Regarding the primary it would have been a mixed bag. Lots of Kamala's problems stem from her positioning in the 2020 primary and that wasn't an accident -- the Dem primary voter is pretty liberal.
While I'd have loved a Buttigeg canidacy there is a very good chance we'd have picked a canidate who is far enough left they would do worse.
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I'm very scared Trump will win but this talk of fleeing is kinda foolish. Empires don't fall in a day or even a decade. The Roman republic decayed for at least a century before Caeser.
The real danger with Trump is he eliminates the norms against politicizing law enforcement and other executive functions. He tries prosecuting some of his enemies, it's horrible but life goes on for the rest of us, but next time the Dems win it feels foolish not to push the norms a bit -- the misbehavior of enemies always feels obviously unacceptable -- and the cycle continues. Eventually someone comes along who either feels they have to seize power to protect themselves or to stop the madness and by then everyone is disgusted enough by the corruption they allow it.
My gut tells me that Trump is going to win this thing, but what do I know?
As a Canadian living in the US, I used to think the American primaries were a huge waste of time and money, putting every candidate and party in a state of perma-campaign, at the expense of millions of dollars, and in service to a few hastily-assembled campaign slogans. Why not just choose candidates the old-fashioned way, in a smoke-filled backroom attended by a few delegates chosen by the party faithful?
I now see the value of a robust primary system, in order to test the mettle of a potential presidential candidate
I love these two comments. We need to seriously take a look at the Democratic primary system, if it has become an Achilles heel on the general election. But at the same time, Harris would have benefitted from an election "workout" before the real thing. She shouldn't be testing out new ideas a few weeks away from the election.
Regarding the primary it would have been a mixed bag. Lots of Kamala's problems stem from her positioning in the 2020 primary and that wasn't an accident -- the Dem primary voter is pretty liberal.
While I'd have loved a Buttigeg canidacy there is a very good chance we'd have picked a canidate who is far enough left they would do worse.
---
I'm very scared Trump will win but this talk of fleeing is kinda foolish. Empires don't fall in a day or even a decade. The Roman republic decayed for at least a century before Caeser.
The real danger with Trump is he eliminates the norms against politicizing law enforcement and other executive functions. He tries prosecuting some of his enemies, it's horrible but life goes on for the rest of us, but next time the Dems win it feels foolish not to push the norms a bit -- the misbehavior of enemies always feels obviously unacceptable -- and the cycle continues. Eventually someone comes along who either feels they have to seize power to protect themselves or to stop the madness and by then everyone is disgusted enough by the corruption they allow it.
My gut tells me that Trump is going to win this thing, but what do I know?
As a Canadian living in the US, I used to think the American primaries were a huge waste of time and money, putting every candidate and party in a state of perma-campaign, at the expense of millions of dollars, and in service to a few hastily-assembled campaign slogans. Why not just choose candidates the old-fashioned way, in a smoke-filled backroom attended by a few delegates chosen by the party faithful?
I now see the value of a robust primary system, in order to test the mettle of a potential presidential candidate
I love these two comments. We need to seriously take a look at the Democratic primary system, if it has become an Achilles heel on the general election. But at the same time, Harris would have benefitted from an election "workout" before the real thing. She shouldn't be testing out new ideas a few weeks away from the election.