First, let me be crystal clear, my final decision to vote for any specific candidate has absolutely nothing to do with his or her position on the issues. My single and sole criterion is my evaluation of the candidate’s likeliness to beat Donald Trump in the general election. Period. End of sentence. As I have said several times before, I would vote for a ham sandwich against Trump — a ham sandwich would do no damage to the country, I think the democracy cannot survive another four years of this gangrene assault on our norms and institutions, let alone our planet.
Of the six remaining viable candidates, I had already pretty much eliminated three, Warren, Buttigieg and Klobuchar. I don’t think any of these three would have the muscle for the bare-knuckle fight ahead against the criminal Gangster-in-Chief, nor do they inspire confidence in me that they would carry the key states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona or Florida. I don’t see the electorate in these states being seduced by the youth, good manners and complete paragraphs of Mayor Pete; the safe middle-of-the-road approach of Klobuchar that reeks of same-old, same-old Washington insider; nor the bold and edgy liberal vision of Warren that can be found in purer form with Bernie.
And regarding the identity-politics aspect of it, it seems like there would be some percentage of voters who would reject an openly gay candidate, and although I wouldn’t want to guess the size of that percentage, I am not willing to risk even 1% in this crucial fight. Nor do I think that the female voting block that would normally be enthusiastic about voting for a woman would abandon a democratic nominee in favor of the genital-grabbing, porn-star philandering misogynist. And as much as I would like to see a gay man or a woman elected to the highest office to finally breach one of these counterfeit barriers, that preference will have to wait for another presidential cycle.
With these three eliminated, my jury was out on the remaining Bernie, Biden, and Bloomberg.
Biden’s advantage, I thought, unlike Hillary, is that he has been well-known and well-liked, even loved for decades. Everyone knows and trusts uncle Joe, and if Hillary came within 79,000 combined votes in three states, he would prevail where she failed. Furthermore, he has consistently beaten Trump in polls in these specific key states by a much higher margin than the other candidates. But this is Biden’s third run for the office and his campaign seems to be on life support. Clearly, he is perfectly qualified for the office but he is a less than competent candidate, for whatever reason.
Bloomberg’s advantage is his money. With a net worth of $62 Billion, he can outspend Trump in his sleep and never suffer the slightest consequence for reducing his fortune by a billion or two, or three. And he has demonstrated it already, spending $400 Million so far without batting an eye. And his ads have been very effective, going for the jugular against Trump and clearly getting under his skin. Also, history shows that the most effective way to combat negative attacks — and we can be absolutely certain that Trump will play dirtier than anything we’ve ever witnessed before — is with money. Lots and lots and lots of money.
But then came the debate last night in Las Vegas. This was the most aggressive yet. The candidates had their knives out and were using them liberally and with no compulsion. They had come to inflict damage and by the time it was all over, there was a puddle of blood at the foot of each podium, especially Bloomberg’s. The poor man had to wheel himself out on a virtual gurney. Elizabeth Warren might as well have poked her knife down his throat with the NDA attack.
And this was not unexpected, the NDA stories have been all over the media the past few days, everyone knew it was coming. How on earth could he have been so unprepared? This guy wouldn’t have a prayer in a debate with Trump.
To be sure, without delving into the rest of the debate, it was a bloody battle for everyone and they were all wounded.
Here is a good analysis of the entire debate:
They were all wounded except for Bernie. He came through relatively unscathed, maybe some minor bruises. We can discuss and argue why, and there are many explanations for it, but he was untouched. My own view is that he has been at it for too long, he has been vetted and tested, he has been saying the same tings for 30 years, has not deviated an inch from it, he has been viciously and repeatedly attacked for it, and he’s still standing. He is nothing if not authentic and he is the front runner. It’s as if he’s saying “What are you going to do to me that’s not already been done? Bring it on!”
And that is why I think he is the best bet to go to battle against Trump and take him down. Trump is vulnerable if he can be put on the defensive, though he never plays defense because he is the perpetual attack machine. But if the attacks fail, and I think they would fail against Bernie, then Trump is toast. He doesn’t stand a chance if he cannot destroy his opponent. Additionally, Bloomberg has pledged to spend a ton of money to defeat Trump even if he is not the nominee. When asked if he would accept Bloomberg’s money, Bernie hedged uncomfortably and, to my delight, did not give a straight answer and he did not say he would not accept it. I would have preferred if he had said outright that he would accept the money and qualify it with something like “provided there is total transparency, provided it’s only a one-time exception for extenuating circumstances, and provided there is no agenda or demand attached to the money other than to defeat Trump.” That would have been problematic but better than hedging. Still, I’m fine with the equivocation in this case. Take the damn money. Risking another four years of Trump is not an option.
So I’ve made my choice, I am voting for Bernie!
But lest you think I am doing this with hubris and confidence, know that I will be chewing my nails to the bone and developing an ulcer until the election is called on November 3.
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