VOTE 2020: "On Electability"

A long, long walk this afternoon: a cold but clear February day in New Hampshire. The placards are down, for the most part. The coffee shops are thinned out a bit. And I spent my time listening to this podcast (below, "Intercepted") with Jeremy Scahill and Ralph Nader. A couple of take-aways: 1. Nader thinks Democratic leadership blew it in the whole impeachment process. For the vast majority of Americans, he says, the corruption most critical is the obstruction of congress, the refusal to respond to congressional oversight and supoena. His reasoning is this: that the President's agenda is aimed (dead-on) at the American people, dismantling environmental protections, consumer protections, safety net systems, etc. etc. etc. He can do this--he is doing this daily--because he completely flaunts his Presidential power (that Article 2 thing he spouts) and rejects legitimate and constitutionally-mandated congressional oversight. Thus--according to Nader--its the obstruction of congress around their legitimate role that hits home (or would) with the overwhelming majority of Americans. 2. Nader's pretty clear that the whole "electability" thing is a ploy on the part of Corporate America and Wall Street Influencers to marginalize Sanders and Warren and make a more palatable centrist the nominee. 3. The consequences of a Trump win in November are disastrous. (No new news there.) Given polling on issues near and dear to middle American voters, there's absolutely no reason Sanders or Warren couldn't beat him. Giving in (now) to the whole "electability" thing is self-destructive.