March 2, 2016

Wondering, on Wednesday (v48)

I  am, truly.

Wondering, I mean.

Where do we go from Super Tuesday? Are the paths forward any more obvious, or did yesterday make it worse? How do the parties respond? And what happens over the next two or three weeks, particularly on the Republican side, when we hit the winner-take-all states?

(And, I'm wondering, why are there twice as many delegates at stake on the Democratic side than on the Republican side?)

So far, it looks like mainstream/traditional Republicans seem to be falling into three camps:

  • I don't like Trump, or what he says, but I'll live with him if that's what it will take to win the Presidency. 
  • I don't like Trump and I want him to stop being a (fill in the blank) for the good of the party, or we'll find a way to stop him,even if it means supporting Cruz or Rubio (shudder).
  • I don't like Trump, and if he's the nominee I'll vote for Hillary. (Yes, there are Republicans  saying this every day, and not just on NPR)

'Modern' Republicans, the ones who are turning out in record numbers in the primaries fall into one big camp, under the big top:
  • I like Trump, and I don't care how he says what he says, or that he lies, or that he mocks me at every turn (even if I don't get that he's mocking me), because he's not a politician and we're sick of politicians, and oh by the way, we like that he swears and is a bully because, well, because that's what we need in America because that's what it feels like I want to do to everyone I run into, especially if they don't look like me, because white people are going to be in the minority and I'll be damned if I'm going to take that lying down, and I need a blowhard like Trump to make me feel good about myself and about my country goddam!

Mainstream/traditional Democrats seem to be falling into several camps:
  • I like Hillary, and it's her turn, and/or she's the best chance we have and/or because she's a woman and it's time we had a woman president
  • I don't like Hillary, because she has so much baggage, but she's the only one who's electable so I'll live with her.
  • I don't like Hillary, so we have to keep pushing for Bernie to win.
  • I don't like Hillary and if she's the nominee I'm going to vote for Trump (again, every day, people say this).
  • I like Bernie, and he's the only one who can beat whoever the Republican nominee is, and so I'm all in for him.
  • I don't like Bernie, and if he's the nominee I'm going to vote for Trump.

Really liberal Democrats, and new ones, are pro-Bernie, are donating small amounts of money in large numbers, but he's not turning that into votes (or maybe I should say, he's not turning that into delegates). He was too liberal for Massachusetts, for heaven's sake - or not well organized enough there to beat Clinton.  And I don't understand why he didn't even put up a fight in half of the Super Tuesday states? 

Where do we go from here? Sill wondering. 

The one thing I do know is, the Dems better figure out a path forward, and quickly, to start focusing a whole lot of effort on getting out the vote, even while they try and figure out who's going to be the nominee. Republicans are showing up in droves, and that's not giving me a warm fuzzy about November. 

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