"Trump-Year 1" Presidential Panel with Ed Rollins, Roger Cohen, David Frum and Douglas Brinkley

"Trump - Year One" Presidential Panel in partnership with Hunter College & The Common Good was held Wednesday night at a packed Danny Kaye Playhouse.  The moderator for the evening was Dana Perino, co-hose of Fox News Channel's "The Five" & anchor of "The Daily Briefing".  Her illustrious & eloquent panel, alongside Perino, provided a spectrum of political perspectives.  The 4 prominent writers & political commentariats comp "NYT" columnist, David Frum, Sr. Editor at the "Atlantic Monthly" and Ed Rollins, premier political strategist who served as Pres. Reagan's campaign mgr. ('84).  The prescient topic that brought in a full crowd on a very chilly evening centered on Trump's performance during his first months in office.   Perino, did a good job asking pertinent questions without pontificating her views. (Although, she asked whether Trump should receive credit for the upsurge in the state of the nation's economy "...the 2nd highest record for the stock exchange today, the highest coming recently under Trump".)   The 4 men on the panel all gave cogent responses and were very respective of each other's speaking time.  There was an overall shared consensus that Trump is {in my words} "a shithole of a president".  Their assessments echoed each others & felt this 1st year has been "ugly& troubling".  I'll reiterate some comments without quoting the individual.  Trump has caused numerous problems, exacerbated volatile issues & has polarized of our nation. There is no unity and no discernible foreign or nat'l policies.  Trump was described as a bully, in need of constant affirmation.  He was called immature, uninformed & lackadaisical in becoming educated on pressing issues.   And most disturbing, they were all convinced it highly possible he could provoke a nuclear attack from N. Korea or Iran or both.  Trump has burnt bridges with German Chancellor Merkel whose alliance is greatly needed.  He's pulled us from the Paris Climate Accord.  China & Russia feel more omnipotent with Trump in office &  consider the US flagging behind as a world power.  The US GNP is at a low of 20%.  Meanwhile he's put the world in an ambiguous position leaning towards disasters.   The quick answer as to whether the panel thinks Trump would win the election in 2020:  Rollins YES (if the economy is good), Cohen NO, Brinkley NO and Frum PROBABLY NOT.  The general consensus is there is no clear Dem. Presidential candidate but highly likely Hilary Clinton & Joe Biden will bide for the nomination.