Clark's Scribbles

We Need a Dream Team

We need a Dream Team in 2020. A president is not enough. No one person can pull our country out of the ditch. None of the twenty plus politicians vying for the Democratic Nomination can do it alone. No Republican has shown any inclination to even try.

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has stood like Horatio at the Gate blocking almost all legislative action and even a nomination to the Supreme Court while pushing the appointment of ultra-conservative judges and political functionaries. He will hamstring a new president unless he is removed. The Democrats must gain a Senate Majority while maintaining their majority in the House.

Many of the strongest Senate leaders have thrown their hat in the ring. The president who takes office in January of 2021 will need those leaders to create and pass legislation. Note that the Affordable Care Act is affectionately known as Obamacare, but it was hammered out by members of Congress. The President just signed the bill into law.

One of the first priorities for the newly elected president will be staff. Cabinet level positions must be filled. Diplomats must be appointed. The current president’s family business style has left the executive branch in shambles. The next administration will have an unprecedented rebuilding job.

Bridges must be rebuilt. Ties with our allies have been strained to the breaking point. This country needs to re-engage with the rest of the world. We need to rejoin the efforts to deal with Climate Change. We need to restore relations with our trading partners.

The incoming president will have a lot to deal with. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has provided an intimidating outline of what the new person will have to deal with in her book “Memo to the President Elect.”

How will the newly elected president when she or he steps into this new role with its overwhelming challenges?

For example, if our resident expert on family finance, banks and bankruptcy, Senator Elizabeth Warren, wins the White House she will face an immediate identity crisis. She will have to give up her role as advocate-in-chief to deal with the myriad responsibilities of Chief Executive.

Her grand scheme for remaking America depends on increasing the taxes paid by “The Wealthy.” The Chief executive can request a tax increase, but Congress has to approve it. The IRS has to enforce it. One problem exposed by the scandals of the last two years is a lack of IRS oversight on wealthy individuals. President Warren would have to address these issues. She would probably want an overhaul of tax policies, but she would have to get that through Congress.

Candidate Warren does not like the USMCA treaty due to replace NAFTA. She has characterized it as NAFTA 2.0. But the US needs a trade deal with Canada and Mexico. If President Warren wants something different, she will have to have her trade negotiators work it out with our trade partners and close the deal with the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico. Then she will have to get Congress to approve the new pact.

At the same time the President is dealing with these two mostly domestic issues, she will have to confront President Putin over Russian interference in our elections, President Xi JinPing on trade relation between China and the US, and  Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un over his saber rattling.

Of course, she can rise to the challenge, but she would not be able to continue her role as chief advocate for the American Family.

The first thing I am looking for is experience with a caveat. Neither John Kennedy nor Barack Obama had an impressive resume when they ran for office. Both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton had served as governor before running for president. Running a state government is not in the same league as running a national government, but it’s better than sitting around in Congress debating issues.

My top choices along with my rationale:

1. Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana. He’s a winner in a red state – although it’s a small state as my brother pointed out.
2. John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado. I am only including him because of his executive experience. He has a lot to prove over the next year.
3. Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington. He has impressive practical credentials in job creation and dealing with environmental issues. He needs to branch out. Most agree Climate Change is critical, but bread and butter issues are key to winning votes.
4. Corey Booker, Senator from New Jersey and former Mayor of Newark. He gets credit for executive experience because of his time as Mayor. Newark is smaller than Montana but bigger than South Bend, Indiana. He also gets National Level experience as a sitting Senator. I was particularly impressed with the way he handled himself in the Kavanaugh hearings.
5. Julian Castro, former Mayor of San Antonio and former Secretary of HUD. He gets credit for executive experience and National Level experience. San Antonia has a much larger population than Montana, and Texas is a red state.  He has a strong stance on Immigration, which is a hot issue, but he needs to make his case in other areas, especially foreign affairs.
6. Amy Klobuchar, Senator from Minnesota. She gets credit for National Level experience. She has won re-election twice. I like her style. She will have to prove she can win on a national stage in the debates and the primaries.

Five men and a woman.  I believe each of them is capable of stepping up to the job of running our executive branch.

I have two recommendations for Vice Presidential running mate. My first suggestion is Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California and former Secretary of Homeland Security. She was once considered a top candidate to be the first female president of the United States. My alternate is former National Security Advisor and former UN Ambassador Susan Rice. Either of those women would also make a great Chief of Staff.

That is the main outline of a Dream Team. I believe America needs to move forward. That starts with Democrats controlling both the House and the Senate with a Democrat serving as Senate Majority Leader. Next is a solid chief executive who is ready to address the entire spectrum of domestic and international issues. The next president will have to be someone who can attract high quality professionals to the cabinet and other high-level government positions.

Our next president must be a unifying figure – someone who can and will work to bring us all Americans together. We, the people, must be part of the Dream Team.