No Labels can afford to have a thorough vetting process, because its goal is to appear moderate while its funding sources’ objective is to strip away just enough votes for Trump to win. Call me cynical! However, if they end up with RFK Jr they will have just added a complete nut butter to the list of alternatives! Hardly an achievement or an endorsement of their process.
The NYT article reminded me of how and why Jimmy Carter, probably our most decent recent politician, lost to the evil triad of Reagan, Atwater and Baker who would do anything to gain power. If you look at the decline in America’s democracy I’m afraid it is a combination of deliberate actions by Reagan, Bush I & II, and Trump with idiotic neglect by Clinton, and Obama. Biden is certainly sounding the clarion call but he and all the Democratic Presidents have failed to do anything to protect voter rights - which is at the heart of the rot in our politics. I always look at the Democratic Presidents as idiots - they push certain policies but forget that everything can be undone, as it has been, by Republicans elected by a minority of the votes.
"Idiots" might be a little strong (-: What is for sure is that we desperately need ironclad protection of voting rights and not only that but everlasting expansion of voting rights and voting in order to become in reality the multiracial democracy that we are in fact demographically.
True. Both Clinton and Obama tower above the rest based on IQ. However, they were strategically stunted in understanding the Republican project of dismantling democracy. I would take getting rid of the filibuster, gerrymanders, and an alive VRA over Obamacare any day. For if we hand those things we’d probably have single payer by now, and started tackling climate change in a significant way far earlier.
No Labels can afford to have a thorough vetting process, because its goal is to appear moderate while its funding sources’ objective is to strip away just enough votes for Trump to win. Call me cynical! However, if they end up with RFK Jr they will have just added a complete nut butter to the list of alternatives! Hardly an achievement or an endorsement of their process.
We shall see, Angus! I thought of you today when I was re-reading this: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/opinion/elections-democracy.html
What do you think? Shall we move to a lottery system for at least some of our democratic processes?
The NYT article reminded me of how and why Jimmy Carter, probably our most decent recent politician, lost to the evil triad of Reagan, Atwater and Baker who would do anything to gain power. If you look at the decline in America’s democracy I’m afraid it is a combination of deliberate actions by Reagan, Bush I & II, and Trump with idiotic neglect by Clinton, and Obama. Biden is certainly sounding the clarion call but he and all the Democratic Presidents have failed to do anything to protect voter rights - which is at the heart of the rot in our politics. I always look at the Democratic Presidents as idiots - they push certain policies but forget that everything can be undone, as it has been, by Republicans elected by a minority of the votes.
"Idiots" might be a little strong (-: What is for sure is that we desperately need ironclad protection of voting rights and not only that but everlasting expansion of voting rights and voting in order to become in reality the multiracial democracy that we are in fact demographically.
True. Both Clinton and Obama tower above the rest based on IQ. However, they were strategically stunted in understanding the Republican project of dismantling democracy. I would take getting rid of the filibuster, gerrymanders, and an alive VRA over Obamacare any day. For if we hand those things we’d probably have single payer by now, and started tackling climate change in a significant way far earlier.