What makes America win? Use any measuring stick and you will find the United States leads the way. We are number one in opportunity, quality of life, access to healthcare, academics, and diversity in intellectual and political thought -- we even lead the world in dog and cat ownership.

American competitiveness is a topic President Trump made a cornerstone of his campaign in 2016 and still talks about almost daily. How often do we hear him tout that under his leadership: “America is winning again!” It’s a message the President has stuck to, and we see evidence of regularly. There’s perhaps no better example of this than the President’s announcement Sunday that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been killed by American Special Forces.

But American superiority is not a message we have heard from the Democrats running for president. What’s worse is that it seems to be a notion they outright reject. If America, and our ideals of freedom, are going to outwit the communists in China and the antagonists in Russia, then we must elect leaders who understand how we became number one in the first place.

Part of the problem for Democrats is that a few of their candidates actually favor communism when it comes to protecting freedom, and Soviet-style socialism when it comes social welfare. For example, Beto O’Rourke previously stated, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” meanwhile, Andrew Yang is literally giving away money to voters. Bernie Sanders has reached the point where he can’t even be bothered to try explaining how to pay for his policies anymore.

A common thread to American success is that we win when we let our people lead, not those in power. All 18 -- or is it 17 now? -- Democrats running for President back a philosophy where the solution to any problem facing American society is a law, a regulation, or a government program. The core challenge that Democrats face is they don’t actually believe in America.

An October 24th Quinnipiac poll has Elizabeth Warren at 28 percent -- a 7-point lead over second place Joe Biden. No other candidate in the poll tops 15 percent, setting up a Biden versus Warren battle. Biden against Warren is an odd pairing, whose supporters come from distinctly different wings of the Democrat Party. Biden is the flag bearer for the party establishment who promotes an ah-shucks if you work hard you will get ahead view of the world.

The problem for Biden is that the American Dream Democrat only makes up a small swath of his current party, as evidenced by his current fundraising woes. Presently, Biden has a mere $9 million in cash on hand, which is only a fraction of the war chests that the more radical leftist candidates like Warren and Bernie Sanders have accrued. Sanders has a reported $33.7 million and Warren has a reported $25.7 million stockpile.

Unlike Republicans, Warren doesn’t really trust America. She is the anti-powerful, anti-capitalism progressive. Your typical Warren supporter has a couple things in common, but most notable is their animosity for President Trump. Do you know somebody who has said: “I couldn’t be friends with you if you voted for President Trump?” Well, that is your typical Elizabeth Warren supporter.

Warren has made bolstering government benefits such as Medicare For All and free college tuition hallmarks of her campaign. Her proposal to simply “tax the wealthy” to pay for her socialist fantasies is a non-starter. Even a 100% tax on the top income earners wouldn’t pay for her policies. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests to raise the funds needed for Warren’s Medicare for All policy, a 42% sales tax might be required. This might explain why Warren is so reluctant to discuss concrete ways to fund her policies while out on the campaign trail.

She is playing to a slice of the electorate that believes more can be done to support the poor and vulnerable, despite the fact that President Trump’s policies – essentially the polar opposite of Warren’s -- are resulting in low-income workers seeing the greatest benefit.

What is alarming is comparing Biden or Warren’s philosophy to the American creed of freedom and personal liberty, which has led to so many of American success stories.

Donald Trump, who faces an uphill battle with the news media every single day, has taken very aggressive steps to put We the People back in charge of America. Trump arrived in Washington with a great deal of skepticism, as he screamed loudly that he felt free traders and globalists were giving too much of American economic might away for nothing.

What’s the point of selling a product to China when the Communist-led government purposefully devalues its currency and encourages the theft of our technology and intellectual property? The President has encouraged companies that keep their manufacturing and blue-collar jobs in the United States and he unapologetically shames companies that send American jobs overseas.

On one side, you have Warren show outright distrust of corporate America, and on the other side you have President Trump who thrives on business competition, but not if that means shortchanging America. Meanwhile, CEOs and corporate boards have spent the better part of the last decade making sure their facilities recycle rainwater and that the cafeteria uses paper straws in an effort to keep up with crippling regulations implemented by Democrats. Instead, they could have focused their efforts on figuring out how to be more transparent with how they are paying employees and reinvesting in new opportunities in America.

Thinking about the next 50 to 100 years -- the world your children and their children will grow up in -- what does the United States need to be doing to ensure America remains the greatest nation on earth? Who is elected in 2020 will determine which direction we go -- put America first or apologize for America.

Jessica Curtis is the executive director of GOPAC, which is dedicated to educating and electing a new generation of Republican leaders.