The impeccable thinking of Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman comes across once again, writing in the New York Times:
"At this point, the Democratic presidential nomination is very much up in the air. Not only is it unclear who will be the nominee; it’s unclear whether the nominee will be a centrist like Joe Biden or Amy Klobuchar, or a representative of the party’s left like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Whoever wins, there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the other side.
So I’d like to offer an opinion that will probably anger everyone: In terms of actual policy, it probably doesn’t matter much who the Democrats nominate — as long as he or she wins, and Democrats take the Senate too. [snip]
One implication, if I’m right, is that electability should play a very important role in your current preferences. It matters hugely whether a Democrat wins, it matters much less which Democrat wins.There can't be the "party unity my ass" destructiveness that we saw in the 2008 primaries and general election, choosing a third party, or threatening to sit out the election. That will contribute to Trump's campaign and disastrous reelection. It will hasten the demise of our democratic institutions and the rule of law.
But my main point is that Democrats should unify, enthusiastically, behind whoever gets the nomination. Any moderate tempted to become a Never Bernie type should realize that even if you find Sanders too radical, his actual policies would be far more tempered. Any Sanders enthusiast tempted to become a Bernie or Bust type should realize that these days even centrist Dems are pretty progressive, and that there’s a huge gap between them and Trump’s G.O.P.
Oh, and all the Democrats believe in democracy and rule of law, which is kind of important these days."
2 comments:
Love Paul Krugman always the voice of reason.
I know there will be infighting among Dems and that's because Bernie lovers will try to take things over. I believe that in the final stretch when we have a nominee that people like myself, even though we have our preferred candidate, will crawl over broken glass to elect a Democrat. We have to put all we've got into this, and go for the House, the Senate, and the president in one giant swoop.
donnah -- Well said. It's been a bit discouraging when candidates go after each other rather than Trump. I understand the need to point out differences, but it should be without tearing someone else down. We, too, will crawl over broken glass to cast our votes in November, whether it's our preferred candidate or not.
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