Quote:
Originally Posted by Trolly McTrollson
idk how long you've been following politics but my whole adult lifetime it's been a long story of Dems abandoning traditional liberalism and gradually shifting more and more to looking like a Republican-Lite party. If we've reached the point where we hang a "straight white men only" sign on the door of the clubhouse and focus our efforts on coddling the delicate feelings of Fox News viewers, I think it's just time to quit and say the ballgame is over.
Not been following very long.
I wasn't saying to run a moderate white, fwiw. I was thinking a young Bernie Jr type, minus explicitly calling himself a socialist.
I don't think the ball game is over if I'm right. Like I'm not even saying that Ellison couldn't win. I'm saying I think identity politics makes him less likely to win than the aforementioned hypothetical white Bernie Jr. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't care. I would say run the most qualified person and shift the Overton window if that's Ellison. And if you can make the case that he would have a bigger margin in the electoral college than anyone else, then run with him for sure. But like, I don't know if you've heard, Steve Bannon's gonna be working right next to the oval office. Our country is going to be run by Mr. Brexit and Mr. Breitbart. So I can't summon up too much high mindedness when it comes to 2020. If Dems can win while still promoting tolerance and empathy and not actively lying to voters (really tough since their opponent won't have any scruples about that), then I wouldn't take it as anything other than a straight victory.
And unless your thinking is completely alien to mine, and you believe e.g. that Democrats can win in 2020 with a transgender candidate, then you have to acknowledge my point to a certain degree. That spectrum of viability does exist, and it's a question of where the "hard-to-win" line is drawn. Is it as far as transgendered candidate? Or is it closer to Muslim (all other things equal)?