Media, Politics

Duopoly Distemper: Media and Democrats Attack Schultz For Even Considering A Third Party Run

The exploration of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz of a possible third party candidacy has been welcomed by many who have long seen our dysfunctional politics as a result of the duopoly of power in the country in the hands to just two parties. People want change and that is highly unlikely to occur in our current system. That is precisely why Schultz has been met with a torrent of criticism by the media and Democrats for even suggesting a third party run. The spin is that he is handing the election to Donald Trump by splitting the anti-Trump ticket. However, this has been the same mantra for every third party candidate in my lifetime. The problem is that he could win and there is no danger that more threatens the establishment in Washington. So we are back to the same refrain — eagerly repeated by the media — that the country simply cannot handle more choice than the two offered by the party elites.

I do not know much about Schultz, though I have put his kids through college with a coffee addiction. He has studied the number of a third party run and thinks that it is possible. He may be right or wrong but it is the response from the political and media establishment that is so telling. The best indicator that he might be right is the outrage over his possible run.

Yet, every election in my lifetime I have heard (and felt) nothing but anger over having to constantly choice between the candidates approved by the Democratic and Republican primaries. Neither party reflects with majority of voters and the number of independents continue to rise.

We are routinely forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. The last election was an utter disgrace. The Democratic establishment wanted Hillary Clinton for its own purposes. It simply did not matter that Clinton was the most unpopular Democrat to run in the general election or that she was carrying a mile long chain of controversies and bad decisions. The same is true with Trump. Trump was elected as an anti-establishment (and non-Hillary) candidate but voters clearly wanted another choice. Yet, we are locked into whoever the two parties select from the extreme poles of our electorate.

I was raised in a staunchly Democratic family in Chicago and here is a suggestion for the Democratic Party. Spend less time trying to deny choices to the American voter and more time trying to selection someone that people will support in their own right. Rather than repeating the same identity politics and “lesser of two evils” strategy, find someone who actually appears to the majority of Americans as opposed to the most fringe elements of your own party. Schultz understands that. He has been selling things in crowded markets for his entire career. He did not do it by trying to convince McDonald’s coffee drinkers that their coffee was garbage or that Starbucks was the better choice of two bad cups of java. He did it by selling his coffee as a really good product and it is.

We have to stop being chumps. The barrage of criticism against Schultz and other third-party candidates is about power — not ours, theirs. Whatever Schultz may prove to be, he is at least a choice.

That is something we have really not had for a long time.

67 thoughts on “Duopoly Distemper: Media and Democrats Attack Schultz For Even Considering A Third Party Run”

  1. Yes the establishment of both parties greatest fear is that they no longer matter. Trump brings his own money and celebrity and wins. Now it encourages others Shultz, who knows who else, maybe Mark Cuban, others. The carefully cultivated donors no longer matter, the political favors collected no longer matter.
    I may not want to vote for Trump nor Shultz but I thank them for running and in doing so will force the parties to try and figure out why voters are looking elsewhere.

    2. Tom, I don’t think Schultz has the backbone to run. That is not an insult of Schultz rather he is a billionaire with a company and already in the spotlight. He will not win on a third party ticket but his company could be harmed as well as his family and closest associates. The left is fascist and use the tactics of the fascists.

      1. Allan,
        Are you suggesting that someone would ever go after a candidate, as well as “his family and closest associates”?😧
        Shocking!

        1. “Are you suggesting that someone would ever go after a candidate, as well as “his family and closest associates”?”

          Do you have any doubt Tom?😀 Right now the left has demanded the right to kill babies even after they are cut from the mother’s umbilical cord. They are modern NAZI’s.

          1. Never thought I would reference a UN document but….

            “Whereas the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth

            Whereas the need for such special safeguards has been stated in the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924, and recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the statutes of specialized agencies and international organizations concerned with the welfare of children”

            DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
            https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/1959-Declaration-of-the-Rights-of-the-Child.pdf

            1. Estovir, thank you for reminding me of that declaration of the US. It’s hard to imagine that something our nation probably supported is now violating.

              “Never thought I would reference a UN document but….”

              I am now in the same position.😀

          2. You are so pathetically misinformed it must be either…. IQ challenged or deliberate attempts to misinform the public. Which is it?

            1. “You are so pathetically misinformed it must be either…. IQ ”

              Really, did you listen to what the governor said and what one of the legislators said. He basically was asked what would happen if the baby (attempted abortion) ended up alive? He hedged leaving things up to the mother and doctor. The legislator more or less said the baby could be left to die. I know you are going to quible about the words. But, this is a case of life and death where neither one of them directly answered the question about letting a baby die though some reports say the legislator did. Why can’t a direct answer be provided?

      2. Why do you think the Left is fascist and what tactics are you referring to? I don’t think either side has a monopoly on the fascistic behavior…. Business in general seems to be moving in that general direction…..

        1. “Why do you think the Left is fascist…”

          Becka, that is a good question that has been answered many times so perhaps I’ll go one step at a time as long as you maintain interest.

          Though I could include more countries for now I will stick with Mousilini’s fascist Italy. What is one of the most notable features of this government?

          Big government where the government wield’s tremendous control over the economy and the people. The left likes big government and the right calls for smaller government. I’ll continue if you chime in so that there is reasonable agreement or disagreement on the point. In the meantime you can think and tell us what differentiates the hard left from the fascists using Mousilini’s fascism as a basis.

  4. “So we are back to the same refrain — eagerly repeated by the media — that the country simply cannot handle more choice than the two offered by the party elites.”

    Not very pro-choice of the overwhelmingly Democrat media. 😉

    1. PR:

      “Not very pro-choice of the overwhelmingly Democrat media”

      ***************************

      You always cut to the chase — and then overtake the ba$tard. Brava.

  5. It will be really interesting which DNC candidate prevails for the nomination given all of them have chock full of hypocriticial histories

    ###

    Schultz Snaps Back at Dems: They Need ‘A Little Bit Less Caffeine,’ Warren ‘Knocked on My Door’ Asking for Money

    ““Elizabeth Warren, a number of years ago, knocked on my door and asked me for money when she was running for the Senate, so it’s somewhat duplicitous, isn’t it?” he asked Perino.

    This was after Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) accused Schultz of running for the presidency in order to “keep the system rigged for [billionaires] while the opportunity slips away for everyone else.”
    https://www.mediaite.com/tv/schultz-snaps-back-at-dems-they-need-a-little-bit-less-caffeine-warren-knocked-on-my-door-asking-for-money/

  6. I have friends that work or have worked at Starbucks, mentioned the Schultz prez thing and she rolled her eyes and screamed “oh god no” – she said the corporate culture was really messed up – she worked in the Corp. HQ – seems to me that Schultz also dd some very trump like arrogant things – and that is excluding selling the Super Sonics down the drain

Comments are closed.