In politics, it’s never too early to start thinking about the next election. Even though the last presidential contest ended just six months ago, Democrats are already looking around for their next savior.

Who will Democrats in 2020 put up against the disaster otherwise known as Donald Trump (assuming he makes it to the end of his term without being impeached or forced to resign)?

Without a clear frontrunner, the prospect of getting a Democrat back to the White House will no doubt attract an array of hopefuls … from senators and governors, to showbiz types and businessmen.

Here are some potential candidates to watch:

1. Elizabeth Warren – Some are calling her the leading contender for 2020. Her populist cred includes having created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from scratch. While she is feisty, a good speaker and is beloved by many Democrats, would Dems be spooked over picking another woman to head their ticket?
2. Cory Booker – Far from being the most liberal member of the Senate, the relatively young Booker (47) is media savvy and the darling of the Manhattan donor class. But is the country ready for it’s second African-American commander in chief?
3. Andrew Cuomo –The ambitious New York governor has put together an impressive list of accomplishments, including his recently passed universal college tuition program. But in a party where the left is on the rise, would Dems go for a man who has positioned himself as a centrist?
4. Al Franken – During Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet picks, Franken has been a breath of fresh air and a beacon of common sense. Some say the ex-comedian’s devastating wit is the perfect foil for the likes of a Donald Trump. But would Dems seriously consider the former star of Saturday Night Live?
5. Kamala Harris – She’s African-American and female. To many Democrats, she’s a dream candidate. But the first black woman to serve as California Attorney General just got to the Senate. She may be interested in higher office but has she paid her dues yet?

Here are some other names being bandied about for 2020: Sen. Kristen Gillibrand; Gov. Deval Patrick; Sen. Amy Klobuchar; Sen. Tim Kaine; Sen. Chris Murphy; Gov. John Hickenlooper; Sen. Sherrod Brown. Believe it or not, some are even mentioning Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden … and wait, Hillary Clinton! For some real long shots, how about Oprah Winfrey, Michele Obama, billionaire Mark Cuban or Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson?

Many are calling Barack Obama a once in a lifetime figure. For Democrats eager to regain the reins of power, can lightning strike twice?

(AP Photo/Gabriel Bouys, Pool)

If Vladimir Putin had any doubts whether his big investment in Donald Trump would pay off, he got his answer relatively quickly. Trump’s just concluded first trip abroad as commander in chief of the United States made all those rubles spent to get him elected the bargain of a lifetime.

Yes, Putin no doubt knew a Trump presidency would be a destabilizing factor inside American politics but could he have known the former reality TV star would be able to single-handedly sink America’s hard earned reputation in the world, particularly among our allies, so fast?

Ivo H. Daalder, a former U.S. NATO envoy, has said, thanks to Trump, the days of American global leadership are over.

“This seems to be the end of an era, one in which the United States led and Europe followed,” stated Daalder. “The president’s failure to endorse Article 5 in a speech at NATO headquarters, his continued lambasting of Germany and other allies on trade, his apparent decision to walk away from the Paris climate agreement – all suggest that the United States is less interested in leading globally than has been the case for the last 70 years.”

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in a speech following Trump’s visit admitted (ok indirectly) Germany and Europe could no longer count on the United States for support.

The days when her continent could rely on others was “over to a certain extent,” said Europe’s de facto leader. “This is what I have experienced in the last few days. And that is why I can only say that we Europeans must take fate into our own hands.”

A relationship with our allies that took President Obama years to mend following the disaster otherwise known as George W. Bush, wiped away by a bullying, hostile Trump in just one visit! Or as Trump himself described it: “Trip was a great success for America.” Putin, the former KGB spy, must be downright giddy! He has proven himself to be nothing short of a political mastermind.

Americans, and allies, take heart. Trump will not always occupy the Oval Office. Whether sooner or later, a new chief executive will be elected.

One can only hope the new American leader will be able to repair the damage done by the most unqualified, unfit president in American history and reclaim America’s rightful title as “leader of the free world.”

Do the Democrats have another Obama hiding somewhere?

Photo | the sun.co.uk

Call them what you want … deceptions, fabrications or falsehoods … the Trump White House is knee-deep in a cesspool of lies. Ranging from the comical (“No politician in history … has been treated worse or more unfairly”) to the absurd (“The Russia story is a total hoax”), it seems mendacity is at the core of the Trump administration.

But when media outlets report on the mountain of Trump BS, most loyal supporters of the president reflexively shout, “fake news.” Any story questioning Trump’s veracity is simply labeled unfair or “negative.”

And boy has the news coverage been negative!

It should come as no surprise that, barring Fox News, most of the nation’s largest and most influential news outlets rightfully do not support our deceitful president.

In a recent Harvard study, professor Thomas Patterson notes, “Trump’s coverage during his first 100 days set a new standard for negativity. Of news reports with a clear tone, negative reports outpaced positive ones by 80 percent to 20 percent. Trump’s coverage was unsparing. In no week did the coverage drop below 70 percent negative and it reached 90 percent negative at its peak.”

Unfortunately, for loyal Trump supporters, negative is synonymous with inaccurate.

To their credit, most news organizations have not let up on calling out the new president.

You know things aren’t going well when even some at Fox News think Trump is a disaster.

Chris Wallace, reporter for the Republicans’ most trusted mouthpiece, recently said, “Every step he has taken this week has cut into the credibility of this White House, the trust of the people inside the White House, and clearly I think the trust that the American people pay to this President and to his White House staff.”

During the presidential campaign, Ted Cruz correctly nailed Trump as a “pathological liar.” Now that falsifier occupies the Oval Office.

But as bad as having a lying president is (in damage to our country and national security), what’s even more frightening is that when the media does its job by reporting Trump’s lies, a large segment of the American population would rather attack the press than the prevaricating prez.

Photo | lyingcrookedtrump.com

After Donald Trump’s stunning win over Hillary Clinton on November 8, 2016, the majority of Americans braced themselves for the worst. Yes, a Trump presidency promised to be bad, but how awful could it possibly be? And if it devolved into a true horror show, Congress (i.e. Republicans) would impeach Trump and hand the reigns of power to Mike Pence (their preferred guy, anyway).

Only 118 days in office, we now know Trump’s “Reign of Error” is much worse than anyone could have imagined. His administration simply careens from one scandal to another. In just the past week, Trump committed what many are calling “obstruction of justice” by firing FBI Director James Comey and “treason” by revealing classified information to a foreign enemy, Russia.

But just as Trump boasted on the campaign trail he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose supporters, nearly all congressional Republicans are sticking with their bumbling president. The “I” word is only being mentioned by a growing number of congressional Democrats.

True to form, it’s been a classic case of party over country for our nation’s Republican “leaders.”

The realization has sunk in among many Democrats the only way to send Trump to an early retirement is to win back the House in 2018 and begin impeachment proceedings.

There are two big problems with that assessment.

One, at the rate Trump and his administration are going, can the country even survive another year and a half of the Trump regime? And two, what makes Democrats believe that voters will be so sick of Trump they will punish Republicans by voting them out of office?

If history is any guide, Republicans will employ every dirty trick at their disposal to stay in power. A doubling down on their voter suppression tactics? You betcha! A ramping up of their propaganda machine (conservative news outlets) to keep voters misinformed? Why of course!

All one has to remember is that as disliked as George W. Bush was going into his 2004 reelection campaign, having an overall approval rating of under 50% (which normally spells doom for an incumbent), he beat the “swift-boated” John Kerry.

It is possible many of the party-loyal Republicans will go down in defeat in 2018 because of their support, and enabling, of what perhaps is already the most incompetent, dangerous and corrupt presidential administration in American history. But then again … they’ve been in dire situations before and have come out smelling like roses.

Photo | Liberal America