President
Biden: Uncle Joe is playing a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, he’s saying that he doesn’t necessarily think that it’s time for Sanders to drop out. On the other hand, he’s already proceeding with his vice presidential search. Interestingly, he’s also following through on his promise to openly pick his cabinet before even being elected. This (and the treating of Sanders with kid gloves) is likely a play to unite the party by visibly giving all identity groups and ideological concerns a voice on his team. It’s also likely a play to project the idea that should Biden keel over dead or go senile (which is likely already happening), there would be a strong team around him to guide the country if he were elected.
Chafee: Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (R->I->D->L) has ended his bid for Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. He’s always been a bit of an odd fit for that crowd anyway, as evidenced by his crusade for the full adoption of the metric system. Here ends the long and strange career of a man who was, at best, fifty years late to the political stage for his brand to have been widely popular.
MI: Here’s a poll from some pollster named Spry Strategies that has the president and Biden tied, 46-46. It’s probably a bit too Republican-friendly, as it shows Peters only up by two on James for the Senate race. Still, it nicely balances out that PPP poll for a liberal outside group from a few days ago when thrown into the average.
Rogan: Comedian, commentator, and podcaster Joe Rogan, unofficial God Emperor of the Bros, says that he’d probably vote for Trump over Biden. This is actually pretty significant, as it gives us a window into the thinking of the moderate/apolitical young male demographic (Rogan is in his 50s, but that’s his audience). This was always one of the biggest pots of untapped swing voters to which Trump might appeal. Many of them, including Rogan, previously supported Sanders.
Sanders: Joe Biden might not be calling on Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race, but many in Sanders’ inner circle are doing it, if only privately. Many of Sanders’ most ardent supporters want him to continue on and get enough delegates to influence the party platform. However, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and even his own campaign manager have privately told Bernie that he needs to concede and untie the party.
Joe Rogan is a voice of spoiled white male privilege. If he can shift his support from Samders to Trump on a dime like that it’s pretty clear his interest in progressive policies was as deep as a kiddie pool. A few assholes like him might follow, but the vast majority of Sanders supporters will continue to support their goals while voting for Biden instead of “tearing it all down” like spoiled kids.
So the Libertarians won’t have Lincoln Chafee huh? Wonder what obscure figure they will nominate who will get a fraction of Gary Johnson’s 3 and a half percent.
I seriously doubt Justin Amash will wade in at this point