With Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN-D), former Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, IN-D), and billionaire and political climate activist Tim Steyer all dropping out of the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination race ahead of Super Tuesday, the Democratic field continues to narrow. After the votes are counted tonight, their party’s 2020 presidential nomination process may be effectively down to three candidates, even if Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA-D) and Representative Tulsi Gabbard opt to remain in. Senator Bernie Sanders (VT-I and self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist), former Vice President Joe Biden and billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael “Mike” Bloomberg appear to be prepared to fight well beyond today’s voting.
But the question for manufactured housing professionals and residents alike should be — which of the remaining options would be best for their respective long-term interests?
The industry has long enjoyed widely bipartisan support on a range of issues. For example, the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (MHIA) of 2000 and the Duty to Serve (DTS) provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 gained strong bipartisan support. The first was signed into law by President William Jefferson “Bill“ Clinton (D), while HERA was inked by George W. Bush (R). A bipartisan group of lawmakers released a report published in 2019 that praised manufactured housing as an important part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis.
The industry is wise to maintain that ability to work across the aisle.
For political and policy analysis purposes, the industry’s professionals, residents, and investors are equally wise to consider how the remaining candidates might behave toward the industry and its residents if they win.
With that in mind, and so as not to rely upon the notions of others, MHProNews has tuned into every Democratic debate and has viewed several town halls with their various candidates. That includes the one Monday night – March 2, 2020 – with former Mayor Mike Bloomberg. It is worth noting that this may be the first time in modern history that two of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination are both Jewish. Several of the industry’s corporate leaders are too.
Billionaire Bloomberg delivered his arguably strongest live performance in the Fox News town hall. For those Democrat’s seeking an alternative to faltering and gaff-prone former Vice President Joe Biden, or self-described Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, Bloomberg overall acquitted himself well, although there was a protest by a few against the billionaire that broke out near the end of the televised event. But Bloomberg’s positions are such that he would be accepted by many Jewish and other leaders.
That is less true for Senator Sanders, as statements made at the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) made clear.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the crowd of 20,000 gathered at the AIPAC conference on Sunday that Sanders was an “ignorant fool.”
“We don’t want Bernie Sanders at AIPAC. We don’t want him in Israel,” Danon said. Others felt that Sanders is ironically fueling anti-Semitic sentiment, by embracing Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI-D) and Ilhan Omar (MN-D) and activist Linda Sarsour — all of whom are supporters of the international BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) to boycott Israel. “He is bad news,” Malcolm Sherman, a retired math professor from Albany, New York, told the New York Post. “He is not a friend of Israel.” Sanders has fueled the feud he has with AIPAC when he accused them of having a platform “for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.”
By contrast, Bloomberg has taken a more moderate tone that will play better with Jewish interests.
To a significant degree, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-D) endorsement of Biden is widely seen as having boosted his outcome among late-deciders in that state on Saturday. South Carolina’s longest-serving congressman and history-lover said that the Biden campaign’s operation has often been a mess, per the Washington Post.
Several of the 2020 candidates seem to believe that as the contest stands before the outcome is known on Super Tuesday, that the race for the Democratic nomination could be heading for a brokered convention.
Bloomberg said in the Fox News town hall that he won’t be surprised by that outcome, and apparently thinks he could do well with the deal making phase that would occur after the first round of voting by convention delegates. That’s the rules of the contest, Bloomberg said. With his deep pockets and ability to self-fund a potentially $2 billion dollar campaign should he become their party’s nominee, he has a strong case for the never-Bernie wing of the party.
There will be more clarity after tonight’s tallies are known.
If Sanders wins by a sufficient margin in California, that will be significant. What happens in states like Texas, or Massachusetts – where Warren and Sanders will be dueling – will be worth noting. Bloomberg is hoping to finish on top in Virginia but played down expectations to win several states today. He has said he is “in it to win it,” and gathering delegates in even second and third place finishes is enough for him at this point in the primary.
Surprisingly perhaps, given Bloomberg’s statements that Sanders can’t win the White House in a general election and would hurt down-ballot Democrats, the billionaire publisher and businessman said he would reluctantly support Sanders over President Donald J. Trump if the Vermont socialist somehow won the nomination.
MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
Which brings an objective analysis to this point. The one common rallying-point for each 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful has been a strong – even visceral – stance against President Trump. They commonly decry what they say is inept foreign policy, his tax cuts, or handling of the coronavirus, to name a few examples. Claims of racism, bigotry, homophobic, xenophobic, and misogynist behavior are common Democratic candidate lingo. But in doing so, they fly in the face of evidence to the contrary, and also make statements that risk alienating voters that have supported the 45th president.
At last night’s Keep America Great Rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Trump was joined onstage by cheerleaders like “Diamond and Silk.” The audience went wild when they took the stage with President Trump. Several business, celebreties, prominent religious leaders and others have defended the president against those who have made various demeaning allegations that aim to blur performance through rhetoric.
Signs for Latinos, Blacks and Women for Trump have become far more evident at his recent rallies. Democratic commentators like CNN’s Anthony Kapel “Van” Jones have made it clear that President Trump is going after the minority voter in ways that Republicans have failed to do for years. With an overall stronger economy, rising wages, criminal justice reform and more, there are those who think that President Trump might hit 20 percent or more of the black vote. If so, that would jeopardize a key part of the Democratic coalition. Support among Latino voters is – per polling at this time – likely to be higher still.
While none of the 2020 candidates have said much about manufactured homes of late, the policy stances of the Trump campaign seem to be more clearly favorable toward the industry and its residents. HUD Secretary Ben Carson has ever more routinely raised the subject of manufactured homes at events like his recent address at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. At an event that no one in the past 20 years in his role would have mentioned manufactured housing at all, Secretary Carson drew to a close of his address precisely on the value and importance of manufactured homes.
While affordable housing has been mentioned in Democratic debates, it has not been a focus. Some of the proposals for building ‘millions’ of new affordable housing units are so vague that it leaves open to question if they would help or harm the industry and current residents of manufactured housing.
Thus, there is rightfully a level of frustration that manufactured homes and affordable housing in general has become such a politicized and muddled matter. Because the challenges and the solutions are increasingly clear.
The industry’s residents and forward-looking independents should be thinking in terms of increasing the supply of homesites and competition. More supply and competition would limit the ability for predatory operators to do as they have.
Furthermore, that increased supply could be accomplished by enforcement of good existing laws, as the reports linked above and below reflect.
The same principle of enforcement of existing laws is true for limiting, stopping and punishing bad behavior by unethical operations in manufactured housing, in communities, retail and financing.
When laws are seemingly broken, holding public hearings that probe ‘black hat’ behavior should occur while drawing a bright line distinction between bad actors and ‘white hat’ companies.
While rent control or other so-called protections are debated, establishing an ability for residents to purchase their own communities in a just fashion could prove to be in the longer term interests of ‘mom and pop’ sized companies as well as residents who purchased with a reasonable expectation of living at a property long term.
As research increasingly spotlights the value of preserving existing manufactured home communities, that message should be stressed by residents and ethical professionals alike.
Endangered – University of Texas Study of Manufactured Home Communities
That the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) has so failed to enforce their own so-called “code of professional conduct” – even in high profile matters that has understandably drawn legislator’s scrutiny. Controversies investigated and decried by state officials – see examples linked here, here and the video posted below – clearly fly in the face of MHI’s postured claims. Those and numerous other controversies raging in states from coast-to-coast suggest that the Arlington-based trade group is paying lip service to business ethics. But an objective look at the evidence suggests something quite different than MHI and their surrogates posture.
Some manufactured housing professionals have spoken out about the slow-moving train-wreck that is part of a pattern that is keeping the industry under a cloud of suspicion that harms the interests of white-hat professionals and millions of current and potential manufactured homeowners.
Today 14 states, 1 territory and over 1300 delegates on the Democratic side are up for grabs. On the Republican side, President Trump is a lock, with some states cancelling their nomination contests altogether. MHProNews will continue to monitor and report on the issues that candidates and others raise that impact manufactured housing, manufactured homeowners, and those who seek their piece of the American Dream.
To go deeper on the growing track record of related issues that have arguably been keeping manufactured housing underperforming during an affordable housing crisis, see the timely reports further below. That’s it for this report on manufactured housing “Industry News Tips and Views Pros Can Use“ © – MHVille’s runaway #1 news source, where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (News, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary.) Notice: all third party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media. 
Submitted by Soheyla Kovach for MHProNews.com. Soheyla is a co-founder and managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn here and here.
Manufactured Home Communities Targeted by Lawmakers, AG Plans – Manufactured Housing Industry Alert
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There is more than enough evidence that there is corruption, deceptive trade practices and other arguably illegal activities that are benefiting a few to the harm of the many. See the related articles below.
The bad news is that the opposition to ethical ‘white hat’ businesses, investors and other professionals have deep pockets and they are politically connected. But the good news is that Bernie Madoff could have once made that similar claim. Today, Madoff sits in a federal cell. It took persistence on the part of a few professionals with federal officials to finally topple Madoff’s multi-billion dollar empire.
