Whatever convoluted caucus process they’ve got in Iowa, under ideal conditions a Byzantine mess of neighbors gathering in public buildings to congeal in corners, broke down Monday night. A balky app.
Results finally dribbled out late Tuesday. And the news, as of 6 p.m., is ... pretty good. Exhausted septuagenarian hack Joe Biden came in fourth, with 15. 6 percent of the vote. It would be good to be rid of him. Vinegary scold Elizabeth Warren did hardly better: 18.3 percent.
Then Bernie Sanders. I have to admit, he makes my skin crawl. Whenever Sanders spools out the wish list of what he’s going to do — Medicare-for-All, Green New Deal, free college — I scowl and think: “We can’t get rid of the penny.”
He stays alive with 25.1 percent. Second to Pete Buttigieg, who won with 26.9 percent. There are many reasons to root for Buttigieg: he focuses on the biggest problem facing America right now: bringing the country together. He has dignity and speaks in complete sentences. He would be the youngest president ever. He could lead us toward the future, assuming we still have one.
To continue reading, click here.
Okay, I get it, Mr. S, you do not like Joe. But who do you see as having the best chance to crush Orange Julius? Democrats are in a dilemma that needs to be resolved, and soon. The clock is ticking. We come together and some of us hold our noses and pull the lever...no, the old machines and curtains are ancient history now...we don't do that anymore. So let's just say we fill in the circle...for somebody we don't care for or even can't stand. Otherwise, we replay 2016, and the nightmare continues until 2025...or longer.
ReplyDeleteSo who is it? Our hearts are not young and gay, so that eliminates Boot Edge Edge. Can a small-city mayor really lead the free world? We're not gonna find out...not this time around. Sanders is too radical, a New Yorker, and Jewish, so there goes Bernie. America is not now...and will probably never become...the radical leftist country some of us wish it were.
Warren? Hillary Lite, but more abrasive and acerbic.The rest of them? Just waiting to find the right moment to save face and to hang up the gloves and the spikes.
That leaves us with Biden...perhaps a Biden-Warren slate. Or maybe even Joe and Pete. Yeah, that's the ticket. Perhaps the dream ticket. Old and young. Gay and straight. Small-town Midwest and Eastern seaboard. New blood and tired blood.
Both Bernie and Joe are too damn old, but Biden has more national-level experience than Sanders...decades of it. While Biden definitely has plenty of negatives, I cannot help but see him as our only hope...maybe our last, best hope...to kick the bum to the curb.
Are both Bernie and Joe capable of weathering the orange shitstorm they would face, and that would be IN their face? And on it? Yes, they can. Joe vs. Schmoe or Bernie vs. Orangy, either one would be the dirtiest, sleaziest, most violent, and most memorable campaign of our lives...far beyond anything we saw in 2016 or even in 1968. Cue up the Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
We don't deserve this, but as Royko said after MLK bought it, it's our own gun, our own head, and our own finger on the trigger. We brought this mess upon ourselves. The bottom line for the Democrats is electibility, and who can steer the bus back onto the road and away from the cliff. I'm ridin' with Biden.
I think you're mistaking your own private ill for an infected air, to paraphrase Thoreau. You're trying to find the least objectionable candidate, and I think Trump has proved that isn't necessarily a winning strategy. Lori Lightfoot took all 50 wards of Chicago, despite being a lesbian. You might not be able to forgive Buttigieg for being gay, but that doesn't mean the country won't. I'd rather lose betting on my principles than lose betting on Trump's. Or yours.
ReplyDeleteI wrote all that in the wee hours. Maybe it was a mistake, because "our hearts" was a reference to the hearts and minds (and the prejudices) of far too many American voters.
DeleteI am not, and never have been, homophobic. I'm what is known as a "straight ally" and for most of my life I have had many gay and lesbian relatives and friends, and I've supported them wholeheartedly and unconditionally.
So I've no need to "forgive" Pete for anything, except perhaps his relative inexperience beyond the local level. That's not to say I won't back him to the limit if he pulls off the upset. Or Sanders, or Warren, or "literally anyone else in 2020", as my blue ballcap reads.
The overriding mission in 2020, and the goal that trumps all else, is the removal of that ugly orange glow from the Oval Office, along with the restoration of sanity to that office, and an end to our national nightmare. I will be working my behind off for whoever is nominated in Milwaukee this coming July, just as I did for Obama in '08 and '12, and for Hillary in '16.
Has there finally been enough progress and enlightenment in this long-benighted country to enable Pete to become the Democratic nominee--and to win in November? It's way too early to tell. But the fact that he remains in the race bodes extremely well, both for his future and for ours. Does he still have a shot? I truly hope so.
Lightfoot took all 50 wards because we all hate Taxwinkle! That vote was the results of her hated pop tax!
DeleteRegarding, "Can a small-city mayor really lead the free world?" Why not? The seemingly impossible is now possible. Did anyone before 2016 think the free world could be led by a person like the Donald?
ReplyDelete"Vinegary scold"? Oh, Neil. You managed to be sexist and ageist in a two-word dismissal. I expected better.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of one who became President, but being a mayor is an ideal perch for learning the ins and outs of our most pressing social problems. He's well educated, well spoken, and, although he can't really claim an impressive military background, he's the only candidate who has worn a uniform and served in Afghanistan. He probably won't be the candidate, but certainly has a future.
ReplyDeleteTom
I quite agree, Bitter Scribe.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, Sanders v. Trump would have been the perfect match in 2016, defining the split between left and right in American politics much better than Clinton v. Trump did. To me, 77 myself, Sanders is now too old. Biden is stained even worse than Hillary with all the crap that's been thrown at him by the right. Of course, whoever looks like a good Democratic pick, is going to get the Bot treatment. At this point, I'm not rooting for anyone in particular. Anyone would be an improvement over Trump.
ReplyDeletejohn
Those 'results' were 62 percent of the total. WHY report them as 'results'?
ReplyDeleteYou know better.