So, in light of the Nikki Haley VP offer, I revisited Dean Phillips' interview with Yang and decided to reevaluate what he had to say. I've actually been turned off from the nikki haley thing and his willingness to let republicans into his administration. And after listening to the whole hour again....eh...I guess I'm standing pat for now. He showed his willingness to do this in the interview, and it IS a massive turnoff, but at the same time, no one is perfect, and I still would say I agree with him on FAR more than I don't. He's never been perfect, he doesn't align with me on everything, but he does seem to align at least somewhat on top issues. I just worry, much like I do with yang, if he will actually do anything in power or if he will make the same mistakes yang did in playing paddycake with republicans to the point of abandoning his platform. That's why I dont like this. I dont like Nikki Haley, I dont like the GOP. Sure she's an improvement to trump, but that's not saying much. Literally everyone is unless you're a mid 20th century funny mustache guy (and before you ask which one: either of them). So...idk. I think that's a real toxic decision that drives down my opinion of phillips a lot and threatens to compromise everything good I like about him. But given his talking on Yang's podcast, about UBI, medicare for all, free college, housing, getting money out of politics, the democratic party screwing him for doing his own thing and having a conscience, I also see why I like this guy. And let's be honest, there's much more to like, than I don't like.
But let's face it when I reevaluate him on metric 1, even if I took away some points for consistency/dedication to progressive values, I feel like I did him dirty on other categories like economics and would likely raise his score a few points as well. Either way, he comes out ahead of Biden.
Because let's be honest, I will settle for Biden as a last resort, but uh....Biden isnt my first choice, he never has been, he's my fallback option. He's the dude I go with after all other avenues are exhausted. And while it may be coming close to the time to back him, especially if people wanna replace him in the face of other candidates who are far less electable, or actual corporate dems like whitmer who are literally basically clinton/biden pre bernie pushing him left policy wise, that's really gonna leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Biden isn't bad, heck, Biden has been shifted left by bernie to some extent, to the point he's passable to me. I aint gonna undo that progress backing a whitmer candidacy, sorry, I won't. I want someone as or more progressive than Biden. And Phillips is that. Im not sure how electable he is, but for a primary vote, he gets it.
So, I guess I'll continue to back Phillips in my own primary still, while recognizing his flaws, and I'll shift toward Biden later. Lets face it at some point its gonna be biden whether i like it or not, and no other DNC approved candidate would do for me. I mean, I'd like harris or newsom, but neither are electable AT ALL. And whitmer is a corporate centrist who I despise. So....it's dean, then Biden, then anyone else.
EDIT: Ok, somehow I missed the fact that the nikki haley thing was over a possible third party run? Look, If dean runs as a democrat I'll support him, but third party? No thanks. He just doesnt have that much appeal and given how we're dealing with a literal fascist on the GOP ticket, I'm gonna have to hard pass. So yeah that makes my position easier. As a democrat, yeah, phillips gets my vote, third party, no, he's not that good, Biden is ok, and Trump is scary. I would hope that a unity run with Nikki haley would draw more conservatives from trump than democrats from Biden though.
I wonder if this is a signal that Dean is thinking of dropping out. I mean, he's doing terrible in the democratic primary. Like, absolutely beyond awful. I think it's a shame, but this is a year to live and fight another day, not to push this issue. Again, with Trump on the ballot, I'm going to actively try to stop trump, even if it means giving a democrat a vote id normally feel they're not entitled to.
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