Race for the White House 2020 # 6

I am feeling a bit under the weather today but will attempt some cogent thoughts on the past week of national politics.

For much of it, the eyes of the nation have continued to focus on Virginia, where the Governor who was so embattled last week may hang on after all. It has everything to do with two serious allegations of sexual assault made against Democrat Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax dating back to 2000 and 2004. Beyond that, the third in line, the state's Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring has admitted that he also dressed in blackface as a college student in the early 80's as an homage to rapper Kurtis Blow. I suppose those are "The Breaks."

The irony of course is that Fairfax has retained the legal services of the firm that represented Brett Kavanaugh last year (when he was charged with acts that were far less detailed and substantiated) while one of the accusers is using the same lawyers as those that represented Susan Blasey Ford.

To many Republican, this is popcorn worthy stuff, especially since it may all be the result of Democrats turning on each other. There is a lot to unpack with all of this. If the allegations are true, than Mr. Fairfax is lucky he never went to prison and has no business being Lt. Governor of his state. He denies all wrongdoing however and I actually care about the truth. During the Kavanaugh saga, those on the left gave no real thought as to whether or not the allegations against him were definitely true, they simply wanted it to be true, to keep him off the Supreme Court. I do not know what Fairfax had to say specifically during this time, but he is likely to have sided with them. Now, the tables have turned, and the Democrats are in quite a pickle in regards to allegation of sexual assault .As revenge, many on the right will simply want it to be true or just enjoy the karma aspect of this, as a week after it looked like Fairfax was about to make history as the first African-American Governor of his state, he is now on the verge of impeachment, with even many Democrats feeling they have no choice but to abandon him.

I care about what the truth is in this and wonder if lie detector tests, while inadmissiable in court, could shed some light. Again, if Farifax ever forced himself on a woman, he needs to be thrown out of office (same as Trump, Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and many others) but he is truly innocent and this is all an example of him being targeted politically, it would be an incredible miscarriage of justice, just as I felt about the unsubstantiated allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and others.

In other news, the State of the Union Address was held. Those who watched it, made up heavily of Trump supporters, said they really liked it, although at times it was outwardly conciliatory At other times, it was in your face/combative, and those who dislike Trump (including yours truly) did not like him any better. In the meantime, the deadline approaches to avoid another government shutdown. Finally, what was up with Nancy Pelosi's necklace? That could not have been on accident, right?

This weekend, two additional female U.S. Senators are declaring their Presidential candidacy (making the tally of active candidates 11-1 in terms of non straight white men.) Today, Elizabeth Warren kicked off her campaign with a rally in Massachusetts. No wonder I started feeling worse. She is clearly running as an unabashed champion of the left but continues to be majorly dogged by the fact that she had previously claimed to be "American Indian" while filling out forms. She had to apologize for that again this week, and in such a crowded field, something like that could continue to hamper her.

Tomorrow, in chilly Minnesota, Senator Amy Klobuchar will announce her candidacy. I have thought for a while that among all the female Democrat hopefuls, she could be the most electable, in terms of what is seen as a steady temperament and being willing to have friendly relations with the other side .This week though, a story came out alleging she is quite a difficult boss to her staff and perhaps not really as nice of a person as she wants to portray publicly. (Similar things have been said about Republican John Kasich.) Time will tell as to what extent Democrat primary voters will take these personality matters into consideration.

More Democrats (and hopefully one Republican) are all but certain to get into this race before too long. Donald Trump remains divisive and vulnerable and Democrats are licking their chops for a chance to run against him.

They really need to think long and hard though about their image nationally and if things such as the highly touted "Green New Deal" are going to help them or hurt them kick Trump from office.