It’s equally valid and simplistic to say that the major common factor is right wing populism. But I’m not getting sucked into another pointless round of tit for tat so let’s leave it there.
I'm not really sure what opportunities Harris has had to be impressive as VP, or how either us would know about it, but whatever. It's not my Project 25 agenda, it's that of the American far right and something that anyone not of the far right persuasion should be afraid of, it seems to me. To paraphrase Stephen Fry, 'Americans, I **** 'em'.
Not biting mate! I have a mental image of Harris’ office being very similar to that depicted in Veep.
Immigration is a far broader issue in the West than simply being a right wing populist grouse. National leaders ignore it at their peril
But you already bit by denouncing my (perhaps somewhat naive, but heartfelt) view. This is serious ****, which you seem to dismiss too readily. I know you hate generalisation, but am I really generalising when I look at the American nation and sum it up by the way the majority of its population behave? It would be ridiculous to suggest that they're all the same, but that's not what I'm saying. They're on the verge of voting to dismantle their own democracy. That's what the Germans did in 1933.
But, democratically, it is the electorates right to chose an anti democratic candidate, perverse as this seems, many seem to think that liberal democracy doesn’t work for them. I think the difference between our outlooks is that you seem to blame the voters for buying this populist crap and I blame the more progressive governments that have failed to convince the voters that they are preferable and have (in the perception of big sections of the electorate) let them down, and have failed to take any accountability for this. I’d love to be proven wrong and have my cynicism smashed to pieces. Seems that Harris isn’t necessarily a shoe in.
Shoo-in, surely? As with Brexit, the blame shouldn't sit with those that were fooled, but with those whose lies fooled them. The right have the advantage of the mainstream media being all too keen to advance their lies. A large element of Leave voters now regret their vote, but it's done now and cant be reversed. If Americans vote for Trump again there could similarly be no going back.
Yes, shoo-in. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it written down. I think everyone expects to be lied to now, they just go with the lie which most reflects their own bias. Even their most devoted fans know that Trump and Johnson are bare faced fibbers, it’s factored in. The Remain side lied as well, and the lies were published by the media (“two thirds of manufacturing jobs will go if we leave”). Our current crop of politicians are just **** at refuting lies, and all debates are so polarised that no one listens to the other side. Anyway, 1 in 6 Tory voters will die before the next election apparently, and with 16 year olds voting by then and the apparent appeal of nationalism to the yoof means that Farage’s dream is a step closer……
What does it tell us about voters that strongly believe(d) in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ? Cognitive dissonance perhaps.
As with the election here and its 'just get the Tories out' theme, there will be substantial numbers of Americans who would vote for anyone opposing Trump. It was becoming harder and harder for this group to support Biden though and his withdrawal will give anti-Trumpers fresh impetus. With the right running mate, I think Harris can win.
It's telling that Obama and Pelosi amongst other high profile Democrats haven't backed Harris. They want an open process and not a coronation She's not exactly set an agenda as VP and the likes of Newsom have been positioning hard and have good ratings. Newsom is 56 I think and charismatic Harris i don't think has the personality to stand up to Trump - she's probably Trumps dream opponent
The Democrats ate their own. They do not care about anyone – certainly not the people. They trashed Biden all for the Party as he was never in charge. He was just a placeholder, and people like Blinken and Victoria Nuland were in charge of foreign policy. Here is a tape from the London FT at Davos when Trump was elected in 2016. Suddenly, “democracy” became evil “populism” – how dare the people vote against the establishment! Populism/Democracy has to be eradicated. All you have heard was they fought to keep Trump off the ballot because they were “DEFENDING DEMOCRACY” by denying independent candidates who will not follow party directives from the backroom.
