Now that the Curmudgeon has emerged from the safety of his nuclear fallout shelter and found the world even more toxic than when he left, it is again time to speak of politics, religion, and other things your mother told you not to talk about at the dinner table. 
When I went underground the presidential marathon, er, election campaign which is now at least three or four years long was well underway. I had asked myself two questions regarding the eventual outcome. The first question was:
How would the democrats eventually find a way to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination this time around?
I have always been a Bernie supporter, and I had a two-year stack of newspapers to read through in order to discover the democratic powerbroker’s course of action. Apparently in the beginning theirs was a simple strategy, throw a bunch of candidates against a wall and see what sticks. It was open season for billionaires, millionaires, and crack pots. Yet despite maybe a couple of hundred candidates or more and the rise and fall of Joe Biden, Bernie wound up on top in the polls.
For the democratic brain trust, this was just the beginning. They winnowed the field. They effectively got rid of the warrior princess, the mystic, and everyone of color except the millionaire. And then disaster, Iowa! Either a gay Mayor Pete, from the midwest or Bernie won – did they ever decide? Biden, now known as “electable” Joe was nowhere to be found. On to New Hampshire and Disaster Part II. This time it was Bernie and Mayor Pete and worse a prairie populist, Amy Klobuchar. The midwesterners were splitting the moderate vote. More bad news, the hoped for split of the progressive vote with Elizabeth Warren had run out of gas. Finally, the last ethnically diverse candidate asian millionaire, Andrew Yang, dropped out.
On to South Carolina and the entry of second billionaire, Mini Mike, into the campaign while the other democratic billionaire, Tom Steyer, was spending like crazy in South Carolina. The democratic king makers were up against it. They had been selling electable Joe to the public and doubled down on South Carolina, a key turning point for Obama in 2008. It was the last chance to derail Bernie before Super Tuesday. It would be chaos if a controllable, er, electable candidate did not prevail. The centrist candidates including Joe Biden had no money and no organizations to go forward. Mini Mike had the money but was far from controllable, darn said it again, electable. Electable Joe was their only hope. They needed a home run and they needed it now. So, they played the race card.
The party propaganda machine went to work minimizing the importance of the white bread electorates of Iowa and New Hampshire claiming over and over again that they did not represent the diverse population of the United States. They ignored the Latino vote in Nevada that went to Bernie and pointed to South Carolina and its diverse electorate as a bellwether for the general election in the fall. They tapped Jim Clyburn, a 14-term congressman and the third most powerful democrat in the house of representatives to seal the deal for Joe. His speech was clearly directed to the 60% black democratic electorate of South Carolina. Sounding at times more like a sermon than an endorsement Clyburn summed up his plea with the words, “Joe knows us.” Like Jesus raising Lazarus, Clyburn had resurrected electable Joe and delivered his first win ever in a presidential marathon. Impressive! Still there was only two days to go to Super Tuesday and there was massive work to do. A single victory was not going to stop Bernie’s momentum.
I don’t know if it was a room filled with the delicious smoke of Cuban cigars like FDR’s parlor or Tammany Hall but somewhere something had to be done. Someone or someones had to orchestrate the biggest political turnaround of the century. Certainly, Joe’s campaign couldn’t do it. It was doubtful that either of the other centrist candidate would quit before Super Tuesday without some considerable prodding. They had nothing to lose and much to gain by waiting a day – or – did they? Are we to believe that two people who had devoted the last year and more of their lives would suddenly and at once independently become altruistic?
The stage was set with two of the biggest prizes up for grabs, Texas and California. Beto – remember Beto from El Paso – was an easy grab for the party machine – a future promise was assuredly made. Then there was Amy. What do you think it took to get her on a stage in Texas to choke back tears and endorse Joe? Vice President maybe? And what was offered for Mayor Pete? Secretary of Defense? We shall see – maybe. Electable Joe looked appropriately humble with each new endorsement. With no money and no organization Joe was being handed the high road to the democratic nomination. Even Mini Mike eventually jumped on the now “electable” Joe bandwagon.
Bernie soldiered on but with the party’s engine running first on 4, then 6, then 8 cylinders there was little that could be done. Even with the spread of Coronavirus and the exposure of the lack of any national health “system” Joe sounded more presidential every day. The democratic faithful had been told, and told, and told that only Joe was electable. And so it would come to pass it would be Joe’s job to beat Trump “like a drum.”
Bernie was burnt – again.
P.S. my second question: How would the democrats find a way to lose the presidential election?
Stay tuned.
gobblers nob 