Screengrab from https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1101510060184952838

Vice President Mike Pence was the headliner at CPAC 2019 today and the speech he gave was a preview of the battleground for the 2020 campaign. There are three different themes in the speech: what the administration has done, what the Democrats and Vichy Republicans are trying to prevent the administration from doing, and what the Democrats say they are going to do.

What the administration has done

"Everywhere you look, confidence is back. Jobs are coming back. In a word, America is back” @VP #CPAC2019 #WhatMakesAmericaGreat pic.twitter.com/PFkxVpR8VV

— CPAC 2020 (Text CPAC to 56479) (@CPAC) March 1, 2019

This is true.

The U.S. economy completed one of the best years of a nearly decadelong expansion, growing at a modest pace in the fourth quarter despite slowdowns elsewhere in the world, turbulent financial markets, trade disputes with China and a partial government shutdown late in the year.

Consumer spending was robust thanks to a strong job market, tax cuts and household income gains, while business investment, after faltering in the third quarter, bounced back in the final three months of the year. Economists said the business-investment gain was especially important because it could lay the groundwork for continued strong growth.

Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the goods and services produced across the U.S. economy, expanded at a 2.6% annual rate in October through December, adjusted for seasonal swings in business activity and inflation, the government said. That followed a 3.4% growth rate in the third quarter and a 4.2% growth rate in the second, and it beat economist expectations for a 2.2% reading.

And, in a direct slap at the crew at The Bulwark, and much of the foreign policy cognoscenti the Trump campaign is going to highlight winding down the pointless military conflicts we’ve been engaged in since 2009.

Both issues have their dangers, but, right now, both look like to be winners everywhere but at the editorial pages of the New York Times and Washington Post and in NeverTrump land.

Things the Democrats won’t let the administration do

Pence says President Trump has "no higher priority than the safety of the American people." #CPAC2019 pic.twitter.com/fmBGjTBCDv

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 1, 2019

“I’ll make you a promise. Before we’re done we’re going to build it all” @VP on the #borderwall. #CPAC2019 #WhatMakesAmericaGreat pic.twitter.com/UsBpNSuX6c

— CPAC 2020 (Text CPAC to 56479) (@CPAC) March 1, 2019

You can bet building the Wall will be a focal point. Likewise, you can bet that crimes committed by illegals, the “defund ICE” nonsense, sanctuary cities, the refusal of some jurisdictions to cooperate with ICE will all be front and center. So will human trafficking and drug running. These issues will all be tied to the tail of the Democrat nominee, set on fire, and then they will be chased down Main Street.

Your fears will be mongered like fear hasn’t been mongered since the 1968 campaign.

Things the Democrats have done

Two concepts. Dead economies and dead babies.

Pence: "It was freedom, not socialism that gave us the highest quality of life, the cleanest environment on earth and improve the health and well being of millions around the world." #CPAC2019 pic.twitter.com/PJ2ZHWBzDU

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 1, 2019

PENCE: "With Democrat standing for late-term abortion and infanticide and a culture of death, I promise you this president, this party, & this movement will always stand for the unborn. We will always defend the unalienable right to life."

(Democrats do not support infanticide) pic.twitter.com/0yxPjZdRyY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 1, 2019

“Freedom of religion is under attack in this country. Lately it actually has become fashionable for media elites and Hollywood liberals to mock religious belief” @VP #CPAC2019 #WhatMakesAmericaGreat pic.twitter.com/1lMQvIEEWh

— CPAC 2020 (Text CPAC to 56479) (@CPAC) March 1, 2019

(If you want to read some really funny stuff, read the whole thread by this asswipe (this is a Croatian word pronounced ahz-wee-pay and means “noble and learned man”) Aaron Rupar from Vox. You can nearly hear him whimper as he toys with his man-bun.

This is how Pence described the Democrats fealty to socialism:

Today Democrats openly advocate an economic system that has impoverished millions of people around the world. Under the guise of Medicare for all and a Green New Deal, Democrats are embracing the same tired economic theories that have impoverished nations and stifled the liberties of millions over the past centuries. That system is socialism,” he said.

“What Medicare for all really means is quality health care for none. The only thing green about the so-called Green New Deal is how much green it’s going to cost taxpayers if these people ever pass it into law.”

Socialism took center stage at CPAC this week, with several speakers focusing on the philosophy and Democrats’ recent legislation, painting them as threats to the country’s ideological fabric.

“The truth is we want to make poor people richer, they want to make rich people poorer. We want to make poverty more rare, they want to make poverty more comfortable. That’s the choice we face today, men and women, between freedom and socialism, between personal responsibility and government dependence,” Pence said.

“The moment America becomes a socialist country is the day America ceases to be America.”

Eventually, the Democrats are going to have to address the Green New Deal. Eventually, they are going to have to address ‘free college.’ Eventually, they are going to have to address the impact of their climate change bullsh** on real people. Eventually, they are going to have to address their hostility to freedom of conscience and their enslavement to the whole woke nonsense.

This is probably the closing argument for Trump/Pence 2020.

“Do we have confidence in our values to defend them, do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders, do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization. Looking out across this room … I know we do.” @VP #CPAC2019 #WhatMakesAmericaGreat pic.twitter.com/9tmXHA1jIG

— CPAC 2020 (Text CPAC to 56479) (@CPAC) March 1, 2019

It is safe to say that this is probably the clearest contrast between Republican and Democrat that we’ve seen since 1968. Pence is showing that not only will they not be afraid to engage in Culture War, they welcome it. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats react.

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