The reason for President Trump's Ukraine caper can be summed up in 10 words: Trump would rather run against Elizabeth Warren than Joe Biden.
Amazingly, Democratic primary voters may grant the president his wish -- but not if the Mike Bloombergs and Deval Patricks of the world have their way.
Yes, I said Deval Patrick.
There were reports just a few hours ago that our former governor is reconsidering his decision not to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, his good relationship with our senior U.S. Senator, Ms. Warren, notwithstanding.
Were he to declare, Patrick would immediately become a contender in New Hampshire's first primary. He's well known there from eight years as the governor next door.
Patrick has to act fast: the deadline for entering the NH primary is this Friday, Nov. 15. We'll know soon if he's in or out.
What Patrick obviously shares with Bloomberg (and millions of other Democrats) is a concern that Warren is like someone Trump would order up from Rent-a-Candidate, that is, she's the perfect size for the socialist clown costume Trump has ready for her in his armoire.
Now, I have great respect for Warren. I love the way she clawed her way up from near-poverty in Oklahoma. I admire her greatly for being super-intelligent, unpretentious, tough-minded and pretty much invincible on a Democratic debate stage.
So, I'll let someone else's words encapsulate why she would likely not stand a chance in November of 2020 against Trump. Here's New York Times columnist Bret Stephens in an October 25 piece titled, "Elizabeth Warren Wants to Lose Your Vote":
"You don't have to think that fracking is an unalloyed blessing -- much less deny that tough safety standards are necessary -- to acknowledge its benefits. You might also argue that curbs on oil and gas production are needed both to preserve the environment and accelerate a transition to renewables. Fine.
"Yet it takes a peculiar sort of political audacity to pledge, as the Massachusetts senator did last month, to 'ban fracking -- everywhere.' Warren also favors a ban on fossil-fuel exports -- another U.S. industry that has seen dramatic growth in recent years -- and a 'total moratorium' on new fossil fuel leases on federal lands, which generate billions every year in federal and state tax revenue.
"American Indian tribes also got about $1 billion from those leases in 2018. Isn't the Warren campaign supposed to be about sticking it to richer Americans instead of poorer ones?
"That's a question that would-be Warren supporters might ask a little more insistently as she approaches front-runner status.
"Take health care. As an ethical matter, it may be defensible for Warren to argue that Medicare for All is fairer than the current system. As an economic matter, she could be right that overall costs will come down under her scheme. And as a political matter, it isn't surprising that she has been less than forthright about the middle-class tax increases her plan will require.
"But what about the fact that Warren isn't merely proposing a dramatic change in the way 170 million or so Americans obtain health insurance? She is advocating the abolition of an entire industry, one that employs approximately 550,000 people. Whatever one thinks of health-insurance companies (and most Americans seem satisfied with the coverage they have), isn't it worth wondering what these half-million workers might do with themselves after being put out of work -- or, as voters, what they might think of Warren's designs for their future?
"Then there's big tech, another industry Warren doesn't like and promises to 'break up' by turning Facebook, Amazon and Google into regulated utilities. For this task, involving some 800,000 workers and companies with about $500 billion in revenues, she has...a 1,700-word plan."
Democrats, I think, ought not give Trump what he most desires in a Democratic opponent.
That Deval Patrick feels that way -- and that he is seriously contemplating a leap into the race at this late date -- suggests that Warren's candidacy may never get stronger than it is today.
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