Welcome to The Now

 

 

 

 Another political autopsy, sure, but an insightful one: My take is that the Democrats are compromised, they know this, and as a result criticisms of their policies are interpreted as personal attacks as a ways to cope with the guilt. 

 Time to move on: For those invested in electoral politics, the third-parties need to step up (and if the ones that are in existence can't step up, then new ones need to be formed). Democrats and Republicans are not the answer.

 

Sanders would be better off joining independent or third-party based organizations who are already fighting against the oligarchy:

  Bonus: For the Green Party in New York, it's just as bad . 

 They say, "There's only two choices" but always fail to articulate the role they play in creating that environment:

 

 

 

 One being Jill Stein's response: So while the Democrats freakout , Joe Biden tries an alternate personality and Trump acts like Trump , remember that there are other people running for president. 

  Via C-SPAN .

 

  From their 1/12/24 article : Political independents continue to constitute the largest political bloc in the U.S., with an average of 43% of U.S. adults identifying this way in 2023, tying the record high from 2014. Independent identification has been 40% or higher each year since 2011, except for the 2016 (39%) and 2020 (39%) presidential election years. Equal 27% shares of U.S. adults identify as Republicans and Democrats, with the Democratic figure marking a new low for that party in Gallup’s trend. Independents first outnumbered supporters of both major political parties in 1991 and have continued to do so since then, except in several years between 2004 and 2008. Over time, the increase in the percentage of independents has come more at the expense of Democrats than Republicans, which might be expected since Democrats were previously the largest political group. Gallup asks respondents in each survey whether they identify politically as a Republican, a Democrat or an indepen...

AOC was one of the Justice Democrats, a political group born of the idea that the best way to get progressive ideas through (at least legislatively) was is to "infiltrate" the Democratic Party. Kyle Kulinski was a founder of Justice Democrats. AOC has endorsed Joe Biden for president (super early). Kulinski is supporting Marianne Williams as a primary challenger.  So as a result, we get this: Note that Kulinski implies two very interesting things: That President Joe Biden is measurably more progressive than Senator Joe Biden; and Marianne Williamson's decision to run in the Democratic Party was a strategically sound move (compared to running independently).  Here's the thing: Joe Biden's " accomplishments " aren't evident enough to get enthusiastic support from average voters; only people who are knee-deep in Democratic Party politics can even list them. If the average lay person can't name something the president to make their life better, that...

 PROS Forces the Democratic Party to addresses issues/policies they would normally ignore. Forces third-parties (like the Green Party) to up their game. Forces Democratic voters who like Dr. West to reconcile his platform with their party allegiance.  Automatically becomes the most left candidate running for president, making Republican attacks calling the Democratic Party "far-left" and Democratic claims of being the most progressive irrelevant (NOTE: the only real recourse is to say that West is not really that left, and to do it ingeniously ).  Forces the People's Party to either work to get ballot access and/or local candidates, or risk becoming a empty, shapeless organization. Can expose the flaws of the Electoral College, which is one of the major problems in electoral politics. CONS Will be labeled "socialist" further re-defining that term in political circles. Smears and attacks by the media may dissuade other potential third-party candidates (but it sho...

Yes, it's true: the issues that impact your household, town, city or even state can and will trump federal and national issues. It's one of the main reasons people default on foreign policy; the politician and media make little to no effort to connect what's going on beyond our borders to the people outside of the occasional saber-rattling and jingoism.  But politics is also by association: meaning, that what makes the headlines is pushed as if it's a product (because in a lot of ways it is). The same reason you see more Coca-Cola and Pepsi ads than those for RC Cola is the same reason there's seems to be more reason behind the Hollywood Writer's Strike than those of Amazon, Starbucks or the railroad workers: For all practical purposes, TV shows do as much for the average American as a coffee franchise or an industry responsible for moving 28% of the country's freight around . But from the perspective of those who are connected to television , like say Seth...

 All you have to do is replace his personal pick (Marianne Williamson) with any third-party candidate: Again, she's polling less than RFK, Jr., who's at 10%. But Kulinski argues that this is because of the media and the party playing tricks on potential voters. Well, that exactly the argument advocates of third-parties have said for years. Just like America is in the middle of a global economic temper-tantrum over China, the "Infiltrate the Dems" crowd are grasping at anything that can vaguely support their flawed strategy.