About Michigan

 

Just to get this out of my system even though everybody else has taken their swing at it--I can't help but note that if President Biden got about 80% in Michigan, and Donald Trump got 69%, then it translates to Biden having a better hold on his party. It just does. Biden's one competitor lost to literally "Nobody" and "Someone Who Dropped Out". Biden is overperforming polling and Trump is underperforming. 

A lot got made of the Democratic "Uncommitted" votes, and I've got one good thing and one bad thing to say about that. First, I get that 13% isn't far off from previous Michigan primaries, and you can't really tease out the extent to which this is a protest vote for the primary only, having no bearing on whether these voters will commit in the general election--that that's the good part. But on the other hand, the fact of an organized protest vote bothers me in ways even disingenuous or "op" candidates do but more so--

A "put-up" candidate can, in the flesh, be disappointing. A vote for an ideal, or what a voter has been convinced is a cause? That's different. Now, I think using voting this way is just absurd and nonstrategic, and if voters are being given the impression that voting for absolutely nothing is getting them their goals--as in, they think a ceasefire specifically will result from this sort of thing, yikes. 

On the other hand, people aren't always strategic thinkers and do have emotional investments. I think that has to be spoken to, bluntly, because it can be exploited by a disinfo campaign aimed at voter suppression. The processes of foreign policy are sometimes, necessarily opaque, but it's possible to be upfront: "No president or presidential candidate should try to promise you an outcome that relies on other people. There is no quick resolution, and it would be a lie to promise one." It's not the answer folks want, but it would at least address the issue in an direct way that ensures these people know they are heard and want answers. 

Some of the people behind this movement seem to want Trump. That's sheer fucking nihilism if you ask me, and the smug fuckers who hold the opinion that "worse is better" love to tell us, "You can't say the other guy is worse, you have to say what you're going to do." Well fine. There're some people you can't reach, so Biden needs to just address what he's trying to do and let grown people sort out the rest. Although if any of the SOBS are actually Republicans to start with, no sense in not calling them out, right? 

Marianne Williamson took beating Dean Phillips as a batshit signal to unsuspend her campaign. I don't think anyone was asking for that. But if she keeps beating Dean Phillips, I truly would find that humorous. 

I think, on the other side, there are people who really do worry that Trump is unstable and not an effective candidate. The disadvantage that Trump has now over 2016 is--everyone has seen him. And I think less like what they have seen, and he is not going to be more attractive. There is no pivot. Good gosh almighty. The man does not have a pivot in him. Why are people still talking about a pivot?