So, if there's anything I've matured on in the past election cycle, it's my policy wonkiness. In the past, I would be willing to protest vote just when someone claimed to support policies I like. But after really sitting down, and doing the math on them, and prioritizing my preferences accordingly, I'm going to be honest, I'm not super passionate about the left. To some extent, they really don't have the same goals as me, and to some extent, even when they kinda sorta do, they don't really have good plans on implementing them.
I mean, Bernie was the gold standard for most mainstream left wing politics. His platform was solid, it was workable, and HE HAD THE NUMBERS TO BACK HIM UP. Seriously, we've looked at Bernie's numbers on this blog. I find very little fault with his policies, and most of my disagreements were based on a genuine difference in preference. The fact is, UBI is a $4 trillion program and causes me to make some changes to how I prioritize stuff. As such, my actual policy preferences were more akin to Yang in 2020. UBI, either M4A or some public option (with me kinda leaning public option these days due to M4A's costs), and more moderate climate plan, stuff like that.
But, Bernie is more of a green new dealer. He went all in with a full on green new deal over a UBI, and prioritized a jobs program over a basic income. While he has every right to do this, it's more of an ideological preference of his, and it separates my advocacy, from his. Still, regardless, he was a pretty solid candidate, with solid proposals. Again, it's a matter of preferences.
As far as Marianne Williamson, I just see her as an inferior version of Bernie. She's just shamelessly regurgitating his platform, but she doesn't have the experience or policy expertise that Bernie does. Her campaign almost comes off as virtue signalling to me. And while I don't mind virtue signalling, I like plans to accomplish goals. And Williamson seems to go all in on feelings and dislikes "wonkiness." And I have mixed views on her new age spirituality. I kind of have some level of appreciation with it, but on the other hand the rational side of me sees it as cringey.
I mean, is this the best we can do? To be fair, part of the problem is that I've cooled on bernie progressives as I've realized I have some significant ideological differences there, but at the same time, I also don't think williamson is the best candidate in this sense. She actually has some cringe elements I don't like.
I mean, is she good enough for a primary vote? Sure. But honestly, I'm not going all scorched earth about the dems if she doesn't win (although underhanded dem tactics and the smarm of blue no matter whoers still piss me off).
And then you have the greens. I expect Howie Hawkins to be the nominee in 2024 on the green side, and honestly, I'm not as enthusiastic about him either. Again, same issues. He's hardcore on the green new deal, and leans WAAAY too hard into socialism. On free college, he supports Bernie's plan. Healthcare he supports an NHS style plan but doesn't have solid plans to pay for it. His "UBI" is an NIT and severely underfunded. if I had to guess he'd be pushing people into the work force as part of his jobs guarantee.
And Andrew Yang....is being Andrew yang. While I still believe he supports his original platform, he refuses to talk about it or advocate for it. He's gone all in with forward and then compromised that by merging it. Just...bleh.
So....let's think about this. On my big 4 priorities, Biden gets a 70 last I looked, Bernie gets 90, Hawkins gets 110 on paper, and Williamson, adjusting for her 2024 platform, also gets 90. Yang, based on 2020, would get 120. Although now he gets much less.
However, policy ignores some of the more obvious weaknesses of these other candidates. Like lack of experience. On a more traditional metric (see the traditional version of metric 3), I'd rate Biden at 59/100 (which is actually an improvement), Bernie at 80, Williamson at 63, and Hawkins at 66.Yang would get 60 due to his obvious weaknesses.
I mean, is this even enough to protest vote off of? Maybe if they actually supported full on UBI, but as it is, Biden already supports a CTC, some free college, some student debt forgiveness, and a more realistic climate plan. He just sucks on healthcare vs the progressives, and doesnt go as far as I want on college/student debt forgiveness, and UBI, but NO ONE is advocating for UBI this time around, and while progressives do win on healthcare and college/student debt forgiveness, they have weaknesses themselves.
Honestly, if it were a normal election year, I'd just vote based on the issues, which would lead me hard into the progressive camp. But given other concerns this time (like the future of our democracy), and the fact that I just don't believe that the alternatives are THAT much better than Biden, especially when considering non policy aspects like experience, I'm not really as motivated FOR A PROTEST VOTE.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not happy with Biden. He's a 5/10 president. But the alternatives are like...6-7/10 for me. Again, in a normal political year, I'd be all in on the progressives, but this time, I just dont believe the differences are meaningfully large enough to justify protesting the dems this time around.
I'm not going to shame people, or act like I'm a "mature adult" for caving to the establishment here. I just dont think Biden is that bad, and I don't think the alternatives are THAT much better. Theyre better, but they're not better enough.
You do what you want. I do expect some readers to not align with my concerns perfectly either. You're free to do what you want.
No comments:
Post a Comment