Refreshingly, we absolutely must toss conventional wisdom out of the window–since the 2016 election will be unique.
The beautiful thing about the Trump Klandidancy is that everyone will be forced to look themselves in the mirror and ask a very simple question: Am I a mindless bigot, who has no interest in substance, humanity, facts, science and critical thinking skills?
If this question is too tough for you then we already know whose corner you are in.
Hillary must not pick a candidate to win a specific swing state, or to play in the Deep South. No, she must look to her perceived weaknesses and address them. She must also recognize here that her VP must have unprecedented power both as an individual and in the role of the VP. The reason for this is the inevitable presence of Bill Clinton–who is bound to overpower 95% of the usual suspects.
But as important–she needs to address her main perceived weaknesses: (I use the word perceived because so many people have so many opinions based upon so many false narratives–and I really disdain such contrived opinions.)
- Too close to Wall Street
- Plays everything too safe
- Has few principles on which she will stand up and be counted
- Is not transparent
- Overly hawkish foreign policy
- Too orthodox
- Too reliant on her inner circle of advisers.
My analysis will run counter to traditional prognostications.
Below I am going post a typical analysis of a middling candidate–but I will critique point by point to illustrate everything that is wrong with this appalling analysis. We will take a middling pick by way of example:
John Hickenlooper
The Colorado governor has a liberal lean to him, which could make him a political liability. Hillary is already seen as being on the far end of what the public will accept in liberal political leanings. They may not look at a liberal running mate in a positive manner, even if he is less liberal than her.
Hillary is actually seen as too close to the status quo–by both sides. A Wall Street insider by the left and typical Washington insider by the right.
However, if he and Hillary were elected together, they would be on the same page with most things and could potentially work very well together to get things done.
The last thing people on the right or the left want is for the Hillary, Bill and VP to be on the same page. Why have a VP when you have Bill?
He has been considered a potential running mate for her by the nation’s top political pundits ever since speculation about her possible run for president began when Barack Obama was first elected.
The top political pundits never saw Trump winning, have yet to figure out why Trump won and have yet to figure out how to counter Trump.
As far as political leanings go, he really does make a perfect match for her. They would make a formidable force together when pushing very liberal political bills through Congress, as they would support each other, and both could make arguments for their position with supreme elegance.
Repetitive and conflicting argument. This still presumes that Hillary is too left, and that being an apologist and a coward will win any hearts and minds. People would rather vote for a brave idiot (Ron Paul) than an intelligent coward. Cowardice is why the Dems did so badly in the 2014 mid-term elections. No Senator was able to save themselves by running from Obama and his achievements. Plus I do not see in Hickenlooper how he would have any added weight in Congress.
We would probably see a lot more presidential initiatives actually go through Congress and out the other side onto the president’s desk as approved legislation if Hillary has Hickenlooper as her VP.
Of course, many voters are already wary of Hillary’s hard-core liberal credentials. They believe she would be a good president overall, but only a small percentage of voters today are extreme liberals like Hillary. Most of them fall somewhere in the middle of the liberal/conservative political spectrum.
No one is calling Hillary an extreme liberal today. What this analysis fails to understand is that 67% of the Stupidparty base will vote for Trump regardless. Independents are hardly independent–they are just as often on the far right and far left. There are plenty of such far right voters that do not so much hate Blacks and Mexicans, but simply hate the government and fully recognize that not only is Trump a nincompoop, but is actually not a conservative at all, not a man of the people at all. Many of these people can be manipulated into not voting or even voting for an anti-establishment progressive candidate. It goes without saying that those on the further left, the young, those who just dislike Hillary can all be motivated if they thought they could get more than just Hillary. There are many “DumpTrumpers “on the far right, including a multitude of idiotic Ted Cruz fans who can be brought into the light–just because they hate Trump more than not going to church (in order to bastardize Christianity).
Having a running mate who is just even a tiny bit liberal could cause some voters to place their allegiance elsewhere, as two liberals in the White House would be too much for them to consider. While Hickenlooper is certainly an experienced and capable politician, his political leanings might be too close to Hillary’s to make a successful team at the polls, even though they would almost definitely be a successful team in the White House.
So if one of these two is just a tiny bit Liberal, all these middling voters are going to vote for an idiotic bigot, a fascist in actual wolf clothing. And not having someone a tiny bit liberal will somehow cure Hillary of all her perceived weaknesses–like having no principles?
Really? We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to tear the Stupidparty to shreds–but we just cannot be a tiny bit liberal–we just cannot tackle income discrepancy trends–not just a tiny bit; infantile gun culture, not just a tiny bit; too much money in politics, not just a tiny bit; too much carbon in the air, not just a tiny bit; preferring math, facts and science–a good education, healthcare, infrastructure–not just a tiny bit?
Hopefully I have made my point against such a drab and useless and orthodox analysis:
When will people learn that there are really hardly any “liberals” in America. Bernie is barely to the left of European Conservative parties. Since when has it been liberal to simply come up with bloody obvious economic, social and environmental policies, to tell the truth–act with intelligence and integrity. Oh my god what a risk, what a gamble–let’s hide in our shells as democracy dies, America dies and watch the Oligarchs take full control. How spineless can you get?
So sorry chumpsters, traditional thinking needs to be thrown out the window. Hillary must address her perceived weaknesses–not try and enhance her well understood strengths. If she picks the most vomit inducing orthodox choice Tim Kaine, I would have nothing but contempt for her ability to read the landscape, and she would likely achieve the impossible–lose the election to a fascist–because at least that fascist is a damn sight more entertaining than Tim Kaine.
So why do I pick on Tim Kaine? Tim Kaine does well in Virginia, since Virginia is trending smart and has a deep bench of strong Democratic leaders. Tim Kaine is the very essence of why America is struggling to break out of the rut of Stupidparty thinking–the core reason why myth keeps to losing to math and why Democrats in spite of doing a great job on the economy since 2008–imploded in the 2014 Midterm elections.
Tim Kaine is the definition of a pro-life, pro-Israel, pro uninformed gun culture, Bush Iraq War apologist, and fossil fueled Washington DC insider. Even though he would not overturn Roe v Wade, he is so Catholic stupid that he would encourage abstinence education, which is just a euphemism for inferior sex education, which creates more unwanted pregnancies, poverty, disease and oh yes–more abortions. As you might’ve guessed, I have no time for such stupid, as stupid is deadly.
Hillary’s VP choice must live in the real world, the critical thinking world, and must work to mitigate Hillary’s numerous Achilles heels. Her VP must be clearly progressive, un-orthodox, have credible clout against Hillary and Bill, have clout in congress, have minimal exploitable weaknesses, be an outsider, have the ability to appeal to government haters in the aging white male middle (working) class voting block and have a wow factor preventing their star, their shining light, from being absorbed into Trump’s massive black hole of stupid and hate.
When you look at ground game from this perspective, the answer becomes singularly obvious.
The chart is obviously not real math, it is intuitive math. Not all issues have been thoroughly researched. When I plug in a 5 out of ten—this might be indicative of me not having an opinion. Normally I disparage opinion—but this was an exercise that lent itself to informed opinion. But as my thoughts evolve, as I learn more—or react to comments—this table should be seen a draft form and open to enhancements all the way up to the day before Hillary makes her choice.
I might add to this table people like Al Franken—who I believe to be a stunningly effective and underappreciated politician. Finally I acknowledge that the chances of Hillary winning with Tim Kaine are higher than zero and in reality higher than Crist—but I am simply determined to highlight my point and Kaine is my chosen victim.
My biggest fear is that Hillary’s biggest weakness, her distrust of outsiders (resulting from her being unfairly beaten up by soulless toads for the last twenty years) will make this choice a tough one to swallow. But the stakes are huge and much now rests on Hillary’s courage—lack of courage being what caused her loss to Obama in 2008.
I really do hope that she can prove that she can evolve.
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