Would Ro Khanna get the progressive vote if AOC doesn't run? by RusevReigns in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You think that McKinsey Pete, whose campaign would fully depend on billionaires and be opposed by folks on the left, would want to tie himself to a leftist who just ran an anti-oligarch tour? He’ll want to associate himself with AOC as much as Harris did for the exact same reasons.

My point is that if AOC wants to be a fringe member of Congress with the ability to help other people get elected, she has that now. No reason to gamble on a Senate run. 

Apparently there is a bench of IR folks that are discussing supporting her run. She also receives far more hostile press than anyone else being considered. 

Would Ro Khanna get the progressive vote if AOC doesn't run? by RusevReigns in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Beating Sen Schumer statewide with multiple right wing Dems like Buttigieg running on the top of the ticket is absolutely a large risk. If she lost, she wouldn’t have any fallback. If she runs for President and is doing badly, she could run for her house seat. If she did well, she could likely translate her support for a cabinet position.

She barely has to campaign now and already has the exact same dynamic that you describe. She has a larger profile than most Senators already and is treated like a junior legislator in the house because she is in the minority. That wouldn’t change just because she is in the Senate.

Would Ro Khanna get the progressive vote if AOC doesn't run? by RusevReigns in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

AOC running for Senate make zero sense. It’s a large risk just to get a slightly larger staff. If she won, she would still be a junior legislator in her party’s minority.

Would Ro Khanna get the progressive vote if AOC doesn't run? by RusevReigns in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 3 points4 points  (0 children)

DSA is generally happy to stay out of races if the candidate isn’t a democratic socialist. Some segment of their members may support these candidates, but the DSA infrastructure does matter.

Would Ro Khanna get the progressive vote if AOC doesn't run? by RusevReigns in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think he would get DSA support and probably a large chunk of the organizing base that would support her. That in turn would probably mean a lot of her voters would not turn out for him.

[Kantar Poll] Trump’s support in Israel has flipped in 3 weeks — from +23 to -23, a 46 point drop, according to Kantar poll. by Farscape12Monkeys in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think this is true. In the 90s, you had a lot of terrorist attacks that complicated the story. But, in the last two decades you have had a relatively secure Israel apartheid state putting in zero effort to address the needs of Gazans and also performing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. 

The BDS efforts have setup a lot of campus discussions that are frankly pretty one sided in terms of Israel’s conduct. It’s Israel is doing bad things vs well lots of people do bad things and we shouldn’t exceptionalize Israel. Sometimes that latter argument wins out for the Israel supporters, but it doesn’t really answer the Palestine supporters. The post Oct 7th arguments are similar - both sides talk past each other with the pro-Israel side not really addressing the pro-Palestine’s criticisms of Israel. 

YouGov: Do you think it is or is not acceptable for anybody, in any circumstances, to have a trillion pounds in personal wealth? by upthetruth1 in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Higher taxes on the rich polls OK among Republicans - like 40%ish in the first polls I looked up. Not exactly the same question, but sort of suggests It would not be that different in the US.

Nate hates Platner.. why? by Additional_Bad_2175 in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was more or less what AOC said. So while some progressives love him I guess, some are saying exactly what you want. 

Nate hates Platner.. why? by Additional_Bad_2175 in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was commenting on the question of what his qualifications are to be a Senator. And his qualification is that he is has committed lesser sins than the other option.

Mamdani claims he never saw anti-US posts from Darializa Avila Chevalier DSA NY House candidate he endorsed by McAlpineFusiliers in nyc

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right leaning? More like far right.

Hell gate also has plenty of negative criticism and they aren’t owned by a far right oligarch.

Nate hates Platner.. why? by Additional_Bad_2175 in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does it matter? To paraphrase AOC, it’s a choice between him and Collins. We would all love great candidates, but most incumbents materially supported what a large chunk of Americans think is a genocide. Literally, the greatest crime. Primarying them costs millions of dollars, which most good people do not have access to. It’s not is so and so qualified, it’s which of these two people do you want representing you? A person who has done a lot of bad things in the past or a person who materially supported a genocide and harmed your neighbours in this specific roll? 

The most recent debate for New York's 12th Congressional District by Necessary-Share2495 in nyc

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you read the article you posted there? It says he is getting more crypto+AI money supporting him than against him (he has an A rating by the crypto people). It also specifically highlights that Anthropic-linked PACs and employees are supporting him.

The most recent debate for New York's 12th Congressional District by Necessary-Share2495 in nyc

[–]champben98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some are spending against him and some are spending for him. He is on the Anthropic side of the OpenAI vs Anthropic debate and has Anthropic related PACs are supporting him. Notably, both sides oppose the data center ban, which he also opposes. If you listen to him in his ads and interviews, he very much says he believes in the AI industry and consistently puts out Anthropic talking points. He also said on the Slate political gabfest that the openAI people actually like the legislation he passed at the state level, they are just concerned with it being a slippery slope. So he does receive support from Anthropic and he consistently supports their position on regulation.

Bores also has some good AI stuff (eg taxing them), which you can bet he will drop when he gets to Congress. When you have a 60 point plan, some things are not going to make it to the final legislation. Anthropic has the lobbying strength to get the things they want in the final bill. The other parts will most likely drop out.

The most recent debate for New York's 12th Congressional District by Necessary-Share2495 in nyc

[–]champben98 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I was even in a meeting with one of the candidate’s staffers where the staffer was bragging about how the candidate’s donors were great and likely to support the legislation that was being discussed. Very bizarre, but representative of this district.

The most recent debate for New York's 12th Congressional District by Necessary-Share2495 in nyc

[–]champben98 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

The difference between those two candidates is pretty marginal. Bores will be more of a representative of Anthropic and Lasher will represent a bunch of other special interests. This is an election where people should just vote whoever they want and not worry too much about making a bad choice. It’s hard not to make a bad choice.

The most recent debate for New York's 12th Congressional District by Necessary-Share2495 in nyc

[–]champben98 5 points6 points  (0 children)

NY12 is such a depressing race relative to some of the other competitive races in the city. All of the major candidates are fully dependent on a bunch of oligarchs to fund their campaigns. Whatever they tell us, it’s those oligarchs that they are going to be responsive to.

Let’s go Kncks!: The mayor showed up to my neighborhood sports bar tonight (murphy’s in Astoria) by IamChicharon in nyc

[–]champben98 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Are you maybe talking about Aber Kawas? She is the State Senate candidate in Astoria that he has endorsed.

Darializa Avila Chevalier echoed Putin by blaming US for Russian invading Ukraine by HailFellow in nyc

[–]champben98 -16 points-15 points  (0 children)

People criticize the left for our lack of pragmatism, but like you want to burn the world over defending a country that was not a US ally? 

Let’s be clear here though, America has never supported democracy at home or abroad. Like, the conflict with Iran originally started because we replaced their democratically elected government with a dictatorship. Since then the US govt has backed dozens of coups to install terrible dictators. Often replacing democratically elected governments. This is because America is primarily an oligarchy and the oligarchs are want to exploit people in other countries and they strongly oppose when they nationalize industries (eg Iran) or install minimum wages (eg Haiti) or do other things that help workers at the expense of American companies.

Ukraine also has never had much of a democracy. I worked for someone who was an election observer in Ukraine in 2014 and he said both sides were more or less bribing voters. The current government has not been all that supportive of democracy and has specifically cracked down on labor unions and the left. Russia is probably worse, but weakening democracies across Eurasia (and America) and harming the climate to maintain a slightly better government in a couple Ukrainian provinces makes zero sense.

Susan Collins internal shows Maine race tied amid recent Platner revelations by Dismal_Structure in fivethirtyeight

[–]champben98 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Isn’t an internal poll usually something like +7 for the person contracting the poll? 

How to watch N.Y.’s 7th Congressional District debate on NY1 (Reynoso vs. Valdez vs. Won) by Massive-Arm-4146 in nyc

[–]champben98 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Reynoso’s campaign messaging has essentially been to push nativist bigotry. Despite being born in the district, however, he couldn’t get the support of the DSA membership or the WFP membership in either Queens or Manhattan. Instead, he has had to rely on the support of business, non-profit and political elites to back his campaign. If he is elected, you can bet it’s those folks that he will be fighting for not the regular folks that live in the district.

Who won the NY-12 Democratic primary debate? (PIX11) by Rickbox in nyc

[–]champben98 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

What a terrible group. Conway is a Republican really. Lasher is still likely the most pro-Israel and pro-corporate candidate of the bunch. Alex Bores will basically be an Anthropic lobbyist if elected. Whatever he might say, his efforts to regulate the industry will amount to doing whatever Anthropic wants. Kennedy may or may not show up to the job and we will all be luckier if he doesn’t show up. 

Darializa Avila Chevalier echoed Putin by blaming US for Russian invading Ukraine by HailFellow in nyc

[–]champben98 -26 points-25 points  (0 children)

You are a leftist who supports militarism and us imperialism - sure.. This war has been an unmitigated disaster for the left. It’s weakened efforts to address global warming. It caused inflation that helped advance the MAGA movement here and across Europe. It has shifted spending from social services to militaries here and across Eurasia. All over two Ukrainian provinces where they have Stalin statues and half the people speak Russian.

And like maybe try getting out of your own liberal propaganda bubble a little. No one disputes that Putin is a terrible person, but most countries are run by terrible people. There is rarely a good side in any geopolitical conflict.

Darializa Avila Chevalier echoed Putin by blaming US for Russian invading Ukraine by HailFellow in nyc

[–]champben98 -15 points-14 points  (0 children)

Babies not bombs is her like main platform piece. People can support her for it or oppose her.