AARP

January 10, 2024

The Democrats’ Debate (without Biden)

Any Democrat who berates Trump for thumbing his nose at debates should be aware that Biden has done the same thing by refusing to engage with two other serious candidates, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. Both have standing in the polls and would have even higher numbers if there were not a concerted effort at suppression worthy of any Republican legislature.  Florida and North Carolina have gone as far as cancelling their Democrat primaries, claiming that Biden is the only candidate!  Maybe Biden is afraid to risk the contrast between an octogenarian and two more youthful energies.  That would be smart, but the voters are the losers. 

The debate took place in Manchester at New England College’s “College Conference” sponsored by AARP.   Speaking of geriatrics, why would AARP be involved in a student conference?   Well, there they were, some white-haired ladies behind a card table full of AARP brochures and buttons as hundreds of college kids milled around.  The hotel lobby was full of tables with campaign signs and fliers: Williamson’s, Phillips’, and even Ryan Binkley, the impressive Republican pastor from Texas who I’d seen months ago, had his table, but—metaphor time—no one was there to mind the booth! Just a bunch of sad-looking caps, shirts, and signs all on their own.  But even that was not as sad as the lonely merch on the untended table for Jason Palmer, a Democratic candidate from Baltimore who I had never heard of.  What a strange thing to have these people decide to run for president.  Why not start with mayor, or town council?   There was a place on the conference schedule later on featuring these candidates who are flying so far under the radar that they’re inches away from the inevitable crash landing. 

            The debate was moderated by the very effective Josh McElveen, formerly of a local Manchester TV station, who told us in no uncertain terms that we should restrict our applause to their introduction and their final speech, so no “whoopin’ and hollerin’” along the way.  Thank you, Josh! That was enough to make this a dignified exchange of ideas instead of the unwatchable chaos of the Republicans.  

Williamson arrived and was quickly surrounded by a swarm of acolytes, many wearing her t-shirts: “Peace, Justice, Love.”  Quite a contrast with the arrogant sloganeering favored by some of the Republicans.   Phillips’ made a more modest entrance, they took the stage, were introduced, they hugged (there was some whoopin’), and then they plowed through a number of key issues, efficiently and effectively.  Go to YouTube to watch for yourselves.  

They agreed on much, especially the key point, that if Biden is the choice, the Republicans will win—all the polls show that.  Williamson’s main issue is that corporations are running America and ruining the middle class.  The government is held hostage by them and DC has become a system of legalized bribery. 

Both trained their sights on the two main parties that are destroying democracy, placing party loyalty over all else as seen by the “invisible-ization of my campaign (Williamson).”   There is not supposed to be a political class but that’s what we’ve evolved into as dissent from the party line is suppressed.

They disagreed on some things.  Phillips admires Liz Cheney’s courage for standing up to the right wing and is proud of his own efforts at bipartisanship.  His cabinet would have members from both parties in it: “A team of rivals”.  Williamson rejects that idea, and is no fan of Cheney’s voting record in Congress.  She wants a Department of Peace and a Department of Children and Youth at the cabinet level. 

Williamson channeled Daniel Webster at several points, showing her fiery, passionate side, while Phillips was more contained, soberly laying out his plans.    Both have what sound like solid ideas to deal with the big issues like the border, social security, college costs, Putin, and Gaza, mostly falling in line with the progressives.   But as we all should know, no matter who the president is, you won’t get anything done unless Congress is behind it.  The President’s biggest power is the ability to slow things down through a veto. 

So, it’s time to make some choices. If you’re a Democrat you should take their warning seriously, that to back Biden now is to risk not just losing the presidency, but a Republican landslide in Congress in November.  Time for due diligence and a look at these two candidates.

It’s always possible that, as some pundits are suggesting, Biden will bail out before the convention, leaving it to the delegates to select someone else.  It’s a good bet they won’t pick either of these two who have dared to buck the system.

February 8, 2020

Compare the Candidates: William Weld

For the sole Republican primary event I will attend (I haven’t got the stomach for the Trump rally coming up), we convened in the spare but spacious New Boston library community room.  It was a lively crowd of about 70, complete with local TV cameramen, 7 AARP members attired in bright red t-shirts with “Stop Greed Rx” emblazoned defiantly across aged but formidable chests, and a group of students from Temple University interviewing us on why we were there.

Weld was introduced briefly by an impressive NH Republican leader and then right to the action.   There were no standing ovations or anything like what happens at a Sanders rally, but those in attendance were very appreciative that Weld was running against Trump.    Weld is now 74 years old but ramrod straight, tall, with a somewhat florid complexion and the air of the patrician about him.   Not wasting any time he told us he got into the race because it’s “crunch time” for the nation and the Party has gotten lost. He’s a fiscal conservative, and the Party just voted in a boatload of extra national debt.  They’re ignoring climate change—high among his priorities–and on down the list ending with a thoroughgoing excoriation of Trump’s view of Article II of the Constitution and the fawning Senate lapdogs who have handed him more power than any monarch since Louis XIV claimed the divine right of kings.  The Republican world has turned upside down, and Weld is the only candidate left who has the gumption to run against Trump within the Party.  It must be particularly hard  for him to watch the glory days of the Republicans melt down to the dross of  Trumpism: his first wife, Susan and his children are descendants of Teddy Roosevelt.

His stump speech was brief, and we were on to the questions. First up, a boy who looked to be about 8, asking something cute and incomprehensible and lengthy. Weld looked to his mother for help who explained he was comparing what was happening in Washington to a video game. Weld showed his diplomatic skills, answering, with patience and humor, “That’s not far off the mark.”

Many issues were covered, and what you came away with was that this is a guy with a lot of experience governing, both in Boston, and working in Washington as well.   He’s extremely intelligent, attending both Oxford and Harvard. He knows his stuff.  He’s pro-choice, and tends toward the libertarian, except, he pointed out, when it comes to Big Pharma—there is where we need government to step in.

What I especially liked about his pitch was what he said about leadership.  As governor his goal was to make sure no one got lost in the corners, to bring them out of the shadows so they could benefit from what our country has to offer.  Trump does the opposite of this. Enough said.