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Thursday, August 31, 2017

Deep Bench, Creaky Bench

“I have nothing against any of the people my age who will run, but I really do believe that if we’re going to appeal to the younger generation, we’ve got to change the party.” -- Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean

Howard Dean is 68.

Bernie Sanders is 75.
Joe Biden is 74.
Hillary Clinton is 69.
Elizabeth Warren is 68.
Al Franken is 65.
Sherrod Brown and Claire McCaskill are both 64.

One is reminded of Harry Reid's infamous recent comment that Democratic hopefuls for 2020 look like an "old folks home." I fully expect Sanders to run again, catastrophic though that would be. I wonder if he would run as a Democrat again. That would be hilarious. (I truly hope I am wrong and can return grudgingly to the respect I had for Sanders prior to 2016.) Biden seems nearly as vain as Sanders and so might try a run for 2020, though I somewhat doubt it. Of course, Hillary Clinton will not run again (nor should she) -- though once again she would be better qualified than Sanders, among other reasons because she is too responsible to run again given the debacle of her last run -- and also she would be more progressive than Biden, not that you would think so listening to brogressives who act as if a white penis is the key that unlocks true progress, all recorded history to the contrary notwithstanding. Franken and Brown look to me to be mulling runs, probably with their eyes on the vice-presidency. I rather doubt that either Warren or McCaskill will do the same.

It is worth noting that Senator Kamala Harris is 52, Cory Booker is 48, Mayor Eric Garcetti is 46, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is 50, and Senator Amy Klobuchar is 57. I guess I should add that Andrew Cuomo is 59 (please, God, if you listen to atheists, no). If Klobuchar goes, I think Franken will not -- and vice versa. Gillibrand has ruled out a 2020 bid, for what that is worth. Booker is being coy on the subject, which is worth even less. But all the rest are clearly mulling serious bids and even seem to be running scarcely stealthed early campaigns already. Cory Booker is a rhetorician's dream but I cannot say I am thrilled with some of the company he keeps. Kamala Harris is making all the right moves but the way brogressives already have their knives out for her worries me about another divisive dishonest demoralizing primary contest depressing turnout enough to bring authoritarian bigot Republicans back to their sweet spot of "close enough" to game the result in their favor -- with consequences too hideous to contemplate (that is to say, a continuation and even amplification of the hideousness with which we are presently grappling). Harris' co-sponsorship with Sanders of medicare-for-all demonstrates her awareness of the political problem at hand (and, oh yes, it would also be an incomparable healthcare policy improvement, for what that is worth), but it carries political risks and one wonders if the fauxvolutionaries who like to treat presidential primary contests as opportunities for purity cabaret rather than building organizational capacity will be assuaged by such efforts. Harris and Brown would be an interesting ticket, as would Booker and Klobuchar.

It's too early to tell in any case, and probably worse than foolish to try to foretell this early -- but such tale-telling is rather more edifying than contemplating the gross spectacle of the present, or even the more proximate (and I fear perilous) prospect of the mid-terms, which will probably be bad news in the Senate given the math and disappointing in the House given the gerrymandering. Terrible tho' things are, I fully expect things to get much worse before they get any better. I hope I am wrong. Stay focused, keep resisting, help out, don't give up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, piece of shit Kamala Harris is "making all the right moves", that's for sure! The quote from corporate sellout and fascist sympathizer Howard Dean at the lead was a nice touch, too. Very encouraging that your crypto-fascist agenda is getting nowhere, Carrico.

Dale Carrico said...

Brave Anonymous, you sure seem nice.