“The talk in some Democratic circles that the nominee should be a white male is something Harris and Black voters must contend with,” Smikle said. “Despite the assessment being shortsighted and insulting, in my view, it’s still a widely shared view that needs to be addressed somehow.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5820336-black-voters-democratic-audition/
@jonesmurphy I dislike this line of thinking as much as anyone. On the other hand, I often think "FIRST we must WIN, THEN we change the system, THEN we elect women and people of color to carry it out." But we have to WIN FIRST, and this exact logic of we should be able to run the VP even though she is a woman of color and the Dems will have to vote for her because Trump is worse is what LOST US THE ELECTION LAST TIME.
So there has to be some reconciliation of ideas here.
@wyatt_h_knott what you write is a huge lie. Joe Biden got a narrower win than Obama. The biggest thing is that the GOP has been eroding voting rights since the Bush v Gore ruling of 2000. They escalated the rollback of MLK'S voting rights legacy in 2013, months after Obama’s reelection. That’s how Trump reached the White House in the 1st place. You're missing several enormous things.
https://www.lwv.org/blog/why-elections-matter-shelby-county-v-holders-impact-voting-rights-act
@jonesmurphy Not sure how me posting some opinions, all prefaced by "I think" is a lie, nor do I think posting a link to an article on the Voting Rights Act constitutes a thoughtful and relevant response to the quandries I posed.
Do please enunciate clearly the enormous things I am missing.
@wyatt_h_knott @jonesmurphy I'm replying here so it doesn't look like I'm ignoring what either of you have said.
1. Can we back up? Harris might run again? Yes, please!
2. I understand the "but Americans are misogynoir jerks, so let's give them the white man they want" argument, but as much as I despair of Trump, if I can have a qualified Black Asian woman, I want that.
3. Harris had one of the shortest campaigns in modern history; I think we have more of an opportunity if she has more time.
4. Buttigieg is a laughable idea. If he gets into federal government again, give him an ambassadorship to a country he can't alienate. He was very spotty at Transportation.
5. Gavin Newsom would be such a liability. He's a hot mess, and pithy remarks in a debate will get him only so far.
6. Of the governors, Pritzker is the one I would bet on given how he held up when Chicago was attacked.
7. But give me Harris. I want someone who can talk about the rule of law.
@dnkboston Agree with all of this. I not making apogies for anyone, I just feel obliged to point to what I think is the reality of the situation. In my state we have, and I vote for and give money to, an out lesbian Congressperson. We also have two white male Senators, one of whom is basically a white bread appeasement to the white males who do, in fact, own and control all of the state, and THAT is the equation we have to balance.
@jonesmurphy How am I not talking about reality when all Im doing is stating facts about my state?
@jonesmurphy Vermont, so nope. Just got asked at the DMV if I needed to decline being automatically registered because I was already registered, to which I answered yes. What I WANT to do is unseat our midget purple governor, but every time the Dems get control of our legislature they come ofter my guns instead of doing anything to get us off the Federal tit. It's BLUE politicians in my state that brought ICE here. Happily. For the money. To applause.
@jonesmurphy It's a Black Panther thing.
@jonesmurphy yes indeed.
and I was going to say some things, but I think, instead, I will not.
@dnkboston 🤣 😜
@jonesmurphy I wasn't going to brag about how many guns I have, I was going to brag about the actual nuclear submarines I have worked on but then I decided that actual experience building real weapons of mass destruction wasn't relevant to this conversation.
I didn't teach myself physics as a child, I went to a technical university as an adult and got a Mechanical Engineering degree.
"On the internet, no one knows you're a dog."
@jonesmurphy Nor did I feel inclined to mention my ACTUAL work experience at MIT's Plasma Fusion Center, but since you admire name dropping so much, there ya go.
@wyatt_h_knott I didn't think you were making apologies. But I don't think there's anything I can do about voters who don't want Harris *even when she's next to Trump*. I have to focus on GOTV for the, you know, sane ones.
@dnkboston This is kinda the problem I'm pointing to. We can't afford to write off Georgia, and if truth be told, we actually need to win seats in Arizona. How are we going to do that? I don't know but Bernie and AOC at least have a plan, and I just donated to a female candidate trying to oust our Republican governor here in Vermont... I'l will vote for anyone you put up in opposition to the GOP, frankly, and I always have. I also knew that America wasn't going to elect Harris.
@wyatt_h_knott Is it too much to hope that Bernie and AOC would help Harris? Is it too much to hope for a Harris-AOC ticket?
I'm not saying we shouldn't campaign in GA, but the level of institutionalized voter suppression there is dystopian.
My crystal ball is murky, but I think we can pull out a win if we start ASAP.
I think it's already started, and what we've seen are the initial battles. I don't mind read since I do it badly, but there's an argument that we can see Trump's international adventures as a way to regroup domestically before the next onslaught on our cities.
@dnkboston @wyatt_h_knott @jonesmurphy
To get my support in the 2028 primary, the candidates have to pledge to support prosecution of all the fascist criminals.
That's the non-negotiable minimum. I'll listen to a pitch from any candidate in the Nuremberg Caucus.
@jonesmurphy @dnkboston @wyatt_h_knott
I violently agree. The rebuilt DOJ must prioritize crimes against democracy, and must put an emphasis on fast wins that get the perps off the street. Plenty of time for slow thorough plodding prosecution of their other crimes, once they're safely behind bars.
@BlueDot "Slowly building a case from the ground up."
@dnkboston @wyatt_h_knott @jonesmurphy
Old, white guy here, from a suburban/ rural background, i.e; Truck nuts, cowboy hats, and trumpism...
I would 100%vote for Harris again.
@dnkboston @wyatt_h_knott @jonesmurphy
I might be wrong, but I think when Harris had Liz Cheney, of all people, campaign for her, she lost a considerable portion of the base. THAT'S what cost her the election. She ran to the middle, so some voters stayed home.
@bruce I wouldn't have had Liz Cheney do anything, but I don't think that was it.
@dnkboston @wyatt_h_knott @jonesmurphy
I think it was one last thing. She could have survived the racism and misogyny, even the short campaign season, had she not embraced so-called centrism by coddling conservatives.
@bruce Harris took bad advice in a campaign there was no guidebook for. Cheney, yes, but also talking up crypto to Black men (?) And heeding Biden's call that there be "no daylight" between their positions.
But Harris was running against Trump. If people could look at what happened on J6 and decide that they'd roll the dice by staying home or voting for Stein because Cheney campaigned for her, those aren't the people I'm going to worry about reaching out to.
Jones Murphy
wy knott
Deb Nam-Krane
BlueDot
oldguycrusty
Bruce Heerssen