Democratic Challenge to Trump Limited

As the primaries begin to thin out the field of potential Democrat opponents, one thing is becoming increasingly obvious to many voters: There are actually no credible challengers who could defeat President Trump.

This is not just wishful thinking by a partisan political observer, it is a statement of face that can be easily illustrated for readers who may not follow politics closely.

One of the most astute politicians of our generation, 42nd President William Jefferson Clinton, kept a note posted on a bulletin board above his desk that read: “It's the economy stupid.” The phrase was coined by his 1992 Campaign Director and political advisor, James Carville. It served as a daily reminder that voters are typically more concerned about the economy than any other campaign issue.

Of course the Democratic party is now trying to divert attention away from the amazing economy we are currently enjoying and focus instead on Donald Trump's personality. What else can they do?

Donald Trump is not a career politician. In fact, as most every voter knows, he has never held elected office at any level, and that's an attractive quality in today's toxic political environment. While he is the ultimate “outsider,” he's a successful New York businessman who knows the inside political games that career politicians play better than the politicians themselves. He is a master at exposing the corruption and hypocrisy of his opponents.

But regardless who the Democratic Party ultimately nominates, whether it's the nearly 80 year old socialist Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the New York multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg, or even the quickly fading Joe Biden of Delaware, none of them possess the broad support needed to defeat the Trump coalition.

Donald Trump displayed his genius as a candidate in 2016 by listening to his campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio and targeting blue collar workers in rust-belt states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. A Republican presidential candidate hadn't won Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988. But Trump blanketed the Midwest with campaign rallies and focused on his strategy on reviving the manufacturing sector and stopping the job losses we suffered since NAFTA.

Obama had infamously said “… some of those jobs (manufacturing jobs) just aren't coming back.” Then when Trump promised to replace NAFTA with a better deal, Obama doubled down and said ” … how's he gonna do that, what magic wand does he have?”

Column: Democratic challenge to Trump limited https://t.co/JBDlRxOb8V via @macombdaily

— Trump Republican (@BooBoo4056) February 28, 2020

Well, President Trump is a businessman who understands how to negotiate deals, in fact, he wrote the book on it. So in spite of nonstop attacks, accusations and obstruction by the Democrats in Congress, President Trump renegotiated the terrible NAFTA deal, and replaced it with a much better one that puts America and American workers first: the “USMCA” (United States Mexico Canada Agreement).

The new agreement was signed by President Trump earlier in February and the first place he came to talk about it was DANA Inc. right here in Macomb County. As the founder of “Auto Workers for Trump 2020” I was invited to attend along with my co-worker at the Ford Sterling Plant, Mike Quitter. We witnessed firsthand how much Macomb County workers appreciated our president renegotiating NAFTA like he said he would in 2016. It's about jobs, jobs, jobs.

Promise made, promise kept.

Brian Pannebecker of Harrison Township is a spokesman for Auto Workers for Trump 2020.

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