Al-Jazeera, Qatar, June 22
The Democrats were confident that President Trump would be impeached, or at the very least lose his credibility, by the time the 2020 elections rolled around. But as soon as Special Counsel Robert Mueller acquitted the president in his investigation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped back from her efforts to impeach Trump. She did so despite great pressure she faced within her own party, partially because she knew that such a move will come back to hurt the Democrats down the road. Unfortunately for Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, it is highly unlikely that Trump will be displaced from office. The dilemma faced by the Democrats now is that they lack leaders like Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama. There is not a single figurehead that can unite and lead the party in the upcoming elections and pose a credible threat against Donald Trump. Even Joe Biden, who is perceived as a prominent politician and a close confidant of Obama, lacks the charisma needed to defeat Trump and win the election. Winning the presidency is very different from winning a seat in Congress. Many clever politicians, who fared well in their bids for Congress, failed miserably at their presidential campaigns. This will likely be the case with the Democratic nominees competing in the upcoming election. Trump is not only the first to understand, but also the first to capitalize on this reality. He used his lack of political credentials to his own advantage, by presenting himself as a D.C. renegade. The Democrats, whether they openly admit this or not, are truly frustrated by this situation. And while it is too soon to tell who will win the race, we can confidently say that the Democrats had hoped for a much stronger starting point for next year’s campaign. – Ahmad al-Faraj (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)