Rubbing Shoulders with the Shiny People
Well, George Clooney was there, as was Julia Roberts, leading President Joe Biden’s Hollywood celebrity party/fund raiser. Stalwart Democrats never doubt that they are the party of. the hip and cool, explains Daniel Henninger in the WSJ.
In the popular telling among sophisticates, the Republicans—whether their elected politicians or followers—could hardly be more out of it.
Democratic Party Drowning in Hollywood Glitz
The party’s public image is almost wholly defined by celebrities, and that’s not good for winning general elections.
Ambient Sound of Celebrity Dependency
This presidential election remains closely contested. With the cost of living the No. 1 issue, each swing-state vote deserves attention. In this high-stakes context, the spectacle of the incumbent president jetting from Europe to Hollywood is the kind of look Mr. Biden and his party don’t need. He’s Hollywood Joe.
Days after his $30 million fundraiser, Mr. Biden announced a whopping $50 million ad spend on a commercial depicting Mr. Trump as a “convicted criminal.” Those two words will define Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign. It might work. Polls have suggested some voters would step away from Mr. Trump following a conviction. If so, the much-maligned Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who delivered the felony conviction for the Democrats, will get the last laugh.
Give ‘em a Break
A Democratic Party drowning in Hollywood glitz? The party’s public image is almost wholly defined by celebrities, and that’s not good for winning general elections, cautions Mr. Henninger:
The list of celebrities joined to the Democratic hip runs forever. But the Republicans? Once past Mr. Trump, no one associates the GOP with shiny people. In the popular telling among sophisticates, the Republicans—whether their elected politicians or followers—could hardly be more out of it.
Assaults on Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas may be about legal outcomes.
… but make no mistake, these attacks originate in the belief that they aren’t our kind of people. Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing made that clear.
It’s hard not to notice that on the day Mr. Biden tapped the “Hollywood ATM,” Mr. Trump campaigned at a black church in Detroit.
It is becoming hard to suppress the reality reported in polls that Mr. Trump, former host of “The Apprentice,” is peeling off layers of the traditional Democratic coalition—blacks, Hispanics, younger Americans and possibly even Jewish voters. The Democratic base once had something resembling a common identity, but not so much anymore. And it’s getting late to fix that.
Trump Running off the Rails?
Well Trump has always been a wild card, but as Henninger notes, recently Trump has been been almost disconcertingly pragmatic, welcomes Daniel Henninger.
However improbable, a Trump turn to self-discipline could dilute the Biden campaign’s decision to run overwhelmingly against Mr. Trump rather than on the Biden record.
With the Democrats’ convention arriving in Chicago in August, the anti-Israel protests have already taken a nastier, antifa-like turn, praising intifada and routinely calling the police “pigs.” Hunter Biden’s felony conviction this month was one more burden for an already shaky presidency to shoulder.
Joe Biden’s candidacy needs a positive jolt. Where he gets it has become difficult to see.
