Except he won't be the Democratic nominee.
His campaign hasn't caught fire.
A woman asks him, "Who are you?"
Seth Moulton is a candidate for President. He needs a miracle. The miracle would be that the media notices him. Maybe he can be at the right place and time and save Oprah's life when a news crew is there to film it. Or maybe Trump can go on a tirade against him and tell him to go back to Afghanistan.
Moulton is Biden, only better, without most of the things people don't like about Biden. Moulton is young, without the gaffes, without the vote for the war in Iraq, without the enemies built up over five decades.
Moulton is 40 years old, a three term congressman, a former Marine officer with four tours of duty in Afghanistan. He has policy positions that are in the sweet spot of Democratic and national popularity: liberal but not socialist, somewhere between that of Biden and Kamala Harris. He doesn't criticize wealth; he says we should celebrate success and work to be sure everyone has the opportunity to find it.
Moulton is 40 years old, a three term congressman, a former Marine officer with four tours of duty in Afghanistan. He has policy positions that are in the sweet spot of Democratic and national popularity: liberal but not socialist, somewhere between that of Biden and Kamala Harris. He doesn't criticize wealth; he says we should celebrate success and work to be sure everyone has the opportunity to find it.
Moulton isn't in the Bernie/Warren lane, so he is not getting attention from the motivated, engaged progressive left voters. Still, Moulton projects a message of energetic government and change, not restoration of a status quo, so I anticipate that he could unify Democrats behind him. He is prominent in leading the effort to replace Democratic leadership, i.e. Nancy Pelosi which gives him credibility as a change agent.
The broad segment of Democrats consider themselves moderate, and appear to want someone projecting more of a change message than Hillary voiced, but are uneasy with going too far left, with policies that risk raising their taxes, doing damage to the economy, or messing up their health care. Many Democrats are personally doing OK. They like a message of system change, but they don't want to lose what they have. Moulton wants universal health care but says that people who like what they have can keep it. He wants immigration reform, with immigration laws enforced. He wants corporate taxes increased, but not to the levels they were prior to the 2017 tax act. He wants Amazon to pay taxes.
He is married and has two young children. He has three degrees from Harvard. Moulton is square jawed and looks good on TV. He doesn't look or sound "soft" or the word the GOP attributed to Obama, "feckless." Moulton projects a strong, manly image. Trump looks old and fat in comparison.
The Iowa caucus rules require people to demonstrate support for a single candidate, which gives the advantage to candidates with a special constituency, not to someone who is broadly acceptable and who would be an acceptable second choice. Seth Moulton does not have an obvious interest group--women, environment, labor--as a sponsor.
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| CLICK for Video: "Who are you?" |
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There is a moderate lane open within the Democratic voter base. Currently Biden dominates it. Biden seems safe and many people are sick of Trump and his drama. Moulton is the younger, better version of Biden. He lets America turn the page and move on.
There is a moderate lane open within the Democratic voter base. Currently Biden dominates it. Biden seems safe and many people are sick of Trump and his drama. Moulton is the younger, better version of Biden. He lets America turn the page and move on.
None of this will matter. The Democratic field is too crowded and there simply is not mental shelf space for him. Moulten had a town hall on Friday and thirty people attended. I could sit right up front, and I did not to get there early. Here is a short clip of Moulton, on taxes and wealth: "You're not evil if you're rich. We should aspire to be successful." CLICK: Video clip
He spoke at the Iowa State Fair Soapbox on Saturday and fifty people attended. Democrats would like him if they heard him.
I asked him what he was doing in the race. He said he plans to be president. Watch for me in eight years, he said.
He expects to be back.
He expects to be back.
2 comments:
What has Seth Moulton done in congress? I've never heard of the guy. If he were "hot shit" as advertised, then he would have accomplished something in congress by now.
Let's face it. The democrat party is a clown car full of left-wing dimwits. You aren't going to beat Trump. It appears that either Biden or Warren will win the democrat nomination, and Trump will destroy either of them. It should be entertaining.
Rather than waste your breath on Trump, focus instead on local politics. Both the Jackson County Commission and the Medford City Council are corrupt, and ineffective. Focus on them. They need to be replaced, as does Jeff Golden.
We have to be clear when we talk about wealth v. income. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution states: "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States." We have, however, in effect granted de facto titles of nobility via streams of income into perpetuity, in other words, eternal stock ownership and inherited wealth.
Alexis de Tocqueville warned us early on about any scheme that would vest "property and power in a few hands" as it would "cause an aristocracy," which is in effect what we have. We have a right to create wealth, but not to inherit it.
Both Jefferson and Lincoln valued labor over capital. As Justice Brandeis presciently noted: "We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
Until we attain justice in the economic realm, we can never achieve any professed dedication to social, racial or environmental justice.
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