In the last few elections, I’ve cared less about platforms and more about “can this candidate execute?” “Do they have demonstrated competence and command of the facts?” And for the first time in my life: “do they actually care about others?”
Really, most of the time I see empathy as being overrated (e .g I want a pilot who can fly the plane..a surgeon who can do the operation) but I see the result of a total lack of empathy.
So, at least for me, and I suspect for others, “decency, competency, and NOT THE INCUMBENT” is more than enough.
For sure, it won’t be enough to persuade all. There are those who:
1. Thinks the economy is doing fine.
2. Thinks that COVID 19 is waaaay overblown…it mostly kills those who were already about to die anyway..(so, “are those really COVID deaths?”)
3. Thinks that BLM is just good old fashioned “liberals coddling criminals”
4. Think that voting D is putting AOC in charge and
5. Think that the D’s want to take money away from the high achievers that deserve it and give it to the lazy no-good-for-nothing riff-raff. Taxes are THEFT.
So Trump will get at least 40 percent of the vote..maybe 45-46 percent and he does have a realistic chance of winning though Nate Silver’s odds (Biden with 70 percent chance of winning the EC) sounds about right to me.
Confession: I have not watched much of the DNC convention. I did watch Michele Obama’s speech and Barack’s. I watched Amy Klobuchar’s (and really liked it).
Oh, no worries, I’ve already set up a recurring donation to the Biden/Harris campaign. And when Klobuchar withdrew, Harris is the one I wanted. So I am happy with the ticket.
But the convention itself: it kind of reminds me of the old days when you visited a family and they brought out the dreaded family photo album to show you how AWESOME their kids were in their respective recitals etc.
I see the convention as a bit of a reward for the various “activists” who, of course, want their cause to be front and center. Whatever.
Yes, the activists irritate the hell out of me. And the woke “hall monitors” are borderline insufferable.
But…here is the choice: the “activist” might want to push the term “Latnix” on you (BTW, thank you President Obama for using “Latino” instead) But the other choice is the party which currently embraces the racists who hate you for being what you are.
Sorry Jeb Bush, this IS your current party:
Why in the world would the President not kick Q’anon supporters’ butts? Nut jobs, rascists, haters have no place in either Party. https://t.co/uWIMg7clJz
The party of Republicans who speak like this is DEAD as a doornail.
And, in my opinion, Trump is incompetent. Period. Were he competent he’d be sailing to victory. Yes, he still might win (the EC anyway, which is what counts; he won’t win the popular vote) but I see the “30 percent chance” of a Trump EC victory as being about right.
So, for me, this election really isn’t about policy proposals; it is about competence vs. incompetence, decency vs vulgarity.
It sucks when the POTUS is an anti-example; can you imagine a business hiring someone who acts that way in public? It sucks that you have to tell your kids to NOT conduct yourself in public the way that POTUS does.
And yes, I warmly welcome the help of the Lincoln Project Republicans; I hope you rebuild your party into something that I might consider joining or voting for from time to time.
And here is one big irony:
My parents were lifelong Democrats. They were not educated (neither made it INTO high school; both got GEDs) but they wanted me to be.
But they feared two things..well, my mom did anyway:
1. I’d loves my religious faith. And sure enough, that fear came to pass; superstition is one thing I cast aside.
2. I’d become a Republican. If that seems strange, remember that at that time, Republicans were people who were proud of their educations; they embraced science and reason and were mostly pro-business. The idea of a Republican scientist was not ridiculous in those days. They also were civic minded; they would invest in the country if they thought it forwarded the common good. They believed that you had a responsibility to “give back.”
My parents fear is that they were too “pro-rich, anti-poor.”
Well, no fear of my ever joining the party of racists, science deniers and conspiracy kooks.
Yes, there are some very loud liberal kooks too but at least there are still SOME of us who push back against them. And mostly, the worst of the kooks aren’t elected to national office.
Life of an old goat 