"Cornel West recently decided that the best way for him to advance economic and social justice in the United States would be to mount a quixotic third-party presidential campaign that, if history is any guide, will disproportionately siphon votes from the Democratic nominee, thereby marginally increasing the odds of a second Trump presidency." - Eric Levitz at the Intelligencer
Beacon of Speech's well thought out and thoroughly researched response to Mr. Levitz?
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"
Since Reagan beat Carter (and John Anderson,) there has been a steady drumbeat of "this election is too important for a third party-"
But then came Ross Perot. Billionaire Perot made a dent in the political process, garnering almost 20% of the popular vote in 1992. What Perot didn't do was study the map of the United States very carefully, he won exactly ZERO electoral votes.
What you didn't hear was the sadness of the media crying about a stolen election in 1992. Why? Because the Blue Team won. That wouldn't be the case in the year 2000, where liberals were still whining about Nader's spoiler status two decades out.
The Presidential Race has deteriorated into the simple question: Did our team win? The argument should be: Did the best person win? Absurdly, that has become an irrelevant question. For the last generation, political strategists have tried to convince Americans to vote AGAINST a candidate, when you should be voting FOR a candidate. In 2016, my values most mirrored Gary Johnson, then I went to the ballot box and voted for him. It should be that simple.
Just a reminder, anyone can run for president-
Qualifications from USA.gov:
Be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
Be at least 35 years old
Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.
"Anyone who meets these requirements can declare their candidacy for president. Once a candidate raises or spends more than $5,000 for their campaign, they must register with the Federal Election Commission."
That's it.
80 year old Joe Biden and 77 year old Donald Trump are guaranteed nothing in 2024.
Why do people fear Cornell West? Because he could hurt Biden.
Why do people fear a possible Tulsi Gabbard Libertarian run? Because she could hurt the Republican nominee.
How about a 4 way race with 4 debate chairs?
For the millionth time, the Republicans and Democrats don't stand for anything anymore but corporate interests. They are in the business of winning elections.
We are going to write about this ad nauseam over the next 12 months, but the simple premise for the primaries should be that neither Trump nor Biden should be on the top of their tickets.
I plan on voting in the Republican Primary next year:
Trump vs. Pence? Neither.
Trump vs. Haley? Haley.
Trump vs. DeSantis? Probably DeSantis.
Trump vs. Scott? Probably Scott.
Trump vs. Binkley? Neither.
Trump vs. Burgum? Who?
Trump vs. Christie? If you honestly think that the two best Republican candidates in this entire country are Donald Trump and Chris Christie, you are high on meth.
Trump vs. Elder? Sigh...anyone else?
Trump vs. Ramaswamy? Ramaswamy.
Trump vs. Johnson? Eh?
Trump vs. Hutchinson? 72 year old Asa Hutchinson-
What are we doing here?
Article over.
Addendum: Literally one day after saying Biden and Trump are too old.
Yeah, he's too old too.