Author Archives: Chris

You are what you eat.

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Paul Campos:

The coming presidential election… will consist of ordering one of three things for dinner: pizza, Indian food, or anthrax. For me Sanders is pretty good Indian food, while HRC on her worst days is Pizza Hut pizza, but the choice between Pizza Hut and anthrax is not a choice in any conceivable sense of the word…

I’d say that HRC on her best days is Pizza Hut pizza but, that quibble aside, overall a pretty good analogy.  In a similar vein, Andrew O’Hehir on having to choose between HRC and the Republican nominee come the general:

The 2016 choice is more like last week’s Nestea from the back of the fridge versus a foul-smelling mystery beverage that might be diesel fuel or lawn chemicals or sorority-house vomit, but that someone in a Halloween mask has promised will get you really wasted.

I would have gone with “slightly sour milk” rather than “last week’s Nestea” but again that’s a quibble with what’s overall a pretty good analogy.

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Thought for the Day: March 9, 2016

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Donald Trump is a verbally-abusive megalomaniac who has a long track record of business failures, no discernible moral commitments, no discernible policy stances, and no apparent understanding of how government works. If he wins the nomination he’ll probably be the least qualified, least capable major party nominee in the history of the US.  For comparison, Sen. Ted Cruz is a cold-blooded sociopath.  (Seriously, has anyone checked Cruz for The Mark of the Beast? $20 says he answers to “Hey, Damien.” if you say it when his back is turned.)  They’re both awful but I prefer Trump hands down. Why?  Because he provokes a greater immune response than Cruz does.  Most people are quick to recognize Trump to be a buffoon.  In contrast, Cruz is an under-the-radar sociopath.  The more people who recognize Trump as a threat and call him out the more likely I think (hope?) that they’d make it harder for him to inflict his will on the country.  Because Cruz flies under most people’s radar I bet he could get away with more awfulness than Trump could as president.  Pres. Trump would pose a significant risk to civilization, mind you, but I think less of a risk than a Pres. Cruz.

Weekly Digest – March 6, 2016

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Must Read

(Last month I commented that I run hot and cold on Jacobin.   With respect to the presidential primaries and the Democratic party, they’ve been in fine form recently.)

Should Read

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Not the political revolution I was hoping for

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Massachusetts Presidential primary participation, 2008 vs 2016:

2008 Results

  • 1.256M Democratic ballots cast.
  • 499k Republican ballots cast.

2016 Results with 99.95% of precincts counted

That’s a record turnout. The previous high for a Presidential primary was 2008.   What gets me is the nature of the change from 2008:  a 4% decrease in Democratic ballots and a 26% increase in Republican ballots.   The latter increase is huge.  Massachusetts has an open primary, meaning independent (“unenrolled”) voters can pick up a ballot for either primary.   There are 4.27M registered voters in MA:  35% are Democrats, 10% Republicans, and 53% are unenrolled.  My guess is that the jump in Republican numbers isn’t due to a huge turnout among registered Republicans.  163k more people voted in the Republican primary than there are registered Republicans so clearly a lot of unenrolled voters picked up a Republican ballot.   (That brings to mind the saying “‘Unenrolled’ is just a euphemism for ‘Republican with a sense of shame’.”)   I’d hoped that a lot more unenrolled voters would pick up a Democratic ballot to vote for Sanders.  Sanders lost by slightly more than 17k votes, about 1/8th of the overall increase in Republican participation.  That’s disappointing.  There was a political revolution last night, but definitely not the one I was hoping for.

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