Thursday, April 16, 2020

Race for the White House Update: All Aboard

-- Bernie went first ...

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president, pledging to help him defeat President Donald Trump in the general election as the two agreed to launch a series of task forces to work jointly on policy matters.

"We need you in the White House. I will do all that I can to see that that happens, Joe," Sanders said to Biden during a livestream broadcast by Biden's campaign on his website and on social media.


And following our refusals to get in line behind him, began the early recriminations.

Bernie Sanders said Tuesday that it would be “irresponsible” for his loyalists not to support Joe Biden, warning that progressives who “sit on their hands” in the months ahead would simply enable President Donald Trump’s reelection.

That might appear to be more directed specifically at those who would be planning on not voting, as opposed to those of us who will be voting for someone other than Biden or Trump.

I'm rolling with the old Bernie anyway.


He built a movement for a political revolution and then, when it was sabotaged again by the establishment, trudged back to rejoin them.  That is, after all, what he said he would do, repeatedly; support the nominee.  A lot of people felt surprised, disappointed, let down by that (not me).



-- Obama came out second, with the best gaslighting ever.

"The Democratic Party will have to be bold," he added, arguing that Biden has the "most progressive platform" of any Democratic nominee, even though many progressives who supported Sanders remain skeptical of Biden.

Not that.  This.

It becomes more adorable with each passing day to reminisce about how we spent a year following the twists and turns and what-ifs of a Democratic presidential primary between 20-some candidates. After all the noise, Joe Biden just had to hold on to South Carolina to get Democratic voters to effectively nominate him by acclamation. Cool. So much of that time, too, was spent debating whether Democrats needed a return to the halcyon days of the Obama administration or a bolder agenda of structural overhaul. Did Barack Obama go far enough? was a fundamental question of the primary. It was mostly unspoken, as answering with the negative risked taking the most popular Democrat’s name in vain.

And then, the day after the last remaining competitor drops out and endorses the presumptive nominee, Obama himself comes out with the answer: Hell, I certainly wouldn’t run on the Obama platform.

“You know, I could not be prouder of the incredible progress that we made together during my presidency,” Obama said in a video released Tuesday morning, in which he endorsed Joe Biden. “But if I were running today, I wouldn’t run the same race or have the same platform as I did in 2008.”

What refreshing candor bullshit.  I can't wait for the "I exerted no influence on the candidates who all quit their campaigns simultaneously just prior to Super Tuesday" tell-all interview/book.




-- And in a small plot twist, Elizabeth Warren -- coming in from her sabbatical -- makes it a three-for-three for Rapey Joe.

Was this orchestrated also by Maestro Obama?  Does it presage Liz as VP?  That's going to enrage the K-Hive if so.  And perhaps miff Stacey Abrams, who's taking her campaign for the job public.

-- So ... keep revolting inside or outside?


Personally I have gotten the most satisfaction from doing both, strategically and each at the proper time.  So for the moment, voting for Bernie in remaining primaries will give him delegates to go to the convention and influence DNC rules in the future (as in the past; restricting the votes of superdelegates to the second round, for example).

But after that, it's time to #DemExit.



Here are some of your options at the top of your November ballot.






Don't write Bernie's name in, please.


This is exactly what happens in Harris County; I've seen it.  It may be what happens in every Texas county.  Some states do allow write-ins, like California (I am told); you should check with your state's elections administrator and find out.



I'll post more later about other minor leftist parties that don't have a presidential candidate this cycle -- building the movement in-between presidential cycles is critical -- and how to address accusations of "privilege" from duopolists.

-- The Libertarians lost Lincoln Chafee last week, so Michigan Congressman Justin Amash is considering leaping in, and Jim Gray (former CA Superior Court judge and the party's 2012 vice-presidential nominee) has already taken the plunge, adding a little excitement to that primary.
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