The Democratic Party is now in an identity crisis with all the trimmings, trying to gain some war footing as the clock tick-tocks toward the 2020 election. The trouble is, the press is reporting that there’s plenty of “internal warfare” going on among Democrats as the push and pull between establishment leaders and determined, outspoken young newcomers to Congress continues. Eager for a little action, the press already has its eyes trained on next week’s Democratic presidential debates in Detroit.

Will it be Democratic DefCon Level 1 or mere political theater? Combat or close encounter? Many journalists now anticipate some mayhem when the 20 candidates meet on stage over two nights. This is understandable since Democrats remain jittery following Robert Mueller’s testimony this week before Congress, henceforth known as a “disaster.”

Yes, well.

PJ Media columnist Stephen Green notes that a certain former vice president is quite ready to rumble, thank you.

“I’m not going to be as polite this time,” former Vice President Joseph R. Biden told the audience at a fancy fundraiser at a Detroit golf club this week — perhaps reacting to claims that he wasn’t gutsy enough for a whole new crop of angry Democrats and stylishly socialist activists.

Washington Examiner analyst Noah Garfinkel, meanwhile, reports that Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey plans to undermine Mr. Biden’s “electability” and explore whether his rival has done anything to help “institutional racism.”

The Hollywood Reporter now reveals that Sen. Kamala D. Harris received 48% of the donations made by 100 of Hollywood’s most powerful people — which came to a grand total of $73,580. Mr. Biden got $22,400 of those funds — a mere 15%.

“What we have then is all the knives out for a candidate who isn’t exactly in his prime, but Ol’ Joe himself promising that his Mr. Nice Guy days are behind him,” predicts Mr. Green, who suggests he will “drunkblog” both nights of the upcoming debates.

“Jeb Bush briefly led polls of national Republican voters in the 2016 campaign cycle. Like Biden, ‘Low Energy’ Jeb was a nice guy out of step with his party’s anger,” recalls American Conservative editor Jim Antle. “The result was getting trounced by Donald Trump. Trump used Bush as a foil in the debates. There’s a risk some enterprising Democrat will figure out how to do the same to Biden.”

YAY: THE HAPPY ECONOMY

Yes, the economy — “personal finances” in particular — is still a happy place for Americans in general. It’s still percolating.

“Currently, 55% say their financial situations are excellent or good, while 27% say their finances are only fair and 17% say they are poor. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (64%) say their personal finances are in excellent or good shape, compared with 50% of Democrats,” reports the Pew Research Center.

“Most Americans (71%) expect their personal finances to improve a lot (14%) or some (57%) over the course of the next year. Only 15% say they expect their finances to get worse, while 11% volunteer that they will remain about the same,” the pollster said.

A happy and hopeful place, indeed.

NOT OVERLOOKED

Saturday is National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, designated by President Trump in 2017 to cite the “valiant efforts which halted the spread of Communism,” and honor those who defended the Korean Peninsula from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953.

The “Forgotten War” claimed 36,914 American lives; the U.S. spent $67 billion on the conflict during those years; and 7,652 American soldiers are still unaccounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

“My administration will fulfill our nation’s solemn duty to bring our patriots home with dignity and honor,” Mr. Trump said one year ago, after announcing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had agreed to the recovery and repatriation of the remains of the fallen.

SWAMPED

Programming of note on MSNBC, which begins a new docuseries at 9 p.m. EDT Sunday titled “American Swamp” with hosts Katy Tur and Jacob Soboroff. The network advises that each hour-long episode provides “an immersive journey as they travel throughout the United States and look at areas of political dysfunction and what can be done to fix the ever-rising waters of the ‘swamp.’”

Wait, what? This is interesting. Let us recall that President Trump originally identified and promised to drain “the swamp,” aka Capitol Hill and its related environs and shenanigans. MSNBC may be seeking a re-definition of one of Mr. Trump’s favorite phrases here. Or maybe not.

Moving right along, the two hosts journey to Arizona and Montana to see whether big money impacts local elections and therefore “undermining democracy.”

Yet Ms. Tur and Mr. Soboroff also interview four Democratic presidential hopefuls — Sens. Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York and Michael Bennet of Colorado, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and billionaire Tom Steyer. The show also features Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

An with interview with former Sen. Russ Feingold — who with the late Sen. John McCain pushed through a major campaign-finance bill in 2002 — is also featured, along with Tempe, Arizona, Mayor Lauren Kuby, who is leading a bipartisan effort to disclose “dark money” in her city.

WEEKEND REAL ESTATE

For sale: Rockledge, a historic lodge with three guest cottages built in 1912 on 28 acres near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. Twelve bedrooms, six baths, includes vintage furniture which conveys with property; 3,600 square feet. Massive stone fireplace, rustic interior, large updated kitchen, verandah and decks, stone chimneys and piers, wood latticework, extensive landscaping and mature gardens, spectacular views. Priced at $349,900 through LongandFoster.com; find the home here.

POLL DU JOUR

• 79% of Americans says that Americans themselves have “too little confidence in one another.”

• 53% of Americans have confidence Americans will “accept election results regardless of who wins.”

• 49% have confidence Americans stay informed on important issues and events.

• 48% have confidence they respect the rights of people not like them.

• 43% have confidence Americans cast informed votes in elections.

• 42% have confidence they have civil conversation with people who have different views from theirs.

Source: A PEW RESEARCH poll of 10,618 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 27-Dec. 10 and released Tuesday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.