This is basically what I was getting at the other day which drew a rather rude reply. The Democrats have a slate of options for VP who would all be basically fine. There's some room for optimization, some room for theory, but they're all going to be essentially interchangeably fine for the ticket in November. There is no JD Vance in the …
This is basically what I was getting at the other day which drew a rather rude reply. The Democrats have a slate of options for VP who would all be basically fine. There's some room for optimization, some room for theory, but they're all going to be essentially interchangeably fine for the ticket in November. There is no JD Vance in the offing for Harris, there is no real "unforced error" to be had despite what the other newsletter says. They'd all be fine.
There are upsides to Shapiro, there are also downsides. The left does have a point that he has some baggage as regards Israel/Palestine that could move some needles. There's a racist op-ed from his college days calling the Palestinians too "battle-minded" to ever form a nation that he insists he's evolved from, but it'll still get dragged up (though, crucially, it can't really be effective ammunition for the right which just literally thinks this). There's some shadow around his administration regarding a sexual harassment case involving a top adviser. He of course also has upsides, which you and others have covered quite well.
I'm a Pennsylvanian. I'm also a leftist, which means I'm gonna be some degree of unhappy no matter who gets chosen. That said, I'm also going to vote for Harris in November no matter who gets chosen, because unlike some of my compatriots I do not believe America has to pass through the ravages of fascism to embrace a more equitable vision of society. If I were living in New York or Massachusetts or California, yeah, maybe a Shapiro choice would convince me to stay home or leave that category blank to exert some infinitesimal unit of pressure. Whoop-dee-doo. That would be a luxury, one I know I don't have. Ultimately I think that's where the relevant left lands on this issue. We may gripe and we may groan but at the end of the day there are very few outright accelerationists among us.
It's ridiculous to reject an otherwise qualified candidate because of a paper they wrote in college. I was encouraged by some good professors to argue an opposite view on an issue.
On another point, why would leftists, which at one time I was, support Hamas? The Palestinians are getting a raw deal in spite of the fact that they were offered several cease fire agreements in a war Hamas started and all calls for cease fire were rejected by Hamas. Leftists in the US support this?
I can't answer the question of "why would leftists support Hamas" because, well, we don't! None of the ones I know do, nor do I. Opposing the government of Israel does not mean supporting their declared enemies nor does it mean opposing the concept of Israel in general. Now, I will concede that there are people on the left who do seem to support Hamas out of a misguided sense that the enemy of my enemy must always be my friend - but I don't know them, I've never heard from them, so I can't really get into their deeper ideology. If you indeed were a leftist at one point, you're undoubtedly familiar with how fractious and weird we can all be, and how much infighting we do amongst ourselves.
If you're wondering why we don't protest against Hamas, that one's easy. Our government does not support them financially and militarily, so there's nothing to protest against.
I'm not going to get into the rest of your comment because it's genuinely just way too much to unpack but I would encourage you to not assume the absolute worst, most monstrous thing you can about a given political cohort without substantial evidence. You ask if leftists in the US support Hamas, I say we don't. We're not a monolith, nor are we anywhere close to ideologically coherent enough to throw our support en masse behind any one group under any circumstances.
I agree not everyone is the same. But I've read analysis that said Hamas was losing Palistinian support and that was the reason for the attack on civilians on Oct 6th. They knew Israel would be forced to respond. But the Palestinians did not condemn the attack and they have not tried to negotiate peace. Instead they support Hamas to this day. And Hamas has refused any ceasefire agreement.
Californian here and we’d love to have Shapiro on the ticket. Truly, all of the medium-bodied Chardonnay choices seem great! And I’m a red wine fan, plus I love array!
I live in NY and my congressional district NY-22 is getting ready to vote out the Texan carpetbagging MAGA a-hole currently in office. I will be voting straight Blue ticket... but we do have some republicans in office locally that are not MAGA that I would vote for... like our county executive, our town supervisor. They are reasonable people, not cult members.
This is basically what I was getting at the other day which drew a rather rude reply. The Democrats have a slate of options for VP who would all be basically fine. There's some room for optimization, some room for theory, but they're all going to be essentially interchangeably fine for the ticket in November. There is no JD Vance in the offing for Harris, there is no real "unforced error" to be had despite what the other newsletter says. They'd all be fine.
There are upsides to Shapiro, there are also downsides. The left does have a point that he has some baggage as regards Israel/Palestine that could move some needles. There's a racist op-ed from his college days calling the Palestinians too "battle-minded" to ever form a nation that he insists he's evolved from, but it'll still get dragged up (though, crucially, it can't really be effective ammunition for the right which just literally thinks this). There's some shadow around his administration regarding a sexual harassment case involving a top adviser. He of course also has upsides, which you and others have covered quite well.
I'm a Pennsylvanian. I'm also a leftist, which means I'm gonna be some degree of unhappy no matter who gets chosen. That said, I'm also going to vote for Harris in November no matter who gets chosen, because unlike some of my compatriots I do not believe America has to pass through the ravages of fascism to embrace a more equitable vision of society. If I were living in New York or Massachusetts or California, yeah, maybe a Shapiro choice would convince me to stay home or leave that category blank to exert some infinitesimal unit of pressure. Whoop-dee-doo. That would be a luxury, one I know I don't have. Ultimately I think that's where the relevant left lands on this issue. We may gripe and we may groan but at the end of the day there are very few outright accelerationists among us.
Relevant left is such a good burn. Stealing it!
Well said OP. That's the spirit.
It's ridiculous to reject an otherwise qualified candidate because of a paper they wrote in college. I was encouraged by some good professors to argue an opposite view on an issue.
On another point, why would leftists, which at one time I was, support Hamas? The Palestinians are getting a raw deal in spite of the fact that they were offered several cease fire agreements in a war Hamas started and all calls for cease fire were rejected by Hamas. Leftists in the US support this?
I can't answer the question of "why would leftists support Hamas" because, well, we don't! None of the ones I know do, nor do I. Opposing the government of Israel does not mean supporting their declared enemies nor does it mean opposing the concept of Israel in general. Now, I will concede that there are people on the left who do seem to support Hamas out of a misguided sense that the enemy of my enemy must always be my friend - but I don't know them, I've never heard from them, so I can't really get into their deeper ideology. If you indeed were a leftist at one point, you're undoubtedly familiar with how fractious and weird we can all be, and how much infighting we do amongst ourselves.
If you're wondering why we don't protest against Hamas, that one's easy. Our government does not support them financially and militarily, so there's nothing to protest against.
I'm not going to get into the rest of your comment because it's genuinely just way too much to unpack but I would encourage you to not assume the absolute worst, most monstrous thing you can about a given political cohort without substantial evidence. You ask if leftists in the US support Hamas, I say we don't. We're not a monolith, nor are we anywhere close to ideologically coherent enough to throw our support en masse behind any one group under any circumstances.
I agree not everyone is the same. But I've read analysis that said Hamas was losing Palistinian support and that was the reason for the attack on civilians on Oct 6th. They knew Israel would be forced to respond. But the Palestinians did not condemn the attack and they have not tried to negotiate peace. Instead they support Hamas to this day. And Hamas has refused any ceasefire agreement.
Said it!
Californian here and we’d love to have Shapiro on the ticket. Truly, all of the medium-bodied Chardonnay choices seem great! And I’m a red wine fan, plus I love array!
I live in NY and my congressional district NY-22 is getting ready to vote out the Texan carpetbagging MAGA a-hole currently in office. I will be voting straight Blue ticket... but we do have some republicans in office locally that are not MAGA that I would vote for... like our county executive, our town supervisor. They are reasonable people, not cult members.
I should tell my despondent zillenial daughter that people like you exist.