Well, they can't in time for the election, anyway. There's an old saying in politics that "personnel is policy" which refers to a lot more than just having someone competent in the job. It's a reflection that politics is about coalitions - building them and maintaining them. The coalition members get their cut of the government largess, and pay for it with loyalty to the guy at the top. If they're not loyal, he gives them their pick slip and they lose the largess.
This was actually Trump's biggest mistake when he was president, not filling the Federal Government with his coalition. In his defense, he was in the middle of a Republican civil war, where there were multiple factions and multiple coalitions.
That's exactly what the Democrats face now, and why they can't put Humpty-Dumpty back together. Because there are multiple coalitions, whoever emerges on top won't know if he (she?) can trust these coalitions because they aren't his coalitions. They might be able to be integrated into his coalition, given time, but time is exactly what the Democrats do not have right now.
It takes time to forge a governing coalition - just look at any parliamentary system: when the government is stable it is because the governing coalition is solid. Ministers can issue policy with a reasonable expectation that it will be supported and carried out by the coalition members. When the governing coalition is unstable, chaos results. Orders get ignored or slow walked or subverted because the Minister no longer has the loyalty of the coalition members.
Eventually a leader emerges who can attract key talent from outside coalitions and integrate it into his. This will involve rewards like positions in the bureaucracy or some such - featherbedding is the name of this game. But until this all gets sorted out and the new coalition is filled with people who think they're better off with the new leader than without, nothing is going anywhere.
Even worse, there will always be serious back stabbing between different coalitions. Trust is not a virtue most politicians hew to, and quite frankly until they are in a position to remove perks as well as give them, they would be a fool to trust just about anybody.
Some day a leader will emerge to stitch together the various coalitions that make up the Democratic party. It won't happen in the next 100 days, sure as God made little green apples.
The biggest implication of this is that it will be much more difficult for the Democrats to "fortify" the upcoming election via 2020-style shenanigans. Sure, the party bosses will want to, but how much do they trust the other coalitions to support them? Would other coalitions even go so far as to rat them out (with plausible deniability, of course) - leading to various party elders behind bars. That certainly would make it easier for other party elders to construct a winning coalition once they've taken out some of the competition.
Like I said, these people would have to be fools to trust very many people, and an election cheating scheme requires a lot of people to pull off. When everyone is on-side you get the 2020 election. When lots of people are very much not on-side you get, well, the Italian government which has had something like 60 Prime Ministers in 80 years.
The best analogy I can think of is the scene from The Godfather where all the families get together to divide things up. Nobody trusts anybody. That's where the Democrats are right now.
I repeat: you can't put a coalition together overnight - heck, it's taken almost a decade for Donald Trump to put together a serious coalition and a lot of his party still hates him. I think that the Democrats will come more apart before they start to come together as the various factions start putting out mob hit style rumor whispers about their Democratic competitors. We will hear a lot about this in the next few weeks.
And this is why the only choice at all for them to to fall in behind Kamala and hope for the best in the down ticket races. But remember, while Kamala might have inherited Slow Joe's campaign cash, she was never really part of this coalition. It's not loyal to her at all. It may be that she's been so ineffective in office because Joe's coalition kept sabotaging her. She has to build a coalition, and right quick. The cash will help her there but coalition building takes time.
She doesn't have that. What she does have is a whole boatload of enemies in the Democratic party. Some of these think that their best bet to get to the top of the greasy pole is for her not to get there. They'd rather have Trump in the Oval Office because they will have 4 years to build a coalition. If Kamala is there, things are a lot trickier for them.
I almost feel sorry for the Democrats in general and Kamala in particular. Almost. It's ironic that all their short term tactical maneuvering has led them to this very spot. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of Mob Bosses.
You’re assuming the system is legit, BP.
ReplyDeleteThe dissidents I listen to hold that the players in the system are paid actors and nothing more. Joe Biden was a moron, pedo, and now - a vegetable. He could never wrangle things like coalitions, business deals, back room deals, etc. He’s never had a real job.. it’s that way for most of those guys.
Kamala is even dumber than Joe is. The idea that she could actually do the job is laughable. Clearly, someone is managing them… and if what we’re seeing is any indication…civil war is breaking out among them.
Sure, but this isn't about personalities. It's about coalitions. Right now I see several:
ReplyDelete1. Kamala/Jim Clyburn
2. Pelosi/Newsom
3. Clintons
4. Obama
All of these are opposed to the others in some way. It doesn't matter who the front man (woman) is, what matters is the organization of the coalitions.
The Godfather families analogy is apt, and Trump didn't have the political experience to build his team for the right reasons. It is a scary time.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theburningplatform.com/2024/07/22/engineering-a-crisis-how-political-theater-helps-the-deep-state-stay-in-power/
ReplyDeleteSeems others tend to agree with your idea that the elites are fighting for a larger slice of the pie.
Trust among thieves isn't all that common.
You and I are going to get screwed.
Got trusted friends and trusted family to ride out the "Family Infighting"?
Trump is a quick learner, and, boy, oh boy, did he learn a lesson from his first term. Trust no actual long-term republican at all.
ReplyDeleteHis choice of Vance for VP is a pretty good one. There are also other rising stars on the conservative side that would also do. Of course, going directly to business and finance people who he knows and can trust, rather than politically unreliable politicians, will help a lot.
Attorney General? How about DeSantis?
We already know they can be bought. My guess is with enough money, the coalitions will uneasily come together.
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe and God bless.
Agreed about personality - BP. But what I meant is that those guys are all literally actors. Just like Biden, they read off a teleprompter - their scripts written by others who represent REAL power…as in $$$$. If they don’t do their lines well - like Joe - they’re out on their ear. If they ask questions … ditto. They have no authority, they make only trifling decisions… but the money men behind the scenes make the real decisions. That’s why your vote doesn’t matter… and the idea of the Uniparty is the only theory that explains what we’re seeing. People like Kamala, Obutthole, the Bushes… they only serve to maintain the fiction that Americans have a say in their govt….
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats only need to put their people in the elections offices in the s4!+h0le hives and they can install their favorite Communists. New York City now needs to create 30 million new ballots for whoever they run to replace the 30 million that have already been "counted" for Slow Joe in this November's election. And they can easily do so.
ReplyDeleteThe persistent scourge that is the Leftist White Female Voter gives Harris an edge, to say nothing of the millions of new Democrat voters pouring across the "border."
ReplyDeleteAs they say, hope for the best but expect the worst.
The fraud machine is decentralized and will fraud for any Democrat.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Trump"s first term was he really didn't have a coalition or that large of a team. The Heritage Foundation worked with Reagan's people to establish a plan and vet potential candidates for lesser office, so he was able to hit the ground running. Trump would be wise to do the same.
ReplyDeleteThe Neo-Communists aren't worried. The plan is still to incarcerate Trump before November. Then the cameras at Rikers will stop working.
ReplyDeleteBP makes an error. You don't need to build coalitions if you destroy competing factions. Trump needs to destroy those factions. How? Simple. Eliminate many agencies such as Education, Energy, HUD, EPA. Reduce DOJ to the size of a seal team.
ReplyDeleteAmend the Constitution so that there are term limits for all elected and appointed Federal officials.
Sunset all laws for ten years limit.
Limit census for voting purposes to US citizens.
Make election day a federal holiday and make in person voting mandatory except for Federal employees stationed overseas. They vote a month early and have their votes counted a week early. All voting sites must be watched by active duty military personnel.
Vote fraud gets a five year sentence without the possibility of pardon and a 10,000 fine per instance. The second conviction causes loss of citizenship and the pinkie of the right hand (lets see you try to vote again).
Prohibit political donations exceeding 1,000 from corporations, unions, foundations, tax exempt organizations, foreign entities. Violation of this results in a fine of 1,000 times the amount contributed and ten years in jail. The individual who receives the money gets 1/10 the penalty.