It’s easy to say that any of the Democratic candidates would be better than Trump. Off the top of my head, I would say that Mike Pence may be the only person who could possibly be worse. That doesn’t solve the problem though. What specific goal do we want and what criteria do we apply.
Our goal should not be simply to beat him. It should be to for him to lose by a record vote. We need for him to have long coattails that take down as many Republican senators as possible with him. I would like to think that any of that horde could beat him. And, that may be so, but not all could beat him and serve as the progressive leader we need.
You will find few Americans more progressive than I am but, given the present situation, that shouldn’t require me to support the most progressive candidate. Also, we definitely do not need to go moderate. I think that may qualify as a dilemma.
Most consider the Clintons liberal, maybe even a bit progressive. Not so. Most think of Obama as progressive. Not so. We have voted for moderates because they portrayed themselves as liberal and/or because there were no viable options. That’s why many Democrats have deserted the party. The 2018 elections showed that people would turn out, if you got them excited.
However, while a great deal of attention was given to the progressives, most of the new members are less than extreme left. While the word socialism is bandied about quite freely, it scares off many of the voters we need. Comfortable majorities support choice, funding infrastructure, help for education, making the elite carry their share and, of course, expanded health care. None of those claiming to be socialists actually are. Based on their public comments, they cannot define it.
What is called democratic socialism is not socialism. Capitalism has failed us but that doesn’t mean that socialism is automatically the alternative. Ideologies are for people who are too intellectually lazy or limited. If something works, use it. If it is not helpful, throw it out. What is needed is someone fairly progressive but not so much so as to scare anyone away. None of the progressives in the race, or expected, should scare anyone but some will. There are some who meet these criteria.
On the other hand, some are no more than factotums for Wall Street and other financial interests. These include Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Tom Steyer, Michael Bloomberg, Terry McAluiffe and Joe Biden, who I like personally but not politically. Then there is Tulsi Gabbard who claims to be a dove while taking money from arms dealers. I haven’t found her to be competent at anything. Amy Klobuchar is too moderate and seriously deficient in her mastery of economics. However, all of the candidates are lacking in that area, to a greater or lesser degree.
While I like Both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie, they are splitting the vote of the more progressive voters and scaring the least progressive.
Surprise! There are a few candidates remaining that deserve support. Some are less well known but, as things settle, I will try to shine a little light on them.
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