“On the Holmes Front,” with Frank Holmes
The Iowa Democratic Party finally released the final vote tally for Monday’s Iowa caucuses late Thursday night, after an unprecedented wait period caused by a malfunctioning vote app.
The results showed former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, D-I.N., edging out Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., by one-tenth of one percent of the vote—hardly a landslide victory.
The close margin, questionable performance of the state party, and possibility of a brokered convention have led some to speculate that none of the declared presidential hopefuls will end up as the Democratic Party’s 2020 candidate in the fall.
The most recent politician to have his hat thrown in the ring is none other than House impeachment manager Adam Schiff, D-C.A.
The man who put it there has one of the largest platforms in Democratic Party politics: the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Chris Matthews.
Matthews, a former Democratic speechwriter who has talked about running for office in his home state of Pennsylvania, thought Schiff’s performance during the impeachments hearings looked “presidential.”
As Matthews and his panel waited for the results to dribble in from Iowa, they began to note the shortcomings of Bernie Sanders, whom everyone thought would be declared the eventual winner.
The Democratic Party establishment believes Sanders, a democratic socialist, is too extreme to win the presidency. Former President Barack Obama has even let it be known behind the scenes that he would actively campaign against Sanders, if it looked like the Vermont independent looked like a frontrunner.
But Sanders has a hardcore constituency, the “Bernie Bros,” who are unlikely to fall in line behind an alleged “centrist” like Buttigieg or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-M.N.
“Bernie is a tough fighter. He doesn’t look like a guy who is going to quit and give his marbles to somebody else,” Matthews said.
But if no candidate enters the Democratic National Convention with a sufficient number of votes, rounds of delegate-swapping or deal-making could swing the nomination behind a unity ticket of two other candidates—or something who hasn’t declared at all.
Matthews thinks Schiff fits the role perfectly.
“How about Adam Schiff?” Matthews asked his panel.
If Democratic delegates find themselves unable to agree on one of the dozens of declared presidential hopefuls, Matthews asked, “Could they all agree let’s give it to Schiff?”
Absurd as it may sound, Schiff’s name has been floated as a presidential candidate for years.
Schiff had his eyes set on Dianne Feinstein’s U.S. Senate seat and, even after she refused to retire, he told the Los Angeles Times “I was inclined to” run.
So, L.A. Times columnist George Skelton asked, “What about the presidency in 2020?”
The February 2018 column claims that Schiff would be perfect to run for president, because he has “an ability to grab attention without polarizing people.”
His “steadiness and calm” refuses to indulge in “fire and brimstone” in favor of a “controlled articulation that smacks of common sense,” Skelton wrote.
At the time, Schiff responded that “I certainly have not been thinking about it and am not running”—but he didn’t close the door to the idea.
“But I have to say,” Schiff continued, “I’m surprised about how many people have been asking me about it.”
Schiff’s popularity with the Democratic Party has only increased as impeachment heated up—and not just with media figures.
The Hill reported that a fellow House Democrat from California singled out Schiff as a perfect candidate.
“When we look at the characteristics of what we want to see in a president, it is somebody who is not going to lose composure because he’s been poked. And we’re seeing that on display from Adam Schiff every single day,” the member of Congress, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.
Democrats said Schiff’s presentations before the Senate during the impeachment trial ranked among the best in U.S. history.
Schiff repeatedly attributed phony quotations to President Trump. He fell for a prank when he told callers that he believed were from Russia that he wanted their help to get political dirt on Trump. He’s misled the America people by overpromising time and again that he had ironclad, bulletproof evidence of Trump and his campaign breaking campaign law and committing undeniably impeachable offenses—and then he failed to deliver on his promises. And instead of apologizing, he just made new fake promises.
Adam Schiff may well be the perfect Democratic presidential candidate.
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”