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How Kamala Harris Took Command of the Democratic Party in 48 Hours (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by to c/nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz
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For context, it's the elite media types who are pushing for some sort of contested convention — not the bulk of the Democratic voters.

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[+] -22 points 2 years ago* (4 children)

I know everyone is rushing show unity and thats understandable but I'm having a reasonable " but I didnt vote for you" moment.

I guess im bummed that the US is a full fledged oligarchy and nobody gives a shit.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    She was literally elected Vice President by millions of people. If you voted for Biden, you already elected her to be one heartbeat away from the presidency.

    There have been only 49 Vice Presidents in US history. She is closer to the presidency than any other eligible Democrat.

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  • [+] -10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I get how it is easy to justify and I understand people are so obsessed with beating trump that they will cast aside all other doubts but the truth is that a vote for a Biden Harris ticket is not a vote for a Harris/??? Ticket. The threat of fascism is also not going to stop with trump. The moves made here will be treated like am exception but will become the norm.

    Regardless of how I personally voted, I see this move as another example that the illusion of American democracy has been dead a long time. Maybe even since Bush v Gore. Primaries suffered a death blow in 2016 and finally kicked the bucket in 2024.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Biden was old in 2020. He could have easily passed away in his first term. Trump got COVID and almost went on a ventilator.

    You definitely did vote for Harris/??? even if you don't realize it.

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  • [+] -13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I can see how the blue no matter who crowd justifies reallocating peoples votes, but I dont see how it is acceptable to do in a so called democracy.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    If y'all's voting system wasn't so fucked up maybe you'd have more than two viable political parties, and maybe then the primary process wouldn't be so important.

    Here where I live the candidate list is generally selected completely by party insiders, but it doesn't matter so much because I have a choice of 15+ viable parties in parliament to choose from.

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  • [+] 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Most people didn't vote for Biden, they voted against Trump. Hell, there weren't even really any other candidates that were still running in the primary in my state.

    I don't like the situation we're in any more than the next person... but that didn't start recently. The presidential election is a staying action, not a political shift. That's going to take a hell of a lot more than one person, no matter how many times they're called "the most powerful person in the world".

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  • [+] -8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'm with you.

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  • [+] -14 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Thanks. It seems crazy nobody is willing to acknowledge it.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I've been saying it too, met with about the same enthusiasm as your post. The Democrats have been riding the "end of democracy" train for 8 years now, and it'd be nice to have a normal election where we vote for a candidate that we actually want, rather than just voting for whoever they shove in front of us because they're not trump. Well, I did vote for Sanders in the primaries in 2016, and 2020, but you saw what the DNC did to him. They'd rather have trump than a progressive like Sanders.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Boo fucking hoo. "Oh, it'd be so nice to live in a world that's not a dystopic hellscape". YEAH WE ALL FUCKING AGREE! But you know what? That's not the world we live in. America is divided in a 3-way split between people who want to bring back a monarchy, people who don't want that, and people who couldn't give a shit. Do I wish that wasn't the case? Of fucking course I do. But, as Jayne Cobb said in "Firefly": "If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak." You can't WISH your way into a better world. In the actual, physical world we occupy, you have extremely limited options available to you. Your options are: vote for someone you don't particularly like, or don't do that and therefore make it more likely that you never get to vote again.

    Sorry. That's the choice. I don't make the rules. That's just the way things are. Bitching about it on the internet will give you nothing.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    No shit. Obviously we all understand what's at stake. But it's been at stake for too fucking long. Throw the bastard in prison. Fucking do something to him rather than keeping him around so there's always a crisis situation. Fix the broken system that allowed this. There's always an imminent threat as tyrants seize power and democracy dies, because tyrants make sure of it.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Again, I agree. I'd love for things to be fixed. But they aren't. Because of voter apathy in 2016, Trump was elected president, and then he proceeded to appoint hundreds of federal judges, and 3 supreme court justices who have all been working overtime covering for his ass. So that's the stakes. You can either vote for the people who are ineffectually trying to fix the mess, or get that dude back into power so he can make it worse.

    Edit: And it's not like Democrats are totally to blame for being ineffectual. In a lot of circumstances, their hands are tied by our system of checks and balances. The president, up until 2 weeks ago, was not above the law. Also, Democrats barely have a majority in the Senate (which is far below the threshold of filibuster-proof), and are a minority in the House. So their ability to "fix the broken system that allowed this" has been severely hampered.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I guess it's not clear that I'd vote for a literal pile of garbage over trump, but I do not like what I'm seeing. Not at all. And I'll leave it at that, since anything more is veering further into conjecture.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    I'm completely baffled. Like, you saw how much of a fucking shitshow the Biden campaign was, right? How could you see it finally come to an end, with someone who is incredibly competent taking over, and be like: "Waaaah, but muh vote!!!"?? It's idiotic.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Pardon me for caring about preserving the traditions of our democracy.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Nothing about primaries is part of the constitution. You realize that, right? This entire time, the primary process was just bylaws of two different organizations. And this time, they weren't able to complete the normal process because the candidate that everybody backed decided to bow out at the last minute. So what is it, exactly, that you're mad about? Are you mad because you were operating under the illusion that this was somehow a democratic process enshrined in the constitution? Are you mad because the 81-year-old whose ego convinced him that he could totally win again was finally talked out of it? Are you mad that in a crisis, everybody looked to the most obvious person to take over? Are you mad that the Democrats now finally have a good chance to win the election? What the hell are you even bitching about?

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I'm aware that primaries aren't in the constitution, which is why I said "this is how it has been done for decades", and not "this is how it's been done for 248 years". I feel like I've explained what my issue is. It's obvious that you guys are totally cool just taking whomever the DNC gives you so, congratulations, I guess.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago

    which is why I said “this is how it has been done for decades”

    Ok? At what point in the last several decades has a candidate won the primary, then bowed out right before being confirmed by delegates? What time in history can you point to to show that the DNC is doing something nefarious here by voting for the person the winning candidate endorsed before backing out?

    This is an unprecedented event. The fact that you think it should have gone some other way is completely irrelevant.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    What are you talking about???? Trump literally tried to coup the government with false slate of electors!! Are you even for real here jerking yourself off about being able to pick the candidate? Are you serious???

    Now????

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  • [–] -3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    You should probably settle down a little. Yes I know who trump is, which is why I'm willing to vote for whomever they shove in front of us. I'd vote for a literal pile of garbage, or an open can of tuna before voting for trump. I would never vote for trump. Maybe read what I wrote again.

    Yes I'm serious, selecting candidates through a primary is how elections have been held in this country for decades, whenever the incumbent isn't running. You think that a candidate selected by the voters is going to be less likely to get those voter's votes in the general election? Do you understand what a primary is?

    Edit: since you're all worked up about "now????" Take a minute and think about it. It's always going to be the same threat from the GOP moving forward, until the actual problem is fixed. If not trump, it'll be DeSantis, or Hannity, or any of the other unelectable people they have in their pool of horrible candidates to choose from.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's not about voters selecting the candidate. It's about the logistics of setting up a campaign in FOUR MONTHS. These are things that take years to set up) 1(staff, volunteers, offices, funds). Harris has everything ready to roll. What the he'll do you want???

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago

    So, did Biden's intellect just suddenly collapse on stage, leading to his withdrawal, or was the DNC lying to us about his mental competency during all these years it took to set up his campaign? Did they always have this planned, or were they hoping to push a candidate through who they felt wasn't actually capable of performing his duties? On that note, if he's unfit to continue his campaign, then he's probably unfit to continue his presidency too, and should just hand the reigns to Harris now. The whole thing stinks. Yes, vote trump into oblivion, but that doesn't mean we need to like what happened.

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