Politics is crazy. Even though some women are in the business now, and hopefully more and more will be, it’s still basically an alpha-male, jostling for dominance inside the tribe sort of exercise.
There are very few politicians who are willing to put the welfare of the voter ahead of their own personal ambitions. Hillary Clinton is not unique in this. Bernie Sanders is the one who’s an outlier. He’s been championing social inequality his whole career, and it wasn’t a winning proposition in the beginning.
Generally, when there is an opening, when there is blood in the water, politicians flock in for the kill. Witness the California Senate race. Everybody hates Dianne Feinstein. Her main argument for getting elected and re-elected and re-elected has always been “We need to have a Democrat in that seat.” So, she’s been there for decades, making her husband extremely wealthy with no-bid government contracts, and supporting Republicans on all the things they really cared about, like war.
So, after 2016, with the resurgence of the angry left, and especially with the recent revelations of just how insanely anti-Democratic the Democratic party has become, she is vulnerable.
One Berniecrat, David Hildebrand, announced weeks ago that he was going to go up against Feinstein. Progressives should be rallying around him. Then, a guy named Kevin de Leon entered the race. He’s for universal health care, so that’s good, but I get the feeling that he is an acceptable candidate for the DNC, put out there to split the left and let DiFi get in, or, if he wins, they probably think he’s controllable. Sort of the way they’re promoting the hell out of Kamala Harris for president, as a pre-emptive strike against Tulsi Gabbard, who is loved by all progressives, popular with the military, and won her district with over 80% of the vote. Corporate Democrats are scared shitless of Tulsi.
Then, the other day, Cenk Uygur announced the candidacy of Alison Hartson. Now, I generally like Cenk Uygur. I don’t blame him for supporting Clinton in the general. As much as I’m glad she didn’t win, the argument that ‘she’s not Trump’ was enough for some people, and we still want them on our side. Besides, Cenk is progressive as hell.
But why in the world would he put up a progressive candidate in a race in which there is already a progressive candidate? I don’t get that.
Then there is Tom Steyer, a billionaire whose main issue at the moment is getting Donald Trump impeached. It’s a good issue, I’m all for it, but I’d like to know where he stands on some other issues, like taxing the rich.
But, my main argument, the case that I’m trying to make tonight, is that progressives are likely to stir up the waters, cause a hell of a lot of confusion, and allow Dianne Feinstein to keep her seat.
Here’s what I suggest. About a week or two before the primary, there should be a ‘progressive primary.’ All democratic candidates who are not Dianne Feinstein should participate, it could even be done informally, on line, and there should be an agreement that the winner stays in and the others drop out.
Maybe they could even have debates beforehand. Extra publicity for everyone.
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