Base and Superstructure

Thoughts on production, alienation, and ideology

Category: Elections (Page 9 of 17)

These are posts on elections from the blog Base and Superstructure. Topics include international elections, American elections, and local Iowa elections. There’s a particular focus on describing and explaining leftist electoral results.

first debate biden trump

Impact of the First Debate

October 1, 2020 /

Going into the first debate between Biden and Trump, it wasn’t clear how the debate could even impact the race. Why? Because the polls have been consistent for months. Most Americans see the election as a referendum on Trump. Most of Trump’s voters love Trump. And most of Biden’s voters hate Trump. Few in either camp hold many strong opinions on Biden.

Americans mostly settled into these opinions months ago – even years ago. Since March 2019, Trump’s approval ratings have never deviated below 41% or higher than 47%. And they almost always move between 43% and 45%. This means about 43-45% of the country loves him, and just about everyone else hates him. The polls proceed accordingly. Presidents rarely overperform their approval rating, and Trump is no exception. And so, we see the polls against Biden put him at around…43%. Big surprise. Biden wins most of the voters who don’t like him. Again…big surprise.

The New York Times tax stories certainly did no favors for Trump, either. As a result of these things, it seemed unlikely the first debate would change anything.

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better organizing conditions leftists biden

The “Better Organizing” Argument For Biden

August 17, 2020 /

For a few months, COVID-19 relieved us from a fight we’d have otherwise faced. Which fight? The one where leftists decide whether to vote for this cycle’s bad Democratic candidate. The Democratic Party served us a rotten Joe Biden sandwich. And we can’t put off forever the decision on whether to take a bite. We’ve seen a new argument for voting Biden – the idea that he’ll create ‘better organizing’ conditions for leftists.

Let’s take a look at this one.

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biden medicare for all don't vote for me

Medicare for All is the Price to Vote for Biden

August 10, 2020 /

The closer we move toward the 2020 presidential election, the more heated discussions become over whether to vote for Biden. On one side, there’s ‘vote blue no matter who.’ And on the other side, there’s…something. It’s not entirely clear, which composes part of the problem. As Joe Biden moves closer to accepting the nomination at the Democratic convention, the debate moves toward its height. Or toward its nadir, depending on one’s take on it.

And so, should we – as leftists – vote for Biden? How does one hold Biden accountable in an era where not being Trump is good enough for many Democrats? And if we do vote for Biden, what price should we expect in return? My three answers to these questions: No, One can’t, and Medicare for All, respectively.

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Bigger Than Bernie: The US Left After Sanders

August 6, 2020 /

bigger than bernie bernie and matt

After Bernie Sanders lost to Joe Biden, think pieces rolled off the assembly line. Whence did the Bernie Bros come, and where shall they go hence? Is there a movement bigger than Bernie?

In fact, that’s not quite true. The think pieces didn’t roll off the assembly line. COVID-19 washed most of them from the headlines along with everything else. And so, the U.S. press largely spared us from endless speculation on the future of the Bernie Sanders movement. But COVID also held us back. Leftists should think about this a bit. Where does the Bernie movement go from here? Even this question might assume too much. Is there still a Bernie movement? Or did it die in the couple of weeks after Super Tuesday?

Most electoral campaigns fall apart quickly. I’ve written about some of them: Cathy Glasson in Iowa and Elizabeth Warren nationally. That’s how most campaigns end. Remember the ‘Pete Buttigieg Movement’? Of course you don’t. Neither do I.

Is ‘Sandersism’ any different?

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snake emoji warren sanders

What The Snake Emoji Gets Wrong About Warren

July 6, 2020 /

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders had a dust-up in January. After that, a number of Sanders supporters directed the snake emoji at Warren on social media. You know the one. It’s the one in the photo above. What’s going on here? Is Warren a snake?

No, not exactly. Or so I’ll argue. Sanders supporters got it wrong with the snake emoji. But I don’t think they know why they got it wrong. I’ll say a bit about why and what I think they miss.

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