I don’t necessarily disagree with your final point. As an American, I’m of the opinion that we are currently getting exactly what we asked for, damning as that fact might be about the American people. Regardless, though, the reason we complain about people like Newsom is because he is cut from the very same neoliberal (read: conservative anywhere other than the US) cloth that ratcheted us to this position in the first place. There’s a nonzero risk that with him as the rising star, he could be yet another uninspiring Democratic candidate who fails to galvanize the American people into actually showing up for once in our fucking lives, and I worry that even if we somehow pull ourselves out of this spiral, we may end up back here again in a decade or two
Make no mistake, I understand necessity perfectly well, and, presidentially, I would happily cling to Newsom like a drowning man at the moment if I had the chance, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be criticized as a figurehead of the left, because he’s not really representative of the left, nor is he necessarily even on the left in the first place. Still, there’s really no time to purity test right now, and purity testing something like this is, to me, absurd. I’d happily take a “turncoat” Republican (so long as it’s one of the less morally bankrupt of the lot, at least) as an ally in this fight, so why the hell not Newsom?
I get this. I have a senator who is fine enough but she is a war vet and always votes for security over liberty. IE patriot act and its extensions and such. I still vote for her in the general but am more than ready to vote against her in a primary. Unfortunately she often runs unopposed likely due to her popularity seeming to be unassailable.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your final point. As an American, I’m of the opinion that we are currently getting exactly what we asked for, damning as that fact might be about the American people. Regardless, though, the reason we complain about people like Newsom is because he is cut from the very same neoliberal (read: conservative anywhere other than the US) cloth that ratcheted us to this position in the first place. There’s a nonzero risk that with him as the rising star, he could be yet another uninspiring Democratic candidate who fails to galvanize the American people into actually showing up for once in our fucking lives, and I worry that even if we somehow pull ourselves out of this spiral, we may end up back here again in a decade or two
Make no mistake, I understand necessity perfectly well, and, presidentially, I would happily cling to Newsom like a drowning man at the moment if I had the chance, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be criticized as a figurehead of the left, because he’s not really representative of the left, nor is he necessarily even on the left in the first place. Still, there’s really no time to purity test right now, and purity testing something like this is, to me, absurd. I’d happily take a “turncoat” Republican (so long as it’s one of the less morally bankrupt of the lot, at least) as an ally in this fight, so why the hell not Newsom?
I get this. I have a senator who is fine enough but she is a war vet and always votes for security over liberty. IE patriot act and its extensions and such. I still vote for her in the general but am more than ready to vote against her in a primary. Unfortunately she often runs unopposed likely due to her popularity seeming to be unassailable.
I agree 100%