Let’s Think About This

Nan Elections, Politics, , , , ,

Thinking

In a recent column, Steve Schmidt pointed out some of President Biden’s accomplishments:

  • He defeated Donald Trump.
  • He restored sanity and stability to the Oval Office.
  • He has shown skilled leadership during the Russian war in Ukraine.
  • His legislation has been “one of the 10 most significant domestic policy achievement of the last 80 years.”

He then went on to say …

[S]ome have declared that it is unthinkable that there could be any Democrat who could conceivably win a national election aside from President Biden, or that the choices are limited to the extremely capable Governor of California Gavin Newsom, the Secretary of Transportation and Fox News tormenter Pete Buttigieg or the Vice President Kamala Harris.

This latter entry really stirred my thinking. Are Democrats so bound by “tradition” that they will automatically re-elect Biden should he run again? And what if he doesn’t throw his hat in the ring? Does the only “natural” choice become Vice-President Kamala Harris? Or does Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, have a running chance? And while I feel his prospects are remote, as Steve suggests, Pete Buttigieg could even add his name to the list again.

I guess what I’m wondering is why must we only choose from the folks “the media” suggests?

In my opinion, what I think we really need is a comparatively unknown DEMOCRAT to emerge from the shadows, step into the limelight, and thoroughly rattle the establishment. (Similar to what took place a few years back on the other side of the fence — but of course in this case, someone with morals and ethics and experience.)

Naturally, the question then becomes … who IS this person? Is there anyone … ANYONE … within the Democratic Party who has the ability to truly shake things up as the “former guy” was able to do within the Republican party?

I would like to think so. But at this point, I’m not sure who it would be. Do YOU have any ideas?

39 thoughts on “Let’s Think About This”

  1. That’s what Obama did….kinda out of nowhere….
    Surely there is someone, because if it’s Biden or Kamala run against trump or DeSantis, they will loose. But if a sharp younger Democrat should run, he/she could win against trump..not sure against DeSantis…I live in Florida and DeSantis is really on a roll catering to the far right and the racists and homophobes. It’s disgusting.

    One thing I believe turns elections is perception of the candidates that has nothing to do with reality and the media is quite responsible for this..

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    • I agree with what you say about DeSantis being on a roll in Florida, but his outright bigotry and racism won’t appeal in many other states, and in fact will be a large strike against him. That said … I only wish Obama could run again, for I see nobody on the horizon who can fill the bill, especially given that 2/3 of the population are already excluded for being either a woman or LGBTQ. Hopefully someday the people of this nation will move into the 21st century, but we sure ain’t there yet!

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  3. This latter entry really stirred my thinking. Are Democrats so bound by “tradition” that they will automatically re-elect Biden should he run again?

    Well Nan, I think that question really applies to the vast majority of Americans DESPITE any Party-loyalty or affiliation. I’ve never understood why Americans can only think in binary terms! I mean, this entire Universe, this planet, all the living entities on it and inanimate objects upon it and throughout this gazillion light-year sized Cosmos… screams ANYTHING BUT black or white, A or B, male or female, yes or no, positive or negative, and certainly political ideology R or political ideology D.

    But extreme apologies to my ultra-Conservative acquaintances and friends—I know what I’m implying is astronomically radical and way too progressive, and probably too complex to comprehend. 🤦‍♂️ SMH

    …why must we only choose from the folks “the media” suggests?

    Fantastic point! “Go outside of the box?” OMG, say it isn’t SO Nellie! There be DRAGONS out there! 😉

    Do YOU have any ideas?

    Umm, I do.

    Go beyond your horizons, outside your comfort zone(s), and OPEN UP YOUR MIND… to learn new things, concepts, and just 20 more ideologies around the world and why they work. Call me in a week. The invoice is in the mail. 👨‍⚕️

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  4. I would volunteer for the job, but … we really need some younger blood, and frankly I don’t think I have the stamina to fight the Republicans 24/7 for four years, so I must decline. Kamala Harris would suffer the same fate Hillary Clinton did, and for the same reason — she’s a woman. And Black, to boot! She’s probably the only reason that Biden will never be impeached and removed from office! Newsom … he’s got some strong points and some ghosts in the closet, too. Buttigieg … if the country won’t accept a woman, they also won’t accept an LGBTQ. So no, I have no great ideas, but we need to be finding a magic person, because … think about this … what if Biden dies before November 2024? Then who do we got? We got nobody.

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  5. Unless there’s a law preventing Barrack Obama from running again, at this point in time (things could change), I think he may be the ONLY Democrat with a better-than-even shot at being elected President in 2024. I won’t try to detail why, because (beyond the fact that no one else stands out) the reasons seem pretty obvious.

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  6. I’m all in for Robett Reich. He has government experience, he does not come across as pompous, and he is a labour leader. Yeah, he is a bit long in the tooth and short of stature, but his heart is 8n the right place.
    Only, he refuses to run. He doesn’t want the job, and for me that is his greatest asset — he is not power-hungry.

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  8. Not my country, and I have no vote. But I would like to see someone much younger emerge to inspire your Democrats. I don’t honestly think that Harris has a chance of winning the next election if she gets the nomination.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I don’t think Biden should run for a 2nd term either. The fellow is going to be 82 at the end of this term in office and I think it’s time for him to retire gracefully.

    But there doesn’t seem to be anyone positioned to make a run at the presidency on the democratic side at the moment. I don’t think Newsom is really a viable candidate, but that’s just personal opinion.

    I thought about running my cat but she shut down that idea fast. “You people can go fix your damned problems yourself, leave me out of this. Oh, and I need another sardine so stop typing on that damned computer and go get me my breakfast!”

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    • I totally agree with the age factor! While he’s been comparatively capable in the job thus far, there are signs.

      There’s simply no getting around the fact that after a certain point in life, we just do not function as well. Unfortunately, the “average” voter doesn’t seem to care. “He’s a Democrat. He’s done a decent job thus far. Let’s give him another four years.” Sigh.

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    • Aaaand there goes The Democratic wing of the Democratic Party under the bus again.

      Trump and Desantis have locked in their appeal to their base,and don’t even PRETEND to care about “meeting anyone in the middle” while you keep thinking
      “maybe if we be Republican-Lite, that’ll work.”

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      • I do NOT think “Republican-Lite” is what she had in mind …

        There are millions of people in this country who are moderate in their political thinking, but it seems what they must choose from are the Extremes. IMO, the entire country would be far better off if we had more opportunities to choose candidates who actually support the core values of their respective political parties.

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        • Please. Tell me who are the analogus “extremes” on the Democratic side for Greene, Jordan, Gosar or Trump?

          President Biden is as a classical “Moderate Centrist” Democratic politician that exists today in the Party; he’s been one for 50 years of his political career. So is VP Harris.

          Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were even more so.

          This take “There are millions of people in this country who are moderate in their political thinking, but it seems what they must choose from are the Extremes” is internalizing the GOP lies/media obsession with bothsides viewpoint.

          THERE ARE NOT EQUIVALENT “EXTREMES” here.

          Consider AOC, the rights favorite “Marxist” punching bag. Her views on taxation and spending would have placed her in the dead center of the Democratic party in 1964; hardly radical.

          When we assume because the GOP is galloping rightward towards fascism (and they most assuredly are) , the “center” must be galloping rightwards along with them, we’re ceding the entire game to them.

          Trying to triangulate the ‘center position’ in that environment is futile, destructive, and entirely unwinnable. The Democrats tried that in 2010 and 2014 which lead to the utterly catastrophic losses across the country on both the state and federal level. (2010 especially because that was the trigger for the extreme gerrymandering and onset of voter supression in the states)

          We will win BY ACTUALLY STANDING for something. This increasingly futile search for “good republicans” with whom we can “come together” with is not “Standing” for anything. This is where we get people talking about Liz Cheney as some sort of savior.

          She is not. Her views are as antithetical to liberal democracy as any of the J6 reactionaries, she merely found a single line she could not cross. She voted with the Trump administration greater than 95% of the time; she was the third ranking Republican in the House, fer crissake.

          That’s a bar an ANT could clear , and it is painfully clear that the vast majority of the Republican party cannot do that. They ALMOST showed enough vestigial spine in the immediate aftermath of January 6 when there was an armed inssurection that attcked Congress in an effort spearheaded by Republicans inside and outside Congress to overturn the election and install Trump as President over the wishes of the American voters.

          THIS is the lesson of the 2022 midterms. Far more Democratic candidates stood up and said “This is what we stand for, take it or leave it.” And weirdly, because what they stand for is POPULAR, they won. And so the expected “Red Wave” became a “Red Ripple”

          Where are the equivalent “Extreme” people in the Democratic Party?

          Please, enlighten me!

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        • No you did not, but the fact remains that there really is only one party which is captured by extremists. My question remains… what ‘moderate centrist’ Democratic voters have only choices on par with the Republicans I mentioned?

          And how many Democrats have been tarred as “Extremists'” by the GOP and compliant media desperate for a ‘both sides’ POV to make less informed voters believe they don’t have that choice?

          What Democrats don’t “represent the core values of the party”??

          I can name two big ones nationally; Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. Manchin is what I’d expect for West Virginia, but I’d also compare him to Jon Tester in Montana who is a old-school rural populist New Deal Democrat (even if he would object to that description).

          Sinema is getting, well not exactly primaried since she’s left the party, but now has a strong Democratic opponent in Reuben Gallego. (disclosure..when he announced his candidacy, I promptly donated, because he is precisely the kind of Democrat we need in the Senate.)

          But had she remained in the party she would definitely been primaried by him regardless, and we AZ Democrats would have had a candidate who “represented the core values of the party” for us to choose.

          I guess this has all been just a long-winded way of saying that claiming “moderates of both sides are faced with only extremist choices” is a lazy argument that benefits only the right.

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    • Well yes. And no. She’s much more flexible (and sane-thinking) than some others, but her core values are consistent with the Republican party so I would be hesitant about her in the office of POTUS.

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  12. outside the box means you get a Trump…or Maduro, American meddling aside, is an utter incompetent disaster for Venezuela. Or the rural schoolteacher in Peru who was rather clueless…despite the issues in that country. Outside the box means quite often no skills, no connections, often no clue.

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  13. I don’t know. It seems the Democrat Party needs an enthusiastic vote from black people for Prez or Republicans win. I want to be wrong about that. Your list has one.
    I will vote for and support the Dem nominee and it is not mere tradition. People wanted a black female for VP. Done. Now what? If the DNC were to call me and ask this questions, I’d be stumped. Just win.

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  16. If Biden doesn’t run, is there a democratic candidate that seems to have a chance? At this point in time I don’t think so. Personally I’d love to have Kamala Harris as president. I think she’d be good but I don’t think she could win the election. Heck, I’d love to see our governor Evers in the job. He’s low key, pro union, and he’s been dealing with the GOP crazies that inhabit our state legislature for 4 years now and has somehow managed to not only keep his sanity but has managed to keep the loonies from running riot in the state. But there’s no way in hell he’d win a national election. So who is out there who could hold her/his own in a national election?

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      • I like her. She’s very smart, she’s had experience as an attorney, was a US senator so she’s familiar with the system and how DC works. As a senator she backed a path to citizenship for undocumented persons, healthcare reform and rational gun legislation. As a prosecutor she set up a hate crime unit that focused on hate crimes against LGBT students. On the other side of the coin as a prosecutor she went after people for even relatively minor cannabis offenses and a few other things but overall I think she’s a decent person and would probably do a good job.

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        • Thanks for sharing. I would agree she could probably handle the job quite well, but personally, I’m just not convinced that she’s the one to sit in the Oval Office. However, when election time rolls around and we finally know who’s in the running … well, opinions can change.

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