Sam Smith - In a few days I'll have to cast my ballot in Maine, but have to confess that I can't remember ever being as uncertain as I am today.
I think some of it has to do with the increasing tendency of national elections to act as though they were just another television personality show rather than a reflection of actual policies and programs. TV hack Donald Trump showed how this can work and now we seem to be all deeply involved in a show that might be called Enhancing With the Stars.
It is as if there was no longer a Democratic or Republican Party, only stars who play the part of party leaders, illustrated by some of the most narcissistic debates I have ever seen.
I am troubled by the fact that two of the contestants - Sanders and Warren - have spent so much time scolding others and so little inviting voters to their cause. For example, Sanders' approach to Medicare for All, a fine long term goal, is not helped by telling voters they have to give up private policies they find fair and useful. Even the best policies can take a while to settle in.
And Biden troubles me because he seems to have lost the beat of his argument, at times seeming to struggle with how he used to make a point.
Biden will be 78 when and if he is inaugurated. By one analysis, a man of that age has a 26% chance of dying in the next five years (i.e. the beginning of his second term). The range for other leaders would be 29% for Sanders down to 10% for Warren. For Trump it would be 20%. And it's something we don't even talk about.
If I were happy to vote simply for the candidate who best reflected my views, I'd cast a ballot for Sanders in a minute. But, in fact, I don't consider presidents particularly good at innovation; even the best are mainly engaged in ideas that have often been around for years. As I've noted before, national politicians are reactivists not activists and the best ones have the skills to build a legislative coalition and not just prove how smart they are.
Which is why Biden might make a good choice if there was only a little more spirit in him.
The best choice in hiding is Amy Klobuchar who, however, is not doing that well in the polls thanks in part to a media that has chosen to ignore her. She and Biden are about the only candidates I would actually enjoy having a coffee with. Klobuchar has been given a centrist title even though her voting record is surprisingly close to that of Bernie Sanders.
One of the problems with this race is that the number of candidates obscure real trends within the party. For example, a rare ranked choice voting poll found that Sanders had 51% and Biden 49%. Pleasant as Klobuchar is, she didn't make the finals.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I could stand Sanders for eight months bawling out people who didn't agree with him. And I don't look forward to Biden being so introspective and not giving folks a good sense of our future with him.
At the moment, however, I think I'm going to go with the message from the ranked choice poll and cast my ballot for Biden. He is decent enough to reach more folks than Sanders probably would. In any case, I still have a couple of days in which to change my mind.
6 comments:
If you think a man who's been a national security hawk for his entire career, got his start pandering to anti-integrationists in Wilmington, and has always been in the hip pocket of the credit card companies and rubber-stamped the copyright maximalist agenda of the MPAA and RIAA, is "decent," I don't know what to tell you. And odd how Sanders and Warren are supposedly the ones who "scold people for disagreeing with him," but Biden has repeatedly poked people with his finger, called them "lying dog faced pony soldiers" or demanded they join him in a push-up contest, and told them to vote for somebody else for the crime of disagreeing with him.
Kevin Carson: Thanks for trying to inform Sam Smith about reality. I don't know where the real Sam Smith is but this column is weird. Biden and Klobuchar are awful candidates especially for the incredible times we are in .They are basically of the statue quo politicians group and we need major changes. And his critique of Sanders "bawling out people" is just pathetic.
I could not have said it better myself. SMH
Sam,
For over the past 20+ years, You have at each election talked about how the important part of choosing a president, is choosing your battlefield for the next 4 years.
Progress in this country, only happens when the government is amenable to that change.
There is no better battlefield for positive change in the US right now then Bernie Sanders as president.
People don't love their insurance companies. They love their doctors, clinics, and hospitals, but their insurance companies are the enemy who denies care and causes delays or cancels treatment because of cost. I have a couple of medical issues I would like to get looked at, but the way my insurance works I will never be able to afford to get seen for those issues. This problem is way too common.
You can mute and put captions on when Bernie is speaking, if his vocal delivery is not to your liking. I've done that since W Bush was elected because I have lost all tolerance for hearing right wing or centrist lies. I read a lot because it's easier to see their lies in honest words.
Bernie's "bawling people out" while he stays unflappably on message is the best chance Dems have for beating tRump in the debates. Biden would come out looking like he had been run over by a truck, probably melting down once tRump mentioned Hunter.
Biden has no campaign organization past South Carolina, he hasn't been to California or Texas for a month, and he is out of money. I expect his campaign to wind down pretty soon, because he just isn't as mentally sharp as he once was and it shows. tRump would make paste out of him at the debates.
Warren was having money flow problems, but now she has sold her soul to Super PACs and Clinton/Obama advisers, and has strayed far from any real progressive positions. I love her clobbering Bloomberg, but her dishonest attacks on Bernie and other lies, make me unable to trust her, and I don't respect her anymore. There is a good chance she may not even win her home state.
The reason Klobuchar and Bernie have similar voting records is because of the weak sauce laws that have been allowed to pass the Senate are all there is to vote on. Legislation that would allow their differences to show, doesn't make it past Moscow Mitch.
I don't want any of the white house staff to need to be afraid of Amy hurling staplers in fits of rage.
Look back at your own advice over the years, and get over your fondness for Biden, he is a has been.
Sanders has the best chance of beating tRump.
I first learned about an independent socialist Congressman from Vermont whose views aligned with mine by way of Sam Smith's daily Undernews email list.
I first learned about Mmdicare for All via one of Sam Smith's WORD sections of the daily email explaining the late Rep. John Conyers' HR 676.
I'm old enough to remember Sam Smith forcefully excoriating Biden for shepherding the usurious Bankruptcy Act of 2005 through Congress and to George W. Bush's desk.
I'm old enough to remember Sam Smith giving Obama/Biden/Pelosi the business for capitulating to insurance and pharma for stripping the public option from the Affordable Care Act.
Bernie Sanders commands the widest margin over the current president in the states the Democrats need to win, and is within the margin of error in TEXAS of all places, and possibly even Arizona. He's the overwhelming favorite of the young voters, Hispanic voters, and independents that the Democrats will need if they have any hope of defeating the current president.
Bernie Sanders is the catalyst of an overdue generational political realignment. A brokered convention nominating Biden or Klobuchar will only serve to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory..
Sam,
Have you lost your mind?
Biden is a jerk.
Go Bernie!
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