Posted on 02/06/2019 10:10:33 AM PST by Kaslin
The endless fight between Republicans and Democrats seemed to pause last week.
The cause: former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's announcement on "60 Minutes" on Jan. 27 that he is seriously considering a 2020 run for president as a centrist independent. Social media and partisan opinion writers lost their collective minds on that possibility, one of the parties seemingly deploying an activist to disrupt his first public outing, a New York City book event. "Don't help elect Trump, you egotistical billionaire a--hole," the heckler yelled. "Go back to getting ratio'ed on Twitter. Go back to Davos with the other billionaire elites who think they know how to run the world."
The president had his own opinion on a Schultz run, tweeting: "Howard Schultz doesn't have the 'guts' to run for President! Watched him on @60Minutes last night and I agree with him that he is not the 'smartest person.' Besides, America already has that! I only hope that Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower!"
The headlines from major newspapers and digital news publications were equally unkind. "Schultz Is the Answer No One Is Looking for" was the CNN headline. Vox went with "Dear Billionaires: Stop Running for President." When "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Schultz whether he knows the price of Cheerios, it became a Twitter thing for hours.
The question is: Why the freakout? A Pew survey on political ideology last November showed overall Americans place themselves close to the midpoint on the ideological scale. Why would someone running as a centrist get so much guff?
Easy, said Michael Wear, a Democrat who worked on the White House faith-based initiative during President Barack Obama's first term and directed faith outreach for his 2012 re-election campaign. "I think their position against him goes especially to the early part of the primary process, which is tailored to activists and donors rather than voters, so as someone outside of the party system, they can expose all of those weakness," he said. "And they can also expose all of the room in the middle, because they are trying to win campaigns on how awful the other candidate is."
In short, a Schultz run or any other independent run will expose how the partisan game is played and how much voters' concerns are ignored in favor of donors' and activists'.
Neither party wants to reveal that it wants to avoid the middle to win the primary, and you can't win a primary without throwing red meat to the activists and the donors.
An independent centrist like Schultz wouldn't face the scrutiny of a competitive primary race, said Wear. "That is why I am cold on independent candidacies, especially in an election that is going to be this important."
But that does not mean centrist Democrats shouldn't run. "Of course, there is room for a centrist, and I hope that more centrists run in the Democratic Party," he said, "someone who puts forward an active vision of how government could help those in need, and the crisis we face in economics and climate change, and presses the pause button on the culture wars."
I’m glad for your insight. Very noteworthy that it would be the 2020 House. (I am getting too old)
Thanks KC
“ My pal came close to losing his friends.”
Maybe that was his plan. If his pals can’t pitch in to buy better beer, they can’t complain about the beer they get and he needs new friends.
The left and their racist calls.
Howard Schultz has gone through several back surgeries and has delayed his announcement on whether or not he'll run until after labor day. It's not been common knowledge that he's had to undergo several surgeries to fix his lower back.
Having said that, I was contacted by some former Ross Perot campaign members in the past week, mostly on the day Perot passed and a few days afterwards. Each one is a President Trump supporter.
There are some concerns in a few of the "purple" states that President Trump carried in the 2016 election that he may be in trouble. Progressive Democrats have been working those states already ginning up disinformation campaigns and agitating against President Trump. Whether or not those actions are having an actual impact is quite literally anyone's guess.
What am I trying to say? Simply there appears to be a movement to use Howard Schultz as an independent candidate to split the Democrat vote in the 2020 election. The Progressive Dem's know this and are doing everything they can to undermine Schultz and make him appear untenable.
President Trump on the other hand, is doing everything he can to egg Schultz on to get him in the race. I'd bet the farm President Trump really wants Schultz in the race because he too knows it'll split the Democrat vote.
The war in the Democrat Party between the Progressives, so-called "mainstream" democrats and blue-dog democrats is obviously waging on full-force. President Trump's so-called "racist tweets" (I agree with him 1,000%) just solidified his support and most ardent supporters while also making his more "quiet" supporters come out and to his side. Based on the conversations I've been hearing that statement's absolutely true.
Back to Howard Schultz. Odds are very high he's going to get in the race after Labor Day. That's the word I've been hearing. He's recovering from his last back surgery, feeling better and has been looking at what the Democrat Party has become (swung "too far to the left") and is seeking to "rescue" it from itself. He's dedicated $100,000,000 of his own money to self-fund his campaign.
His Independent candidacy has some very real potential to split the Democrats and force the party to field the most left-wing progressive candidate we've seen in a very long time. That's exactly what former Perot Campaign folks are hoping for.
The remainder won't be enough to elect an Independent to the Presidency, it will however be enough to ensure PDJT's second term. Also, exactly what former Perot Campaign folks are hoping for.
I'm getting a lot of pressure from old friends to join the Schultz campaign to split the Democrat party. I've said "NO!" for the last time on Sunday. My plan is to work my ass off for President Trump, despite living in the blue socialist sh*thole of Illinois.
Just letting you all know what's behind the Schultz candidacy, why President Trump is baiting him (to split the Democrat party and destroy it.)
There you have it, flame away. Posts about Perot putting Clinton in office will be ignored.
I’m old enough to remember Generic Beer. White cans with the word “BEER” printed on them. $4.00 a case. Brewed by G. Heileman and Sons so it was most likely Old Style that didn’t pass their rigorous QC. LOL.
Then there was Mickeys Wide Mouth if you wanted to pour it straight down your gullet without disturbing your taste buds at all.
Best,
L
You can still get Mickey’s Wide Mouth. Not bad stuff. I used to sometimes drink that, and Colt 45 (black guys’ beer, but a little more kick for the same money. I didn’t have Billy Dee Williams’ luck).
I remember the generic “BEER”, but it was never cheaper than the Rheingolds and Schaefers (Schaefer is NASTY), and I was too young for it at the time. Some TV show sit coms made use of it when the character has a beer and they didn’t want a product placement.
“Colt 45 (black guys’ beer, but a little more kick for the same money. I didn’t have Billy Dee Williams’ luck).”
One of the pubs we frequent has the cardboard cutout of Billy Dee holding a bottle of Colt 45. “Works every time!” Have no idea where they found it but it’s funny as hell. They don’t even carry the stuff.
The do carry Corona at $50 a bottle. $60 if you want a lime in it.
Enjoy your day.
L
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