March Fourth!

I have another project in mind for 2021, so I don't really intend to continue this blog once we elect a new president, but with the urge to write after the Super Tuesday primary, I may end up chiming in. The political virus bit me hard! 

Now that Super Tuesday is over, March Fourth! 

First, I want to say how great it was that California was part of Super Tuesday for the first time. Finally we got to be part of the conversation, instead of waiting until June to vote, when everyone had gone home. 

I found the Super Tuesday results really exciting! I was saddened and disappointed that Elizabeth Warren didn't do better. It's a whole 'nother topic to discuss: the culture of sexism that we suffer. I’m relieved Bloomberg didn’t do better spectacularly went down in flames (you can’t buy our votes, Bub!). But in the end, I’m excited that the field has been winnowed.

I watched the returns on ABC News, and they reported some exit polls which were particularly cool. First, many folks decided last-minute who to vote for. This is partly due to the field being reduced last minute, with Steyer, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg dropping out, but I also believe that this is a sign of the party becoming united. We have no use for tribalism.

Furthermore, exit polls indicated that upwards of 80%-90% of people will vote for the ultimate candidate, even if that candidate is not their first or second choice. This is great stuff! 

I'm also excited about Biden's momentum. 

Hear me out.

I am as progressive as many of my sister and brother resisters. Put me in the "very liberal" column if you poll me. I love the idea of Medicare for All, and I think it can be done. Medicare for Many of Us works really well! I want to erase student debt; I want to expand public education and make college and trade schools accessible to all. I want government to help the less fortunate. I love the progressive agenda. I am a bleeding-heart lib'ral and have been for most of my life. The progressive train has been chugging since FDR, and I'm confident it will continue to chug, even when there are big hills to climb. I am enamored with Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie has great ideas! 

But despite his faults – and he has a few – Biden is a good choice. In the end, we need someone who can get us out of this mess. Biden can do it. 

Here are a few points from this article: So Biden wasn't your top choice. Want to hear the good news?

He can bring the progressive wing along with his choice of VP. 

"Joe Biden will almost certainly name Stacey Abrams as his VP. The right-wing will claim that he is appointing her based on the fact-that she is a woman of color, as opposed to accepting her for her merit on one very important subject: Gerrymandering. The office of the VP doesn’t have a lot of power but overseeing a national reform of our elections is a project perfectly suited for the office, and Abrams, regardless of race or gender, is perfectly suited to address that issue. That she is a woman of color is a just a bonus."

No matter which one takes the nomination, the pick of VP is hugely important for invigorating the party. He should choose someone with two or more qualities: woman (probably this should be a given); younger; opposite philosophy (Biden should choose a progressive; Bernie should choose a moderate); person of color. Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris fit those qualifications well. Warren would do that for Biden. ♥️

Like it or not, there is a faction of the left that isn’t ready for far-left ideals. Biden can pull them in, and this will be good for down-ticket races. 

"The American people will be FAR more likely to give Democrats control of Senate with Biden vs. other candidates. We on the left all love positions and various attributes of Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, etc. but let’s face it – some key demographics of this country aren’t ready for it. The 2016 elections were decided by around 3 points. Independents, Christians, Senior Citizens, the South, etc. Swing elections. Biden appeals to all of these demographics, while other candidates were very polarizing among them."

Biden is committed to preserving and improving Obama’s hat pin, the Affordable Care Act.

"Biden will fortify ACA and perhaps even get us a Public Option.
Both Biden and Abrams are strong supporters of fortifying ACA and getting rid of elements of the plan that could make it even more beneficial than M4A. Particularly, a strong public option could give us the best of both worlds on healthcare issues." 

I’m confident that Medicare for All will happen eventually. The conversation has started in a real way. People are coalescing behind the idea. The idea isn’t going away. And again, we need to vote in progressive Members of Congress. THOSE are the people who will make Medicare for All a reality.

And Joe is a good choice for working with an obstructive Congress if it doesn’t move left. 

"Joe Biden is the best chance at getting an obstructionist GOP Senate to work with him. He knows every Senator with any tenure in the halls of congress, and most of the Representatives. He doesn’t need to build political capital with them, as he has spent decades as one of them doing exactly that. While a Sanders or Warren presidency would have brought about key, necessary systemic changes, it would have been a fight to do so every step of the way. With Biden, actual progress is possible as out of all the candidates, he has the best chance of getting both sides of the aisle working together."

He’ll get a rousing endorsement from Obama and we WILL defeat 45 in the general election. 

"Obama and his coalition will activate to defeat Trump. We will see it as soon as today, the Obama machine (which is considerable) will activate for Joe. Prior to Super Tuesday, this would have been a bad idea and risky, as it was important to Obama (based on statements) that the primaries be fair and unencumbered with bias. Despite outcry, Tom Perez has done a fairly decent job of this, and Obama has done a great job staying out of the fray. That will change today."

He’ll work to bring competent people, and hopefully some progressive voices, to the cabinet. 

"It’s not about Biden as president, it is appointing who he appoints.
The biggest swaths of damage that Trump is responsible for isn’t just in his actions, it is in who he appoints. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to SCOTUS, Pruitt to EPA, DeVos to education, Zinke and Bernhardt to the interior, and any magnate or lobbyist who could gain from sacking their department as appointment to every department. The damage that three years of this has done to our country will be felt for decades. Biden already has a mechanism in place to restore these agencies by choosing people he knows, has worked with, and understands how to reverse that damage in place."

He’s a good man. He’s a good politician. He will lead well.

"He’s actually a good person, with a genuine history of doing the right thing. Has he had missteps in DACA votes, SCOTUS controversy, and some votes he was involved in decades and an entire generation ago? Yes, who hasn’t. Line up his controversies next to Trump, and we quickly see that 4 bad decisions in 40+ years of government service is actually pretty phenomenal."

Stephen Colbert does a great impression of him (ok, Colbert also does a great Bernie).

And Jill Biden though! Sign her up for the Secret Service! That woman will defend Joe with her life! 

Let's concentrate on removing 45! We have no use for tribalism. Bernie supporters, keep supporting him! We need loud progressive voices! Biden supporters, you too! Promote him well! But to all of you, I implore: As we go forward, as you keep promoting your candidate, don't disparage the other. Keep talking about your candidate’s ideas. We want them and we need them! We also need to get out of this mess, and we can only do that if EVERYONE shows up to the polls on November 3. No matter who gets the nomination, we will need to also focus on progressive tickets in the House and Senate. Those races are of vital importance if we are going to make change. The president can't do it by himself.

I hope, and I'm confident, that by the time a candidate is gelled, all of the others who have run will strongly and unequivocally endorse him. And you, too, no matter who you backed. It's important that we coalesce. Keep talking about ideas, but let's stay positive. No trash talkin'! We have to stick together! We need every. Single. Voter.

And until then.... #Resist!