2020 presidential election

So far Emanuel has not been arrestedThe other day I was doing some research for a post about Mark Sanford and wandered onto an old (2014) City Paper piece,

The video above is a pre-announcement of Mark Sanford's run-- or possible run-- for president. He handed out his office number for people to call him. I did. A handler eventually agreed to pass my name and number along to him.Sanford comes from a whacky Florida family. His wealthy parents-- dad was a cardiothoracic surgeon-- insisted the whole family share one bedroom during the summers in order to save electricity. That vignette actually helps people understand who Sanford is politically.

The false narrative Biden lackeys-- like former Delaware governor Jack Markell, a shady conservative very much like Biden-- are working ceasely to create is that Democratic voters "know him. And they don't know just his name. If it were just name recognition, these polls may look different." That's false; as voters get to know Biden better, they flee to other candidates.

Last cycle, just as the elections were getting started, the DCCC vice chair for the Texas region resigned. Ben Ray Lujan and Nancy Pelosi both said they would get a replacement quickly. They never did. The DCCC left several districts on the table out of shear incompetence. But Democrats did turn 2 vulnerable districts blue despite that. Today there are 13 Democratic seats and 23 Republican seats in Texas.

I recall a high school teacher of mine-- at James Madison High School, the same Brooklyn high school where Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bernie Sanders, Cousin Brucie, Chris Rock, Chuck Schumer and Carol King went-- telling me-- or maybe the whole class-- that democracy pretty much sucked... but was better than any alternative system of government.I can't count the number of times I've seen a Trump voter talking, when I've had to bite my tongue rather than go down a path that leads to... these morons shouldn't be allowed to vote.

We are living at an inflection point. 43% of us cannot afford the basics. 78% live paycheck to paycheck.

Don't Be So Sure by Chip ProserIn the August IBD/TIPP poll of registered voters, which closed before the Trump supporter massacred 22 people in an El Paso Walmart and before China signaled they had stopped buying America agricultural products-- a signal that there is likely to be a depression in the farm belt

Kevin Drum and I were being treated at City of Hope for similar cancers at the same time. I'm confident that he-- unlike many members of Congress-- understands healthcare policy and the importance of Medicare for All.

There are no perfect candidates-- and even if someone starts out perfect, it doesn't usually last long. I'm old enough to have stopped expecting perfection in candidates. I'm also old enough to have given up on the concept of supporting a lesser of two evils. I may not get perfection, but I'm not backing evil, even if it is lesser. And even if it is against Trump!

I'm a lifelong lefty, born and raised in New York and I admit I don't recall having ever heard of Henry George. But the other night I watched the PBS documentary, The Gilded Age, and was struck by how much the movement around this guy reminded me of Bernie.Contrasting fundraisers in Hollywood-- Bernie and Mayo Pete-- last week illustrated the kind of movement that pushed Henry George to the forefront.