A question of the mainstream

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jul 12, 20180

The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Monday night should mark a reckoning for the Democratic Party.

With now three consecutive respected choices in the most major of personnel decisions, President Trump has solidified a claim to the mainstream voter, in a time which the Democrats are defined by niche issues.

Trump’s picks of Mike Pence, Neil Gorsuch and now Kavanaugh, for millions of people, backs the reason they voted for him. For millions of others, it makes it that much harder to undo him in 2020.

It all points to the question of what Democrats are willing to lose an election over.

Trump now holds a 43 percent approval rating even after all of the wild and unprecedented things he's done in office. It's a figure that seems likely to hold too as the top concerns of those who might have voted for him in 2016, but didn't, continue to lessen.

After Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un, worry about the U.S. leader’s access to nuclear weapons and his proclivity to provoke others who have them is down by half, or more. The “Access Hollywood” tape and subsequent accusations are still real but with Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, the era started by Bill Clinton has now cemented; plenty of voters are willing to trade personal character for a strong economy or their kind of Supreme Court picks. (A third concern about whether Trump can be serious about climate change remains in place. A fourth, whether he'll be willing to do anything about too-easy-access to guns also still holds, although he seemed interested in the idea for awhile after Parkland). Lastly, whether Trump is a racist or nativist, the top feature of that – the travel ban – just cleared the Supreme Court. So what now does the average voter think of it?

Overall, a year and a half in to Trump's presidency, half of the top-five concerns about him have diminished, his approval is in the normal realm for presidents and he is about to see his second Supreme Court pick confirmed.

It's time for Democrats to get serious about this.

This is the state of things, when their party, more than any time in recent history, is defined by LGBTQ and other minority causes. It seems to be what Democrats do now, which brings the fundamental question: is it all worth losing in 2020 over?

Barack Obama was officially against gay marriage until 2013 – when he “evolved” just before it became law. It's been documented that he was privately for it the whole time, but was it worth losing in 2008? Who would say it was? Even the most fervent liberal would have to agree it wasn't.

This is what the Democrats face now. It might be time to set aside the who's-being-discriminated-against and free-healthcare-for-all discussion for broader matters. Especially since the economy remains strong – mainly the work of Obama, who only ever got to work on it because he was smart enough to shelve a few liberal beliefs to keep himself in the mainstream.

The mainstream matters, it's where elections are won. And as much as Trump does that's unusual, he keeps one foot always in it. The Democrats need to step off the shore and get back in.