HBO show host Bill Maher is trying really, really hard these days to counsel Democrats on how to win the presidency in 2020. Perhaps he sees an opening in the latest Gallup polling that shows President Trump’s approval rating is 50% or higher in 17 states but below 40% in 16 states. Polling this far out is to be taken with a huge grain of salt, but it is interesting to keep an eye on the numbers.

I don’t watch Maher’s show but I do watch clips and read about whatever the latest nonsense is that he’s spewing. Last week I noticed a particularly reasonable tone in his advice to Democrats. He advised Democrat voters in the primary process to not eat their own this time. As a reference, he noted how Democrats “nitpicked Hillary” over “the b.s. emails” which I found amusing because I was told over and over again by Democrats in 2016 that those emails were no big deal. He also said, “Elizabeth Warren claimed to be a Native American. So what? Donald Trump claimed to be human.” Orange Man, not human – not exactly cutting edge political commentary, but there you have it. His guests sitting around the table that night included Clinton loyalist Paul Begala and musician John Legend.

In his end-of-show “New Rules” segment, Maher called for the end of “swiping left on perfectly good presidential candidates,” adding that the pattern appeared to already be set in stone.

“Kamala Harris has already had to play defense because it’s come out that when she was a prosecutor… she prosecuted people,” he said firmly.

“Elizabeth Warren claimed to be Native American. So what? Trump claimed to be human,” he said, pointing out that the Massachusetts senator is the “champion of consumer rights in the age of income inequality.”

And Bernie Sanders? “We used to like him, but he didn’t personally chaperone everyone on his campaign, so he’s a sex monster once removed,” Maher said. “The candidate has to have tough standards for their staff, but not too tough,” he added, as a photo flashed of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has been accused of being too tough on her staff.

In the context of the Oscars that will air Sunday night, he said, “This is a real problem in our society, looking to dump someone good because there must be someone more perfect,” he said. “And sometimes, what you end up with is, no one to host the Oscars at all.” That’s a reference to comedian Kevin Hart, who was dumped as this year’s Oscar host over some tweets from years ago. Is Maher now going back to his roots and willingly giving less than politically correct opinions so that the Democrats can benefit in their hopes of defeating President Trump? Who knows. I think he’s alarmed at the possibility of the Democrats giving the nod to a socialist that will starkly contrast with Trump’s capitalist agenda on a debate stage and it’s hard to believe Trump comes out a loser on election day should that happen.

Last night, Maher continued on with his new role as political consultant and counseled California Rep. Adam Schiff to go on Fox News shows more to educate their intellectual lessers, the Fox News Channel viewers. See, if he’d just go on Fox News shows and talk about the Democrat agenda, red state America would just fall in line, or something. That’s some strong wishcasting, but it does make sense to get out of a partisan bubble and interact with the other side. Schiff said he goes on Fox from time to time (he does) and then claimed Sean Hannity asks him to come on “a lot”. And then he tossed out the obligatory slams to Fox – it’s State-run journalism without “credible” journalists.

“You should go. That’s who needs to hear your message,” Maher said. “You gotta get in the bubble, man.”

“Here’s the thing about Fox News — and there are credible journalists on Fox News,” Schiff said, after which he paused and laughed, “Just trying to think of some.”

Schiff went on: “If there had been a Fox News when Richard Nixon was president, there would have been no premature end of his administration.”

Maher jumped in, saying, “Which is why you gotta go there, man!”

Maher may be helping to usher in some common sense to his party. Another Democrat is cautioning the party along the same lines. Former Rep. John Delaney, running for the 2020 Democratic nomination himself, warned the party not to nominate a candidate who embraces socialism this week in an interview on CNN.

“If we want to win and we want to beat Trump, we should not put up a candidate who embraces socialism. That’s not what the American people want,” Delaney said Wednesday on CNN.

Clearly, Delaney is going for the moderate niche but the Democrats so far have shown no interest in moderation from their candidates. The far left has all the energy and it will probably take someone like Joe Biden to enter the race to offer an alternative. He’s a perennial loser in presidential primaries, though, and the press is busy propping up Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren right now. What’s a moderate to do?