Base and Superstructure

Alienation, autonomy, and ideology

Category: Voting (Page 2 of 5)

These are posts on voting from the blog Base and Superstructure. These posts concern issues about who to vote for, particularly from a left-wing perspective.

The Worst Democratic Candidate Revisited

February 27, 2020 /

worst democratic candidate buttigieg

Back in the summer, I came up with a scale and rating system to evaluate each of the Democratic candidates and figure out which one is the worst. You can find that here. I think it’s time to revisit the question of the worst Democratic candidate. Joe Biden ‘won’ the previous results. Pete Buttigieg followed him somewhat distantly as the second worst.

Why was Biden the worst candidate? Some of it’s his platform, though several other candidates – notably Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar – are just as bad on platform. The biggest difference was that Biden had a great chance of winning, and so it was the combination of bad platform and strong chance of winning that made him the worst.

After Biden’s faceplant in Iowa and New Hampshire, his chances have gone down. And so, I thought running this idea again might change things. Biden might no longer be the worst candidate. Maybe now it’s…Buttigieg? Someone else?

Let’s find out.

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Why You Should Vote For Bernie Sanders

February 3, 2020 /

Bernie Sanders

There are many reasons to love Iowa: corn, bacon, cold winters, lovely people. One of my favorite reasons is the New Pioneer Food Co-op. Oh, and we get to vote first. Yes, that last one is controversial, causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Much of it justified. But I’m not here to discuss fairness in the nomination process. I’ve already done that. Today, we Iowans vote (actually, caucus). I’m voting for Bernie Sanders. When your time comes, I think you should, too.

Here’s why.

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Cardi B Bernie Sanders

Bernie and Cardi B: The Iowa Problem

January 30, 2020 /

Last July, a Silent Generation Vermont senator from Brooklyn met with a Millennial Bronx rapper. In a Detroit nail salon, Bernie Sanders and Cardi B talked about a lot of issues. But the conversation hinged on young people, the issues they face, and how they can get involved in electoral politics.

In his 2016 run for president, Sanders earned his reputation as the candidate of young people. It was that election where Cardi B first noticed Sanders, instructing listeners to ‘vote for Daddy Bernie, bitch.’ From the middle of the country to the coasts, Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton again and again among voters under 40. And he’s earning that reputation again in the 2020 cycle. In the most recent polling, Sanders leads young voters by 17 (HarrisX/The Hill), 21 (YouGov/Economist), and 21 (Quinnipiac) points. When young people vote, Bernie Sanders wins. And more broadly, when young people vote, social democracy wins. So, why didn’t Bernie win in 2016? And why is he still running a bit behind Joe Biden in 2020?

Let’s think about this by looking at the Iowa problem.

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socialist party vote socialist poster

Do We Need a Socialist Party?

December 23, 2019 /

There’s been a lot of interest lately in the question of whether we need a socialist party in the US. Perhaps to put this in a way people might ask it: Do we need a socialist party in our time, and, if so, what would it look like? In one sense, it’s a surprising question. We have a socialist party in the US! In fact, we have lots of them.

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