FiveThirtyEight Politics

I don’t think I’ve ever reached the end of one of these podcasts while still conscious, & I mean that in the best way possible. It’s the most reliable way to put me to sleep(people speak at a calm, even pace, on the same predictable topic, and the audio stays at about the same level, regardless of who’s talking). I haven’t learned a single thing from this podcast cuz I’m asleep within the first 20 minutes, and I’m so grateful for that.

The hot takes were bad. Americans are hungry for a populist agenda… Biden may have taken a few of sanders ideas and ran with them in a way the dem establishment was okay with. But that didn’t satisfy let alone convince enough people the dems have the backs of American workers. Trump is appealing because he knows how to speak a populist agenda even without enacting one… second hot take is that leftism is loosing on a global stage. Which isn’t the case unless said leftism is not leftism and is really the enactment of authoritarian policies while leaving workers poorer. This episode is very Eurocentric, white liberal elitist take.

I love this podcast, and the latest episode gave me quite the giggle. To quote, “That’s not how math works!” Correct. That is NOT how math works. Hahaha! Thanks for the laughs during this election season. They were few and far between with all of the noise but much needed!

Two issues stand out to me so far on this episode. First, your consensus around the hot take that among major countries incumbents got spanked shows the typical Eurocentric chauvinism of most US media. If you look to your south, Mexico is a huge nation, a huge trading partner and a huge ally of the US, and it held free and fair presidential elections a few months ago in which the incumbent party was rewarded handsomely. It is a big exception on the world stage and you clearly don’t see it which unfortunately is not a surprise. Then, on the B Sanders hot take, there is an aspect, I think, that is important and should be recognized. Candidate Harris was not comfortable speaking to non-college educated white and Latino men (at least), and really didn’t have anything to offer them. I thought she ran a good campaign generally but, with the exception of the affordable housing proposal, she was not speaking to them and certainly not speaking in a language they could buy into. Ask Sen. Baldwin, Rep. AOC, or Rep Gluesenkamp Perez. Robert Curley, Universidad de Guadalajara