President Trump grabbed one opportunity but missed another during last night's Town Hall on NBC. The opportunity he grabbed was related to the Coronavirus relief plan. The opportunity Trump missed was questions about dreamers and DACA. Both could have been tied together to point out a consistent theme that I think could label the Democrat party for a number of decades - that the Party leadership cares more about power than people.
During the Town Hall, President Trump was asked about passing another Coronavirus stimulus package. He expressed a willingness to approve a bigger package than his negotiating team has offered in the past. Then President Trump told the American people the obstacle was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying "...she doesn't want to do it because she thinks it is bad for her election..."
The President seized that opportunity by delivering a message to viewers that Speaker Pelosi "couldn't care less about the American worker."*
Contrast that with the President's answers to questions asked of him about DACA recipients and Dreamers. The President launched into a rambling dialogue that wandered from talking about building the wall and shutting down the border to a statement that they have a policy coming out soon that will be great for DACA and Dreamers.
The President missed an opportunity to recall earlier in his Administration that he was involved in negotiations with Democrat leaders to pass true immigration reforms that would have included benefits for even more people than were included in President Obama's DACA Executive Order. The President could have pointed out that it was the Democrats who walked out of those negotiations and it was the Democrats who ignored his offer to resume those negotiations where the President laid out for the American people to hear what he was offering and the immigration reforms he was asking for in return.
Instead the Democrats stopped all negotiations and have instead chosen to use immigrants as pawns in their drive to get more people elected to Congress and now to the White House.
The President could have pointed out that there is a theme at work here. Democrats don't care about People - they care about Power.
To score political points, the House Democrats passed a stand alone bill to provide more funding to the Post Office. But will they consider stand alone legislation to help people or small businesses? No.
During the first two years of the Obama Administration, they had the votes to pass any immigration reform they wanted. Did they take up any legislation? No. They did nothing until 2014 when the Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate and then, after offering to work with the Republicans, President Obama issued the DACA Executive Order that he knew would enrage the Republicans and poison any opportunity he had to work with them because he didn't care about working together on meaningful reform, he was more interested in creating an issue the Democrats could use to regain power.
President Trump should be beating that theme like a drum - the Democrats don't care about the People, they care about Power.
That theme would apply to his argument that he's done more for blacks in four years than Joe Biden did in 47 years. It would apply to his comments about poorly run cities being almost all run by Democrats. It would apply to the difference in how Democrat Governors in NY, NJ, PA, and Michigan have chosen to exercise total Power in handling the Coronavirus, almost uniformly to the detriment of the People of those States..
But even if the President doesn't use that theme - remember it. Democrats have been more focused on Power to the detriment of People for decades and it will be as true in future elections as it is in this one.
* Both quotes from https://townhall.com/tipsheet/reaganmccarthy/2020/10/15/nbc-townhall-n2578163
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