By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow, NNPA Newswire Contributors

“I don’t belong to any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” — Will Rogers

If Mr. Rogers were alive today, he would not alter the above claim at all. The Democratic Party went into a meltdown upon the results of the 2016 national election. It was so confident that Hillary Clinton was going to pick up where Barack Obama left off after eight years of questionable results – domestically and internationally.

The recovery from the 2008 recession was weak and slow. For that, they lost the White House. Donald Trump started handling our economic affairs like a major corporation. It worked! The recovery is well defined and our employment, stock market, trade balances etc. have never been better.

To the leadership of the Democratic Party this is shocking. They assumed Trump would fall flat in his efforts to change things for the better. He has so far been successful, especially in the employment and trade areas. Our enemies are no longer holding us in vile contempt and disrespect. They are careful not to cross Trump on any major issue. ISIS is finally fading away. Iran is still a little “cocky” but is careful not to step too far over the line.

Hillary appears to be out of the picture – at last! With that being the case, then who is in contention for the presidential nomination in 2020? Who is going to stand up face to face with President Donald Trump? Right now, we have over two dozen contestants to consider. Some are vague and not well known and others are hangers-on that are approaching 80 years in age.

Let’s look at the two senior citizens in the competition. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have been around for decades. Bernie’s background is more socialist than anything else. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He admired the Soviet Union so much that he and his wife went there for their honeymoon. He actually worked for SNCC during the civil rights struggle, but he doesn’t try to exploit those bona fides in appealing to the Black vote. We see nothing that would indicate Bernie being a wizard on economic issues. In fact, he wants to spend federal money like I-40 going west and doesn’t offer a clue to offset our deficit.

Joe Biden has been in national politics for over 50 years. He blew it in 2016 when he stepped aside for Hillary Clinton to get the Democratic nomination when it was assumed that he would compete for it. After all, he was a sitting two-term Vice President.

In his early years, it is believed that he was a segregationist. He changed from that but still will have a racial gaff here and there. Joe has two big issues looming over his head. It appears that he got into some financial Monkey Business while touring the Ukraine and China with his son, Hunter. It appears that the Biden boys walked away with millions of dollars in dubious funding from the governments of these two nations. He is going to have to explain that if he will continue his race. The truth will have to come out eventually.

There are three mayors in the Democratic race for President. Wayne Messam, is a rookie mayor of the Miami suburb of Miramar (population 122,000) and the city’s first black mayor, “the owner of a construction company, Asset Builders, focused on environmentally-friendly projects and the son of a Jamaican sugar cane worker” according to Axios. He isn’t too serious but is trying to improve his name recognition for future races.

Then we have Pete Buttigieg who is a mayor of the small town of South Bend, Indiana. He is an Afghanistan veteran, gay and a Rhodes Scholar. His experience is mostly that of a small midwestern town mayor. He believes in Medicare for all who want it. He wants to create a commission to propose reparations policies for Black Americans and close the racial wealth gap.

In contrast, we have Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York -the largest city in the United States. His track record in governing NYC is deplorable! “Despite bloated budgets and growing government payrolls, there is an obvious decline in the quality of life. Filth and chaos are everywhere” according to the NY Post. Many feel his ambition is quite comical. Even he claimed that it seems unlikely he will qualify for the first Democratic primary presidential debate.

The above is a good sampling of the Democratic hopefuls. The rest of the pack is certainly no better or promising. Frankly, the DNC is quality challenged.

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the Chamber. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Emails: halford@nationalbcc.org kdebow@nationalbcc.org

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