NEEDFUL THINGS:...Demos Want Republican Trump As Opponent in 2024...Ballot Rap Is Just A Subplot...They Know They Can Beat Trump...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...They demonize him daily and forever note his many failings as a president and as a human being, but, deep down, Democrats want Republican Donald J. Trump in 2024. They want him badly, as in right now - nominate his ass and let's get it on, as referee Mills Lane liked to say before Big Time heavyweight boxing matches in Las Vegas.

Don't be fooled by all that ballot or no ballot crapola playing in some states. Ask any Democrat willing to go full-bore honest and you'll get the word: Biden vs. Trump in the Election Day Main Event.

Maine horse-collared Trump this week, kicking him off the Pine Tree State's ballots while citing his role in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, i.e. the insurrection. This followed similar action taken earlier by Colorado, and it may just precede the same from a few other states before the issue is resolved.

Still, Democrats have steadily joined the chorus of sitting politicians not quite cool with the idea of Trump getting the boot.

Angus King, an Independent U.S. Senator from Maine who voted to impeach the former president during his second impeachment trial, had this to say about Trump's banishment from his state:

"Although I respect the Secretary of State's careful process – which she was specifically required to undertake under Maine law – absent a final judicial determination of a violation of the 14th Amendment's disqualification clause, I believe the decision as to whether or not Mr. Trump should again be considered for the presidency should rest with the people as expressed in free and fair elections."

Those are actually the kindest words you'll ever hear from King about Trump, a politician he has criticized harshly and often in the past.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, also quickly came out against Trump being banned. No word yet from left-leaning New Mexico and politically-unsure Arizona - states that may eventually join the Ban Trump Movement. New York is also in the conversation on that, as is Oregon.

Shirley Weber, California's Democratic secretary of state, certified Trump on the Golden State's ballot for the March 5 primary hours after her Maine counterpart, Shenna Bellows, said Trump was not eligible to be on the ballot there on the same primary day.

Weber's move is in sync with what Newsom – himself a rising star in Democratic politics – says is the best way to deal with Trump.

"There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy," Newsom said in an earlier statement. "But, in California, we defeat candidates at the polls."

Faced with nagging issues like this one, the inclination on the part of national politicians is to ride things out. Forcing solutions never works. Here, it appears our elected representatives want the courts - and the voters - to deal the cards.

A second layer of the story here is that some Americans, from both parties, believe a younger Republican could defeat President Joe Biden. At the head of that small class of second-tier candidates has been former South Carolina Gov. Nikke Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Neither, however, has cut into Trump's sizable polling lead, even after four televised debates.

Haley's recent rise was derailed this past week when, during a news conference in New Hampshire, she was asked to name causes of the American Civil War and she ignored slavery. A hasty correction the following day did little to assuage those she had confounded.

DeSantis, meanwhile, has spent millions and seen it all go for naught.

He is now trailing Trump and Haley, according to recent polls. Serious financial backers and senior campaign aides have bailed of late. It says here that DeSantis peaked months ago and is now just another headless body on the campaign trail, there alongside defeated businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Iowa Caucus on January 15 will set Trump's nomination sails, and the word from some of the major political pundits is that he may have the GOP nomination in his wallet by Super Tuesday's voting in early-March.

That will make Democrats extremely happy...

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