Hey, wait!
We are now in phase two of the cycle.
Michael Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar got their moment of infatuation, but now reality sets in.
Klobuchar, too. Klobuchar can replace Biden as voice of liberal Democrats. She is female. A senator. The right age. From the Upper Midwest. No obvious defect. She can debate. Klobuchar can win. Klobuchar may be The One!
Then phase two. Reality. The world goes to work bringing them down. Opponents criticize publicly. People come forward with stories. Reporters get calls with news of incidents, complaints. "Did you hear about. . . ."
Voters hear all this and their hopes deflate.
Drudge creates a story that Bloomberg, maybe, plans on asking Hillary Clinton to be his Vice President. Democrats panic. That idea circulates like wildfire, proof positive that Bloomberg is totally out-of-touch. Of course, it is groundless, but no matter. It is interesting, shocking, clickable, and negative.
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| Media trolls with a 2009 Photo |
Stories recirculate regarding Klobuchar being cruel to her staff. There is something about her eating a salad with a comb, which isn't wrong or illegal, but it is interesting, curious, clickable, and if described with a "can you believe what she did" tone, it is negative and memorable.
Amy who? Oh, the one who ate a salad with a comb, that one.
Voters hear charges that Bloomberg said racist things; that his re-thinking of "stop and frisk" is recent, and his apology over it is insincere; that women at Bloomberg's business complained about the work environment; that Bloomberg himself told inappropriate jokes; that Bloomberg blames blacks for the financial crisis rather than bankers; that Bloomberg is not woke enough on transgender rights; that Bloomberg supported racial redlining; that Bloomberg tolerated bad conditions at Rykers Island Detention; that Bloomberg pays his campaign staff too much and is buying their support. Lots more like those.
And, of course, the big one: that Bloomberg is buying the election and doing irreparable damage to our democracy.
Klobuchar is a less visible target, but target she is, getting criticized anew for being a difficult boss. Voters hear criticism for her being slow to support marriage equality; for her controversial prosecution of a black teenager who asserts his innocence, but was sentenced to life imprisonment for a drive by shooting; for having been too protective of police in police shootings; for having supported a fence along the southern border; for missing senate votes, for having a daughter who may have had "legacy" preference in getting into Yale; for being a corporate shill; for receiving campaign money from corporate CEOs.
And, of course, the big one: Klobuchar is really just a status quo moderate, doing the elite power structure's agenda of stopping Bernie Sanders.
This is the critical period for each of them. How do they handle the criticism and come through intact. Or not.
The Trump-era lesson is not to apologize one bit for anything. The Trump style book would advise Klobuchar to say that an eleven year old girl was shot and to put her mother on stage to thank her for putting her killer in prison. Trump praised stop and frisk extravagantly in a 2016 debate with Hillary. Trump is ok looking tough, and Trump voters like to see their warrior stand un-bowed.
Amy Klobuchar took that approach regarding staff, saying she is a demanding boss on behalf of the taxpayers. On the controversial prosecution she is backpedaling, saying she is open to further investigations on the prosecution, and that she supports the Innocence Project. Bloomberg, too, took a half in-half out approach, saying affirmatively that he was focused on crime victims and protecting young black men from killing each other, but his bigger message now is one of apology, agreeing that stop and frisk went too far and was handled wrong.
This is time in the cycle when criticism, fair and unfair, brings an ideal candidate back to a reality candidate. We can imagine how the candidate will stand up to Trump by seeing how they handle what comes their way now.
This is game time. It is also dress rehearsal for the big show.
This is game time. It is also dress rehearsal for the big show.
3 comments:
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that African American voters can not be “taken for granted” like Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did in the last presidential election.
Biden said, “Every time they won, take Carter or Clinton or Barack, they have had overwhelming support from the African American community. They had overwhelming support from minorities. I have overwhelming support. You can’t win – you can’t take it for granted. Last time we ran, it was basically taken for granted.”
He went on to tout his ability to secure those votes.
“I’m the only one who has the record and has the background and has the support,” Biden said. “They know me. They know who I am.”
Okay..."game time." So why not get a few friends together and go to one of the local, livestream Democratic Debate Watch Parties this coming Wednesday, February 19 at 6pm.
There's one in Medford at Four Daughters Restaurant sponsored by ORD2 Indivisible. There's one in Ashland at Louie's Restaurant sponsored by Our Revolution Southern Oregon where you can play a game of "Bernie Bingo." (full disclosure: I chair this group).
Andy Seles
Oscar and Grammy-winning singer and global warming activist John Legend and his model wife Chrissy Teigen flew 500 miles on a private jet to dine at a restaurant for their Valentine’s Day date, despite Legend’s insistence that the planet is in the midst of a “climate crisis.”
John Legend and Teigen reportedly traveled via private jet to grab dinner at the French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California, which is roughly 500 miles from their home. Teigen documented the Valentine’s Day trip in an Instagram story, which showed the couple on their way to the restaurant in the luxury jet.
Teigen took in the moment and shared the luxury experience on her Instagram.
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