Richard Seymour responds to listener questions
Added 2024-07-27 05:00:03 +0000 UTCIn today's episode Richard Seymour returns to answer some of the excellent questions sent in by PTO patrons. We recorded the episode prior to the announcement that Joe Biden was ending his campaign for a second term in office, and before the suspension of seven Labour MPs by the party leadership, so this morning I got Richard back on the line to discuss both developments. You'll hear his comments on those topics first, followed by his responses to your questions.
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Comments
Richard’s stump speech for a new Hegelianism at the end there was a real rollercoaster
Graham Smith
2024-08-03 14:49:41 +0000 UTCI tend to think of Trump as more of the 2016 Hillary Clinton candidate. e.g. a known quantity with sky-high negatives, who struggles to top 45% in many polls. Someone who selected a VP with more of a regard towards donor interests and less towards electoral viability. Finally, it sounds like Trump has completely disregarded ground organization (similar to Clinton). Harris can at least position herself as a fresh face. Her VP pick will matter, but she benefits from a short election cycle and less scrutiny -- there's a good chance her novelty won't wear off by November. Similar to any non-incumbent, people can project hopes onto the candidate. Trump loses access to any kind of a change mantle. Trump's mental fitness and age become more of an issue. There's a campaign launch in front of a large national audience in less than a month too, which should help (for the Democrats). I suspect the convention will probably be very well managed and there will be some added interest for both the presidential and VP slot given the novelty. Harris's response to the Netanyahu protests was definitely not good. Policywise, I don't have high expectations. But right now I would say it is more of a 50-50 election with Harris trending in a better direction than Trump. Whether Harris's advantage holds will depend on the VP pick and the kind of campaign operation that Harris runs (the Democratic candidate in my view has a higher ceiling -- it is a question of voter identification, turnout, and also the policy program). Also, it would be a really good idea if Harris doesn't hire Jim Messina, who hasn't managed a successful political campaign since Obama's 2012 re-election (he was also a key figure running Theresa May's disastrous 2017 general election campaign).
J P 3
2024-07-28 04:50:35 +0000 UTC
