Democrats Must Move Wisely

Donald Trump has insulted and alienated so many Americans—women, Hispanics, Muslims, immigrants and even a large faction of his own party—that it’s possible Democrats will control the entire federal government, with Hillary Clinton in the White House and majorities in both the House and Senate. That happened for the first two years of the Obama Administration and, before that, for Bill Clinton’s first two years as President.

After the universally acknowledged disaster of George W. Bush (who now barely peeps his mug in public), Obama had a clear mandate to reverse eight years of GOP malpractice and even do something that hadn’t been done since FDR and LBJ, expand the social contract.

So he went for the home run first, putting immigration, gun control reform and other issues on the back burner to focus on that which had eluded progressives for 50 years—healthcare reform. That may have been a mistake. Two years later Obama lost the House, and it’s been in Republican hands ever since. Similarly, Bill Clinton lost control of both the Senate and House in 1996, after fighting a losing battle for healthcare reform.