If you are a member of the Democratic party, you probably already know there is an inconvenient truth about the party’s performance in national elections.  Democrats lose when they should win.  And Republicans win when everything suggests they should not.  I need not remind readers that 2016 should have been a no-brainer, yet the DNC and the Democratic candidate could not put together a campaign to defeat someone who will go down in American history (assuming there is anyone left to write it) as the most corrupt and unqualified nominee of any major party.

Yet, a better example is the 2000 presidential contest.  Coming into the election cycle, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaged 4.5 percent growth during Bill Clinton’s second term, job creation numbers were the highest in the country’s history, the federal budget had been balanced for three consecutive years, the nation was not engaged in any wars and Clinton’s approval rating stood at 66.5 percent in the final Gallup poll taken before leaving office despite his impeachment.

Yet, the Republican Party felt four more years of a Democrat in the White House was an existential threat to the country’s future.  (Hard to believe compared to the current situation.)  How did they deal with an open election which easily could have devolved into chaos with a crowded field?  The 27 Republican governors got together and decided among themselves George W. Bush would be the nominee.  Other governors, especially those who were term-limited, indicated they would give up a run for president to gladly serve in a Bush administration.

The strategy paid off.  With the unified support of the Republican governors, anti-establishment candidates such as conservative activist Gary Bauer and businessman Steve Forbes never had a chance and Bush wrapped up the nomination in short order.  And once elected, Bush appointed five of his fellow state chief executives to cabinet positions:  John Ashcroft (MO) as attorney general, Tommy Thompson (WI) as secretary of Health and Human Services, Christine Todd Whitman (NJ) administrator of EPA, Mitch Daniels (IN) as OMB director and later Tom Ridge (PA) as the first secretary of Homeland Security.

So imagine,  just as Republican governors did 20 years ago, all of the center to left-center aspirants for the 2020 Democratic nomination convened in the spring of 2019 to ensure two things.  First, a unified party would have a consensus candidate who would easily garner a majority of the pledged candidates early in the process.  Second, outsider candidates, particular those who were running as Democrats without previous allegiance to the party, would be a footnote.

Drawing on the wisdom of two historical figures, death and taxes are not the only certainties in life.  If General William Tecumseh Sherman were alive today he would surely remind us, “Politics is hell.”  But, equally important, New York Senator William L Marcy would repeat the phrase he used following Andrew Jackson’s 1828 election, “To the victor belongs the spoils.”

Pete Buttigieg would be a welcome change as secretary of Education.  As would Jay Inslee at EPA.  Or Kamala Harris at Justice.  Or John Hickenlooper at Interior.  But first you have to win.  Sadly, none of the Democratic candidates seemed to realize that.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP