09-14-2019, 10:48 PM
Kevin Drum today opined that the Democratic nomination race as already realistically distilled down to two people - Warren and Biden. I have been thinking that was the case for a while, so it's nice to see a fairly level headed guy like Drum also share that view.
I think Warren is corralling the biggest chunk of Democrats in favor of the government flexing its muscle to take on the Second Gilded Agers and provide significantly more services for middle and lower income folks. And very vigorously address inequalities (too great of disparities) in all spheres of life. That's where my heart is.
I think Biden has a lock on the vast bulk of Democrats that are more moderate. There are a lot of such Democrats and, much as I might prefer otherwise, he may very well have a better chance than Warren the socialist at beating Trump. Beating Trump is the most important thing and Biden is still fairly liberal. So my head wants to say Biden is the way to go.
I really hope that Warren can find a way to present her plans as aspirational but that she is also practical enough to work to get things actually passed into law that further those aspirational goals even if only incompletely. With enough of a nod toward pragmatics of actually getting laws passed, I think she could put together a winning coalition. Well, she also needs to convince more brown-skinned people that she authentically understands their priorities and embraces policies that can bring those priorities to fruition.
I am assuming that there are more moderate Democrats than not moderate, though, in saying those things. That could be wrong. I don't have any empirical evidence to back up that assumption.
I think Warren is corralling the biggest chunk of Democrats in favor of the government flexing its muscle to take on the Second Gilded Agers and provide significantly more services for middle and lower income folks. And very vigorously address inequalities (too great of disparities) in all spheres of life. That's where my heart is.
I think Biden has a lock on the vast bulk of Democrats that are more moderate. There are a lot of such Democrats and, much as I might prefer otherwise, he may very well have a better chance than Warren the socialist at beating Trump. Beating Trump is the most important thing and Biden is still fairly liberal. So my head wants to say Biden is the way to go.
I really hope that Warren can find a way to present her plans as aspirational but that she is also practical enough to work to get things actually passed into law that further those aspirational goals even if only incompletely. With enough of a nod toward pragmatics of actually getting laws passed, I think she could put together a winning coalition. Well, she also needs to convince more brown-skinned people that she authentically understands their priorities and embraces policies that can bring those priorities to fruition.
I am assuming that there are more moderate Democrats than not moderate, though, in saying those things. That could be wrong. I don't have any empirical evidence to back up that assumption.