Why Democrats risk tearing party apart as Republicans stay loyal to Trump – Henry McLeish

As Democrats prepare to vote for the party’s candidate to take on Donald Trump, it is clear that they must avoid five months of disputes over personal and policy issues, writes Henry McLeish.

Elizabeth Warren has been embroiled in an angry row with fellow left-winger Bernie Sanders (Picture: Sue Ogrocki/AP)

Iowa will vote in a few days’ time but, for Democrats, will this caucus to select the state’s choice for presidential candidate be about age, gender, ideology, the soul of the party, personal feuds between candidates or who is best placed to beat President Trump? Now facing a Senate trial in Washington over two articles of impeachment, Trump’s political “base” is showing no signs of collapsing and his candidature for the November election is in the bag, despite having two Republican opponents, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld.

Trump’s total control of the Republican Party is forcing many states, in fear of retribution and his angry and erratic behaviour, to abandon their planned primary and caucus votes as acts of “solidarity and loyalty” to him.

From a field of 41 candidates, 12 remain in the Democratic race. The Iowa caucus polling reflects the wider US picture with four candidates leading the field. Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg have been polling double digit figures with Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Yang still in single figures. In US-wide polls, Biden is marginally in front. At this stage of the contest, he appears the strongest candidate and possible favourite to win the nomination.

But, for Biden, this contest is no slam dunk. His performances in debates and on the stump have been lacklustre, inconsistent, sluggish and gaffe prone with a tendency to be disengaged. There is, however, no questioning his working-class credentials, his eight years of experience as Obama’s Vice-President and a long-serving member of the US Senate.

Antidote to Trump?

His popularity with African American voters is exceptional and, despite some serious criticism of his views on abortion, a tendency to be physically close to women and his campaign fundraising, Biden is viewed as the antidote to a President like Trump, who has a tortured relationship with the law, truth, ethics, women, honesty, race and boundaries of every kind.

In sharp contrast, Biden is viewed as a decent man, the safe candidate who has had more than his fair share of personal tragedy in his life and has remained loyal to party, country and people.

There couldn’t be two more contrasting candidates than Biden and Trump. Biden, though, is of another era of US politics, which some voters see as a disadvantage, unlike Trump who many believe is of another planet! Biden must show he can deal with such a bitterly divided America where culture, identity, dignity, grudge and grievance politics are wrapped up in a simmering resentment of race, diversity and religion.

Does age matter? This presidential race sees Biden 77, Warren 70, Sanders 78, Bloomberg 77 and Trump 73 seeking the world’s highest office. No problem for them.

But does it highlight an ageism issue for America? One of the main contenders in Iowa is Pete Buttigieg, a 38-year-old war veteran, gay, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and one of the most measured, authoritative and articulate politicians the US has seen in a generation.

British-style socialism

Another younger candidate is Andrew Yang, 45. Yang is an entrepreneur, articulate and well-financed. Many Twitter followers have warmed to hisslogan “make America think harder”. For Yang and Buttigieg, both political centrists, a breakthrough this time is unlikely but it does hold out the prospect of a new generation coming through at presidential level in future years.

Carrying the banner for the Democrats’ progressive left and British-style labour/socialism, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are polling well in Iowa and throughout the US. The Democratic Party is moving to the left, but how far Warren and Sanders will want to leave American voters behind is another question. Sanders, a political veteran, is the longest-serving independent in US congressional history and unsuccessfully ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Warren is the US Senator from Massachusetts, widely regarded as the main public policy wonk amongst the leadership hopefuls and a powerful advocate for a more comprehensive and universal health care system in the US.

Having survived an early political controversy over her “native American ancestry”, she is now involved in a bitter and angry feud over comments allegedly made by Sanders that a woman could not defeat President Trump. Both are accusing each other of lying and supporters on both sides are demanding they move on. On the eve of the Iowa poll, this spat about gender and electability is a massive distraction for the candidates and the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, both candidates are competing for the same caucus vote and appear to be less interested in a truce. There is the danger that what up to now has been an issue-driven contest becomes personal.

‘Palpable economic anxiety’ in Midwest

The “best candidate to beat Trump” is emerging as the most convincing and unifying theme for the Democratic Party, which could help the safe choice, Biden.

True to form, Trump is tweeting from the side lines and is making the most of the spat between Sanders and Warren. His campaign has announced that he will travel to Des Moines Iowa and hold a rally on the Thursday before the caucuses.

But the President must be mindful of the words of the editor of the Storm Lake Times, that “there is a palpable economic anxiety across the Midwest”, as Iowa farmers are struggling to deal with the President’s punitive trade deals. Trump will use his “politics of personal destruction” against the eventual Democratic nominee and this is an additional consideration as Democrats ponder which candidate is best-placed to defeat a politically ugly, uniquely shameless and divisive President.

Highlighting the extraordinary importance of the presidential election and the absolute priority of removing Trump, the editorial board of the New York Times, in a break with convention, has endorsed two separate Democratic candidates for President, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.

In doing so, they lament the absence of “a single, powerful, moderate voice”, stressing the need for unifying themes, a healing of the massive divisions that scar America today and a return to decency in political discourse and government action.

Opting for two women candidates is a significant gesture to gender but also a reminder that electing the first female President is still an inspirational idea that could restore the image of America after the dark years of Trump.

More telling, as the Iowa caucus approaches, is the fact that the Democratic Party has no stand-out candidate. But one thing is certain. The party does not need five months of introspection, soul-searching and tearing itself apart over personal or policy issues.

Streetwise Trump remains a vicious and dangerous enemy and a unique political predator.