Lefsetz: About Those Boring Dem Debaters

OK, Boomers…

Now that was a waste of time. I bet more people sat through the Sondland hearing than this dreary, mostly self-congratulatory, so-called debate

It’s not business as usual.

Donald Trump has proven that. So what do the Democrats say, what does the establishment say, what does the media say? Let’s go back to the old rule book! It’s almost as if Trump is Napster and the Dems are the labels.

And you know what? CDs never came back. That’s right, streaming replaced files, and reinvigorated recorded music revenues to boot!

So who is complaining?

THE OLD PEOPLE.

The boomers who think their doody doesn’t stink. Who believe since they lived through the ’60s and can wear skinny jeans and own smartphones that they know what’s going on.

But they don’t!

As a matter of fact, boomers are retiring in droves – passing the baton – but they want to give one more middle finger to those younger than they are. They want to keep everything they’ve gotten, all the spoils, and screw the rest of the public.

Now this is America.

Where no one can sacrifice. Jimmy Carter said to wear a sweater to stay warm during an energy crisis and he was excoriated. You can’t mess with the American way of life, which is all about raping the environment and pillaging while you’re at it. But if you speak to the younger generation…

The younger generation that’s into experiences, not assets.

The younger generation that’s hobbled by student debt.

The younger generation with even fewer opportunities for upward mobility than their contemporaries in Europe…and they’re PISSED!

So what do we get during the debate?

ALL THE THINGS THEY’VE DONE.

As if nothing has changed.

I’ll tell you what’s changed. We need passion. Trump is a great salesman. Amy Klobuchar starts talking and my eyes roll into the back my head. It’s a new day, talk about new day problems.

That’s why I’ve been excited by Elizabeth Warren. You can see she believes what she’s saying, the passion underneath, the refusal to play to the polls.

Now Mayor Pete had a pretty good night. I’m stunned that no one attacked him, since he’s supposedly winning in Iowa. And why is Buttigieg winning? THE ADS!

That’s right, at this late date, many people are unfamiliar with the candidates. Because they’re overwhelmed with information and in some cases disillusioned by the circus in D.C.

Trump says he’s gonna drain the swamp?

Dems say let’s go back to what once was, kumbaya. HUH?

So it’s all about Trump.

All the candidates saying it’s about issues are wrong. Trump makes it about his opponents and Dems say it’s about the issues. Trump calls Hillary a “nasty woman” and the Dems say the polls say that impeachment and name-calling works against them. It’s as if their schoolbooks are out of date, as if they were published in 2014.

So here’s the scoop.

It comes down to Warren, Mayor Pete, Bernie and Kamala.

Joe Biden is a joke. Yup, marijuana should not be legal. What’s next, parietals at party schools? I mean sometimes you’ve got to get out of the way for the future, isn’t that what Bob Dylan sang?

Kamala had a relatively good night because she was pissed. I’m pissed, AREN’T YOU?

Now billionaire Tom Steyer was right when he said is it’s not about convincing Trump supporters, but getting Dems to actually vote. Which requires a candidate that speaks to them, who they believe has their best interests at heart, who can move the ball forward.

Working with the Republicans?

Don’t make me laugh.

So what we’ve learned is the most powerful person in politics is Mark Burnett. He made Trump a star. I’d link to the New Yorker article delineating this, but you won’t read it if you haven’t already. It’s long, you don’t have the time. It turns out everybody in New York thought Trump was a joke, but Burnett made him into a star!

That’s what we’re looking for, stars.

If you’re not one, get out of the way, you can’t succeed.

You’ve got to have the goods and then you’ve got to be marketed. Yup, in 2019 cream does not rise to the top. As for TV…the only people watching are oldsters, the younger generation will just catch the clips, the spin, that’s all they have time for.

But the DNC and the establishment are afraid of pissing the boomers off.

They want to keep their medical insurance, even though they’re already on Medicare. They don’t want any changes. They want evolution, not revolution.

But the last 25 years have been all about revolution, tech revolution. Uber and Lyft killed the taxi business. Who wants the taxi business to come back other than the drivers and the shysters who have them paying for worthless million dollar medallions?

Of course Trump should be the issue!

My money is behind Warren.

But Mayor Pete or Bernie would be OK. Just someone who can stand up to Trump in a debate. Someone who can go for the jugular – no, someone who can go for the balls.

Go high when they go low? No, you’ve got to play their game to win, even though they’ll be howling all the while. It’s a street brawl.

I tell you, and the old establishment doesn’t get it. They’re afraid of the UFC, they’re afraid of hip-hop, their idea of danger is staying up after 11 pm.

Gavin Newsom refuses to buy automobiles from the companies who sided with Trump. Gavin is employing his leverage. Maybe California should secede. Maybe the issues have to be defined, how the red states get disproportionately more from the federal government, how their two senators overrepresent their population.

But no, the Dems are playing to the media and the pollsters.

The same ones who got it wrong last time around.

Oh, Nate Silver will say the polls were right. Yeah, it’s like a hundred to one shot. Yup, there’s a chance the horse could lose, but even Trump himself didn’t expect to win.

Just like the Democrats in Congress. Who keep going on TV and telling us the Senate won’t convict Trump. Why? Sondland flipped, they all flipped against Trump, but somehow the senators won’t?

The reason you play the game is you never know who will really win.

And just like in football, the rules keep changing. But there’s no NFL in charge of elections, as a matter of fact, even the government doesn’t have a hold on elections.

So I’m done with the debates.

This one was billed as a barroom brawl. Instead, we mostly got niceties-  at least until the end – after 11 pm on the east coast, when the aforementioned boomers, the only ones watching, were already asleep.

So…

1. Get the message out. That’s the hardest thing to do today. And the message is…ANYBODY BUT TRUMP! If you think it’s about the issues as opposed to Trump, get out of the way, put down your megaphone, you’re clogging the channel.

2. It’s about stars, not issues. God, if the Dems were smart, they’d hire Mark Burnett to do a “Voice” for them, get everybody to watch, let people see who has got it.

3. It’s about who can stand up to Trump in a debate. It’s not about building the best team of all time, it’s about forming the one that can win the World Series against the opposing candidate.

4. Ignore the polls. We won’t know what is truly going on until there’s voting. The truth is I won’t answer a poll, you won’t either, and I can cite chapter and verse where I’ve been right and the polls have been wrong, because it’s about guts, not intellect, it’s about what you feel in your soul, what resonates.

5. Fox News, MSNBC, NYT, WSJ, WaPo…they’re for the lifers, for those truly interested, mostly old people. The younger generation lives online. Call in Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Spiegel, have them advise you. Or maybe even Sheryl Sandberg, she’s a Democrat. These are devious people who will do anything to win, they know how the web works, time to get them on board.

6. It’s a movement, not an election. You want people to feel included, and today the rank and file are the stars, elevate them, that’s one thing good about Warren shooting selfies.

7. They blew up the music business… they blew up the television business, they already blew up politics, but the only people who seem to know are the Republicans.

8. Hearts and minds, baby.