Not to be outdone, former Bezos Bugle stenographer and Politic-ho founder Jim VandeHei has now written a "think piece" minus the "think" for Rupert "Aargh!" Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, in which he talks about a third party candidate representing "Normal America" (no link - there's a WSJ paywall we refuse to deal with). Two of his points of reference are his hometown of Oshkosh, WI, and current home Lincoln, ME.
We'll let Jamelle Bouie commence with the disembowelment:
Oshkosh is 90% white and Lincoln is 97% white. Interesting that this is “normal” America. https://t.co/F6YXKOo4FS— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) April 26, 2016
Also, if pundit types want a taste of "normal America" they can just talk to 100s of 1000s of working people who live in and around DC.— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) April 26, 2016
VandeHei's ideal candidate and campaign sounds suspiciously proto- fascist (Trump with impulse control is the model):
Exploit the fear factor. The candidate should be from the military or immediately announce someone with modern-warfare expertise or experience as running mate. People are scared. Terrorism is today's World War and Americans want a theory for dealing with it."Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran."
But who he ends up with as potential presidential timber, mmm, not so much (wait for it): Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg! Keep in mind VandeHei is the caliber of pundit that is treated as a Very Serious Person by, well, other Very Serious Persons. As such, he is ceded valuable space on the nation's opinion pages.
As Bouie concludes,
BONUS: Steve Benen says VandeHei has met "Establishment Ameerica," and it is VandeHei.Congrats, you spent 20 years covering politics and emerged as an ignorant, vapid, proto-fascist. https://t.co/YoeIJLsLkO— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) April 26, 2016
BONUS II: Charlie Pierce facetiously wonders if VandeHei's piece is a satire - if only.
BONUS III: Five Thirty Eight clues VandeHie into what "Normal America" really looks like.
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