Democrats still haven't settled on anyone deemed a sure-fire bet to counter Trump's grip on American voters

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When it comes to how great they are, there’s a communal need among Americans and their politicians to ratchet up certainty in their magnificence.

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Whether it’s an irresistible compulsion to comfort the electorate, or the electorate’s insatiable need to be reassured, it’s a rare instance in a ruinously divided country in which electors and electees find themselves on the same page. They may spend their days vilifying one another at every available opportunity, but come quitting time they’ll always share a mutual sense of their excellence.

As president, Barack Obama more than once identified the U.S. as the world’s “one indispensable nation.” Donald Trump insists “no other country comes close” to American greatness, while largely crediting himself for providing it. So embedded is the idea of “American exceptionalism” that it’s taken as read, along with the belief God ordained America to occupy the land it now sits on.

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That being the case, it’s understandable that California Governor Gavin Newsom would........

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