The year 2020 is fast approaching. Watching national politics has become a head-spinning experience. Our seriously divided country will be choosing its leaders in ten plus months with the outcome very much up in the air.
Will the U.S. Congress, after the inevitable Senate whitewash, get back to doing the people’s business? Will we see a new version of President Trump in the new year?
While the answers to these questions are very much up in the air, some things are sure to happen. Once the sting of the impeachment vote has faded away, the Congress will be forced to face reality.
Like it or not they will have to pass legislation that will favorably impact on our daily lives. To its credit, the Democratic House has passed over 200 bills, many of which have been languishing in the Senate.
Despite his claim that these bills sit in his “graveyard,” Sen. Mc Connell will have no choice but to dig up some of the better bills.
Over the next few months voters will begin to get more focused on the political process and they will pay attention to what the Congress does or doesn’t do. Senator Mc Connell has spent the past three years picking right-wing judges, many of whom have never stepped into a courtroom.
He has satisfied the political cravings of the conservative movement, but the rest of America is waiting to see if the Senate is capable of helping the people.
The Democratic primary process has been going on for a long time, but nothing starts to matter until the first presidential primary in February. Once Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina have voted we may or may not get an idea where the Democratic Party is going.
It is possible that none of those primary contests will count for much as the results may be inconclusive. Iowa and New Hampshire could help Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg, and Nevada and South Carolina could give Vice President Biden a big psychological boost.
The big date to watch is March 3, when many states, including delegate-rich California, cast their ballots. It is possible that one of the current top names will emerge with a large batch of delegates, but being it is the Democratic Party, anything can happen. Confusing results on so-called Super Tuesday could mean that the Democratic candidate for president may not be selected until the July convention.
The national elections will also have an impact on local contests. New Yorkers will be picking primary winners in June which means that potential state candidates may start knocking on your doors as early as late April.
The state Legislature, which usually goes home in mid-June, will shut down in late May. With a $6 billion Medicaid deficit, it won’t be easy to finish up its responsibilities that quickly. Albany has a new crop of progressive legislators who never had to deal with budget deficits.
The next big question is what the 2020 version of Donald Trump will look like? Stung by becoming only the third president in American history to be impeached, no one can predict what the president will do next.
Facing a divided country, Mr. Trump will continue to play to his base but is that enough? There will be a massive voter turnout, but if the President gets crazier, he may be sealing his own fate.
Mixed in with all these uncertainties is the Supreme Court which has six cases pending any one of which could decide who will be the next president.
The future of the Affordable Care Act, a woman’s right to choose and the fate of the 800,000 Dreamers, will all be decided by the end of the June term. Add to that are the cases that will decide if the president must reveal his finances. These decisions will be handed down four months before Election Day.
If you think the last three years were turbulent 2020 promises to be the year to remember. Hopefully, when the political dust settles, our country will be better off than it is today. Happy New Year.
