrats in these final weeks before the midterm elections. They are a party of ardent socialists who would inflict Medicare on everyone and bankrupt the country. Their presidential front-runner for 2020 is Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti. The Brett Kavanaugh affair was their Pizzagate. They are a liberal mob in pink pussy hats. Oh, and giving them power would plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Projecting much?
Trump’s base is no doubt revved up by the Supreme Court confirmation fight over Kavanaugh and this caricature of Democrats that the GOP has concocted to try to rescue its flagging midterm fortunes. The problem is it’s all either false or astonishingly hypocritical. It’ll work only if voters don’t notice that Republicans are the ones who have plunged America into multiple crises. Good luck with that.
Don’t believe GOP on ‘mob’ and socialism
For instance, Republicans and some Democrats are convinced that Avenatti — a provocateur on a par with Trump who injected the specter of gang rape into the Kavanaugh furor — is the reason the proceedings went awry for Democrats and revived the GOP will to win. The Republican Party would love for Avenatti to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
Polls of the 2020 Democratic field are indicative of less than nothing at this point, but they are all we have. And polls in June and August showed the front-runners are former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Not, repeat not, Avenatti.
Democrats generally support the goal of health coverage for all. However, the most popular means of getting to universal coverage, including among most Democrats, is not ditching the current system in favor of mandatory “Medicare for All.” It’s a public option — that is, letting people choose to buy a government-run plan if they prefer that to their private plan.
Are socialists taking over the Democratic Party? A few dozen have won Democratic primaries this year, mostly for state and local office. A couple could win big jobs next month. But this is a small faction in a large party with a substantial centrist wing. Just ask Biden, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, senators from red states, even socialist/actress Cynthia Nixon, who lost badly to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a primary last month.
Many Democrats who personally favor Medicare for All are not pushing for legislative action. Instead, they are pledging to bring down prescription drug prices and preserve coverage protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Not exactly swinging for the socialist fences.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/12/trump-republicans-democrats-socialists-mobs-election-column/1589044002/