Bernie and the 50-state Solution

Not so fast Bernie: Hillary watchers take note. The big wins for Bernie in Caucus states, Hawaii, Washington State and Alaska, seemed to account for around 60,000 or so voters (Alaska had a whopping 500 people caucusing for Dems!). True, Bernie won big, but as for raw vote tabulation, the numbers don’t add up. Hillary still has an insurmountable lead in vote totals where large populations live.

In the long run, Hillary leads “bigly” as Trump would say, in New York and California, which make up the bulk of the remaining vote count that will put her over the top to become the nominee. It’s slightly disingenuous, which Bernie’s folks love to say about Hillary, to claim that the momentum from these wins will lead to the nomination. Sanders would have to pull off some amazing sleight of hand to win the nomination of the Democratic Party. That’s without the Super-Delegates.

The Super-Delegates seem to be the coolant that the GOP lacks. Republicans may start considering the end game and perhaps using their own Super-Delegates to stop the rush to nomination of an undesirable, in this case, one Donald J. Trump.

As for the Democratic Party, they should not be so smug. The Dems have been under-achiever’s for a while now in regard to winning state and local government races. The Governor’s houses and other important Senate and House elections have proven to be elusive for most Democratic leaning candidates. Aside from the obvious, gerrymandering of districts, the Democratic Party needs to return to the 50-state solution first proposed by Howard Dean and now being touted by one Bernie Sanders.

If and when Bernie does return to his day job in the Senate, he could do a great service, even perhaps more powerful than winning the Presidency, by continuing to promote and engage young people and disaffected Democratic Voters to become involved in the process in off-year elections. That is the long-term remedy for some of the ills that Bernie has spoken so eloquently about in this election cycle.

Comments

Hillary and the Man in the Arena

From the standpoint of one who voted for and endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, there seems to be a question hanging in the air. How could someone who opposed the Clintonian dynasty support Hillary’s bid for the Presidency? Isn’t it a bit hypocritical? Or at least inconsistent with the view previously taken? This is true for many supporters of Obama. Some on the left cannot support her bid for President.They see many of her acknowledged flaws and conclude she cannot be a viable option. My view comes from watching her over the course of the past eight years, four as the Secretary of State within this Administration. And having watched the two debate in 2008- Obama vs. Hillary- there can be little question that the divide that separates them on most issues is a small one. Theirs is a centrist left view of the world. On Foreign Policy, I daresay that Hillary would never have worked for Obama had she held wildly opposing views from his own world view. But the...

The Fifth Risk: A Chillingly Prophetic Narrative for our Time

For those who have never read this book, ,”The Fifth Risk” is a chillingly prophetic narrative that perfectly embodies the reasoning and set of circumstances that have led us to this point in the pandemic. Not only is there no plan for getting us out of the Pandemic-at least from the Trump Administration- there is instead a decisive narrative which Lewis lays out that allows you to understand why there is a pattern to the idea of simply ‘dropping off the cliff.’ The plan from the beginning, long before the Trump Administration even began to take power, was to break down the walls of governance that had surrounded the Washington agencies for decades prior. Of course, many of Trump’s supporters argue: That is the point! Steve Bannon proudly declared that government would be ‘de-constructed.’ And even those who ended up disagreeing with Trump heavily, such as John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, did help implement the policies that were laid out in the beginning of Trump’s tenur...

Katy Bar the Door: The Fall of the House of Reagan

· Can this Marriage be Saved? There seems to be a disturbance in the force with the Tea Party activists and the rare seldom sighted moderate Republicans all coming out of the woodwork to ask what happened. There seems to be no way to reunite the odd, feuding factions that have erupted into deep schisms in the Republican Party. All one can do is to grab popcorn and stay tuned for what The Donald will do or say next… · Can he be Stopped? If you plaster his face at the post office, with the caption below Donald Trump’s picture reading, Can Someone stop this man?, would anyone be able to act? The GOP seems to be in a panic suddenly, as they realize that this man is soon to become the new face of the Grand Old Party. · Old adages do apply: “ Nice Guys Finish Last ” We’ve learned over the course of the last few weeks that those tired old ...

Red State/Blue State

Search This Blog