Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Channeling the Anger
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Rent-a-womb: Our correspondent Brian Entin goes undercover to expose birth tourism 2.0.
In the 2000s, everybody talked about pregnant Chinese women coming to America on tourist visas to give birth and thus have a child with American citizenship.
Now, Chinese families are renting a womb – to have American women give birth to American kids, then go back to China with their new child.
IT'S WILD: Entin joins us tonight with his exclusive reporting.
Axing the Department of Education: Only Congress can eliminate the Department of Education, so President Trump's executive order to dismantle the department from earlier today won't do much.
Be fair: Trump did promise that all the programs Democrats warned would be cut – such as Pell Grants and programs for assisting kids with special needs – will remain fully funded.
Therefore, Democrats should stop whining, and Republicans should stop celebrating.
More importantly: It's unclear how the executive order will actually help America's dismal education system.
The United States is ranked fifth in the world for the highest cost spent per student but ranks 31st in the world for education performance.
For context: South Korea spends practically the same amount per student but has the best educational system in the world.
Too bad Trump can't eliminate teachers unions!
Conventional wisdom says that Democrats must 'moderate' to win – conventional wisdom is usually wrong.
America is angry – 'That's why they elected President Trump,' goes the line – yes, that's the truth.
But other parts of America are angry at Donald Trump – despite Trump's claims of a 'landslide,' we are still pretty evenly split as a nation.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke at a town hall in Eau Claire, Wisconsin – and it was quite the performance.
The gleefulness at Tesla's stock price declining was pathetic, but for our purposes today, that's beside the point – we covered it yesterday.
We told you earlier this week that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faces a Democratic firing squad for doing what's best for the country.
He kept the government open rather than 'fighting Trump.'
Now, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is likely to primary Schumer in the New York Senate race.
History tells us whoever can harness the real anger in America wins.
There is a lot of populist anger on the Left right now that the traditional Democratic Party did not understand this past election.
There was a lot of populist anger on the Right that the traditional Republican Party didn't understand in 2008.
Look back: John McCain's campaign in 2008 and Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign had a lot in common:
They were both bad candidates with a boring message – they ran on saying, 'I'm not the other guy.'
But it was 'their turn.'
McCain had Sarah Palin as his pick for vice president – Harris had Tim Walz.
Both Palin and Walz are fundamentally unserious people who tapped an emotion in their party.
Thought bubble: The candidates' home states of Alaska and Minnesota must be part of this – maybe the dark and cold winters make people angry.
Republicans formed the Tea Party because they were angry – remember the 2010 march on Washington?
Tens of thousands of conservatives came to the National Mall for the 'Restoring Honor' rally to hear speeches by Sarah Palin and broadcaster Glenn Beck.
But Republicans didn't listen to this base – they nominated Mitt Romney, Mr. Moderate Republican.
DISASTER!
The Republican autopsy after Romney's 2012 loss said the party must become more moderate with:
A path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Compassionate conservatism.
Jeb Bush was their answer, with the logo 'JEB!'
NOPE: Trump came along.
He said to 'build a wall' to keep the rapists and murderers out.
Trump won.
Lesson for Democrats: Don't moderate – channel the anger.
Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett, Sen. Bernie Sanders plus Gov. Tim Walz are onto something – they are capturing an anger.
They haven't figured it out yet – none of them are the 'Trump' of the party, to use our analogy – but they are onto something just like the Tea Party was onto something in 2010.
🎤 AOC and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are on a 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour, where they are hosting town halls in Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.
Pro tip: America isn't mad at the oligarchy – they are mad at the establishment – those are different things.
Finding a bully: Gal Beckerman is out with a must-read piece in The Atlantic, 'Searching for the Democratic Bully.'
'Finding someone to out-Trump Trump might look like an expedient solution to an immediate problem. But it also means fighting a war that the Democrats have already lost,' Berckerman writes.
America is angry: This isn't about finding a bully – Democrats need to find someone to fight to fix things Americans are angry about rather than against Trump.
Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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