More trouble for Biden

Justin Amash is running for president as a Libertarian.  He will be on the ballot nationwide.

Justin Amash

It gives left libertarians an alternative to Biden.

Amash won't get a lot of votes, but he can get a few votes in places that would tip the election to Trump. 

Donald Trump unifies Republicans. Democrats are fractured.

Trump gets a few things exactly right for Republicans. He appoints anti-abortion judges and stands by his appointments. He cuts taxes and regulations on businesses. He identifies with the goals of the Republican tribe. 

Most important, the Republican base is unified  in disliking AOC and the Squad, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, the idea of “socialism”, Bernie Sanders, and college town woke values. The ads in this blog's post yesterday make that point, focusing on opposition to and resentment of urban liberal Democrats. They know they are being pressured by progress and are considered to be racist, xenophobic, and homophobic, and they resent being criticized for feeling the way they feel. 

Attacks on Trump don't weaken Trump. They prove his case, that people are out to get him and the people he fights for. Justin Amash's addition as a critic just shows what a multi front war Trump wages. Amash's entry strengthens Trump.

Meanwhile,Democrats are fractured. Trump energizes them but does not unify them. Trump proves we have bad governance, but he doesn't channel the solution. Amash hurts Biden by giving libertarians within the left a place to cast a conscientious vote.

There are several main themes within the left, and Biden represents the biggest one, liberals. The center-left majority of Democrats are FDR-LBJ-Clinton-Obama type Democrats. They believe in markets, but want safety nets and social programs. They are community minded and want social sharing, but they understand that different people have different levels of ambition and ability and they want work to be rewarded and indolence to be discouraged. They want reforms but not revolution. They are not at war with rich people. 

There is also a Sanders-oriented group, Democratic Socialists, who are angry at the market economy and how lopsided its results can be. They are left communitarians. They believe the system is rigged to protect the rich and cheat the majority, so they want more public sharing of the risks and rewards. It favors Scandinavian style socialism. Sanders just endorsed Biden, and some of his supporters will vote for Biden. The ones that don't will not be attracted to Amash. Amash is their opposite.

Jacobin Magazine

Amash will appeal to left libertarians. The left is not entirely collectivist-oriented people. The libertarian left are people unhappy with Biden and government generally because they think it invades their personal space. They often oppose vaccinations. They home school or find left-oriented private schools because they oppose government-imposed conformity. They oppose drug laws. They oppose the post 9-11 Patriot Act rules on banking and other privacy invasions. They worry about pesticides and eat organic food. They may be vegan.  Many are pacifist or anti-war opponents of government. They don't like the police, and they know that Google, Facebook, FBI, CIA, and military are tracking them.

Biden's establishment liberalism is exactly what left-libertarians dislike. He represents supposedly-compassionate government that feels entitled--indeed responsible-- to teach and vaccinate their children, fight good wars, and protect society from the scourge of drugs and care for them. The more communitarian Biden shifts to accommodate the Sanders-oriented communitarian left, the more Biden will lose the libertarian left.

In a landslide, it won't matter. In a close election, Amish will cost Biden.