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]]>Well, yes, it’s not the clearest photo of all time, but that’s because it’s taken from a television screen. But if you wanted a poster for what is wrong with money and politics, this picture will do it.
In the center, and at the podium, is J.B. Pritzker, a candidate running for the Democratic nomination for governor in Illinois. Why is that a problem, after all, shouldn’t anyone who meets the legal requirements to run for office be allowed to?
Absolutely. And the fact that according to Forbes, Pritzker is worth 3.5 billion, nor that his family owns the Hyatt hotel chain. America should be safe for anyone to run for office, regardless of how wealthy they are.
If Pritzker was just a wealthy man who has an interest in politics (he majored in political science at Duke University), there would not be a problem. It wouldn’t necessarily be a problem that his list of friends includes former President Barack Obama or even former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Here’s where it gets tricky, or maybe just plain disgusting. His friendships are littered with favors being asked and favors being granted. When that happens in politics, it is politely called conflict of interest. In other circles, it is called corrupt.
Shortly after Barack Obama was elected president, the question of filling his Senate seat became a topic of conversation. There would not be an immediate special election, instead the governor of the state, Rod Blagojevich at the time, would make an appointment.
It turned out that Blagojevich’s efforts to “sell” the seat became cause for him to become another Illinois governor to be sent to prison. But J.B. Pritzker was right in the middle of the dealing. According to FBI wiretaps obtained by the Chicago Tribune, the following took place:
J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman with political ambitions, told Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich he was “really not that interested” in the U.S. Senate seat the governor was dealing in late 2008.
Instead, Pritzker offered his own idea: Would Blagojevich make him Illinois treasurer?
“Ooh, interesting,” Blagojevich said during a November 2008 phone call with Pritzker. “Let’s think about that. You interested in that?”
“Yeah,” Pritzker answered, “that’s the one I would want.”
So, Pritzker is not some paragon of virtue running for office who happens to be a billionaire. He is tightly intertwined with politicians and others who make the levers of government move.
The photo shows Illinois Senator Dick Durbin standing next to Pritzker. Durbin has made a name for himself as a liberal, if not progressive, who can work effectively with Republicans. He has been one of the leaders to achieve a bi-partisan solution to immigration issues, and would probably be hailed as a very effective deal-maker if it was not for Donald Trump scuttling his work.
But when it comes to supporting Pritzker against other Democrats running for the gubernatorial nomination, Durbin is tainted. Pritzker has donated at least $25,000 to Durbin campaigns, and it could be far more.
Also next to Pritzker is Illinois’ other Democratic Senator, Tammy Duckworth. She too is a recipient of Pritzker largesse.
Pritzker money is all over Illinois politics, particularly among Democrats and including to a large extent Barack Obama. J.B.’s sister, Penny Pritzker, became Obama’s Secretary of Commerce.
So regardless of what ideas J.B. Pritzker has (he says that he supports a public option for health insurance for Illinois, but the state is virtually bankrupt), this man is not who Democrats who we can respect should be supporting. That’s what’s wrong with the picture, and unfortunately, all over America there are similar photos of “pay-to-play” endorsements.
What can we do? At the very least, express our outrage and consider withholding support.
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]]>The race for the 2020 Democratic nomination began at 11:30 PM, November 8th, 2016 when the networks projected that Donald Trump would carry the state of Florida. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and New Hampshire were all still too close to call. Hillary Clinton was not going to be President, and one has to wonder what was going through the minds of Democratic governors, senators, congresspersons, and business leaders across America. At first maybe there was anguish over the loss, but there must’ve been a bitter-sweetness to it all. Dozens of Democrats had been sidelined by Hillary Clinton in 2016, and expected to wait until 2024 before looking at the White House. But now President Trump provided them an opportunity that another President Clinton couldn’t have.
A previous article mentioned 44 possible democratic contenders for 2020, but if that number sounds ridiculously large to you, that’s because it is. If you recall in 2016, at one point there were 17 candidates vying for the GOP nomination, but sources listed up to 55 possible candidates. Of course, all of those people didn’t run, but even if they did, just because a candidate runs does not mean they’re likely to secure the nomination. George Pataki, was never going to win the Republican nomination. As for the Democratic side, something tells me people were not exactly fired up about Lincoln Chafee.
In a previous piece we devised a metric for measuring not necessarily who is the Democratic front runner, but who in a vacuum should have a better than average chance of being nominated. Listed below are the seven most likely Democrats to be nominated, not according to any particular poll or bias of mine, but according to their scores. I don’t agree with a few potential candidates who have earned top spots, but I’ll explain their attributes and potential weaknesses nonetheless. You can find my article explaining these scores here.
Some articles have suggested that there are front-runners: Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Joe Biden, and others. But I’m not so sure there is a front runner at the moment, it’s important to remember we are as close to the first debates of 2019 as we were to the debates of 2015. This time last cycle, the conventional wisdom was that Chris Christie and Jeb Bush were the GOP frontrunners. So, with that in mind, take my estimations and of others with a grain of salt.
Notable Absences & Discrepancies
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]]>Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth ranks first in our list of viable Democratic candidates for 2020.
If the Democratic Party is truly going to be progressive, it is important that those who seek the presidency in 2020 walk the progressive walk instead of just talking the talk. Specifically, this means that hypocrisy must be reduced to a level that is equal to or is less than that of Jimmy Carter when he ran for president in 1976.
One of the reasons why Hillary Clinton was easily dismissed by so many Democratic voters was because of her coziness with Wall Street and her comfortability in shilling for money. Similar behavior by Barack Obama undermined his support among progressives. It would behoove any Democrat running for the presidency in 2020 to use the Bernie Sanders method of raising small dollar amounts from millions of people. In this case, integrity and practicality go hand-in-hand.
This means that Cory Booker must kiss the pharmaceuticals good-bye and Adam Schiff the same with Parsons Corp. “The Hill” reports that Kamala Harris is now the darling of the “Democratic donor class” and that brings with it all kinds of hazards which serve to unravel a progressive persona.
For 2020, a candidate needs to commit him or herself to spending time with voters who have little or no connection to the financial elite.
Recently, we analyzed some basic demographic information on 44 possible Democratic candidates for president in 2020. These candidates come from a list constructed in early June, 2017 by the Washington Post and The Hill.
We have established four basic criteria for suitable candidates for president in 2020. They are:
1. A candidate must have progressive bona fides. The Democrats are not going to win by being “Republican-lite.” More importantly, a “Republican-lite” agenda is not good policy. Democrats must understand that good policy makes good politics. It worked for Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Among other things, they both addressed issues of income inequality and that may well be the number one issue that the nation faces now.
2. Not only does a candidate need to restrict from whom he or she receives financial support, but it is equally important to not subsume oneself in the world of the rich and mighty. Yes, there are very wealthy people who have a balanced view of society such as Warren Buffett . But these are people who would rather meet with you in their own living room or office rather than for cocktails at a club in the Hamptons.
3. The candidate has to be youthful. As a septuagenarian, I realize this is a disqualifier for my contemporaries, but with the exception of Bernie Sanders (who will be 78 in 2020), it is difficult to find progressives who understand Millenials and those younger. These are the people who Democrats need to bring into the fold in order to win and also to educate for long-term policy initiatives.
4. Psychological fitness. Nothing is more difficult to quantify than this and we know that the American Psychiatric Association has adopted the “Goldwater Rule” which states “it is unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures they have not examined in person.” But the experience that we all are having with Donald Trump as president shows us that ideology and even character become irrelevant when someone is psychologically unstable and dangerous to others.
What do we mean by psychological fitness? Here are three factors for starters for political candidates:
a. Being aware of hypocrisy. This means that a person needs to be on the “irony channel” – having the ability to see the absurdity of much of the behavior that is presently part and parcel of politics. Perhaps the best example of someone who has this awareness is Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
b. Being confident, but not arrogant. A good example of this would be California Congressman Adam Schiff, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.
c. Being comfortable in one’s own skin. Since FDR, there seem to be only two presidents who meet that criterion, John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Jimmy Carter would be a runner-up.
So, from the list of forty-four, here are seven to consider who might qualify. Unfortunately, with most of them there are already tight ties with entrenched moneyed interests. We’re hoping that they can realize that in the internet era, campaigns can be very inexpensive. The web also presents the best opportunity for a campaign to go viral. It should be a badge of honor to not snuggle up with the “Democratic donor class.”
With humility, here is a list of “magnificent possibilities,”
1. Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
2. Minnesota Senator Al Franken
3. California Senator Kamala Harris
4. California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
5. California Congressman Adam Schiff
6. Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
7. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker
Feel free to share your thoughts with us.
For additional thoughts on this topic, see Reece Ellis’s post in Occasional Planet.
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