February 19, 2020--Newbie Bloomberg

Among many people I know, mainly older friends, I am sensing a building enthusiasm for the candidacy of Mike Bloomberg.

They are in general high-information folks who are well aware of Stop and Frisk, redlining, and his too frequent misoginy. They were antiwar protesters in their youth and have been politically active in progressive causes in many ways through the years.

Thus, they are reluctant to be quoted but are quickly coming to support Bloomberg.

Not because they feel he will be a great president, not because they believe he will unify the country or inspire the young but because they feel he is the only one who can defeat Sanders, who they see to be unelectable, and because he is electable and thus has the best chance to save us from four more years of Trump.

So, I did some calling around and almost everyone I spoke with reported feeling optimistic for the first time in what feels to them like forever.

One told me, as a life-long feminist and Democratic activist, she is embarrassed to tell her friends how she is inclining. She also said, as with Trump in 2016, people like her if surveyed will not acknowledge they is planning to vote for someone so flawed. And vote with growing enthusiasm and hope.

So we'll see how tonight goes at the Democratic debate. If Bloomberg is able to deal with the wave of criticism that will inevitably come his way we may see the election transformed.

Minimally, it will not be boring.

February 12, 2016--The Beginning of the End of Bernie Sanders

In yesterday's debate with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton won by a TKO.

For non-boxing fans, a TKO is a technical knockout. One fighter is doing so poorly that the referee steps in to stop the match.

Last night, the PBS and CBS moderators stepped in and ended it seven minutes early. Not because they lost track of time but because Hillary was overwhelming Bernie to the point that he began to resemble Marco Rubio--no matter the question he kept returning to his default position that the economy is rigged and it is the one-percent who benefit at the expense of the rest of us.

His problem was exposed early when Hillary dismantled his health care plan. Such as it is.

Agreeing that Obamacare is not the final answer--20 million Americans are covered by it but at least that many remain unprotected--she calmly, subtly, and not-so-subtly poked holes in his ideas to pay for it.

This was not that difficult to do because Sanders' numbers do not add up (nary a progressive economist disagrees with that) and he was left on stage unstrung. So much so that I found it hard to watch as I hate uneven boxing matches. American Idol was on TV at the same time and, political junky that I am and far from a fan of Hillary's--Joe Biden where are you--I still found myself switching back and forth.

So where are we?

Again last night a newly-retooled Hillary was politically brilliant at calmly playing to and at times pandering to the next demographics that she and Bernie will face in Nevada (Latinos) and South Carolina (African Americans). Though Bernie also could be shameless in reaching out to these communities, it was obvious that Hillary is much better at it. To be fair, she is also much more experienced in working with and for people of color and more comfortable talking about their issues, experiences, needs, and aspirations.

So it was Clinton by a TKO.

Bernie's only hope was that no one was watching. Aren't we all by now suffering from debate fatigue? Even if that was true, he has a chance in Nevada but will surely lose in South Carolina. The congressional Black Caucus endorsed her yesterday, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn will do so this weekend and, chiming in, the bellwether Reverend Al Sharpton, incapable of turning away from a mealticket, will be on board by the middle of next week.

Among other things, I feel badly for young people (including my niece) who have made such a passionate commitment to Bernie.

But there is some good news--there's a lot to learn about life when things are not going your way and it feels as if you are being unfairly (or fairly) pummeled. It is at those times when the depth of one's beliefs are challenged that it is necessary to dig deep and keep on fighting. To use an old-fashioned phrase--it's character building. Who can't use more of that?

October 16, 2015--Hillary

Unless there is something that the FBI will uncover in Hillary Clinton's emails that is indictable, after Tuesday's Democratic debate, not only will she waltz to the nomination but a year from November she will be elected president.

Bernie Sanders might have been an old fashioned gentleman when he said "enough about these damn emails," but politically, for all intents and purposes, that ended this line of questioning.

He is not privy to what the FBI is rooting about in, and there is more than a small chance that they will uncover a smoking gun. That would change everything. But as things stand, I stick by my prediction.

Clinton was so impressive that Joe Biden now will decide to stay out of the race. Maybe he even feels relieved. He had little chance of upsetting her. And he knows now that she is capable of roughing him up as she did to Sanders in regard to his record about guns and his naivety with world affairs ("With all due respect, senator, the United States is not Denmark"). Does Joe need to go through any of this in a losing cause?

He'd go from being the potential savior to spoiler. As of now there is nothing to save.

But above all here is why I am feeling so certain that the nomination and president is hers to lose--

Women.

Pretty much all the women I know have been planning to vote for Hillary. I mean even before the debate. To some it was a hold-you-nose thing. Yes, she's flawed. Deeply. But she is no worse than any of the others and . . . she's a woman.

Being female was the decider.

After Tuesday, checking in with a number of politically active women, I found they are now enthusiastic supporters. They are feeling that she excelled (admittedly the other four candidates were quite weak--I am trying to be kind) but she stood more than a little above them.

It was easy to imagine her back in the White House. This time as the president she always wanted to be.

So, they will not only vote for her, they now plan to contribute money and become active supporters. They will do  everything they can to encourage others to vote for her as well as become volunteers in her campaign.

And if this morning's rumors are true that she will select Julian Castro to be her running mate, it's all over. He is the former mayor of San Antonio and currently secretary of Housing and Urban Development. And, of course, is Mexican-American.

He they are together--