Turns out American voters aren’t crazy after all (except in, you know, California…)

Joe at 701

Just kidding (kinda) with the California thing. Think about it: If Bloomberg had just dropped out and endorsed Joe 24 hours sooner, Sanders wouldn’t be winning in La-La Land, either.

This is just a day for celebrating the good, common sense of the American people.

After the insanity of 2016, after a year in which voters kept insisting on attaching themselves to anyone, anyone at all, except the obvious, sensible choice… after a year of “oh, but my ideology!” nonsense… everybody got together and realized that they’d always loved Joe, so, you know, let’s go with Joe.

And not a second too soon. The nation was babbling hysterically. We South Carolinians gave it a good, tough-love slap in the face. And on Super Tuesday, the nation said, “Thanks. We needed that…”

I don’t know about you, but for me, it feels great to see things taking their proper shape around me. Finally. It’s kind of like waking up from a nightmare, realizing it was a dream, and thinking: “Oh, it’s alright then…”

Suddenly, people remember what was obvious — no one else who was running had the ability to connect in a positive way not only with most Democrats, but with independents. And not only them…

Some of you will rain on my parade by saying, “Yeah, but Trump voters… they’re still crazy…”

Maybe. But maybe that won’t matter in November. Haven’t you seen those analyses that say Joe is winning on the strength of support from, not only African-Americans (whom the pundits ignored and dissed until South Carolina), but also white suburbanites? That means he’s winning the people who gave Democrats their 2018 wins in the House — people who are key to beating Trump.

Still, as I’ve said before, there is still a problem in the country, and it won’t be gone just because Trump loses the election. The fact that so many voted for him in 2016 — something the American electorate would NEVER have done before that — points to something being profoundly wrong out there. The Bernie Bros, who crave revolution, are another indicator of the same thing. The nation has to find a way to heal that disaffection.

But there’s no better way to do that than by lining up behind a decent guy most Americans can find it in themselves to actually like. That’s a good first step.

I hope those of my friends who supported other candidates in this process can forgive my enjoying this moment. I’m not enjoying your candidates’ losing. I’m celebrating their getting behind Joe. I already liked Amy and Pete. Now I like them more. I even like Bloomberg today — in spite of that if-he’d-dropped-out-before-Joe-would-have-won-California thing.

Today, I am hopeful — more so than I’ve been in awhile. We still have a long road ahead of us. Bernie, who as we all know doesn’t play well with others, is not going to quit. But now, there’s a clear path for the candidate who far better reflects what most of the country wants. And I feel good about that…

14 thoughts on “Turns out American voters aren’t crazy after all (except in, you know, California…)

  1. Brad Warthen Post author

    I’m kinda going nuts here trying to figure out just what California means, in terms of delegates.

    It’s not winner-take-all. So… how many does Bernie get, and how many does Joe get? I can’t tell.

    And media outlets aren’t helping.

    Everybody wants to know. If you Google “is california,” Google will complete it with “winner-take-all.” And if you type, “how is california…” it adds, “delegates awarded…”

    So you’d think the media would take a hint. But the only stories I see explaining the process are from BEFORE Super Tuesday. And they are extremely confusing and unhelpful. (If you doubted people in California were crazy, just look at how they allot delegates. Just kidding, again. Kinda…)

    I guess there’s not enough data for anyone to figure it out yet…

  2. Phillip

    Bernie’s only chance to prolong the battle or to have a shot is for Warren to drop out right now and endorse him. I’m sure she’s going to drop out any minute now, but I’m really curious to see if she endorses either one. I have a feeling she will not specifically endorse either but just say she’ll support the nominee whoever it is.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      I heard an interesting discussion of that this morning on NPR. People were saying, don’t assume her supporters would go to Bernie…

      And I have a feeling you’re right about her not endorsing. But we’ll see.

      As for her dropping out soon… they say she’s got a lot of money still, and feels an obligation to them to keep plugging away.

      I’m happy for her to do just that…

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Great minds…

      I was thinking this morning of writing a post about Bernie headlined, “You say you want a revolution? Well, you know…”

      I still might write it. It would definitely quote this part:

      But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
      You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow…

      I might also include the part you quoted:

      But if you want money for people with minds that hate
      All I can tell is brother you have to wait…

      That would be aimed at certain segments of Bernie’s support base.

      We don’t need to answer the hate of the Trump crowd with more of the same. That’s why it’s so great to see Joe winning. Joe loves everybody

  3. Doug T

    I think it was me working the phones last week and the Clyburn endorsement that put Joe over the top. I’m taking up my yard sign and saving it for November (I hope).

    The big loser last night? Kamala. She hasn’t decided yet who to endorse. She blew it. Joe should not consider her for VP. She would start running for President January 15. I don’t trust her.

  4. Big D

    It was reported this morning that turnout for younger voters was extremely low. How will this affect the Democrats in November if these same people do not turn out to vote? Will the Sander’s crowd bother to vote or stay at home since Bernie isn’t on the ticket? Biden supporters are all pumped up today, but Trump is still filling stadiums on every stop. Democrats won’t have a walk in the park in November no matter if it’s Biden or Sanders , these same people thought Hillary would win in a landslide in 2016. Do you think Sanders or Biden will take Alabama or Texas in November? It’s going to come down to a handful of purple states like it does in every election, and Broward County, FL will be the last county in the country to release their results.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Yes, Bernie’s army isn’t showing up. And Super Tuesday proved Bernie was wrong that HE’S the guy who gets big turnout.

      The turnout was huge, and it was for Joe.

      No, November won’t be a walk in the park. It will take everything the Dems have, which is why it has to be Joe. Bernie doesn’t even have the support he had in 2016. He was only impressing people, up to the last few days, because the vote that went to Hillary in 2016 was being split between several moderates. Now it’s all behind Joe.

      And the kind of people turning out for Joe are the people he needs to win in November. Here’s an interesting piece about that: Black voters, ‘Whole Foods moms’ and an anti-Trump base: Biden builds coalition that could boost Democrats in November.

      Bernie supporters can stay home if they want to act like spoiled children. But if he were the nominee, every vote that turned out for Bernie would be countered by at least two people who would turn out just to vote against the socialist…

        1. Brad Warthen Post author

          If that happened, we should just brace ourselves for four more years of Trump.

          But yes, there should be an election. And we should hope for a miracle. Miracles do happen. We saw that this past week…

Comments are closed.