7 Comments
Oct 14Liked by Dean M Thomson

I think Barack and Michelle should privately meet with George and Laura, Mitt and Ann and ask them, for the good of the nation and all that is decent, to come out and publicly announce their support for Harris / Walz. They have a duty as Americans who have been held in places of honor to speak out against the filth that Trump is spewing.

Expand full comment
author

Agree. I mean, if Dick Chaney can find it within himself to come out publicly for Harris and against Trump, Bush has zero excuse for not also discovering his courage. Bill Clinton - reportedly - has a very warm relationship with W. so perhaps he could be pushing him to make a stand too.

Democracy and democratic norms are on the ballot this time round.

Expand full comment
Oct 14Liked by Dean M Thomson

To amplify, B&M might remind G&L how W had the moral clarity and patriotic standing to speak out against Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11. This is a similar moment and it calls for the same kind of leadership.

Expand full comment

Hi Dean, besides being a disaster if she becomes president, she will be an utter disaster for Israel. I don’t understand how Jewish Americans can possibly vote for her given the trail of Anti Israeli decisions made through the Obama years and Biden’s term. She will continue on in the same way. It’s because of these two men specifically that the Middle East is in turmoil at present. She has no gravitas or grasp of the military dynamics of the situation. All she will do is create more chaos and threaten Israel with being cut loose from American support The only good outcome for Israel is a Trump win. He very evidently does understand the situation.

Last week was a disaster for her. They are already starting to come up with excuses for why she’s loses. I sincerely hope Trump wins providing that is that he doesn’t get assassinated, first

Expand full comment
author

Kamala Harris is not the strongest Democrat candidate for President is unarguable. But she is the only option on the table, and Trump is on character grounds - for me - an unacceptable option.

Trump specifically on Israel, or any other policy, is also too erratic. The last person to whisper in his ear and stroke his ego is usually the main impulse for him.

For all the faults and weaknesses of Harris (and I don’t deny that she has them), she remains the only palatable choice and stable knowable quantity.

Expand full comment

One of the problems facing the Democratic Party is that it has taken the Black vote for granted - arguably, it has done relatively little for the long-term good of the Black community and it has been arguably worse for them. (I don't know for sure, but I have heard this case made.) The idea that Obama and Kamala have much in common with the average young Black voter is laughable, and the speech Obama made comes across as incredibly consending.

If you want people to vote for you, particularly when you're the party in power, you have to do things that improve their lives. There's no point in telling them about the horrors of your opponent.

Expand full comment
author

If your point is the Democrats need to urgently given their base of support something to vote FOR as opposed to against (least worst choice etc) then we absolutely agree.

Falling African American support should be a wakeup call for the Dems. They expected voting rights reform and other measures that Biden pledged, but they never happened. So yes, Dem establishment has been taking their core constituencies of support for granted.

Expand full comment