Do Democrats Really Have Anything to Offer Their Base in 2020?

The run for the 2020 election is turning into a contest between two dramatically different visions for America's future. Our nation is rapidly facing an inflection point as we approach the next election concerning the future political direction of our country. Two diametrically opposite sets of political ideas are in direct competition for the support of the majority of Americans. With the active support of the mainstream media, the various elements on the Left work hard to project the appearance of having the majority of political public opinion in their favor. However, a little covered story that was recently released may provide a more accurate view of which side and set of political ideas is winning the overall political battle across the nation.

In 2019, there are 27 GOP governors and 23 Democratic governors across the country. According to the Q2 2019 Report of Governor Approval Rankings by Morning Consult, a leading polling company, which was published on July 17, the top 14 most popular governors in the nation are Republicans, and 8 out of 10 of the most unpopular are Democrats. The report indicates that Republican governors have a net approval rating on average that is 17 points higher than their Democratic counterparts. In the two most populous states, Texas governor Greg Abbott earned the eighth position, while recently elected California governor Gavin Newsom quickly assumed a position in the bottom ten. The relative positions in the rankings of these two governors accurately reveals the relative position of Texas versus California as desirable places to live as judged by their residents. San Francisco is proud of its progressive heritage and remains one of the most scenic and beautiful cities in the world, possessing the great amenities of a leading urban center. However, the overall atmosphere I experienced on my recent trip to this city was troubling. Homelessness is rampart in the city and encounters with people with obvious issues beyond the lack of adequate shelter make the overall city environment seem unnecessarily dangerous and unpleasant. In contrast, San Francisco and the neighboring Silicon Valley are the home to many of the world's leading tech companies, creating opportunities for a wide range of talented, skilled, and highly educated people to become extremely successful and wealthy. It is a city of obvious contrasts among an emerging class of mostly young, increasingly affluent people; a middle class in retreat because of extraordinary high housing prices; and various other people in distress to the point of being driven to living on the streets. Why is homelessness and the plight of the poor so pronounced in a city that prides itself as a progressive bastion and a city dominated by Democrats in perpetual power that have consistently proclaimed to be on the side of less advantaged people? An HBO documentary film produced in 2015 named San Francisco 2.0 was readily available to me, so I watched it to learn more about this crisis. The documentary was made by Alexandra Pelosi, who is the daughter of House speaker Nancy Pelosi, on the tech boom and its impact on the city. As expected, the film provided a story of San Francisco that was limited in scope and presented a distinct left-leaning point of view. The film is focused on the changes that the rapid, extreme gentrification of the city caused by the extreme wealth that the tech sector has brought to San Francisco. The film places blame for the current crisis squarely on the success of the tech sector and neglects to acknowledge the achievements and contributions made by so many of these highly successful and innovative people. Most interesting, the film includes interviews three former mayors of San Francisco, including Ed Lee, Willie Brown, and Art Agnos, as well as former California governor Jerry Brown. The four interviews included no indication of poor governance by the city and the state. No questions were asked that could hold any of them accountable for their share of the responsibility for the challenging conditions facing both San Francisco and California. California is the nation's leading practitioner of progressive policies and politics and is evidently failing in many ways, including visibly on the streets of San Francisco. California is affected in a negative fashion by a combination of high taxes, an extreme housing crisis, excessive regulation, and an overall unfavorable operating environment for businesses. California functions on a big government model offering a high degree of services to many of its less well off residents financed primary by high state income taxes on its wealthiest citizens. It is a state that has also led in enacting comprehensive environmental regulations that has created additional challenges for sustaining a growing economy. California can be accurately characterized as a one-party political system dominated by Democrats, with public-sector unions strongly in control, which is limiting flexibility for consideration of any necessary changes in political direction or corrective actions to be taken. The American people vote with their feet in great numbers every year by moving from states that offer little opportunity for a better life. California is experiencing a large outflow of mainly middle-class people and people of lesser means moving out of the state and most significantly to their number-one destination, which is Texas. Texas is governed by a Republican model of limited government, with low taxes, low services, and low regulation and a comprehensive support for businesses large and small. Its political environment can be accurately characterized as the mirror image of California. The result is a state projected to continue to experience steady population growth for the foreseeable future. The poll informs us that residents of our fifty states are judging the quality and prospects of living under different styles of government, and they quite clearly favor the Republican ones. More powerful evidence of this preference is provided by the significant movement of Americans relocating from leading blue states such as California, New York, and Illinois to red states such as Texas and Florida. As an integral strategy for re-election, President Trump is taking public steps to expose the nation to Democratic Party failures of leadership in various locations ranging from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago to Baltimore, with, predictably, many more examples to follow. Overall, the eventual Democratic presidential nominee will be burdened with a fundamental disadvantage in that Progressive policies in action are proving to be unpopular, unworkable, and failing in the opinion of an increasingly number of Americans. These efforts by President Trump to make the Democrats accountable for their many failures in office in various traditionally Democratic dominated locations around the country will likely be a crucial factor in deciding the election. Written by K.S. Guardiola, who blogs at "Set the Record — Right!" (@rightquestions.blog) and can be reached at deplorableurbanite@rightquestions.blog. Image: Guardian News via YouTube.