There’s a lot to be said for fighting fire with fire. Celebrity attorney and television personality Michael Avenatti announced that he would run against the reality teevee incumbent in 2020 if nobody more viable stepped forth, and yes, as a Democrat. (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence but it is not the first time I’ve felt that way since we stepped through the looking glass on November 8.) Newsweek:
Avenatti elaborated to Newsweek that he believes there is a “small group of people that identify as street fighters that could potentially beat Trump in an election,” and that he would not name the individuals but “I could prevail.”
“The election in 2020, if he is still in office, will require a non-establishment candidate,” Avenatti said. “Some weak policy wonk isn’t going to cut it.”
Other candidates “certainly have a chance” against Trump, but the list is not long, Avenatti said. The lawyer said an honest discussion with highly active Democratic Party members would reveal the “field thus far is uninspiring, with a few exceptions” he would not disclose.
“Some of the establishment candidates that I have heard may run, they may be able to get through the primary, but they will be crushed by Mr. Trump come the general election,” Avenatti said. “If people believe that some traditional, weak-kneed career politician can beat this guy, they’re fooling themselves and setting themselves up for a repeat of 2016.”
If you haven’t gotten a heads up on this, this is what took place on twitter earlier today.
I always liked the Daily News! Be clear – only a street fighter has a chance at displacing the “King.” Otherwise, this country and its principles will be in pieces and non-recognizable. #FightClub #Basta pic.twitter.com/X3sSR81daZ
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 4, 2018
IF (big) he seeks re-election, I will run, but only if I think that there is no other candidate in the race that has a REAL chance at beating him. We can't relive 2016. I love this country, our values and our people too much to sit by while they are destroyed. #FightClub #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 4, 2018
To those that claim that only a traditional politician with "experience" can beat Trump, go back & look at the results from 2016. He beat all 15 of those candidates that he faced (crushed many). If we go down the same path and are not smart, don't be surprised with the result.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 4, 2018
Now there was great hue and cry in the land when Oprah Winfrey was tossing the idea of running around, and frankly, I was appalled. Oprah went on record weeks later saying she would not run and then just a few days ago she confirmed that to British Vogue:
“In that political structure — all the non-truths, the bullsh*t, the crap, the nastiness, the backhanded backroom stuff that goes on — I feel like I could not exist,” Winfrey told British Vogue. “I would not be able to do it. It’s not a clean business. It would kill me.”
Now the reason I was appalled at Oprah running is that I didn’t want to see the highest office in the land become a morbid celebrity version of Queen For A Day. I will say on Avenatti’s behalf, at least he is a competent lawyer with a grasp of both politics and media. He describes himself as a “street fighter with an Ivy League degree” which in my book puts him lightyears ahead of media icon Oprah and Rin Tin Tin is lightyears beyond the current occupant, so that’s neither here nor there.
Plus, Avenatti is a realist. If Trump runs again, and it is a big if, because we don’t know what’s going to happen with the Mueller probe, then who do we have on the bench? It’s mid-2018 folks. Now definitely the prize we need to keep our eyes on is this November’s election, no question about that. But 2020 is just around the corner and we have to get a candidate ready for the ballot and who do you propose? Because I agree with Avenatti, I don’t think there’s a slam dunk winner in our circle right now, or have I missed something?
Democrats have a tendency to navel gaze and lose sight of the bigger picture. We are the more educated, more moral, more progressive party. We are infinitely smarter. That is both our greatest attribute and our shortcoming. At worst, we focus too narrowly on policy issues and not enough on winning. We assume that voters will read, think and analyze and they won’t. They wait for a candidate to “touch” them by pulling an emotional trigger. Voters don’t vote with their heads they vote with their guts. The Republicans know this, and that the way to win elections is to grab the most charismatic fool available, put him (and I suspect it will always be a him) on the ticket as a figurehead and ignore crucial policy differences — because they know they can’t win on the intellectual or moral high ground, they can only win in the dirt.
They sling mud and have their candidate convince the masses of asses (or “low information” people, if you will) that the elitist Democrats don’t understand their needs and the Republicans do. Starting back in the day of Richard Nixon the party of wealth convinced the working class that they had their needs at heart and the working class incredibly believed them and began to vote against their own interests. They do it to this day, because the face of our party scares them; it’s darker skinned, female, gay — the other. The Republicans gin voters up into a frenzy and keep them there because they know that fear is their greatest weapon. Fear of the other, fear of change, fear of being left out and left behind. That is how a moral reprobate business failure got elected to the highest office in the land. Fear won the election, coupled with treachery, and we are endeavoring at this time to find out the true nature and extent of that.
Just by the by I began predicting presidential elections in 1972 and I predicted every single one correctly until this last one. This used to blow some peoples’ minds but it is not rocket science and I’ll tell you how I did it. There are 32 scientific polls in the country. You keep a close eye on them and also on the ground game of the two parties. Then, in the last month of the election you put huge weight on the state pollsters, because as the finish line is approached these people will call the shot on ambiguities and close races better than anyone. Using that formula I was always able to be right. And this is just me, playing around in my house, reading. That’s all it’s ever been. In 2016 I was wrong for the first time and I was dumbfounded. My God, could all the data be wrong? How? The unknown variable was Facebook selling data on 50Million people to the Russians and the Russians creating bots masquerading as the neighbors.
Point being that we got sucker punched and big time. Russia pulled off a bloodless coup. We always expected Red October not cutting edge cybernetics and one night Russia took over. That is not an overstatement, it’s the plain truth. We are now fighting for the continued existence of this republic and our way of life. We have to take back the reigns of power or it is game over. There is no punch that we must be reluctant to pull. We have to fight fire with fire. Michael Avenatti is a realist and I, for one, agree with his assessment of the situation.
Think it over. We have a lot of people on the fence. Maybe Kamala Harris will run, maybe Cory Booker, maybe Joe Biden, maybe even Bernie will take another shot at it. Personally, I was devastated when Jason Kander lost his senate bid because I see him as presidential material. Kander is a comer, but he may not be ready for 2020.
Michael Avenatti may be our best shot.
