As usual, I seemed to see a different debate than the TV pundits.
Their line: low-polling moderates (Klobuchar, Hickenlooper, Delaney, Ryan, Bullock) gang up on progressive leading candidates (Sanders, Warren), who successfully hold the fort by demonstrating superior passion and grit and nerve.
What I think I saw: Sanders and Warren prevailing as expected, but seemingly unable to comprehend as the bit players tried to explain huge vulnerabilities in the positions they have staked out. Both dug in dogmatically and refused to give an inch, often repeating things they had already said in exactly the same words. (This was what elicited the cheers of the pundits. Such conviction!) Warren, consensus winner of the evening, is indeed a powerhouse when it comes to appealing to the moral outrage which is so appropriate in the face of Trumpism. We need that voice! But I have listened to her a lot (and donated a bit yesterday) and have yet to hear her give a coherent technical explanation of why what Mayor Pete calls a "glide path" to universal coverage won't work better than a sudden leap, one that apparently entails canceling private coverage for an estimated 150 million Americans. The closest she came tonight was effectively calling the others chickenshits for not daring to "fight for big ideas."
Oh great: the reason to do it the hard way is that that is somehow "bigger." I know she has a better answer, conversant with the brutal economics of health coverage, tucked away somewhere, but her heart isn't there. She always appeals reflexively to the moral argument, wants to go on talking about the power of ideals and fighting the good fight & c. even when that isn't really the question. Delaney warned early on that the thus-far-triumphant progressives might be setting up the eventual nominee to be the next McGovern or Mondale or Dukakis, and he had a point.
Meanwhile Tim Ryan, trying hard to explain to Sanders how it would be hard to tell 650K union workers in Michigan that they must give up health coverage they had won as a negotiated benefit, was like a son trying to talk Dad down on Thanksgiving after a second sherry. Sanders's reply was in no way answerable to the case, just a potted bit from his stump speech, defending the general idea of MFA but not the particulars of implementation. That exchange ended with a put-down -- "Of course I know, I wrote the damned bill!" that won a cheer then and raves from the analysts later. Apparently the line will be appearing on T-shirts. Any time you curse, see, you are scoring heavily, by the logic of American politics in 2019, never mind the substance of your answer. It's the same logic that ruled the Mueller hearing was a fiasco even though the gist of his replies was everything the Dems could have asked for.
To cap everything, Beto and Marianne Williamson did their best to hang the albatross of Reparations around the party's neck. Just wait to see what Uncle Donnie does with that one in September and October of 2020, kiddies; we could not be handing him a more obvious doomsday weapon.
In sum: a bad night for the party, or for anyone who wants America to stop sinking into a cesspool of fascism and apartheid. I know others will see it differently, and I hope they're right and I'm wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment