January 25, 2019--Joe, Say It Isn't So!

Just as I was about to throw my support (such as it is) behind the still non-candidate, Joe Biden, feeling desperate, though it is still almost two years before the next presidential election, to find someone who can win (forget fall in love with), just as I was about to ignore or rationalize his limitations and faults, including the fact that he'll be 78 in two years, there was a front-page story in Thursday's New York Times which revealed that Joe gave a speech at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, to a "Republican-leaning audience" for which he received $200,000 and, at his insistence, was flown in and out on a private jet (forget carbon footprint issues), now confused and totally depressed I don't think I any longer have a candidate who can win and who doesn't make me nauseous when thinking about her or him in the Oval Office.

Two hundred thousand is an obscene amount of money for any speech other than the Gettysburg Address (you had to be there to really appreciate it), and though I hate it, the corruption and hypocrisy it reveals is not what has me bent out of shape (more or less straight-shooter Biden who grew up poor in Scranton now cashing in and flying around in private planes after a lifetime of public service is not my major problem), it's why Joe was addressing a Republican-leaning audience.

It appears he was there to, wink-wink, endorse for reelection, GOP Representative Fred Upton. Upton is not a troglodyte member of the House--there are much worse: think white supremacist Steve King of Kansas--but the recent midterm election is one in which Democrats put aside differences to regain control of the House and thereby reduce Trump's stranglehold on the nation's government. In other words every vote counted more than usual and there was pay-for-play Biden weighing in on Upton's side.

And it likely helped--Upton won in a squeaker by only four and a half percentage points. Luckily the Dems flipped enough other seats to take control of the House so perhaps Biden can claim he did no ultimate harm. After all, Biden said at the talk, Upton is an alleged "champion" in the fight against cancer and is thus "one of the finest guys I've ever worked with." I know fighting cancer is what Biden is largely about but it feels as if Joe was motivated to endorse him as much for the 200 grand he pocketed as for the cancer fighting. 

Closer to the scene, Eric Lester, who chaired the Democratic Party in Berrien County during the midterms, said he considered Biden's "supportive remarks" about Upton "a betrayal."

Sounds right to me.

December 7, 2018--Off And Running

Below is a list of the 35 or so 2020 potential Democratic nominees for the presidency.

Does anyone look like a winner to you? I don't mean capable of winning the nomination but becoming president?

My favorite, Joe Biden, is approaching 100 and thus I am worried.

Alphabetical list of individuals who have expressed an interest in running for president:

• Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator from Colorado since 2009
• Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States 2009–2017; U.S. Senator from Delaware 1973–2009; candidate for President in 1988 and in 2008
• Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City 2002–2013
• Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey since 2013; Mayor of Newark 2006–2013
• Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio since 2007; U.S. Representative 1993–2007
• Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend since 2012
• Bob Casey Jr., U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania since 2007
• Julian Castro, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 2014–2017; Mayor of San Antonio, Texas 2009–2014
• Oscar De La Hoya, boxing champion from California
• Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Representative from Hawaii since 2013
• Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, California since 2013
• Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator from New York since 2009 U.S. Representative from 2007–2009
• Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator from California since 2017
• John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado since 2011; Mayor of Denver 2003–2011
• Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General 2009–2015; Acting U.S. Attorney General in 200 from Washington, D.C.
• Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington since 2013
• John Kerry, 2004 Democratic nominee; U.S. Secretary of State 2013–2017; U.S. Senator from Massachusetts 1985–2013
• Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator from Minnesota since 2007
• Terry McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia 2014–2018
• Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator from Oregon since 2009
• Martin O'Malley, former Governor of Maryland from 2007-2015, former Mayor of Baltimore 1999-2007, candidate for President in 2016
• Duval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts 2007-2015
• Beto O'Rourke, U.S. Representative from Texas since 2013 Democratic nominee for United States Senate election in Texas in 2018
• Tim Ryan, U.S. Representative from Ohio since 2003
• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont since 2007; U.S. Representative 1991–2007; candidate for President in 2016
• Tom Steyer, billionaire hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, liberal activist, and fundraiser from California
• Eric Swalwell, U.S. Representative from California since 2013
• Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts since 2013

The following people have been subjects of speculation about their potential candidacy within the last six months, although they have neither personally expressed interest nor declined to run:

• Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana since 2013
• Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee 2014-2018, Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida in 2018
• William H. McRaven,  retired United States Navy Admiral
• Adam Schiff, U.S. Representative since 2001, from California
• Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, from Washington
• Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia since 2009, former Governor of Virginia 2002–2006

You can use this as a scorecard, as I did, by crossing Duval Patrick's name off the list of contenders. He withdraw from consideration as I was working on this. I hope that's not a case of cause and effect.

More soon will begin to drop like flies and others, like New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, will declare. He, like almost all the others, has no chance, but running, going forward, can be good for one's brand.

June 6, 2018--Frappuccino

Many of my friends are excited that the executive chairman of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is stepping down and giving serious thought to running for president in 2020 as a Democrat.

I have been hearing from them all day.

"He's our best chance to defeat Donald Trump," one e-mailed, "A real businessman who can take on Trump, a mom-and-pop operator who's really nothing more than a snake oil salesman."

"Schultz built a global empire," another friend texted, "He made billions of dollars for Starbucks. And he's a progressive! Just last week he shut down all the Starbucks stores in the United States for diversity training."

"On his watch they created, my favorite, the Frappuccino," someone wrote, seemingly feeling this qualifies him to be president.

I say, forget for the moment if he's qualified. My question--Can he win?

Sorry, but I doubt it.

Just what we need, another businessman who knows nothing about domestic issues or international challenges. Just because there are 14,000 Starbucks shops overseas in 62 countries doesn't qualify Schultz to be commander in chief.

And, I don't know how to put this without stirring up a hornets nest, but do we need another New Yorker running for president, much less someone from Brooklyn?

I say this as a Brooklyn native.

My obsession continues to be about winning in November and then in 2020. Won't we progressives ever learn that someone known for selling Americanos and lattes doesn't have a chance. I can already hear the mockery. Remember when me-generation Democrats where called Yuppies who cared more about brie and Chardonnay than social or political issues?

My view--yes, in the mix of potential nominees let's look for CEOs who could take on both Trump and actually have the experience needed to be an effective president. For me, Howard Schultz is not that person. 

In addition, I hate Frappuccinos.