President Biden on Wednesday welcomed Nikki Haley supporters to back his reelection campaign as the former ambassador to the United Nations ended her bid for the Republican nomination.
[…] “Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos that always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin.”
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden added.
The president acknowledged significant policy disagreements between his campaign and those who supported Haley, but he pointed to “fundamental issues” like support for NATO and preserving democracy where the two sides could find common ground.
“We all know this is no ordinary election. And the stakes for America couldn’t be higher,” […]
Emphasis is mine.
Her supporters are definitely to the right of Biden on numerous issues (and definitely to the right of this magazine).
But, I think Biden is correct in that his campaign should do what it can to pull them in, because Trump winning a second term will likely result in the end of NATO, a serious reduction in women’s and reproductive rights, increased danger for immigrants and minorities, the total destruction of Palestine, dooming any hope of curtailing the effects of climate change, and the complete overhaul of the US Federal Government to match the Republicans’ Project 2025 vision for the USA.
This is just a short list of all the terrible things that could happen if Trump wins another term. In short, it would just be bad.
Move? The democratic party has been centre-right for a long time.
Two quotes:
"The conservative revolution that Reagan helped usher in gained traction because Reagan's central insight — that the liberal welfare state had grown complacent and overly bureaucratic, with Democratic policymakers more obsessed with slicing the economic pie than with growing the pie — contained a good deal of truth."
...
”The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican.”
The Democratic party is the incredibly wide tent of "pretty much everyone who isn't a batshit crazy far right nutjob and who wants to see government work for the people".
It doesn't have any particular identity. It only has a very loose collection of platform identities. The idea that it maps into any particular point on a political compass is nonsense.
If we want to see coherent issue parties with specific platforms... it won't happen in the political system of the US. At least not so long as conservatism has any kind of social acceptability.
Also, the fact that this post is on /m/neoliberal... hope the irony isn't lost on you.
The only reason AOC, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Schumer, Biden, Obama, Harris, Manchin (and I could go on) are part of the Democratic party is because it is a coalition of anyone who recognizes that the Republicans have gone batshit and dangerously crazy.
If they don’t stand together, they will get steamrolled and things will get a lot worse for everyone.
Then Biden went full Zionist pro-genocide and arguably, this very moment, the Democrat party is further right than most modern republicans who just wanna wax their guns and stop abortions. So they are getting steamrolled anyway.
Biden is not presenting a better alternative. He is sidling as close as possible to Trump while saying "you voted for him, I am slightly better, come over here". He shouldnt be slightly better. The democrat candidate for President of the United States should be the polar opposite of Trump. Not the guy who is slightly better (if that) than Trump.
Trump wants Netenyahu to 'finish the job' in Gaza, wants to ban Palestinian refugees, and previously said that West Bank settlement was in accordance with international law. What's happening in Gaza is horrible, but what's been happening in the West Bank is still arguably ethnic cleansing even if it's happened slowly. Trump's a fan. The Biden administration says it's illegal and has sanctioned (violent) settlers. They're also putting a lot of pressure on Israel to stop the war.
No, they're not great, but it's absurd to think the Republicans will be any better or aren't the worse option.
Trump’s official stance is genocide. He has stated that Israel needs to “finish the problem” and would happily annihilate the Palestinian people. He has never liked Muslims, and views them as a problem.
I am not the biggest fan of how Biden is handling the situation, but like it or not, he is the only thing standing people Palestine and Trump. Biden is absolutely the better alternative.
You don't 'convert' the far right. You don't convert the cult. You defeat them. This is about to be a defining moment for American civilisation - do supporters of democracy, decency and due process on left and right work together to defeat Trump's fundamental threat to civilisation, or do they allow it to happen? Everything else is secondary.
It'll be no consolation to know that you didn't dirty your hands by cooperating with pro-democracy conservatives at the point when there's an egotistical fascist back in the White House bent on brutal revenge on the people and system that have opposed his rise. Especially if your refusal to embrace and work with them is what drove them into Trump's arms.
President Biden's appeal to Nikki Haley's supporters demonstrates his broad vision for America and his commitment to being a president for all. He acknowledges that Haley's supporters want progress on key issues and desire competent, unifying leadership. Biden is delivering steady leadership, creating jobs, lowering costs, strengthening alliances, and protecting rights and democracy. Haley's campaign suspension shows her vision isn't prevailing in the GOP primary, while other contenders push extreme agendas. The Democrats welcome Haley supporters and all Americans to join Biden's coalition to move the nation forward, as the stakes are high in the upcoming election.
This is why the US is so far right, because they constantly seek out right wing supporters and ignore left wing voices. Capitalistic greed has destroyed the well-being of citizens so much so that it creates the conditions that empower people like Trump to get votes of people unhappy with the status quo.
It’s pure pragmatism. Stopping Trump, MAGA, and fascism is all that matters in this election. That is why Biden and his team have chosen to extend this olive branch.
The simple fact is that while republicans and conservatives are the not the majority in the United States, their party has been extraordinarily effective at impeding progress and enacting their agenda. They are the party of obstructionism. Any votes we can steal from them, is power we can take away from them.
Without the republicans obstructing them, democrats and liberals would absolutely be more to the left. Right now, they are the party trying to hold everything together and make sure another election is even possible (and not a farce). They’re the big tent.
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