‘There is no alternative’: Cornel West, presidential hopeful, is not backing down
‘There is no alternative’: Cornel West, presidential hopeful, is not backing down
“One of the problems of the two party system is what Margaret Thatcher used to call ‘Tina’ – there is no alternative,” he said, referring to a phrase the former British prime minister used to defend her government’s stringent economic policies in the early 1980s.
“The Democratic party has this crypto-fascist element when it comes to mass incarceration, when it comes to dropping bombs … when it comes to surveillance, when it comes to violation of individual liberties vis-a-vis the national security state.”
I mean, he has a point. However, I don't know that acknowledging the flaws in a two-party system, then running in such a way that'll likely invoke those very same flaws is a winning strategy.
It seems to me like someone in his shoes would be more effective running for congress / rallying people around reworking our current first-past-the-post voting system & electoral college.
RANKED. CHOICE. VOTING.
I honestly want to know what his angle is. What does wooing alienated non-voters achieve?
Also, if you're going to compare someone to a spoiler like Nader, there's RFK, Jr. who is actually polling in the very low double digits.
It's compelling (in theory) because there are more people that don't vote than do.
I know the man is smart, but how is he also so dumb about how our politics has become so broken? Surely he understands that his candidacy will only harm his stated goals until we pass electoral reform so third parties can't act as spoilers.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
If Cornel West is worried about being a spoiler whose candidacy might let Donald Trump back into the White House by stealing votes from President Joe Biden, he isn’t showing it.
At a fundraising event in Busboys and Poets, a leftwing bookshop and restaurant in Washington, West – a veteran activist of myriad causes – insisted he seeks the sympathies of neither cohort, but is instead trying to woo alienated, hardened non-voters.
With Trump buoyant in many polls, some have likened West’s presence to that of the longtime activist Ralph Nader in 2000, who was widely believed to have persuaded wavering voters to switch to him from Al Gore in the key battleground of Florida, tipping the state and thus the election to George W Bush.
Addressing an audience of committed supporters, West – who campaigned against Trump’s presidency when he was in office and advocated voting for Biden in 2020, railed against the rigid two-party US political system and adopted a “plague on both your houses” posture to the Democrats and Republicans.
“One of the problems of the two party system is what Margaret Thatcher used to call ‘Tina’ – there is no alternative,” he said, referring to a phrase the former British prime minister used to defend her government’s stringent economic policies in the early 1980s.
“The Democratic party has this crypto-fascist element when it comes to mass incarceration, when it comes to dropping bombs … when it comes to surveillance, when it comes to violation of individual liberties vis-a-vis the national security state.”
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LOL Cornel, you won't even get past the primaries.
Anyone who votes for him instead of Biden is a fucking moron who wants Trump in the white house again, whether they admit it or not.
I doubt anyone who votes for him would have ever voted for Biden and didn't vote for him in 2020 either, so they're basically a non-factor.
These are people who vote third party every time.
I think that's the candidate's point. There are voters who sit out elections because they have no interest in the two major party candidates. Biden is a centrist who assumes progressive voters will show up because they are afraid of Trump.
I don't agree with Dr. West on most issues, but I don't have a problem with anyone running to force a candidate to take positions on the issues they care about. It's Biden's race to lose.