- is this mad-trumpet disease intense enough & prevalent enough to essentially veto a GOP candidate that voted for Joe Biden over the Sacred Sir Don of Trumpistan … a year ago?
If he had announced that he wouldn’t be appearing in The Batman next year, I would have been really concerned.
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I know we won’t get any term limits but can we pass something about fossilization?
Okay, I know, that was mean
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The longer the ‘olds’ hang on to power, then the less upward mobility is available. But more specifically on the Republican side if there are more bomb throwers than planners where does that get them? I know, I know I keep expecting to wake up in a rational world…
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Worth shouting:
BETO IS RUNNING FOR TX GOVERNOR!!
Just sent my first contribution!
ETA
From his email announcement.
I am running for governor to serve ALL of the people of Texas.
I believe that the only way we are going to achieve great things for this state is by looking out for each other and moving forward together.
Whether it was building a successful technology business in my hometown or working with my fellow El Pasoans on the City Council or passing legislation in a divided Congress to improve mental healthcare for veterans, these experiences have taught me that we are most successful when we keep the focus on people.
When we listen to and learn from each other — regardless of our differences — we build trust, and that trust allows us to do together what none of us could do on our own.
The fringe policies and incompetence that we see in Texas today — on masks, on abortion, on guns, on schools, on the electricity grid — are symptoms of a larger problem. Our leaders have stopped listening to the people they were elected to serve. They don’t trust Texans and so they aren’t able to move forward on what the people of Texas want, like better jobs and safe communities.
Instead, they’re focused on the agendas of their donors, on positioning themselves for the next election, on catering to the loudest voices in their party and on keeping themselves in power regardless of the cost to the rest of us.
It’s a small vision for such a big state. And it’s hurting the people of Texas.
We could be leading the world in creating the next generation of energy jobs instead of praying the electricity grid won’t collapse again this winter.
We could expand Medicaid and ensure that every one of us is healthy enough to pursue our education and career instead of leading the nation in the number of people unable to see a doctor.
We could follow the guidance from our own world-class scientists and healthcare professionals to protect vulnerable Texans instead of allowing politics to determine our response to the pandemic. More than 70,000 Texans have died of Covid on this Governor’s watch.
We are losing the big, bold vision that used to define Texas, a Texas big enough for all of us. Big enough for our dreams and big enough to make them happen. We’ve been offered something small, mean and uninspiring in its place.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We can do better.
When I ran for Senate in 2018, I traveled to every county of Texas. I met a lot of people, and had the chance to listen to and learn from them. How they lived, what they cared about, what kept them up at night, what they dreamed for their kids and grandkids. It turns out that in most communities, people have thought through the solutions to the challenges before them. They don’t need someone to tell them what’s best for them, they just need someone to listen and then take action.
Something else I picked up, and it’s stayed with me ever since, is that it’s impossible to write someone off, to take them for granted, to forget them once you’ve had the chance to meet them and understand where they’re coming from. I’ve got a strong hunch that if we took the time to listen more and learn from each other, there’s a whole lot more we could get done, in our lives, in our communities, and in our state.
I didn’t win that race, or the next one (not even close). But I stayed with it, kept working to help the people I’d met, the communities I’d been to. In the face of so much that could cause despair — like the unprecedented attack on voting rights or the failure of the electricity grid — I found hope and purpose in the people with whom I volunteered for the last two years in an organization called Powered by People.
We worked to bring people into our elections and the political process. Together we helped register more than 250,000 new voters. We organized our fellow Texans to defend our democracy in the halls of the state capitol when free and fair elections were under attack. And then we went beyond the capitol to counties like Rains and Midland, Harris and Dallas, Bowie and Jefferson, bringing as many people of this state into the conversation as we could — Republicans and Democrats alike — to listen to each other and try to find common ground on the right to vote.
And when the lights went out, the heater wouldn’t turn on and the water stopped running for millions of Texans in February, together we organized thousands of volunteers to make over a million phone calls to stranded Texas seniors — connecting them with food, water, warmth and the knowledge that another human being cared about them and wanted to make sure they were OK.
Our volunteers raised over a million dollars to help those whose homes had been damaged in the disaster. Their governor might fail them, but the people of Texas wouldn’t.
That’s what happens when people are moved to come together to help their neighbors and fellow Texans. Imagine if we had a governor who felt the same way.
It’s up to us to make it happen.
And get back to being big again.
14 Likes
I can understand the olds hanging on to power. They know people. They know how things work. In my industry almost everyone I know is over 55. All any of us have to do is pick up the phone, talk to a couple people, tell them how it’s going to go down, and they say “OK, do it”. And then everyone goes to the bank. You don’t do that at 25 or 30.
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That’s basically what the whole senate looks like, to be fair.
(Ok, only 90% of it, so sue me)
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55 is not 75+ Huge difference in mental acuity, with the best will in the world.
So do you check your office chair for explosive devises?
But I get your point, I’ve had the best work experiences when the people I worked with knew how to get shit done. And maybe I need to look at the Republican/Trump Party as a cautionary tale. But then I think of all the smart Dems that got elected to the House in 2018, and yes there is a difference in how the House and the Senate work. I don’t think we need dozens of AOCs or Katie Porters, but a few more wouldn’t hurt and one of each in the Senate would get things done.
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For some I suppose. Varies by individual. I have business associates that are 80 that are sharp as a tack, and highly successful. Sure, if you’ve lost a step maybe retire. But I think if you’re slipping it will show in your performance. The truth will out. But if someone is doing their job, and doing it well, I think age shouldn’t factor into your judgment of their suitability to continue working.
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Beto has a better chance than any other Dem. He’s a tireless campaigner, highly charismatic, came damn close to knocking off Ted Cruz a few years ago, and is running against an incumbent who has abandoned all pretense to sensible governance. He’s still an underdog, and I expect him to run like it. If he pulls this off, he’ll be a legend.
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Only 1 has declared and there’s a logjam behind that person.
1 Like
Vermont has a good deal of younger political talent lining up for changes in the Federal delegation, or challenges to the governor. Becca Balint is President Pro Tem of the State Senate, a brilliant person, with integrity and honesty, as well as thoughtful progressive views and a deft political hand. Molly Gray drove her way into the Lt Gov’s spot last cycle, but remains to be really tested in a political battle. Mitzi Johnson, former Speaker of the House, a likewise a formidable political talent with well established chops and connections. Then there are a lot of ambitious younger pols, like TJ Donovan the AG, who have hopes that always spring in the hearts when a spot opens up.
The Republicans have a nearly empty bench except Phil Scott, the governor, who is very popular but only as governor. That might not translate to Federal Office. Vermont treasures both its independence and its liberal coloration.
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He’s an imperfect Senator/Human, I thank him for his service, a good reliable Democratic Senator from the Patrician mold!
He still seems to have his wits, I think his retirement is a good thing, his institutional knowledge will be missed. I hope we pick a good Dem to run for his seat in 24.
Feinstein, she’s old, and much to conservative for my liking, and too much connected to too much money.
Tax the Rich.
A lot.
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Patrician? When I lived in Vemont his number was in the phone book.
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Sounds like an antitrust lawyer’s nightmare.
Not if they against the infrastructure package. One AOC is quite enough.
Well, he used to look good and thoughtful.