Super Tuesday was—for many of us I think—an event that ended somewhere between disappointment and frustration. The DNC played their cards well and thanks to Klobuchar and O’Rourke, the night handed a win to Biden in both Minnesota and Texas.
Sanders won California and that was the single biggest prize of the night – and he won it decisively. Needless to say, I genuinely believed that he would win more than four states. Massachusetts and Maine were both upsets that I was not expecting.
This morning Bloomberg ended his campaign and gave his endorsement to Biden. On the surface, it is clear that the Democratic establishment is coalescing not around a particular candidate specifically, but from where I stand, I think that they’re coalescing specifically against the other one – one who presents a clear threat to that establishment. This is not how politics is supposed to work, but it is how the game is played, and during the 72 hours after Biden’s success in South Carolina, they (meaning the DNC/establishment) played it well.
If Joe gets the nomination (and it appears that this is a very real chance), I remain convinced that his candidacy will be an unmitigated disaster. He’s another 100% establishment candidate who is promising all the same business as usual, at a time when the bulk of America on both the left and the right are essentially sick of establishment politics. Biden is Hillary Clinton for 2020, only I believe he’ll prove to be even less adept on the campaign trail than she was. While Clinton ran a less than stellar campaign, she was at least concise, clear minded and able to stay focused and on-point. Biden seems old, seems weak, appears to have a hard time staying focused, and fumbles even in his responses to debate questions against his Democratic opponents. I think that he seems like a doddering grandpa, and we need a fighter against the attack dog who currently inhabits the White House.
I believe that if Biden goes on the debate stage against Trump, that his performance will essentially hand the next election to Trump. Nothing would make me happier than to be wrong.
Gabbard needs to leave the race yesterday, but I suppose that her staying in makes no real difference one way or another. Warren sadly will probably be dropping out soon as a path towards victory seems unlikely at best.
So where we stand right now, it’s basically a two-man race, and the positions of the two men running advance completely different agendas and visions of what the future of the country could look like. It is also a race between two OLD WHITE men; both of them are even older than Trump, and with that in-mind, I think they both need to do something unprecedented: I think that they need to decide on running mates ASAP and they need to finish out the primary season running as a ticket and not just as a singular candidate. I think that they both need to bring somebody on board who is younger—and if they’ve been paying any attention to the state of America these days—a WOMAN.
This means that Warren being tapped as a VP is out of the question (but she deserves an important cabinet position should either of them win the election in November). Sanders will need somebody who will energize people of color more effectively and who represents a different part of the country. Personally I see Stacy Abrams as an exciting choice, but the buzz is that Biden might tap her as well. That said, it sure seems like a Biden/Klobuchar ticket is all but inevitable. Other strong candidate considerations: Tammy Baldwin, Julián Castro (yes, I know – not a woman, but he brings Texas into the mix, it very articulate and would secure the Latino vote) and let us not forget Kamala Harris, whose ferocity and tenacity I am a big fan of. Curious to hear what you think about these ideas and who you’d like to see as a running mate (for either candidate)—and why.
Love the break down
Daniel, we’ve never met but I’m the jerk who dosed the pie in your fridge the night after the Briceland Fire. I was told many years later that you were pretty crazy for a while. Sounds like you are pretty sane right now. I’m sorry for whatever distress that caused you and your family. It was pretty thoughtless.
Your father wanted to shoot me for a while, but we were able to resolve that when we met at Peter Berg’s Memorial gathering in SF, before yr Dad passed.
Have you met Jay Babcock there in Joshua Tree yet? He’s doing oral histories of the diggers and used to publish the music magazine Arthur. I’ve been in New Mexico ever since Briceland, keeping the faith, more or less. I’m retired now, and going slowly blind, but I spent 40+ years building adobe houses out here.
I’ve been all in for Bernie since 2016, but I did vote for HRC against Trumplthinskin. I really see no alternative than to accept the judgement of the Democratic primary voters as it becomes clear. Flawed as that could turn out to be. It is early yet.
I have little confidence in Biden, but it may yet turn out that the American voters will turn out in such numbers to express their well-founded disgust with the Republican TrumpCult that it doesn’t matter who the Dems are running.
Step one is getting Trump out, and sadly, that might be all we get this time around. We need so much more than that, and Bernie does offer that. I don’t get to vote in my states primary until June, so my vote will likely be moot by that point.
Delighted to discover your dot com daniel house. With ALL confidence in that particular word, ‘delighted’. Nice bit of writing too.
If it were possible, I’d want Tulsi Gabbard to run with Bernie. Maybe it IS possible. There’s one more debate in a couple of weeks, and then it’s 4 1/2 months (!) to the convention. And anything can happen. And if nothing else, the second day of the Democratic convention is Bastille Day.
Excellent Daniel , to see that you have this blog, page, whatever it is, most inspiring. You’ve come a long way baby. Many more stories to look forward to.