Moulton: Trump Will Be Harder to Beat Than Most People Think

Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton announced his departure from the 2020 Democratic presidential race with a warning for his party, “I’ve always said that veering too far left could result in us losing this election, and that Trump will be harder to beat than most people think.”


I'm sure Moulton's advice will get about as much attention as his presidential campaign, but Democrats ought to listen.


For all of Trump's lunacy regarding his diplomatic spat with Denmark over Greenland, proclaiming himself as "the Chosen One" and telling American born Congresswomen to go back from where they came, there are still people who will vote for him whether they admit it or not. Trump still has plenty of supporters who will run through a wall for him and then rebuild and pay for it. There are still many Democrats who think they have the White House sown up. Evidently the lessons of 2016 haven't sunken in. Voters are bound to be leery of Medicare For All after the Obamacare debacle not to mention the Green New Deal, student loan forgiveness and the possibility of reparations. How much will all this cost the taxpayer? Trump will continue to say and do stupid things. But people have short memories and slimmer pocketbooks.


Of course, a lot of it depends on who Democrats nominate. For his part, Moulton believes the race is down to Biden, Bernie and Warren. Moulton all but endorsed Biden, but didn't come out and say it because there's no guarantee he'll survive a primary on Massachusetts' North Shore. Biden is gaffe prone and has done some no-no activity like plagiarism, but voters don't view him as malicious in the way Trump is. Bernie is ornery and not in a Larry David kind of way. Warren is book smart, but not street smart and her ongoing problems with claiming Native ancestry will give voters reason to perceive her as a phony.


If Moulton is right and it is down to the three of them then Biden is the most viable candidate against Trump. But at this point I wouldn't count out Buttigieg, Castro, Booker or even Kamala Harris out of the race just quite yet. Nor for that matter would I count out President Trump however foolish his conduct has been and will continue to be.