Monday, July 1, 2019

After the Debates: Go Bernie and Elizabeth!


'Future Hope' Column

By Ted Glick 

I tuned into PBS news last evening, hoping for the best. I wanted to see how they analyzed the results of the two Democratic Party Presidential debates in Miami. Friday is when they do their week in review political analysis with centrist Republican David Brooks and centrist Democrat Mark Shields.

Personally, I was feeling mixed but generally pretty good about the debates. The major problem I and many other climate activists had with them was the relative short shrift given to the climate crisis by the debate moderators. The issue was there, but both nights it was toward the end, and it did not receive anywhere near the amount of time or seriousness devoted to it as compared to other issues, despite very clear signs, gulp, that we may well be entering climate tipping point territory [the latest: 114 degrees yesterday in France].

On the other hand my favored candidate, Bernie Sanders, had done well, as did my second choice, Elizabeth Warren. Overall, much of what was said by most of the candidates was progressive in orientation, which is a reflection of what is happening in the country. And Joe Biden did poorly, which was no surprise but which I was glad to see. The last thing we need is another Hillary Clinton-type DP centrist to go up against Trump.

Brooks and Shields, as has been true of other centrist political analysts, were noticeably upset by the results. Given that they are both likely Biden supporters, this is understandable. I’ve been thinking ever since he came into the Presidential race that he was likely going to self-destruct at some point, and that point may have come much more quickly than I thought it would.

As people have been commenting, the Joe Biden we saw Thursday night would be eaten up by Trump. But never fear, centrists and corporate Democrats, there are alternatives.

Click here for the full article.

Source: tedglick.com

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