No Bernie isn’t dropping out because he’s Bernie. He’s not Perot or Huckabee, he’s an ideologue who actually likes endlessly talking about issues. He deserves no further discussion other than to know he will eventually concede and enthusiastically support Joe Biden.
A few things:
First, the last few weeks should have shown us all that our President is totally unprepared to lead in a crisis, a liar, and an existential threat to our Democracy. His re-election would be a dangerous and unpredictable event.
So it appalls me that our friends would throw their vote away when every vote is needed to take our country back from the mob like family that currently runs it. This is a binary choice between Biden and a wannabe dictator. Write in votes for a wimpy Republican who occasionally flirts with a moral greatness don’t count, unless you count an obsessive need to be noticed by a shrinking group of faceless political junkies.
Look at it this way, the Republican Party and the Nation represent that waitress that Ted Kennedy had sex with so many years ago on the floor of that French restaurant (you know, the time Ted single handily destroyed the moral fiber of America by having consensual sex in a public place), and Donald Trump is Ted Kennedy, only Donald is fucking America and it isn’t consensual by any possible measure.
So, to, even in a primary, throw your vote away on a write-in is the height of white privilege. “A second Trump term can’t hurt me,” right? But I can certainly get the attention I crave by endlessly discussing who I may or may not vote for right up to the fall election. Pathetic on so many different levels.
Second, I was “heartened” to see turnout in Florida and Arizona was up significantly, in spite of the virus fears. Two swing states with a fired up Democratic base. It will be a pleasure to door knock this fall.
Still counting primary ballots here in California. More about that later.
Take care and wash your hands, Donald Trump and the Republican Party will get us all killed and we can’t let that happen….
Keith @ Politicaldog101…
Really tacky to print the Ted Kennedy section of the rant. The point has been made several times in reference to a specific time (not the times Kennedy was caught having presumably consensual sex in public places during his drunken stupor era), but the specific time he committed sexual assault on a woman at her workplace in front of witnesses.
There has to be some responsibility on behalf of a “publisher” to present that in full.
CG, so read it without the Kennedy paragraph–still a powerful message.
As was the Stuart Stevens piece I posted yesterday.
Did you get a chance to read that? Curious as to your thoughts.
Growing up as a Republican, my favorite political figures were those such as Jack Kemp and George W, Bush. Both believed correctly in limited government, but neither was ever accused of wanting to “starve government.” “Bleeding Heart Conservatism” or “Compassionate Conservatism” have always been the concept I supported.
Trump is a “big government” Republican himself, so the point does not really even hold. The issue of him is of course about his ego and how it affects his empathy for others. I have opposed him since long before he first came down an escalator so I feel no responsibility for him.
There have of course been problems within the Republican Party going back to before Trump and too many people did ignore warning signs. Sanity and strategy existed in 2012 when Romney was nominated however, This cycle, the Democrats are doing something similar in nominating Biden, but that does not mean that there are not some serious problems within that party that will lead to further turmoil.
Tulsi Gabbard has dropped out and endorsed Biden.
Didn’t see that one coming.
And Keith was SOOOOOOO certain she was going to run third party.
Hillary too for that matter.
At this point there won’t be any third party candidates for people to waste their votes on.
Honestly I don’t think Gabbard could have run in most states based on sore loser laws, but the fewer fringe characters drifting to whatever loser the Green Party puts up the better.
I always mentioned that about “sore loser” laws too but others have their own narratives when facts don’t matter.
The Greens and Libertarians will of course have nominees (and former P1 commenter Phil Collins is running and apparently won a Presidential primary for the AIP in California!)
Congressman Justin Amash is still considered a possibility for Libertarians but they have a lot of other people running more active campaigns at the moment.
This is a Land of Confusion..
https://thehayride.com/2019/08/phil-collins-running-for-president-against-all-odds/
I don’t know about the AIP, CG, but this article says that he won the nomination of the Prohibition Party (founded 1872 an the oldest surviving third party after the GOP).
The Prohibitionists actually came in third (with 1.5% of the national popular vote) with John G. Woolley as their standard-bearer in 1900 against McKinley and Bryan, with Henry B. Anthony of Rhode Island (publisher of The Providence Journal) as his running-mate (this is the closest that any Rhode Islander has ever come to the White House; far-bigger and swingier Florida hasn’t yet ever had a Floridian on any national ticket, Marco Rubio and Jeb! Bush to the contrary notwithstanding).
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_Party#Electoral_history
¶ By the way,the late David McReynolds, veteran progressive organizer and twice pres. candidate of the Socialist Party, started his political activity as a Young Prohibitionist.
Since the bars are closed, people might think, what the heck…
Beginner’s or Sleepy veteran’s error:
The Rhode Island Prohibitionist who ran for VP in 1900 was Henry B. Metcalf (publisher of The Providence Journal and benefactor of, inter alia, the RI School of Design), not Henry Bowen Anthony.
Of course, were I the President, I would make that error into Gospel Truth and label any questioners as Fake Media. Had Joe Biden made that slip, the right-wing noise machine would broadcast it as Sleepy Joe’s progressive senility.
They say in Harlan County,
There are no neutrals there,
You either are a Union man,
Or a thug for J.H. Blair !
Which side are you on,
Which side are you on ?
Which side are you on,
Which side are you one ?
If Amash votes for sending us all a grand or more you can bet he will be persona non grata at a Libertarian convention. “Socialism” and all.
He wouldn’t vote for that.
Either way the Libertarian Party–like all third parties this year–are going to post far lower totals.
The LP might pick up a few Republicans who will grumble about “gubment”, but all the liberals and moderates who went for Johnson as a lesser of two evils four years ago are not going to be for a party that wants limited federal government during a pandemic.
Like I’ve said–third party vote this year will likely be a third of the 6% from 2016–if it’s that high.
The longer this continues, there will be a lot of people who will irrationally have a backlash against government in general. It’s not hard to predict. This crisis could lead to more Libertarian votes in the hopes of a “return to normalcy.”
Oh the hardcore doomsday preppers will still lean Libertarian. But the casual ones who just want weed legalized aren’t about tearing down the government during a pandemic.
Not the Doomsday people, but the, “I will take my chances. It’s not that bad and it’s not my problem if other people take too many risks” crowd.
We better hope “social distancing” works in the fairly short term for a lot of reasons. If we reach the point where it was deemed a failure, that will be profound anger and distrust towards all government.
We had this conversation yesterday…
In ref to Sanders vs Biden people i think
The vast government view of Sanders and his supporters….The failure of Trump to act …
I don’t think this whole thing is gonna change much….
Biden and Democrats will run against TRUMP not the government system itself…
Remember Trump’s people got rid of the agencies tasked to handle this stuff
You better define “short term.”
The laughable and that’s what it is, idea that this is going to end in a few weeks ?
Is not realistic.
I agree with Scott.
I expect the third party vote,including the Libertarians , to be way down .
2-3% sounds about right.