In 2015 the estimable Stanley Greenberg, one of the great deep thinkers of the American left, wrote America Ascendant, a guide to the 2016 election for the Democratic Party . Two issues were foremost — the environment and inequality. He said it forthrightly. “Democrats will have to make the case for governmental activism at the national level.” In fact, during the course of the campaign, Clinton took his advice. It was one of the reasons she lost to Trump the Improbable. She had nothing to say.
The Democratic Party of today relies on black and Latino votes and environmental money. Unfortunately a lot of American blacks and Latinos have bought into the federal government being their permanent best friend. And the environmentalists would just as soon have the federal government, under their control, running everything. And, of course, there’s a third leg to the Democratic base — public sector employees, especially the teacher’s unions.
To the members of the Great American Middle (the 20% of voters who are switch hitters) who are not part of this base, what do the Democrats offer? In this era of Trump, how can they distinguish themselves from him in a way that appeals to the middle? Is there an proposal with broad public support that he opposes?
Trump is the self proclaimed King of Debt, and that $20 trillion in federal debt doesn’t faze him at all. He thinks big. He’s a builder, and he’s going to get a chance to build something he’d only dreamed of until now. The Navy. Ships, big and small, lethal and technologically state of the art. We need a modernized Navy, and Trump is going to build it. The Navy is more important than the debt. There is no reason to believe that under Trump we will continue to have annual deficits of half a trillion to a trillion dollars.
The Great American Middle wants a balanced budget. It’s a 75-25 proposition, just like term limits. If you’re a Democrat in Maryland who wants to think outside the box, why not support a Balanced Budget Amendment?
Rescission bills have been filed in the Maryland House and Senate, and we’re in danger of losing it, just as we lost Delaware last year. Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers, and the bills are supported by Common Cause, the public employees unions, and the Soros network of organizations. Soros beat us in Montana two years ago, and he’s probably responsible for Delaware as well. It’s true. We’re up against Dr. Evil. I feel like James Bond..
Our hope is that there are Democrats in the Maryland Legislature who are willing to think outside the box. Is it really smart for the Democratic Party, heading into 2018, to be identified as the Party which killed the Balanced Budget Amendment? If there was ever a President who needed to be restrained in his spending, it’s Trump. He doesn’t have the stomach to cut entitlements. If he’s denied money he’ll have to cut back on the Navy. Or whatever other boondoggle he’s got up his sleeve.
This is the argument that needs to be made to these Maryland Democrats, and our own Dave Guldenschuh is the man to make it. Guldenschuh vs. Soros, one on one. In addition to being the most prominent constitutional lawyer in the Article V movement, Dave is a very effective lobbyist, especially south of the Mason-Dixon line. In places like Minnesota, his drawl is disapproved of. It’s a cultural thing. But he’d do fine in Maryland.
Losing Maryland wouldn’t be fatal. It would just mean we’d have to take Minnesota. Which, if we have to, I think we can. If it’s the 34th, and the light of day shines on St.Paul in its deliberations.
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