Going Forward

Now that the primaries are all over and done with, here are some of my scattered thoughts on where this circus has been and where it goes from here:

Obviously, the emails.  If she's indicted, that spells doom for the Clinton campaign. For some reason, 71% of Democratic voters want her to keep running even if the indictment comes through which just boggles my fucking mind.  Less boggling, but still just laughably stupid, is that every article I've read about how to best handle that potential situation all involve the party taking control to find someone to take the helm.  Not Bernie Sanders, of course, but someone.  Maybe Biden, because why not?  If the Democrats only response to a Hillary indictment is to through a name of someone who didn't even run for President over Bernie Sanders, what I guarantee will happen is the party will be abandoned by the resurgent progressive wing and all the young Sanders supporters, which will all but guarantee a Drumpf victory in November

Speaking of, no matter who the nominee is the best front to attack The Donald on will be his alleged wealth and net worth.  There has been new reporting that he has filed for and received a New York property tax credit for those making less than $500k a year in federal income over the course of several years.  That, combined with the cash flow problems his campaign has and his general refusal to release his tax returns and settle the issue pretty easily, gives plenty of ammunition to cast doubt over his success.  Really, all he has is his image as a rich, master-of-the-universe thing going for him, puncture that and his whole facade crumbles with it.

Also, now would be the time for the DNC to start digging up Trump University alum and start putting them in front of cameras to say how badly they've been ripped off by Drumpf.  Start that now and keep running those ads until November.

The most important take away of Sanders' campaign is that it proved to normal citizens that they can credibly fund a national campaign for President.  The fact that regular people, through engagement, donations, and just sheer determination, drove the campaign of a no-name Socialists Senator from Vermont into a credible threat against one of the most powerful people in politics is not a lesson those people will soon forget.

The Republican party is only steps from becoming a full-fledged fascist party.  Drumpf himself isn't a fascist, but fascists sure do love him.  And that they were able to blend in so easily with "regular" Republican voters should, you know, be worthy of some discussion.  Also, when foreign and explicit Neo-Nazi parties (National Front in France and Golden Dawn in Greece) endorse your party's candidate because he fights for what they fight for, you should really take a look in the mirror and figure out just what the fuck your beliefs actually mean in the real world.

Even if all goes well and Hillary wins in the general, I still don't see her as more than a one-term President.  The rabid Republican hatred for her will only increase, and more likely than not, the progressive wing of the party will only continue to chafe at everything she does, not to mention the general public's dislike of her will keep going up since she's unlikely to do anything to turn the economy around and get people working again,  So, way I see it, she gets voted out by whoever Republicans vomit out on stage, she faces a primary challenge that she either loses or does significant damage to her prospects that she loses, or finally, no primary, no real republican threat, but enough people ditch Republicans/Democrats for third-party options that she wins, but with a very damaged coalition that doesn't give her a clear mandate for power.

This is really the year that third parties need to strike and mobilize effectively.  There's enough disenchantment and just flat out hatred with both candidates that they've never had a better chance to convince people that the two-party system is a strangle hold on their vote

Last thing, these next few months will see Hillary Clinton and her ilk will be pressuring the Sanders supporters to fall in line.  They'll do the usual "Don't let Republicans win!"especially since it's a Trump candidacy.  But the thing is, there is a fundamental difference of policy and politics between the Sanders and Clinton campaigns.  I don't think Hillary realizes the amount of work she'll have to do to win those supporters over, or what that work entails.  She will have to put actual progressives in powerful positions in her cabinet and put real, concrete work into progressive policy goals like heavy regulation of the financial industry and universal healthcare.  She is unlikely to do so, and the harder she fights against doing those things and loses the supporters as result, will probably be the biggest risk factor in her losing the elections.

RT