Jimmy Dore Is Correct!

The recent Jimmy Dore Show criticisms, by the host and toward 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, are necessary.

There have been people, especially at a truly progressive discussion site at which I participate, who voted the nomination to Sanders in 2016 and have followed Dore. They feel the host has gone overboard.

I don’t think so.

I think whether Dore has overdone it is not the point.

While it is the case that the Democratic Party Establishment is corrupt—and will do all they can to stop the actual left from reaching meaningful power in the party much less a presidential nomination—the criticisms of a candidate Sanders are necessary with focus on what he could and should have done differently. That they may have made enough difference.

The first thing Sanders should have done was strategize against Joe Biden. This would have required acknowledging Biden, for the primaries, as Sanders’s enemy. I don’t think he did. The fact that Zephyr Teachout researched and wrote about a then-U.S. senator Biden having been an enemy to proponents of Social Security, and did so repeatedly over a thirty-year period, and Sanders opted to soften that blow against Biden, showed Sanders was not fighting for the nomination. Sanders was more interested in so-called decorum. What he did, with that example, was protect Biden.

The fact that Biden was no friend to Blacks historically, unlike Sanders (who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s), and that Sanders did not use it as ammunition to win over—or to at least dent Biden’s margins—with Blacks tells me Sanders did not seriously go after the Black vote in 2020.

Who Sanders has in his campaign—any party establishment figures—certainly plays a role. But, ultimately, the cold, harsh reality of win-or-lose U.S. politics ultimately rests with the candidate.

The nomination was winnable.

Jimmy Dore is coming down on Bernie Sanders, in part, because he is aware Sanders did not actually do what he could to win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

It isn’t just Jimmy Dore.



The first video, below, is titled “Trump Shows Bernie How to Win Pres. Election.” Its running time is 13 minutes. It was published to YouTube on Monday, April 6, 2020.

Adding to this, with a second video, is Jamarl Thomas. The second video, with a running time of 25 minutes, is titled “Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Weakness Is Just Nauseating At this Point.” It was published to YouTube on April 7, just shortly before Sanders “suspended” his campaign.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

A new blog topic will be posted tomorrow [Monday, April 13, 2020].

‘Resistance Growing to Covid–Capitalism’

Glen Ford writes another insightful piece for Black Agenda Report.

It was published just yesterday [Thursday, April 9, 2020].

Link:

Resistance Growing to Covid–Capitalism

The 2020 Democrats Who Are Wanting to Unseat Trump May Also Want A 10-Point National Shift

There are many people who are not thinking, right now, of the 2020 United States presidential election. But, at the same time, there are many people who are.

For those wanting Republican incumbent United States president Donald Trump out of office—which means having to unseat him—they are looking to the coronavirus (COVID–19) pandemic and the economy as catalysts should it turn out the 2020 Democrats win a pickup of the presidency.

They could end up getting what they supposedly want.

The 2020 Democratic presidential nomination will likely to go to Joe Biden. Now, please never mind for the moment whether any of the theories about Biden ending up not going on to become the official nominee will actually play out.

Think in terms of: Republican [Incumbent U.S. President and White House Party] vs. Democratic [Opposition Party Challenger and Nominee].

Historical patterns, in most previous United States presidential elections in which an opposition-party challenger unseated an incumbent president, resulted in a national shift (from the previous election cycle) in the U.S. Popular Vote of at least +10 percentage points. 

We have seen ten incumbent United States presidents unseated. Five occurred during the 20th century. All five applicable 20th-century election cycles saw that prevailing challenger nationally shift at least +10 points. 

(The U.S. Popular Vote has been recorded since 1824. One prior incumbent, an 1800 John Adams, was unseated. So, I take into consideration nine applicable cycles. Six of the nine—with the 19th-century example of 1840 Whig Party challenger William Henry Harrison having unseated Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren—apply overall.)

• 1912: Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson unseated Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. The 1908 Margin: Republican +8.53. The 1912 Margin: Democratic +18.65. The 1908-to-1912 National Shift: Democratic +27.18.

• 1932: Democratic challenger Franklin Roosevelt unseated Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover. The 1928 Margin: Republican +17.43. The 1932 Margin: Democratic +17.76. The 1928-to-1932 National Shift: Democratic +35.19.

• 1976: Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter unseated Republican incumbent Gerald Ford (never elected vice president or president). The 1972 Margin: Republican +23.15. The 1976 Margin: Democratic +2.06. The 1972-to-1976 National Shift: Democratic +25.21.

• 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan unseated Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. (This was the only occurrence, during the 20th century, of two consecutive elections having switched the White House party. They were also the unseating of incumbent presidents.) The 1976 Margin: Democratic +2.06. The 1980 Margin: Republican +9.74. The 1976-to-1980 National Shift: Republican +11.80.

• 1992: Democratic challenger Bill Clinton unseated Republican incumbent George Bush. The 1988 Margin: Republican +7.73. The 1992 Margin: Democratic +5.56. The 1988-to-1992 National Shift: Democratic +13.29.

What this does to an electoral map is take at least ten states and flip them. You can figure an average net gain of +1 state with each percentage point that becomes nationally shifted in the direction of a pickup winning Republican or Democrat. (This is also true in presidential elections in which the White House party switches. Those are term-limited cycles, when incumbents are ineligible, and the nation has to elect a new president. This was applicable in more recent years such as 2000, 2008, and 2016.)

• 1912 Democratic pickup winner Woodrow Wilson went from 1908 Democratic nominee William Jenning Bryan’s 17 states to 40 states. (Included in states count, but they were not pickups, were first-time participating states New Mexico and Arizona. They were admitted into the union that very year.) A net gain of +23 states.

• 1932 Democratic pickup winner Franklin Roosevelt went from 1928 Democratic nominee Al Smith’s 8 states to 42 states. A net gain of +34 states.

• 1976 Democratic pickup winner Jimmy Carter went from 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern’s 1 state (plus District of Columbia) to 23 states. A net gain of +22 states.

• 1980 Republican pickup winner Ronald Reagan went from unseated 1976 Republican incumbent and nominee Gerald Ford’s 27 states to 44 states. A net gain of +17 states.

• 1992 Democratic pickup winner Bill Clinton went from 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis’s 10 states to 32 states. A net gain of +22 states.

In 2016, the Democrats—after having won the two previous election cycles of 2008 and 2012 (with Barack Obama)—lost with nominee Hillary Clinton having carried 20 states (plus District of Columbia). A 2020 Democratic pickup of the presidency, with the unseating of a Republican incumbent president (specifically Donald Trump), with this historical pattern, would see that pickup winning Democrat: win the U.S. Popular Vote by at least +8 percentage points (from Clinton’s +2.09; had 2016 been a normally aligned pattern, Democrats’ margin would have been an estimated –2); experience a net gain of at least +10 percentage points in the U.S. Popular Vote (going from –2 to at least +8); and win in the Electoral College with the 2016 electoral map along with pickups of least +10 states to finish with a minimum of 30 states. (The above map, with those in yellow, show the involved states in such a scenario.)

Now, I haven’t been checking too many sites lately for election prognostications. But, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball shows a map estimate which remains essentially the same as months ago—perhaps going back to, say, 2018. Crystal Ball’s estimate is that the 2020 Democrats may flip Michigan while other states which Democrats should be able to flip—Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are most obvious—are either in tossup or, like with bellwether Florida, Lean Republican hold. In a presidential election which switches the White House party, and with several percentage points nationally shifting toward the opposition party and its nominee, plenty more be happening.

Listed in order on the Republican side (Democratic in parentheses) is a reminder of their 2016 margins. (The 2016 Republican pickups appear in italics.)

— (—) Maine’s 2nd Congressional District +10.28 (–10.28)

21 (30) Iowa +9.41 (–9.41)

22 (29) Texas +8.98 (–8.98)

23 (28) Ohio +8.07 (–8.07)

24 (27) Georgia +5.10 (–5.10)

25 (26) North Carolina +3.66 (–3.66)

26 (25) Arizona +3.50 (–3.50)

— (—) Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District +2.23 (–2.23)

27 (24) Florida +1.19 (–1.19)

28 (23) Wisconsin +0.76 (–0.76) — Tipping-point state (the Republicans’ cumulative 270th electoral vote for Trump—which would have been the Democrats’ cumulative 278th electoral vote for losing nominee Hillary Clinton—from Election 2016)!

29 (22) Pennsylvania +0.72 (–0.72)

30 (21) Michigan +0.22 (–0.22)

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A Note on Future Topics: I have plans to post more on this type of topic beginning in May here at Progressives Chat. I will do so for the six consecutive months of May to October. This will serve as a segue to the general election in November. There will be a number of them. But, they will not be with every scheduled blog topic date. So, here is hoping this particular topic is insightful.

‘The United States Is Run By Sociopaths’

Fault Lines co-host Garland Nixon has a video, above, that is delightfully titled “The United States Is Run By Sociopaths.”

It was published to YouTube, last week, on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Here is the written description of the 33-minute video:

“The United States Congress and Presidency is increasing sanctions on countries that are suffering from a pandemic. They are attempting to overthrow the leader of a Venezuela as that [nation] faces the same plight. Meanwhile at home, the American people are told to shelter in place with no food and sustenance as they pass an economic stimulus bill that gives a fortune to their corporate donors and virtually nothing to the soon to be starving masses. It’s time to recognize that the government of the United States displays the characteristics of psychopathic behavior and that we must act to replace the current leaders with a complete new crop.”

Media Covering for Joe Biden

Recent allegations by former staff member Tara Reade about Joe Biden sexually assaulting her, from years ago, are being ignored by mainstream media.

Biden is the 2020 frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination; a former United States senator from Delaware who was first elected in Republican U.S. president Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide re-election year of 1972 (while Biden unseated Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs); and the 47th vice president of the United States (under the nation’s first Black president Barack Obama).

This allegation is very important and significant.

In the past, the allegation of an affair—much less sexual assault—would have ended a candidate’s run for office; much less one seeking the presidency of the United States. Not in this period of time.

I don’t think there is any doubt about not only the corruption of the two major political parties—and, given that it tends to be closer to the general politics of Progressives Chat, the Democratic Party—but also the people who prop up Joe Biden and those who are doing all they can to protect him. This includes, as a source that is supposed to be trusted, the mainstream media.

Here are some videos, all published last week to YouTube and combining for 1 hour 16 minutes, covering this topic:

“Joe Biden Accused Of Sexual Assault By Former Staffer”

By The Jimmy Dore Show

Thursday, March 26, 2020

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“Former Biden Staffer Accuses Him Of Sexual Assault”

By Secular Talk

Thursday, March 26, 2020

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“Joe Biden Accuser Comes Forward with VERY Serious Allegations”

By The Humanist Report

Thursday, March 26, 2020

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“Krystal Ball blasts media's Joe Biden #MeToo coverup”

By The Hill’s Rising

Friday, March 27, 2020

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“Yahoo News Deletes Tara Reade Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden”

By Jamarl Thomas

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Self-Quarantine

I am not in the habit of writing much about myself personally. But, with the coronavirus epidemic, I am making an exception.

I am staying home. Over the last two weeks, the most I have gone out for was to pick up a takeout order from a restaurant once last week. (It was a family meal-style dinner—good for a week.) I have stepped outside to get the mail from the mailbox—and did so with no one around. (I live in a house that is on a street with a cul de sac.) Other than that…I am self-quarantining.

I am self-quarantining to a point in which—for the first time in my life—I have twice ordered delivery of groceries. (This is unusual for me because I live in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. My area stores are very close.) I have an order pending for which I could not get the delivery for three days. So, I am expecting my latest order, placed on Wednesday, on Saturday.

My decision to personally self-quarantine isn’t only about me. It is also about my father, who lives with me, and the fact that he is 87 going on 88 years old. (His birthday is in May.) I recognize, from last week, that I needed to be staying home.

This is a very scary period.

I was in a conversation with my aunt, to whom I am close, who lives in Colorado. We stay in touch over our iPhones’ app FaceTime. We have, since the 1990s, survived a number of family members we loved and miss. One of them is her sister and my mother. From time to time, we reflect on how life is—compared to how it was—and that leads to thinking about the deceased. I tell her: It’s good that this person or that person—with respect to his or her specific period of life—is not alive and having to endure this. (My mother, with whom I also had a good relationship, had emphysema. She died in 1998. And I leave her to rest in piece. But, it is a relief to me knowing she doesn’t have to face this—this coronavirus pandemic of an epidemic.)

Everybody—please take good care of watching out for yourself and those who are near and dear.