tags: Democratic Party

2015

August

2015 Aug 10
Triangulation

Chasing "undecided" voters is a lot like chasing unicorns. But even if they do truly exist, they are such a statiscally vanishingly tiny percentage of the electorate that it's berserk to pursue them.

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2016

February

2016 Feb 26
Neoliberalism FTW

AFAICT, people on the radical left of U.S. politics (which is not that far left as far as international politics in industrialized countries is concerned) probably don't feel either candidate is very leftist. Essentially, the choice is still between two neoliberals so the main determiner is going to be name brand recognition and the resignation to the fact that a neoliberal is still better than a fascist or a theocrat.

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March

2016 Mar 9
Superdelegates

It is heartening that The New York Times has decided to separate pledged delegate counts from superdelegate counts.

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April

2016 Apr 19
Party Loyalty

Despite what Republicans say, the Democratic party isn't like the Communist party where you have to declare total party loyalty. It's always been an unruly coalition of special interests since it's inception as the Democratic-Republican party in 1799. Some special interests have bailed, others have joined, but the dynamic has always been the same. It's a big tent. It's within my living memory when politicians who supported segregation and states' rights caucused with politicians who kindled and propelled the Civil Rights Movement and politicians who were instrumental in preserve the welfare state enacted by the New Deal and the Great Society.

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June

2016 Jun 1
Political Reality

Unless something catastrophic happens between now and June 7th (like a stock market crash or a banking scandal or a federal indictment or whatever), this is probably how it's going to play out. The more moderate Sanders supporters will resign themselves to voting for Clinton in November and the more radical Sanders supporters will stay home or vote for Jill Stein or Trump or do something else that's totally crazy and counterproductive, and Sanders' personal political future will depend entirely on whether or not he reconciles with the Democratic establishment.

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2016 Jun 10
Democratic Party on the Precipice

Honestly, if you think Clinton's presumptive victory is a sign that neoliberalism is totally fine and the majority of Democrats are all aboard and we should just keep on keeping on while the real wages fall and the rich get even richer and can get judges to merely slap them on the wrist for committing violent crimes, the aftermath of the next recession/stock market crash is probably going to be horribly shocking to you.

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July

2016 Jul 11
Incrementalism

If not revolution, then at least incrementalism.

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