Laura Ainsworth, Staff Writer

If (when!) Joe Biden’s campaign manages to weasel out of any debate appearances with President Trump, Trump's campaign should just buy some prime airtime, put him next to an empty chair (or maybe a cardboard cut-out of Biden), and have him give the opening statement he might have made in a real debate (but significantly longer, since Joe's not there). Here's what I wish he would say:

PRESIDENT TRUMP:

"My fellow Americans, I love my country –- I love America, with all my heart. I always have. And I feel really bad right now, because millions of Americans, just because they don’t like ME –- don’t like my style, don’t like my tweets, don’t like things they think I’ve said (most of which are twisted-up versions that convey something I never intended) –- are ready to vote for anybody but me. Anybody. I mean……..ANYBODY. That’s what “never-Trumper” means, after all; I know that. And THAT means, right now, this country is in big trouble.

“Because they don’t like ME, some Americans might unwittingly put into power a radical political machine that will decimate their most basic freedoms, with ruthless, violent tactics and a long list of demands that will change America into something unrecognizable, probably forever. (Some of this has been a long time coming, but because the virus hit, they’re jumping on the crisis as a way to take control quickly.)

"Because they don’t like ME, some Americans might unwittingly offer inroads to groups that literally want to destroy American cities --- that are ALREADY destroying American cities, GREAT American cities.

“Because they don’t like ME, some in our government abused our own justice system to try to bring me down, and if they get away with what they did, mark my word, they’ll do it again to the next leader they don’t like. They went so far as to accuse me, with no evidence at all except for what was falsified, of working as an agent of Russia. It was crazy –- 2020 will go down in history as “the year America went crazy.” Who needs Russia to interfere in our elections when we’ve got our own bureaucracy to do it, as well as various outside influences with virtually limitless resources, pouring money into radical leftist anti-American groups?

“Because they don’t like ME, some Americans ignore all that I did --- before the virus arrived from China to at least temporarily undo much of it --- to bring the economy back like gangbusters after years of weak semi-recovery. They ignore the incredible benefit that came out of that to hard-working Americans, men and women, of all races, in all walks of life.

“Because they don’t like ME, some Americans even ignore the legitimate work of some doctors and researchers because they think it’s more important to believe I’m wrong. And they forget that I was the one to stop incoming travel from China and Europe, which likely saved thousands of American lives, when my opponents ridiculed that.

“Because they don’t like ME, some Americans paint me as someone I don’t even know. Really, I don’t even recognize myself from what they say. If I met that person, I wouldn’t like him, either! They’ve said I only care about myself, when that is such a lie. I know, I know, it’s just politics. Say whatever you need to, right? (Like Kamala, she knows all about that.) But those of you who don’t like me need to understand: the object of your hatred is a phantom, something made up. My own style –- which can be misinterpreted, I know –- may have helped fixate that in your mind, as I’m obviously not a slick politician, but it’s still false.

“I don’t care a whole lot about that part of it, because I knew when I got into politics that it would be rough. I got into it anyway because I love my country and had a beautiful vision of what we could do. I kind of expected the lies from the politicians, but the media –- you have a lot to answer for. Because YOU don’t like me, you have become a shameful propaganda machine for my opponents. You are to journalism what potted meat is to chateaubriand. And it doesn’t seem to matter to you how this might damage our country in the long run. You just wanted Americans to hate me.

“And now, because you did your job and some of them DO hate me, they may be on the verge of putting into power a group of people, those on the far left, who don’t know what in hell they are doing. I mean, they don’t. We can all see they don’t, unless pure anarchy really is what they want. They’ve shown they can’t run cities. They can’t run states. They won’t enforce the law. They’ll gladly take away your police AND your means to defend yourself.

And everywhere they look, they see racism that in most cases isn’t even there, except in their own minds. They don’t understand that in our country, in just the past several decades, most hearts and minds have changed drastically about race, which is fantastic. And it was only going to get better. It’s as if for some reason they weren’t comfortable with that and wanted to do something, quite deliberately, to make it worse again. I wonder why that is?

These people don’t care about law and order. They don’t care about your personal freedom. They don’t care about learning from history; they want to rewrite it to fit their own agenda, which is to tear down the results of hundreds of years of hard work and incredible advancement.

“Now, simply because some Americans don’t like ME, America is in jeopardy of losing everything that makes it...America. I want you to be aware of this when you cast your vote. PLEASE don’t put our beloved country into the hands of people who are set on destroying its very foundation, and I am not exaggerating, not one bit. I love this country. I’ve showed you the kinds of things I can do for this country, to make it better for all. We’ll get through this virus, and you know I’m the one who needs to be in charge of the vibrant recovery we’ll need afterwards.

So I’m asking for your vote. Remember, it has to be a landslide vote that can be counted right away because so many people will be mailing in their ballots –- vote in person! –-and it has be decisive to save this country from even more chaos. More is at stake now than almost ever before in the history of our country, and I know you realize that. Thank you with all my heart, and God bless America.

Mike Huckabee

How about a little (relatively) good economic news? The Labor Department reported today that 963,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, the first time since March and the beginning of the COVID-19 (Chinese) coronavirus lockdowns that they’ve fallen below 1 million.

While that’s better than economists predicted and a hopeful sign that the economy is starting to recover, there are still tens of millions of Americans collecting unemployment, more than during the Great Recession of 2009. But then, there are still state and city governments forcing businesses to stay shut down, sometimes for the most irrational of reasons (does the virus really spread in bars that serve only pretzels but not in bars with a sandwich menu?)

At least the drop is a positive indicator that the economic plunge was an artificial, government-imposed anchor dropped on what was (and fundamentally, still is) a very strong economy. Democrats are trying desperately to blame Trump for it and claim that only Joe Biden can revive it. But I believe Americans are smart enough to remember that Obama/Biden were entrusted with getting us out of the Great Recession of 2009. Their policies mostly managed to keep some of the worst parts of it going until 2017. If history is any guide, voters will have to decide whether they want to weather the economic downturn only until the virus goes away or until Biden (or Harris) leaves office.

Mike Huckabee

Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage magazine takes a long, deep look into the Democratic Party’s ongoing purge of Jewish people.

Jewish Americans are one of the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting blocs. Republicans often wonder why they keep supporting Democrats, when the Party has turned so hostile toward Israel in recent years, and seems to have more sympathy for Palestinian terrorists who launch rockets into Israel than for the Israelis they hit.

Many analysts have tried to explain the solid Jewish support by saying that American liberal Jews tend to be Jewish in heritage only, and are more loyal to “progressive” politics than to Israel or the Jewish religion. Their avatar is Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn Jew who is openly atheist and socialist. These voters don’t care that Donald Trump is a great ally of Israel; they feel more loyalty to the New York Times editorial page and couldn’t imagine voting for anyone other than the Democrats.

But as Greenfield makes clear, the current Democratic Party isn’t just “tough” on Israel or “sympathetic” to the Palestinians. The far-left “progressive/Democratic socialists” who are quickly taking over the Party are openly hostile to all Jews and are systematically purging them from the Party, and the establishment is going along with it. Just as radicals like AOC and Ilhan Omar got into office by targeting incumbents in safe blue districts, they’re also using gerrymandering to ensure that Jews, even in heavily Jewish areas, are broken up so they no longer comprise a majority in their districts, to deny them representation.

As Greenfield observes, New York City has the largest Jewish population in America, yet in the 117th Congress, the number of Jewish New York Representatives will have dwindled to only two. Many Jewish residents will be “represented” by radical secular leftists who are openly hostile to Israel, support groups that are murdering Jews, and are indifferent to their Jewish constituents. This isn’t true in other heavily Jewish areas such as Florida, but as the Party moves left and continues the winnowing, it soon will be.

If you’re justifiably concerned about the rising anti-Semitism in the Party (and not just from fringe voices: Omar just won her primary easily and with full support of the Party apparatus and Nancy Pelosi), you need to read this. And if you are a Jewish voter who thinks only the Democrats can be trusted, then you really need to read this.