It’s Presidential Primary Day here in Minnesota. I like to capture my thoughts in the moment, because sometimes things change so much and so fast it’s hard to remember what we actually thought.
And sometimes it’s funny to see how wrong we are.
Back in November I shared my thoughts on the Democratic Presidential Primary. Folks have actually voted since then, and everything has changed. Pete Buttigieg dropped out Sunday and Amy Klobuchar dropped out yesterday, making this a simpler race.
I’m voting for Elizabeth Warren.
Though I’ll be honest, it feels like a wing and a prayer. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are getting all the oxygen, and I think one of them will end up winning. Polls have been wrong before, so I would love to be wrong. My social feed is 80% Warren supporters, so I have reason to hope. But it felt that way in 2018 with Erin Murphy’s losing gubernatorial run.
I think if Warren wins big today then she has a shot. Not that she’s likely to win the nomination, just that she’s back in the race. If she doesn’t win big today, then it’s time to drop out.
Rather than dumping on the other candidates, here’s what I like about Elizabeth Warren: she has plans. More than substance and ideas, she has a path to actually get those things done. I think she can bring people together but also challenge what’s not working.
This Twitter thread has some helpful rationale and video proof for what I like about Warren:
More Thoughts
- Too many candidates: There were simply too many candidates for too long in the Democratic primary. You would think the Democrats would have learned something from Trump in 2016—establishment Republicans didn’t want him, but they never coalesced behind another candidate and Trump ran away with it. Democrats are doing the same thing. Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropping out to support Biden might shift that dynamic, but it feels too late.
- Ranked Choice Voting: If we’re going to have this many candidates on the ballot, we need ranked choice voting. It’s just silly not to have it. Why should someone be declared a winner with less than a third of the vote?
- Trump: For all the negative feelings toward Trump, you’d think it would be easy to beat him. And maybe we’ll see—you never know how a vote is going to go. But right now it doesn’t feel very hopeful.
- Woman: What’s it going to take to get a female president? Warren still has a shot, sure, but it feels like everything is stacked against her. I suppose women would tell me that’s how it is. I just look at my daughter and I think it’s time.