Paul Krugman’s editorial today in the NYT (note: no paywall; Press Freedom day) is headlined:
The Trouble With Joe and Bernie
Neither man seems ready for harsh political reality
His argument is simple:
...My concerns are about what will happen if either man wins. Are they ready for the political trench warfare that would inevitably follow a Democratic victory?
The trouble with both Biden and Sanders is that each, in his own way, seems to believe that he has unique powers of persuasion that will let him defy the harsh reality of today’s tribal politics. And this lack of realism could set either of them up for failure.
He offers nothing but praise for other Democratic candidates besides these two:
Democratic candidates in the next tier of the current race seem to get it. Warren’s proposals are very progressive, but they’re also incremental, and even her fairly radical ideas, like her proposed wealth tax, poll well. Anyone who watched Kamala Harris at Wednesday’s Barr hearing knows that she has no illusions about the state of partisanship.
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I’m posting this because I agree with Krugman. First off, I agree on his individual judgements. I think that neither Biden nor Sanders would be good at passing policy: Biden is too soft with Republicans, while Sanders is too hard with Democrats. I also have serious concerns with their age; either one would have less than a 50% chance of making it from election night to the end of their second term without dying or getting Alzheimers. Both Biden and Sanders are healthy and sharp today, but it makes no sense to me that the best way to beat a senile old misogynist (and homophobe, and white supremacist) would be with a (straight, white) guy who’s even older.
(Note: I say this as somebody who strongly supported Bernie in 2016.)
But more importantly, I agree with him on how we should be approaching this primary right now: not going all-in on just one candidate, but dividing the credible candidates into groups of “better” and “worse”. Of course, even “worse” relative to the other Democratic candidates is still “better” relative to Trump; but during the primary, we should feel free to respectfully point out the down-sides of those candidates we see as relatively inferior, as long as we are open about the upsides of more than one option. In other words, we should act as if the primary were using approval voting.
It’s still early in the primary, but the crooked game theory of our choose-one voting system is already beginning to bite. As primary voters, we will eventually be forced to choose just one candidate to support. That means that if your favorite candidate isn’t among the top two by the end, voting for them means foregoing your chance to help choose between those two. We’ve all heard the debates between “vote your conscience” and “don’t waste your vote”, and I’m not here to take a side. I’m here to say that if we used approval voting, we wouldn’t even have to have that debate.
And right now, early in the primary season, is the best time to set that example, by endorsing/supporting more than one candidate — especially if your favorite isn’t among the top two. The top two will both benefit from people voting strategically against the other frontrunner. Those of us who have concerns with both of them have to be strategic, too, and band together to amplify each others’ voices.
So here goes:
Warren has a staggering breadth and depth of policy proposals, and she KILLED IT with the women of color in the #SheThePeople forum.
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Harris is a badass in the Barr hearings and she’d grind Trump to dust in debates.
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Buttigieg is incredibly smart and he speaks the language of faith in a way that can broaden Democratic appeal.
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Booker’s proposals on “baby bonds”, legalizing marijuana, and other criminal justice reform are the head of the pack on these issues.
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O’Rourke’s energy, charisma, and wit make Trump look like a low-energy fool.
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We can win in 2020. We’ll do so by working together. That doesn’t mean we’re all on the same side in the primaries, but it does mean we can’t go it alone. For now, I think we should follow Krugman’s lead, and band together not for one candidate, but for all the many above-average candidates in the race.
So: please post comments with praise for 2 or more candidates. You can even include Bernie and/or Biden. The point is, we’re not marrying a single candidate right now, we’re still just making friends with several of them.