Dems Must Take The Fight To Trump

Joe Biden seems to be leading in most polls, and Democrats seem to be feeling pretty good about themselves.

It's a mistake.

They should be running as if they're behind.  If Donald Trump is truly on the ropes, they should be more aggressive than ever, keep him cornered, and make sure he can't get up to land a surprise knockout blow.  He's got nothing to lose, and there's every reason to think he'll do anything -- anything - to win.

Four years ago Democrats were confident at this time of this year that Hillary Clinton had the Presidency locked up.  They laughed at Trump and sneered at his antics. They let him dominate the media, which gave him unlimited free air time to let his campaign rallies become infomercials and uncritically reported his lies.  They didn't pay attention when Russian propaganda, spread by Trump's cult of unpaid propagandists, flooded social media (sometimes by unsuspecting supporters of Bernie Sanders).  

Democrats also didn't take advantage of opportunities that were virtually handed to them.  One example: when it looked like the Chicago Cubs were about to go all the way, Hillary's campaign could have linked her historic run for the Presidency with the Cubs run for the pennant (and ultimately the World Series).  She's a native Chicagoan.   It was a natural association, and the media coverage could have turned Wisconsin -- and maybe other working class areas -- in her direction.  

Instead, Democrats were caught flat-footed by James Comey's unseemly announcement of an investigation, and the campaign's momentum came to a screeching halt.

If Trump and Senate Republicans have their way, it's going to happen again.

In fact, it's already happening.  Senate Republicans had stopped negotiating with Democrats on the latest bill to fund Covid relief.  Rather, negotiations were taking place between Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and Mark Meadows and Steve Mnuchin of the White House.  Then Trump stepped in as the savior with an executive action and Democrats lost their leverage to get the American people the help they needed.

In the space of one day, the narrative changed.  Democrats are now on the defensive, crying for the Republicans to return to the table, complaining that Trump's executive action won't provide the help America needs and might even have been illegal, and desperately trying to remind the public that the Congress had passed a comprehensive bill -- the HEROES act -- back in May.   They may be right about everything they say, but they've lost the public relations battle.

Trump has many more tricks up his sleeve.  If Democrats let him get away with his stunts a few more times, he's going to triumph in November.