Just listened to Warren's announcement.

[bennyboy]

Only intellectual infants require squeaky-clean candidates. Rational people understand that such candidates do not actually exist. The Democratic Party simply attracts a much broader scope of demographics. Their challenge lies in successfully addressing various demographics' unique concerns and finding away to tie them in to the "greater good'.

With all due respect, I don't think that the base for either party is predominantly rational; America, on the whole, is fucking stark raving mad so far as I can tell. However, I think the particular flavor of irrationality of the left is to exclude allies who don't meet their particular moral standards or views-- while it seems to me the irrationality of the right is in their ability to turn a blind eye to very obvious flaws, lies, or idiocy, and cast that vote anyway. That gives Trump a very easy task in running again, and a Democratic candidate a nearly impossible one. Obama was the second coming of Christ-- and it's going to take another personality like his to take the white house.

Warren would be infinitely better a president than Trump-- she's more qualified, more able to negotiate, and almost certainly better with money. However, all it takes is a few percent of the democratic vote to get turned off by her native American claims (cultural appropriation! racism!), or by whatever little bit of dirt the Republicans will dig up, and the PC crowd will shy away from voting for her.

I hope I'm wrong. I very much hope Trump will lose the next election. But I'll tell you what I think actually will happen. Trump will start a war next summer, and he'll do a couple photo ops with the troops who he will suddenly seem to give a shit about, and the Republicans will cream their goddamned pants and give him another four years. And Warren or whoever else they put up will point out that the war is obvious bullshit, but will not have the shouting power to overcome the PR trickery, and will lose.

Here's what the democrats don't get. Ideas never win American elections. It's chimpanzee instincts that guide the vote. And Trump is the kind of chimps.