Democrats' desegregation gamble

Why the fight over busing could come back to haunt Democrats, no matter who wins

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.
(Image credit: Illustrated | SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images, Joshua Lott/Getty Images, AP Photo, Julia Paszkiewicz/iStock)

Democrats have a great opportunity in 2020. Their nominee will face off against an unpopular president who struggles to get past the investigation into Russian interference in the previous election. The crisis on the southern border might cut both ways politically, but for the moment provides candidates with lots of opportunities to paint President Trump as heartless. A new Democratic majority has made their agenda at least somewhat more relevant than in the previous session of Congress, an advantage that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can use to force votes that will paint Trump's fellow Republicans into political corners.

All Democrats have to do is stay focused on the present and future, and refrain from scaring voters more than Trump does. Instead, their first round of debates produced a heated argument over a busing — a controversial and deeply unpopular social policy from decades ago aimed at solving an entirely different set of problems than Americans face at the moment. Democrats are giving the distinct impression that they might bring back busing, and this threatens to undo their successes in 2018's midterms and their 2020 momentum against Trump.

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Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.