We’re just a few months past the 2018 elections, but the 2020 campaign is already in high gear. Every day it seems like someone else jumps into the presidential contest. 

Here’s the list of who’s in so far:

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Former San Antonio mayor and HUD Secretary Julian Castro
Former Rep. John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

The field of contenders could soon get very crowded. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) all sound like candidates. Even Hillary Clinton is reportedly talking to friends about a third run for the White House.

On the GOP side, there continues to be speculation about a potential primary challenge to President Trump from either former Ohio Governor John Kasich or Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Meanwhile, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is mulling a run as an independent candidate and has reportedly hired one former top Obama aide.

“Medicare For All”

Sen. Kamala Harris formally launched her campaign over the weekend and drew a bigger crowd than the one Barack Obama had at his official announcement. But is she ready for prime time? 

At a town hall with Iowa voters Monday night, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Harris about her endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ socialized healthcare plan known as “Medicare for All.” Tapper specifically noted that Sanders’ plan bans private health insurance, yet that is how most Americans get their healthcare today. 

Harris was all in on a total government takeover of healthcare.

My friends, there’s no such thing as “free government healthcare.” The costs are astronomical, which is why every state that has considered single-payer healthcare has quickly abandoned it. 

Just think about how far we have come: Barack Obama sold Obamacare by telling us that if you liked your doctor and your healthcare plan you would be able to keep them. 

That was obviously a lie then, but now Democrats aren’t even trying to pretend that they favor free enterprise and private business. They have embraced socialism.

When Republicans tried to repeal Obamacare in 2017 because it was such a disaster, Democrats fought tooth and nail to keep it. Yet by embracing “Medicare for All,” Democrats are admitting that Obamacare is a failure, and they are prescribing something far more radical.

Nobody wants anyone in America to die because they don’t have insurance. But be careful what you wish for. As the saying goes, a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have. 

That is exactly what Harris is telling us she will do. She will take away private health insurance options in order to give us a government-run, rationed healthcare scheme.

Two Americas

In 2004, a young state senator from Illinois burst onto the national stage when he delivered the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. Barack Obama captured the public’s imagination when he said:

“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America… We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”

If only that were so.

The Board of Trustees of Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) decided to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance because, according to Board President Robert Miller, the Pledge is “steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism.”

Progressives control California and this is the radical agenda they are pushing. When Celeste Barber, a former instructor at SBCC, attempted to recite the Pledge at a recent board meeting, radicals in the crowd tried to shout her down. 

But there is another America too. 

Air Force veteran Joseph Walker passed away recently. Authorities attempting to arrange his funeral at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen, Texas, could not reach any living relatives. 

So they put out the word on social media and invited the public to attend the unaccompanied burial.  Thousands of Texans turned out to pay their respects. 

Virtually every day there are examples of the culture war and the clash of values going on in America. Even now, I still believe that what happened in Killeen is much closer to the heart of America than the Pledge-hating weenies in Santa Barbara. 

But it is doubtful that these two impulses will be able to coexist side-by-side. One despises the country it lives in, while the other cherishes it. 

Ultimately, one set of values is going to prevail. As Abraham Lincoln said so many years ago, we will either nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.

Prayers For Houston

Four Houston police officers were shot Monday night while attempting to serve a narcotics warrant. Two officers have been released from the hospital, while two remain in critical but stable condition. 

Reacting to news of the shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the attack was “a solemn reminder of the service and sacrifice our brave men and women in law enforcement make every day to keep us safe.”

Joe Gamaldi, president of the Houston Police Officer’s union, put it more bluntly when he said:

“We are sick and tired of having targets on our back. We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we’re trying to do is protect this community and protect our families.

"Enough is enough. If you’re the ones out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy, well just know we’ve all got your number now. We’re going to be keeping track on all of y'all, and we’re going to make sure to hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers.”

Please join Carol and me in praying for the wounded Houston officers and their families, as well as all the men and women who serve on the Thin Blue Line.

Other Headlines

• The State of the Union Address is back on. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump agreed to schedule the annual address for next Tuesday, February 5th.

• The Senate Monday voted 74-to-19 to advance a major package of pro-Israel bills. It codifies a $38 billion, 10-year commitment to Israel’s security and also authorizes states and local governments to deny contracts to companies that support the anti-Semitic boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The 19 “no” votes were all Democrats, including several presidential candidates.

• Former Trump advisor Roger Stone appeared in federal court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to seven charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy explains, the charges once again make it clear that “There was no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government” — the alleged reason for the Mueller investigation.