Category: Politics

  • DNC Tries to Stop Bernie: Don’t Deny the People Their Choice

    I never held much stock in the idea that centrist Democrats would actually band together and try to stop Bernie from getting the nomination, but after Pete, Beto, and Amy all showed up for Biden yesterday, I am beginning to think that a fix, though not in, might be in the works.

    When I read Michelle Goldberg this morning, and her take is that Bernie cannot attract new voters to win against Trump, it really started to sink in how much Bernie scares the crap out of mainstream Democrats.

    For this piece, I will do a thought exercise. This is not what I currently believe, but I want to do an experiment.

    Let’s just say that all of the middle of the road Democrats all are right about Bernie; if Sanders gets the nomination, he loses to Trump. Well, how did that happen and what does that mean?

    If the centrists continue down their path of trying to pack the vote against Bernie, and create a contested convention where Sanders loses the nomination, then the centrists have just handed Trump a victory. It plays into the narrative that “elitists” know better than the people, and that’s how democracy dies, they would say. Also, if the Democrats do this, then the majority of Bernie supporters won’t show up. (They did it in 2016, remember?) Finally, it sends the message to the people of this country that incremental to no change is better. Sadly, mainstream Democrats aren’t listening to the rest of this country who are actually hurting, which is why they are looking for a Bernie to shake things up. That was a big reason why people voted for Trump, and the mainstream Republicans tried to do the same thing to derail that nomination. They failed and we got Trump.

    I don’t know for certain what the right answer is. Luckily, no one does, but denying voters their choice is not a solution. It will only make things worse.

  • Don’t Eat Your Own

    Ung… That’s how I feel about people supporting candidates in the same political party.

    Forest for the trees, and forgetting who the real problem is, seems to be happening a little too much.

    I see it from supporters for all candidates. When trying to have a conversation about the differences and what that would mean if that person got elected, what I find is that everyone is claiming that the other candidates are the second coming of evil… after Trump that is.

    And then everyone ends with, “But I’ll vote for whoever gets the nomination.”

    Will you?

    Really?

    You can’t tell me how awful Sanders is, and then I am supposed to believe that you will vote for Sanders when it comes down to it? Even though you just told me that he will lose to Trump. You aren’t going to think that the cause is lost and just stay home?

    That’s what I fear, because Bernie fans did that in 2016, or they went for Trump… Which boggles my mind, but the more research I read up on, it makes a little sense now; Populism.

    The democrats need to chill out.

    No one is that evil, and the easiest way to make someone electable is to show up and vote.

    I can see Biden getting to nomination, and I see Bernie fans again staying home. And I can see Bernie getting it, and all the moderates then will think the game is over, and they will stay home.

    We need to think about this process as Thanksgiving; your family may annoy the crap outta you, but you are going to show up anyway.

  • Moderates Don’t Get It

    I like Bret Stephens, and I know that he is a very smart guy. He is knowledgeable, logical, and pretty funny as well. He put out this op-ed in the New York Times today, titled, “The Democrats Are in Trouble: The party’s riskiest bet is now its likeliest.” A little dramatic, but hey, they guy is trying to sell papers here.

    Bret starts off by saying that he is/was for Bloomberg, but Mike melted down at the debate, and now the Democratic party is in dire straits because, as Bret sees it, Bernie is now going to win the nomination.

    Stephens then rhetorically asks, why Democrats want to risk it with Sanders, to which Bret answers;

    “Maybe it’s because they have overlearned the lessons of the 2016 election: that nominating the centrist and responsible candidate served them poorly. Or maybe it’s because they’ve reasoned that “electability,” being an insufficient requirement for the nomination, is an unnecessary one as well. Or maybe they feel that, when their hearts scream Yes, it’s best to ignore the brain’s screams of No.”

    Sadly, what will cause the Democrats to lose in the Midwest, which is where this election is really coming down to, is this thinking that people in the middle of this country want a person to be reasonable and logical, and to have a plan that appeals to everybody. That’s the “electability” that Stephens refers, and that might be a winning argument if the other guy was Mitt Romney or John McCain, two who also tried to run campaigns aimed at the middle and “electability.”

    Except, that’s not who is running.

    Look, I don’t like Trump, but compared with a Democrat moderate, Donald comes off as the cool guy who doesn’t give a fuck. That makes voters excited, and excited voters show up.

    Bernie has the most excited votes behind him, and they will get others to show up with them.

    Again, people, there are no significant numbers of swing voters out there. Again, read “The Audacity of Hate,” if you don’t believe me. To that, I just have to add, Democrat moderates, ya’ll gotta chill out, man. Bernie is not the problem.

    The belief that logic will beat passion is.

  • Don’t Fight the Last War

    There is a very good chance that Democrats will lose this next election, ensuring that Trump gets four more years. It’s not that Democrats are moving too Left. It’s the fact that there really aren’t any more moderate Democrats left.

    It was hammered home to me in “The Audacity of Hate” by Thomas B. Edsall that I read yesterday. Edsall starts the piece by referring to Karl Rove and Matthew Dowd deciding on a “Base Strategy” for the Bush ’04 campaign, wherein they would go after the social conservative base by appealing to fear and anger. The reasoning; less than 1 in 10 voters was considered to be “swing voters.” Turning out the converted made more sense than hoping to convert the questionable. And it worked. It worked so well, that Trump did it again in ’16, and he’s trying again in ’20.

    But the Democrats are still playing a game of winning moderates over, and they have a serious fear of Bernie. This is where they are making the same mistakes they made with Hilary. Sure, moderates would save the party for the future, but the base will win the election. You need people excited and enthusiastic about winning to get out there, and talk up Bernie, and get people to show up in droves.

    Can Bernie actually deliver all of his promises? No, but has Trump delivered on any of his? Trump’s base thinks so, and they will show up in the polls.

  • The Barr Saga Continues

    I know the NYTimes is reporting that Barr is upset with Trump for calling himself the law of the land, but the cynical part of me is still having a hard time believing that is true. I guess there is a chance that Barr has been blindsided by Trump, and that Barr honestly wants to do the right thing… Yeah, I just don’t buy it.

    What I see is more along the lines of Pandora’s box or a tube of toothpaste. Trump is out and you can’t put him back in. That’s what makes me think is happening to Barr and the Justice Department right now. They cannot contain the President anymore after the impeachment trial. I believe that is why Trump’s pardons and commutations happened yesterday. That was Trump flexing muscle, saying to Barr and Justice, that if you convict my people, I will just release them, and belittling your work.

    Also, to digress for a second… The people who got the pardons and commutations all committed white collar crimes. It’s also like Trump is saying that bribery, tax evasion, corruption aren’t really crimes. I find it funny, as that those are the crimes that have always been swirling around Trump.

    What is left is for Barr to resign, and that places us all in a “devil you know,” situation. I thought Jeff Sessions was a bad choice, but then we got Matthew Whitaker who was amazingly unqualified, which lead to Barr who was supposedly was going to be “an adult in the room,” but we see how that worked.

    So… who is hiding out there to be next?