Manchin Is A Political Dead Man Walking

Posted on February 6, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 6, 2020

Years ago I went to a great winter resort in West Virginia. Along with smoking cigars and drinking bourbon, I sampled some of the down home culinary delights.

But throughout the entire sumptuous country breakfast inventory I did not witness even one example of a piece of toast that walks and talks. That is, until I saw Joe Manchin making a Senate floor speech on impeachment.

Not trusted by the Democrats because he votes with the Republicans too much. Manchin is a Democrat who only reluctantly endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. Those factors made him a pariah in his own party. He only won 2018 reelection over his GOP opponent by less than 20,000 votes out of over 560,000 cast. That works out to a too close for comfort 0.3% margin of victory in a deep red Trump state.

Without those Trump crossovers in 2024 he will become, as mentioned above, a warm breakfast morsel. Thus, his vote to convict the president and remove him from office currently all but guarantees Manchin’s defeat in four years.

However, his pariah status has been somewhat mitigated by the fact that as he voted with the GOP much of the time he was treated as a fifth Beatle on occasion by the president and Mitch McConnell. Even with this vote that might have continued, after a decent interval, if Manchin had not sent out mixed signals on his vote.

Just a couple of days before the Wednesday impeachment votes he told the press he preferred a Senate censure of the president to conviction. He claimed that could get a bipartisan majority. A censure is an essentially toothless slap on the wrist from one politician to another.

When asked, given he was asking for an alternative to removal from office, if he would vote to convict the president he hemmed and hawed. The press, including this analyst, and GOP senators took that as a trial balloon and publicly put him in the leaning towards acquittal category. Manchin did not dissuade them.

And then he voted to convict.

Democrats breathed a small sigh of relief but Republicans felt sold out. The consequence of his guilty vote is that Manchin will go from being the GOP’s favorite Democrat to just another palooka to be crushed.

All for a vote he knew the Democrats couldn’t win anyway. Just like your 2016 endorsement of Hillary Clinton that you admitted was a dumb move, this one will cost you, Joe.

This time, it will cost you your Senate seat.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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It’s Back To Work For The GOP And The President

Posted on February 6, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 6, 2020

Now that the impeachment saga has come to a close the administration and its GOP congressional cohorts can go back to doing what they were elected to do: run the country.

While the Republican members of the House are for now outnumbered in that chamber, there are deals that can be worked out with House Democrats and sent to the GOP Senate for approval and subsequent presidential signature.

There are other issues, like federal judicial appointments, that thankfully are solely in the hands of the president and the Republican Senate.

The president will continue to send qualified conservative jurists to that body for a vote. His impressive total of 191 federal judicial appointments so far in his administration has done amazing things like turning the formerly notoriously leftist 9th Circuit Court into a solid shade of conservative red.

And to paraphrase Trump, the fun is just beginning.

The president mentioned in the SOTU that infrastructure was on his mind. Like the recent USMCA trade deal with Canada and Mexico, he may be able to get a big bill on infrastructure through the Democratic House because Big Labor will pressure Pelosi to pass it.

The bill would bring billions in federal dollars to the construction and transportation industries and create a great number of jobs. The only reason it wouldn’t pass is because Pelosi may not want to see the president get the credit for it in an election year.

Spite before economic progress, the modern Democratic Party creed.

Under the general infrastructure umbrella there is an actually bipartisan highway bill that the Senate Public Works Committee advanced last July. It hasn’t got to the floor for a vote as of yet. The current five year highway transportation bill expires at the end of September 2020.

The president will continue to push for funds for the border wall and border security. Democrats may compromise somewhat on this as they know both measures evoke poll numbers that range into the 70 percentiles in support.

Dem proposals that are DOA in the Senate include net neutrality, universal background checks on gun sales, and funding to burn down the Reichstag.

I kinda made that last one up.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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New Hampshire primary critical to the survival of several Democrat candidates

Posted on February 6, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 6, 2020

Like in any proper election analysis, the calls are the political equivalent of an NFL pregame show. You look at the teams, the players, the point spread, and the injured lists. Then you make your prediction.

So, here we go. Welcome to the New Hampshire playoffs.

In a straight primary where raw votes matter more than anything else Sanders has got to be the favorite. His kiddie brigade will help him there, as will his status as a fellow New Englander.

He beat the tar out of Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016 and went on to other big victories in the primary season. But now as then it doesn’t matter, as he gets the big nod no way no how as long as the Hillary types still run the party.

Pete Buttigieg will do well. New Hampshire loves a new outsider, like it took a shine to Sanders last time around. His perceived moderation will play well with the approximately 30% of New Hampshire Democrats who see themselves in the middle and his boyish mien will excite the old lady set.

He is riding a wave from Iowa and that should energize his donor base and his ground game.

Elizabeth Warren has a shot at coming in second. She is also from New England, appeals to the worst sort of females (and the Democrats sport those in hordes), and has been on the ground in the state for awhile. But the feeling in DC is she peaked too early and is now playing for a veep slot.

Joe Biden must take first or second place here or be at serious risk of losing the whole thing. With his pedigree and establishment support anything less than number two here is poison.

If he were to drop out that could set up a Hillary scenario and a Hillary-Bernie rematch. The GOP imagination and political palate salivate just thinking about it.

Also rans like Yang, Klobuchar, and Steyer have to finish in the top three or they will be out of the race soon. Well, granted, Steyer has the cash to stay in for a bit.

And speaking of cash, now gaining a higher profile due to massive ad buys and waiting for them all on Super Tuesday is Mike Bloomberg.

The plot thickens…

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Biden Takes Major Hit in Iowa

Posted on February 6, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 6, 2020

It wasn’t too long ago that some seasoned political analysts, including this one, thought Joe Biden had a good shot to win the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

Boy, were we wrong.

He not only lost but got relegated to fourth place behind Buttigieg, Sanders, and Warren.

This is a man who has been in the Senate since 1972, who has run for president before, and who was number two in the regime of a president wildly popular with Democrats. He was soundly beaten and made to look foolish by a kid mayor, a newish senator, and a virtual communist.

Why? Several reasons.

No oomph- His people in Iowa showed a remarkable lack of passion. The television shots showed them standing idly by while others were fighting for every single vote and delegate.
No youth appeal- In the college towns, and they are big Democratic centers in Iowa, he was almost shut out. The guy is verging on 80. The Democrats seems to love young anti-semites and socialists these days. Ergo…(anti-semitic socialists? Gee, what historically recent political movement combined those two traits?) an old labor-loving moderate is just not what they are looking for.
Where is Obama? – A lot of Biden’s problems would go away if his former boss endorsed him. But that’s not going to happen because the Obamas are keeping their powder dry for a future Michelle run and don’t want to get into any fights that would tick off other Democrats before they pull the trigger.
The guy is just weird- It’s the gaffes, the fabrications, the nuzzling, the obvious combover/hair work, and the odd intolerance for any other point of view in the Democratic Party.Combine this with an expectation he’d be butchered by Trump in the fall debates and it doesn’t make him attractive to Democrats.
They are looking for someone viable against a popular president who is riding a wave of exoneration and triumph. No one sees Biden as strong enough to fit that bill.

Finally, he’s yesterday’s news- Joe Biden harkens back to a relatively gentler time, if you could call the Clarence Thomas hearings gentle, when you fought like hell then went out for cocktails afterwards.His heyday was twenty years ago and earlier and modern socialist PC Democrats have little to nothing in common with him. That showed in Iowa. If it also does next Tuesday in New Hampshire he is in big trouble.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Romney to Vote to Remove Trump from Office

Posted on February 5, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 5, 2020

Utah GOP Senator and Trump political enemy Mitt Romney sanctimoniously parroted Democratic talking points on Wednesday, as he announced his vote to convict the president in the impeachment trial before the Senate.

Romney’s rationalization that his faith brought him to this decision is understandable, if by faith he means his unhinged hatred of the president of the United States.

His speech and vote will go over very well with the media, the hard left and the Democrats. His own party, Utah voters, and the American people are likely to strongly disagree with him.

This will probably result in a GOP primary challenge to Romney in the 2024 Senate race in Utah.

But until then he will be feted by Hollywood, the media, the pop culture and all else who feel lies and hearsay are enough to remove the nation’s chief executive.

He may even leave the Senate early to avoid being thrown out and take a position in one of the bellies of the liberal beast. Perhaps he’ll then be comfortable at Harvard, Yale, or a foundation that has great dinners and does not do a hell of a lot more.

Mitt will be right at home at those places. The same cannot be said of his future in the Republican Party.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Trump State of the Union Speech a Triumph

Posted on February 5, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | February 5, 2020

President Donald Trump, riding good news on several fronts, gave a masterful performance in front of both houses of Congress and other luminaries Tuesday night during his State of the Union address. He hit all the right notes of policy and emotion and was received well regardless of small Democratic attempts to disrupt his presentation.

He ignored impeachment and focused on his past policy achievements and plans for his next term in office.

His comms staff made sure the speech contained the kind of moments and lines that would force the Democrats to respond positively or look like partisan hacks. Most of them took the bait and stood and clapped on numerous occasions, especially the telegenic Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Trump was not daunted by the tired trope of unintelligibly shouting and chanting hard left Democratic female House members all dressed in white. Nor was his game affected by the sad little stunts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to pull off to distract the camera.

High points of the evening were comprised of the president’s recognition of audience members such as legitimate Venezuelan President Juan Guaido, Tuskegee Airman USAF Brigadier General Charles McGee, Philadelphia student Janiyah Davis and her mother, and Afghanistan hero U.S. Army SFC Townsend Williams. Williams was reunited with his wife and children, who were in attendance, during the event.

Another powerful moment was the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, to conservative media titan Rush Limbaugh. After the president recognized Limbaugh for his talent and devotion to American values, the First Lady presented the award to the talk show host as he stood there in the audience.

The ailing Limbaugh, who was just diagnosed with advanced fourth stage lung cancer, was visibly moved by the medal and the standing ovation he received by many members of Congress and other leaders.

Other notable aspects included the presence of Brexit leader Nigel Farage, the wry smile of satisfaction between Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and the impotent ripping up of the president’s speech by Nancy Pelosi after the SOTU had finished.

The Democrats were once a great political party. They are now reduced to a socialist mob, ripping up sheets of paper after a speech as a forlorn gesture of opposition, such is what the president has done to them.

That, along with the booming economy and the resurgent U.S. posture around the around, may be President Trump’s greatest accomplishment.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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