Choosing the next president

Choosing the person to be the Democratic nominee for US President will take up more and more of the attention of the news media in the weeks and months ahead, which is a good thing. But it’s also important to win in November next year to make sure the current regime is replaced. There are some things that need to happen in order to win, and these videos are about two different aspects.

The video above from Robert Reich makes the case that the Democratic nominee doesn’t have to do what the media pundits say is the “only” way to defeat the current occupant of the White House. In fact, the nominee who will win shouldn’t do those things, he says.

I think Reich is on to something, because what he’s talking about are the forces that propelled the current occupant into office by winning just enough votes in just the right states. A Democratic nominee who ignores conventional wisdom to organise and motivate the people victimised by the Republican Party and the USA’s political elites—including the current regime—could indeed create a movement large enough and strong enough to end the USA’s national nightmare.

The second video, below, is from Bill Maher and, digressions notwithstanding, he makes a different, but equally important point about the Democrats running for president: “This time, let’s give them a chance. Let’s not eat our own.” This isn’t just good advice, it’s vital to defeating the current regime.

There’s an old saying about US politics that I’ve frequently quoted: Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line. What that means is that unless Democrats “fall in love” with their candidate, they may not even be bothered to turn out to vote. But Republicans will vote for their candidates, no mater what. Obviously there are sometimes exceptions to that “rule”, but the Democratic side of it has usually proven to be completely true. This time it’s vital to break the “rule” and pledge to vote for the Democratic nominee, no matter who it may be. I will.

This time, things must be different than in 2016. These two videos talk about different aspects of this new reality that are closely related. I hope Democrats listen, whether they love their nominee or not.