Dana Blankenhorn

The Avalanche

Between the Iowa caucus debacle and the rocketing stock market, a lot of Democrats spent the first week of February in a very depressed mood.

Rising stock prices, and low unemployment, have the Trump approval rating as close to 50 as it can get. He is certain to be even more unhinged, and unbound, by the Republican Senate’s refusal to even censure him for his theft so far.

Lincoln said it best. “The hen is the wisest of all the animal creation, because she never cackles until the egg is laid.” 

The tide is still running out on Trumpism. Demographically, it stands no chance. In terms of issues, the same. It’s only the market that’s with him. That, too, may be about to change.

That’s because the stock market, like the housing market, is made up of assets.

Generation Gap

I’m writing this before any caucuses, before any primaries.

But it’s clear to me what the story of the Democratic Primary is going to be.

The Generation Gap.

It’s back, baby.

The mystery of Bernie Sanders’ rising in January’s polls, to the top of the Democratic stack, is all about the Generation Gap. It’s now wider than it’s been at any time since Bernie here was on the other side of it, in the 1960s.

Iowa voters are well aware of how they're talking past one another. While Bernie was beloved of the young folks on Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg, the youngest candidate in the field, was favored by the olds.