Campaign 2020 is nearly here and there’s great economic news on the horizon It's starting to feel real, and not just because the Democrat “convention” begins a week from today. The “it” I’m referring to is the heart of the 2020 presidential campaign, the immortal quadrennial political jousting match between two competing American worldviews, which this year features candidates similar in age and Western European ethnic origin but couldn’t be more different in most other respects. Democrat nominee-to-be Joe Biden announced he will reveal his running mate choice this week -- and this time he probably will actually follow through with it. With only seven days remaining until he’s (presumably) officially nominated during his party’s rollcall of the states (again, assuming there is one), the career swamp dweller politician is running out of news cycles to keep everyone in suspense. The country and the world know who President Donald Trump’s righthand man will be, the same one who successfully helped the first-time politician win the presidency four years ago -- Mike Pence. The GOP’s own party extravaganza kicks off two weeks from today. Since no one’s exactly sure what either event will entail, predictions vary as to how large of a poll “bounce” the candidates might receive from the subdued hoopla. The future is definitely uncertain, but one aspect seems evident: the American economy that was effectively leveled by the onset of the Chinese Communist Party (or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus will come roaring back in the third quarter. Happy days are here again? We’ll see. Jay Heflin reported at The Washington Examiner, “The economy is on course for a record jump in gross domestic product in the third quarter, which will be announced shortly before November’s election. ‘I certainly think it will be double digits,’ said Doug Holtz-Eakin, the president of the center-right economic think tank American Action Forum who was also the chief economic policy adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign… “The record numbers wouldn't reflect underlying economic health. Rather, they would represent a partial restarting of the economy after the worst of the pandemic interruptions to business. GDP shrunk at a record-breaking 32.9% annual rate in the second quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week.” In other words, there’s nowhere to go but up. When you lose roughly a third of your economic output within the span of three months, there’s not much you can do to sugarcoat it. Apply balm to the burns (in the form of “relief” from the government) and hope the sores will heal in due time. Some of the growth will help, but we’re still a long way from getting back to strength. Heflin continued, “Despite the expected third-quarter growth, economic activity will still be below what it was before the pandemic hit the U.S. Still, a big economic growth number for the third quarter could be a feather in the cap of Trump’s reelection campaign, as economic trends have proved highly influential in presidential elections. But capitalizing on GDP growth will be easier said than done.” Yes indeed. Heflin’s report indicated the anticipated stellar economic growth numbers will be released only a few days before the election, a time when many voters will have already cast ballots via absentee or, gulp, mail-in procedures. Therefore, there won’t be much opportunity to disseminate the good tidings to the low information voters who’ve been -- and will be -- fed a steady diet of doom and gloom from the frightfully compromised establishment news media for as long as folks can remember. There is one good thing about this. Statistics show there are always a certain percentage of late deciders in every election. These are generally non-politically engaged people who are highly susceptible to events in the last hours before the election. Case in point was 2012 when Hurricane Sandy ravaged the east coast mere days prior to the vote. It provided President Obama with his ultimate “presidential” photo op moment, aided in the effort by “co-star” New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie. They had their famous “hug” and the rest was history. Four years ago those who made up their minds just before the election cited the open Supreme Court seat as a major factor in their deliberations between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Unless something drastic happens, there will be no such vacancy this year. Another issue will take precedence. What will it be? At the same time, even some of the most engaged citizens don’t have the longest of political memories. Pundits of all stripes were sure this year’s impeachment debacle would weigh heavily on Americans’ minds as they entered the voting booth, but no one’s talking about it now and the official witch hunt probably won’t be mentioned much in this fall’s campaign. Similarly, the government shutdowns that took place in Trump’s time won’t be brought up either. The urgency of the moment, right? However, the economic recovery seems certain to be on the radar screens of voters one way or another as will the ongoing struggle to contain and then destroy the CCP virus. Democrats will pull out all the stops to portray Trump’s and his administration’s response to the pandemic as the only thing that matters in their calculations. But what if the rumored vaccine is approved at around that time? Or, just as importantly, what if the “curve” is flattened again to the point where it’s non-existent? Doctors are becoming more and more effective at treating COVID-19, so the panic may well have (somewhat) subsided by then. Nevertheless, Democrats’ messaging will concentrate on depicting Trump as an uncaring hard-hearted cad who didn’t take the coronavirus threat seriously, is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths (a.k.a. “The Trump Virus”) and is only serving as president to enrich himself and bolster his family fortune. They’ll also be hard at work pinning the nation’s economic slowdown on Trump and blame him for all the alleged suffering people are enduring as a result of poor policy choices. Liberal party members will do everything within their power to keep people scared to death of catching the virus, even if statistics and common sense reveal that, with few exceptions, it’s primarily life-threatening to the elderly and those with serious pre-existing conditions. They’ll poo-poo the emerging science on treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and mixes of various other supporting drugs. They’ll shout from the rafters that Trump didn’t do enough to ramp up ventilator production or distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE). They’ll savage him for not adopting a mask-mandatory stance in the beginning and cry foul that he’s criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci too much. They’ll also try exposing Trump as flippant, arrogant and obnoxious for daring to hold a rally (in Tulsa) and for his Independence Day celebrations at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota and on the White House grounds the next afternoon. The script isn’t hard to write. They’ll also lay on a thick coat of racism, blaming Trump’s “divisiveness” for the conditions that led to nationwide “peaceful protests” coupled with organized leftist rioting, statue destruction and desecration and social unrest. Brainless Hollywood celebrities and “woke” athletes will insist that Black Lives Matter is only about “justice” and “raising awareness” of police excesses. And the media will devote hour upon hour to negative coverage of Trump. Very little energy will be spent by the haters in putting forth the Democrat party platform itself, which thus far consists of several incredibly expensive and unrealistic spending proposals (such as dumping $700 billion into economic stimulus and $2 trillion over the course of four years for environmental boondoggles) as well as Biden’s plan to raise taxes. Sure, Joe, hike tax collections on people who are driving the economic recovery. That will soar like a lead balloon. The eternally disgruntled socialistic income redistributors will love it -- but here’s thinking the productive people won’t be nearly as enthused. And Democrats will downplay the bound to be unpopular social planks in their agenda, since the “normal” people aren’t as wild about transgender “rights” as the utopian liberal class. Don’t black pre-born lives matter? We’re yet to see how the teacher union-driven school closures will be viewed this fall. By the looks of it, President Trump plans to make school choice a major part of his Make America Great Again agenda. Smart move. You can hide, Joe, but you can’t run… from the presidential debates At the same time Democrats are downplaying the impending positive economic numbers, they’ll do their darndest to keep Grampa Joe Biden out of the spotlight, perhaps even having him pull out of the three scheduled presidential debates. Several Democrat strategists made news last week by publicly encouraging the party nominee to avoid the high-profile face-to-face forums like the plague (sorry to use that word). The reasons mentioned for telling Joe to prematurely pull out of the critical programs were that no one could possibly correct all the “lies” Trump would tell and Biden wouldn’t gain anything from being there because he’s already so far ahead in the polls. They’re wrong. Has there ever been a more blatant attempt to disguise the flaws of a man who’s interviewing for the world’s most challenging political job? It says something not nice about your candidate when you’re actively floating the idea that he or she isn’t up to debating an opponent. Further, it’s almost unheard of for a challenger’s handlers to suggest the tactic. Typically speaking, incumbents with large campaign coffers, a track record of achievements and accomplishments and a likely advantage in the gift of gab might possibly agree to skip the always-unpredictable debate stage environment. But challengers have every incentive to appear because they need to make their case for why the office holder doesn’t deserve reelection. Unless they ain’t got it. Which is truer in Biden’s situation? The media will do its part in defining Trump -- or trying to. They’ve been doing it for his entire five-plus-year political career. Joe Biden’s been defined as well, though the Democrat must demonstrate he’s still lucid and capable of mentally performing in the Oval Office. The president travels the world to meet leaders and adversaries, works hard on domestic policy and is responsible for appointing the people who oversee the executive branch. If Joe Biden isn’t strong enough to endure three 90-minute debate sessions, how could he possibly hope to function as president? Democrats may think Biden will be the ultimate figurehead president and his VP and party puppeteers will be pulling the strings behind the stage. But they’ll never get that chance if Joe’s a no-show in the debates. Would they really be that dumb? (Answer: Yes!) Trump hints at how and where he’ll accept the 2020 GOP nomination We can’t say what the Democrat convention will look like, but President Trump threw out some hints last week as to the GOP version. Katherine Doyle reported at The Washington Examiner, “President Trump said he would likely accept the Republican nomination in a live address from the White House in August. “’It's the easiest alternative,’ Trump told Fox & Friends on Wednesday. ‘I'll probably do mine live from the White House.’ The White House is ‘the least expensive from the country's standpoint,’ Trump added. “The president also said that the media would be permitted to be in attendance. ‘We're going to let the press go in and watch it, but you know, socially distanced,’ Trump said, alluding to restrictions placed on gatherings due to the coronavirus.” This brief blurb from Trump reinforces a couple themes that will be emphasized time and again this fall. First, Trump wants to demonstrate that he’s conscious of the cost of government, and two, the part about social distancing is in keeping with the new Trump-ian humility towards virus preventative measures. It won’t take much effort to make Joe Biden and Democrats look like big spenders, so if Trump plays down the hoopla, he’ll be setting the right example in people’s minds. The country is still restless over the future -- it would be in bad taste to make a big deal of a party acceptance speech now. Similarly, by insisting that the media play by their own six feet (or more) apart distancing rules, the campaign will show they’re just as skilled at playing the theater aspect of the CCP virus as the other guys. With the party conventions set to take place in the next two weeks, Americans are enjoying the last bit of calm before the political storm. With Joe Biden announcing his running mate and forecasts of economic improvements by Election Day, we gather that the rhetorical battle is just about to commence. Grab your helmet and hit the fox hole, it will be nasty.
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