The Atlantic

Trump Is Going to Cheat

How should Democrats fight against a president who has no moral or legal compass?
Source: Evan Vucci / AP

Democratic primary voters care deeply about electability. What most want is simple: a candidate who can beat President Donald Trump in November. So they worry about whether former Vice President Joe Biden will inspire young people, and about whether Senator Bernie Sanders will scare away old people. They debate whether a political revolution is necessary to energize the base, or whether the revolution will dissuade independents. Will the historic candidacy of a woman or a gay man take off or implode?

But these concerns about policy and broad cultural appeal are secondary to the true “electability” crisis facing whichever Democrat wins the nomination: He or she will need to run against a president seemingly prepared, and empowered, to lie and cheat his way to reelection.  

[Peter Wehner: Trump’s sinister assault on the truth]

Factually, Trump’s position is rather . A stronger candidate would be flying higher, given (and ) under President Barack Obama’s watch. While Trump remains an untouchable, vengeful god within the Republican Party and is competitive in crucial battleground states, he is relentlessly divisive. He the suburban voters who handed the House of Representatives to Democrats in 2018—an especially difficult task now that he’s released an that would cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, and a host of other popular programs.

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