It's pretty disappointing that someone with Josh Barro's credentials is apparently completely lacking in common sense.
How on earth can he claim that the Dems' message that democracy is on the line, so people should vote dem, "makes no sense on it's face."
The MAJORITY of Republican candidates in the midterm have openly said that they will not accept an election result in which they lose, and moreover that they'll use any powers granted to them over the electoral system to reverse any election where a Dem won over a Republican, regardless of the integrity of the election or the margin of victory for the Dems.
Policy decisions are important in elections, but if one of the two major parties in the country has openly said that they'll refuse to accept even the policy choices of Dems who vote in the election, it's THAT stance that will result in Americans losing their democracy. After all, what's the point in having an election where voters express their solidarity with candidates based on their policy positions if one of the two parties is openly telling Americans that they'll only accept votes for Republicans?
I know that Barro is a [*edit, former] Republican, so I guess I'll have to spell this out for him in an analogy his limited intellect can understand.
Let's say you're on the Titanic, and the ship is sinking. Two ships are coming to your assistance but due to logistical issues, you can only pick one of the two ships to come and rescue you.
And let's imagine again that the Titanic has a very democratic Captain, who puts the two choices to a vote among the crew and passengers. And here are the options:
1) Boat #1 has really good food and comfortable lodging, and the Captain of that ship is highly regarded as one of the best captains in the word. In fact it's a luxury cruise ship. However, the ship is just too small to be able to link up to the Titanic and offer assistance, let alone take on even 5% of the passengers, so even if by some miracle even the 5% could be saved, the remaining 95% will certainly suffer an icy death.
2) On the other hand, boat #2 is HUGE, and can easily accomodate and feed all of the passegers, but it's a cargo ship so obviously the food is going to be mediocre and they don't have sufficeint lodging to allow all of the passengers and crew to get a room. But there's plenty of space on the boat so everyone will definitely survive until they can get to port.
Now I know that [*edit, former] Republicans are a little dense, but clearly only an absolute moron (or a wealthy elite who can pay off the cruise ship captain) would vote for option #1 over the second option.
Clearly the most important thing in the situation is to avoid drowning in icy waters. Once you're on the LARGE ship and are safe from drowning, that would be the point at which you can start advocating for better food and more comfortable lodging.
It's the same with the midterms. Only a complete moron would vote for Republicans based on their policy PROMISES (which Republicans always disregard, other than tax cuts) when their stated primary goal is to ensure that they stay in power, voter will be damned. Only a naive idiot would think that Republicans would follow through on election promises that hurt their wealthy donor base once Republicans have created a fascist state.
It's pretty embarassing frankly that anyone pays attention to Barro if THIS is the level of his intellectual discourse.
RE: Another Perspective
It's pretty disappointing that someone with Josh Barro's credentials is apparently completely lacking in common sense.
How on earth can he claim that the Dems' message that democracy is on the line, so people should vote dem, "makes no sense on it's face."
The MAJORITY of Republican candidates in the midterm have openly said that they will not accept an election result in which they lose, and moreover that they'll use any powers granted to them over the electoral system to reverse any election where a Dem won over a Republican, regardless of the integrity of the election or the margin of victory for the Dems.
Policy decisions are important in elections, but if one of the two major parties in the country has openly said that they'll refuse to accept even the policy choices of Dems who vote in the election, it's THAT stance that will result in Americans losing their democracy. After all, what's the point in having an election where voters express their solidarity with candidates based on their policy positions if one of the two parties is openly telling Americans that they'll only accept votes for Republicans?
I know that Barro is a [*edit, former] Republican, so I guess I'll have to spell this out for him in an analogy his limited intellect can understand.
Let's say you're on the Titanic, and the ship is sinking. Two ships are coming to your assistance but due to logistical issues, you can only pick one of the two ships to come and rescue you.
And let's imagine again that the Titanic has a very democratic Captain, who puts the two choices to a vote among the crew and passengers. And here are the options:
1) Boat #1 has really good food and comfortable lodging, and the Captain of that ship is highly regarded as one of the best captains in the word. In fact it's a luxury cruise ship. However, the ship is just too small to be able to link up to the Titanic and offer assistance, let alone take on even 5% of the passengers, so even if by some miracle even the 5% could be saved, the remaining 95% will certainly suffer an icy death.
2) On the other hand, boat #2 is HUGE, and can easily accomodate and feed all of the passegers, but it's a cargo ship so obviously the food is going to be mediocre and they don't have sufficeint lodging to allow all of the passengers and crew to get a room. But there's plenty of space on the boat so everyone will definitely survive until they can get to port.
Now I know that [*edit, former] Republicans are a little dense, but clearly only an absolute moron (or a wealthy elite who can pay off the cruise ship captain) would vote for option #1 over the second option.
Clearly the most important thing in the situation is to avoid drowning in icy waters. Once you're on the LARGE ship and are safe from drowning, that would be the point at which you can start advocating for better food and more comfortable lodging.
It's the same with the midterms. Only a complete moron would vote for Republicans based on their policy PROMISES (which Republicans always disregard, other than tax cuts) when their stated primary goal is to ensure that they stay in power, voter will be damned. Only a naive idiot would think that Republicans would follow through on election promises that hurt their wealthy donor base once Republicans have created a fascist state.
It's pretty embarassing frankly that anyone pays attention to Barro if THIS is the level of his intellectual discourse.
I don't believe Barro is a Republican any more, though as you observe he is still a guy capable of this variety of big-brained centrist take.
Fair point just looked him up and he's been a Dem since 2016, will correct my comment accordingly.
Though at the same time, anyone who was a Republican post-Reagan (Mr. Trickle down economics) isn't that bright or committed to facts.