02-15-2020, 12:54 AM
(02-14-2020, 01:49 PM)David Horn Wrote:(02-14-2020, 11:36 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: ... Mike has major problems for Democratic primary voters. First, he's a billionaire trying to buy the election, and he uses his money to buy supporters. There's no magic to Mike except the magic of money. Second, his record on labor unions and hiring practices is poor. Third, his stop and frisk policy hurts him with blacks. Fourth, his shut down of Occupy hurts him with liberal youth. Fifth, not all voters like his nanny-state approach to indulgences like soda pop and grass. I'm sure there's more. His major appeal is competence, "Mike will get it done." We know how that fared with that other Mike. And he has no personality, even a complacent 'murican one like Nixon and the Bushes, which is fatal to a USA presidential candidate. In a year when Democrats are choosing who can beat Trump, that is a drawback that some Democratic primary voters might consider...
We should be at the end of a half-cycle, where the more progressive views begin to take hold in earnest. I would prefer it that way; I hope it's true. If the Dems select Bloomberg out of fear, and that's what it would be, then we're still awaiting the regeneracy that's out there somewhere. You're right. Mike Bloomberg cannot and will not be the one to reign in the excesses and point to a new way. If he's the candidate, Dems will have to back him to the hilt, because the alternative is four more years of Trump literally tearing the guts out of the country. It's questionable whether recovery would be possible in the aftermath. Then again, a Bloomberg victory would forestall the arrival of the new paradigm, yet again. I'm not sure pushing a regeneracy out much further is possible, so we may fail this cycle. If so, I would hope to live to an unreasonable age to see the next iteration finally fix things.
I'd rather see it that the regeneracy is in process in the last couple of years, and it's a question of how far it will move the ship of state, and how soon. Who the president is, is important, but the leadership toward the new paradigm comes from the people too. I don't think Democrats will choose Bloomberg, for the reasons above. Right now it all seems to depend on whether the regeneracy among the people has gone far enough for them to be willing to choose Sanders, or whether they will be scared of his political label. If Biden revives, then he is an alternative that would move the ship of state to the new course more slowly. I don't think any other Democrats have a chance. The Democrats could certainly nominate Buttigieg or another loser, but I don't think he can sustain his current success either.