Comparisons are fun, aren’t they?
More than mere hilarity and amusement, comparisons or analogies can be important
learning tools, too, not only for ingraining the details of historical similarities like the Revolutionary War vs. The War of 1812 (which basically included the same combatants, just different generations and motives) or Abraham Lincoln’s Team of Rivals cabinet vs. current president senile Joe Biden’s hodge-podge conglomeration of fraudsters, Affirmative Action grifters and incompetents that Americans are forced to live with on a daily basis.
For a cabinet-related comparison that actually instructs on the nature of man and the early days of the American republic, look at first president George Washington’s initial lineup of executive administrators vs. his second group where, the Father of our country struggled mightily to find good leaders to serve his administration. It’s often been argued that Washington’s first cabinet contained America’s greatest collection of minds, thinkers, and capable doers and his second, the worst.
Truth is often revealed by such exercises, and comparisons are appropriate for contemporary times as well. As the 2024 presidential campaign evolves, for example, there are some who see the developments of 2016 coming around again to instruct on this year’s back-and-forth. Will history repeat itself, or does what happened eight years ago just disguise a different outcome?
In an opinion piece titled “It’s beginning to look a lot like 2016”, Becket Adams wrote at The Hill last week:
“[Democrats in 2016] actually believed their own press and lost sight of voters’ concerns. In fact, they disregarded voters’ concerns outright, even after it became apparent Clinton was failing to connect with traditionally pro-Democratic voting blocs. They didn’t campaign as if there was any question of who would win the election. Clinton didn’t even visit Wisconsin — not even once.
“Consequently, Trump’s victory caught basically everyone in the Democratic Party and media by surprise…
“With only a few months until Election Day, Trump has a slight edge on Biden, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. Anything can happen. But with these recent unforced errors by the Democratic Party, whose current campaign message amounts to ‘Shut up and eat your gruel,’ it’s starting to look a little like 2016 all over again. And we all know how that played out.”
Yes, we do. And for those of us who went into Election Night (November 8, 2016) thinking that Trump had a legitimate shot to win the presidency, it was particularly satisfying to see the dejection on the faces of formerly gleeful establishment media mouthpieces who had, for months, talked themselves into believing that the proverbial “glass ceiling” was destined to be shattered in what should’ve been the Democrat follow-up to “The One” Barack Obama’s two transformational (in a bad way) terms.
Remember the story lines? Paraphrasing here, but “The First Black President to be succeeded by the First Woman President”, or, “Former First Lady to call the shots in the former president’s Oval Office”. Of course, there weren’t any allusions back then to what hubby Big Bubba Bill had been up to in the Oval Office library, but stained blue dresses and cleverly employed cigars were so yesterday in the Democrats’ world!
Becket Adams’s comparison between 2016 and now was interesting and thought-provoking. Adams mentioned how the Democrats, as characterized by Hillary Clinton’s joking on “The Tonight Show” and senile Joe Biden’s decision to raise millions of dollars at a star-studded fundraiser as opposed to attending the wake of a slain NYPD officer (as Donald Trump had done) further demonstrated that the liberal “Let them eat cake” party was just as out-of-touch these days as it was two elections ago.
That’s definitely true. The phenomenon is easily spotted whenever the hair sniffin’, women’s shoulders massagin’, nude swimmin’ (in front of female Secret Service agents), young child repellin’, back slappin’, loud talkin’ and teeth grittin’ current president gives a speech in public. Senile Joe always attempts to present himself as a “regular guy” who knows what it’s like to live like a commoner, false testimony to the half-century-plus career swamp dweller who’s never actually had a real job. Unless you count his duty as a lifeguard at a public pool as a young man as a “real” vocation.
Crooked Hillary Clinton’s campaign events in 2016 were equally as listless and overtly contrived as senile Joe’s are today, which led to speculation among many that the poor woman was actually sick and needed to be covered by Secret Service Agents for her absence of verve and pizzazz for the emotionally and physically taxing job as budding-president-to-be.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, appeared to feed off the energy of the mass crowds his campaign attracted wherever he went. Kind of like a hurricane gaining strength over warm ocean waters (how’s that for a comparison?), Trump’s ability to effortlessly speak for a couple hours was never in doubt. The lifelong career real estate developer, tabloid celebrity and reality TV star seemingly couldn’t get enough of the political spotlight.
That, in a sense, is very much like 2024. Trump is eight years older and shows some wear and tear on his face, but it’s hard to notice much difference between the outsider Donald Trump the first-time politician and the contemporary Trump who’s been bludgeoned by leftist media and legal assaults for all of the days since.
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ lack of focus in this year’s campaign is very akin to 2016’s. Democrat hubris is never in short supply – from Barack Obama’s arrogance to Crooked Hillary Clinton’s condescension (to the “Deplorables”) to senile Joe Biden’s unrestrained fits of anger and defiance, liberal party members are convinced that they’re right and won’t be persuaded otherwise by current events, opinion polls, or cold reality on the campaign trail.
In addition, thanks largely to the current president’s administration being populated by Obama retreads, ideologues, dreamers and “woke” adventurists, many of the same issues that motivated Americans in 2016 have returned to provide this year’s voters with a serious case of Déjà vu. Democrats are fond of harkening back to Trump’s (and wife Melania’s) introduction after their brief jaunt on the escalator at Trump Tower, but the harshness and sincerity of the man’s tone back then is even more salient now.
Trump didn’t get everything he wanted during his years as president – he was thwarted by the courts for his “extreme vetting” stance for immigrants from war-torn countries, and also didn’t get far in his quest to build a border wall – but the 45th president achieved measurable policy progress on immigration (both legal and illegal). Senile Joe Biden’s aloofness and cluelessness has guaranteed that immigration is still around to talk about – and it’s just like 2016 all over again in that regard.
And with senile Joe’s consistent bashing of Trump supporters as MAGA fascists and ignorant (and dangerous) yahoos, Democrats are still branding people who disagree with them as possible enemies and terrorists. According to Democrats’ way of seeing it, advocating gun ownership as provided for under the Constitution makes someone dangerous, but unfettered Muslim immigration (refugees) is perfectly allowable, right?
Another Democrat link to 2016 is the verifiable unpopularity of their party nominee. It’s no secret that most Americans considered Hillary Clinton to be phony, elitist, snobby and off-putting, but these same feelings are shining through in senile Joe Biden’s approval ratings in 2024. Wasn’t Biden supposed to be the likeable Democrat who could/would unite the country, heal racial divisions, restore the soul of the nation and put a stop to partisan pettiness?
Just like with Obama’s years, all of these problems are worse now. Good guy senile Joe doesn’t even try to hide his contempt for people who don’t take to his notion of American unity. If you believe in lower taxes, fewer government regulations, a full-spectrum energy exploration policy, traditional values, a merit-based military, an America-First foreign policy and roundly reject global governance, you find no seat at Joe Biden’s table.
One major distinction between this year and 2016 is the relative absence of a Supreme Court balance difference. Unlike eight years ago, there isn’t (yet, at least) a high court vacancy to attract attention and foster disagreements. Democrats will attempt to substitute abortion in its place in 2024, but those battles these days, thanks to Trump, are taking place at the state level.
Beyond the comparisons, if 2024 truly is shaping up similarly to 2016, what can the candidates take from it? As Adams commented in his article, polls show Trump in a much better position than he was eight years ago, when HRC was consistently ahead in national surveys as well as most, if not all, “swing” states. Senile Joe Biden dismisses today’s polls as outliers and obviously believes that the Democrats’ traditional voter coalitions will come together to return him to office.
But eight years’ worth of governing history, with the nation’s financial standing much worse and economic indicators mostly showing inflation returning and voters uneasy about the future – all of these should combine to make 2024 stand out on its own.
Here’s thinking Democrats, even if they sincerely desired to change course (of the campaign, not of their agenda), wouldn’t know how to do it. Senile Joe secured the party presidential nomination with no opposition and he’s certain that what he’s always done will ultimately carry the day for him. As Obama himself pointed out after Trump’s 2016 victory, Biden is the only one who’s never lost an election.
There’s always a first time for every politician – losing, that is – and comparisons between 2016 and 2024 help to highlight how Biden’s first ever failure could easily happen this year. American voters have seen enough of the current regime and it would take an infusion of new ideas, personnel and energy to fix the Democrats’ problems now. Don’t bet the house on it happening.
Joe Biden economy
inflation
Biden cognitive decline
gas prices,
Nancy Pelosi
Biden senile
January 6 Committee
Liz Cheney
Build Back Better
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election