What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?

[applegrove]

What, Exactly, Is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?

October 12, 2019 at 7:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 376 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/12/what-exactly-is-tulsi-gabbard-up-to/

"SNIP.....

New York Times: “Among her fellow Democrats, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has struggled to make headway as a presidential candidate, barely cracking the 2 percent mark in the polls needed to qualify for Tuesday night’s debate. She is now injecting a bit of chaos into her own party’s primary race, threatening to boycott that debate to protest what she sees as a ‘rigging’ of the 2020 election. That’s left some Democrats wondering what, exactly, she is up to in the race, while others worry about supportive signs from online bot activity and the Russian news media.”

“Perhaps strangest of all is the unusual array of Americans who cannot seem to get enough of her.”

“On podcasts and online videos, in interviews and twitter feeds, alt-right internet stars, white nationalists, libertarian activists and some of the biggest boosters of Mr. Trump heap praise on Ms. Gabbard.”

.....SNIP"

[bitterross]

1. Tulsi Who?

Boycott? Who'd care?

[mitch96]

2. Same thing as Jill Stein did? I don't know but it's strange........... nt

[applegrove]

6. That is my fear that she will run as a third party candidate.

[mitch96]

13. The old game of trying to split the vote..

Joe Kennedy did it to get John elected to the House from Mass... He split the vote in a close race and got his son in ...
m

[Hortensis]

17. Bernie Sanders --Trump.

Last edited Sat Oct 12, 2019, 05:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Same subversive powers busy with the same tactic.

This question and syndrome are far more important than the candidates being used themselves. No one knew who either was before they became useful.

[sharedvalues]

23. I am very very worried about this.

[applegrove]

26. That running as a Democrat for the nomination is a set up to give

her astroturf for her reasons for running third party: that she was not treated fairly. She's already complaining about the debates.

[sharedvalues]

27. Yes. She is bad for Democrats. Very bad.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/third-party-spoiler-are-the-whole-deal-people



One of the truths about the 2016 election is that Donald Trump didn’t do any better in 2016 than Mitt Romney did in 2012 if you’re looking at the percentage of total votes cast. Indeed, he did significantly worse. Romney won 47.2% of the national vote while Trump won 46.1%. Electoral votes count, not popular votes. And that was Trump’s critical advantage. But it’s really the unusually high 5.7% of the vote going to three third party candidates — Gary Johnson, Jill Stein and Evan McMullin — that made it possible for Trump to win as a minority candidate.

As we’ve seen both before his election and since, Trump is a minority candidate, essentially a factional leader, who has incredibly durable support of between 35% and 45% of the population. He really, really needs the presence of spoiler candidates to pull the contest down into the mid-40s where it was in 2016. I’d never say never. But I think there’s a good argument that a significant third party/spoiler candidacy — or ideally more than one — are the necessary predicate of Trump’s reelection.

[applegrove]

28. .

[herding cats]

43. She's definitely dangerous, I've thought this for sometime now.

I'm feeling better now seeing others realizing it.

For what little it's worth, she'd also siphon off some far right votes along with her far left followers. They overlap in beliefs. Hopefully they cancel each other out.

[msongs]

3. she could honor her principles by dropping out. nt

[dem4decades]

29. What are her principles? And to whom does she feel an allegiance to?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. She's trying (in vain, I hope) to increase her visibility.

I guess to increase her influence, but on who?

All I really know is that I loathe her. She hangs around with Breitbart and she's a DINO.

[Celerity]

44. She would have a cakewalk in the Green Primary, Stein is not running and Howie Hawkins is weak

Last edited Tue Oct 15, 2019, 10:24 PM - Edit history (1)

If Warren wins the nomination, there is a really good chance Schultz steps is as an indie too, and the Libertarians might have a POOR candidate (Johnson was superb in terms of numbers) The Libertarians draw mostly from the Rethugs, and in far greater numbers overall compared to the Greens (which is often overlooked, as add the 5.2 MILLION votes Johnson and McMullin got, to Trump and he beats Clinton in the POPULAR vote as well, even if you add in ALL of the Green voters, who totalled only 1.46 million, but that does not fit some people's narrative, lol.)

Total that data/positing up, and then put Tulsi on a Green ticket, and it is BIG trouble, especially if Bernie and Warren go bonkers on each other in the primary campaign and Bernie does a tepid Warren endorsement, or worse, refuses to endorse her at all. Tulsi as a Green and Schultz as an indie alone could easily draw a combined 6, 7, 8, even 10 (or more) million votes combined (1980 John Anderson, in 2016-adjusted % numbers, would have pulled over 10 million, Perot, close to 30 million based off 1992) and if the Libertarians field a shit candidate, and the other RW 3rd party/indy candidates do meh, it is so Rump's election to lose, especially if we bollocks up the impeachment and the economy does NOT go into recession. Tulsi will pull hard (in terms of her types of voters) from us, Schultz would probably pull 75/80% from us (the Biden/Sinema-voting types), and 20/25% from Rethug Rump haters. Caveat: THAT ALL is a WORST case scenario, I am NOT saying it will happen.

[TwilightZone]

5. I think it's a vanity campaign, intended to expand her brand.

She isn't running like someone who wants to win. She's running like someone who wants to attract attention to herself and generate future opportunities. I'm not sure she's too concerned about where those opportunities come from, as long as they come.

[Cha]

20. Hopefully, she'll attrack herself right out

of being our Rep in 2020.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287293316

[sharedvalues]

24. Amazing how Hawaiians hate her

Always listen to the locals who know candidates from home. If they don’t love the candidate— that is a very bad sign.

I’m from MA. Warren’s my candidate

[peggysue2]

7. I've asked this all along

I don't want to thoroughly diss her because she's served the country and has every right to express her opinion on the 'forever' wars that have become standard US policy. But her insistent digs at the Democratic Party, its nominating process and fellow presidential contenders isn't working in her own poll numbers. Her admirers from the Alt-right and funding to keep her in the game is equally problematic. Is she simply in the mix to create dissension and chaos? I don't know. But something about her is decidedly off.

[Frustratedlady]

8. My initial and lasting impression is that she is not a true Democrat...

and that she is mainly interested in messing with the 2020 election. Don't ask me why I have that opinion, but she turned me off from the get-go and has confirmed that opinion ever since.

I know nothing about her, just have that gut feeling she has had connections she probably shouldn't have had. Just sayin'.


I also intended to say she reminds me of Jill Stein. Don't know why, but she does.

[mahina]

9. She's trying to hurt us because she is supported by dark right wing forces we can't see.

She is my rep. She’s uniquely trained to get people to shut off their thinking by throwing us strategic heuristic bones.

We see her for what she is, a very practiced manipulator with no democratic principles and great desire for power.

[applegrove]

11. +1

[sharedvalues]

25. Yes

[pnwmom]

10. I think she's trying to help knock off everyone except Bernie and Biden, and wants

to be one of their VP's.

[Cha]

21. lol.. like Joe Biden would have her as his VP.

[herding cats]

42. I'm confident Biden would never validate her as such.

People like her are dangerous and validation leads to things like Trump in the GOP. Some barn doors are extremely difficult to close once you've let the animals out.

[Qutzupalotl]

12. She has also been boosted by Sputnik and RT

and Matt Gaetz and Gym Jordan ‘n D’nesh D’souza.

[applegrove]

14. Scary.

[MBS]

18. Yup, creepy.

[mitch96]

22. Ok that answers the question right there......... nt

[Maine-i-acs]

15. There are a crapton of banner ads promoting her in my feeds

They show up on facebook and here on DU too.
I haven't googled her to warrant the intrusion, she may be my least liked candidate of all.
I wonder who's bankrolling ads for such a minor candidate.
Her relationship with Assad was a little too cozy I think.

[ritapria]

16. She is going to be The Green Party Nominee

[ehrnst]

19. Would Jill stand for that? (nt)

[TwilightZone]

31. She's not running.

I thought she'd run for the attention, if nothing else, but alas no.

[TwilightZone]

30. Unlikely.

Howie Hawkins, the co-founder of the party, is pretty much a shoe-in.

[at140]

32. Tulsi is the wrong candidate running at the wrong time

Trump turned out lot more right wing than what was expected based on his NY image.
There is always reaction to action. Therefore 2020 will be a progressive wave and Tulsi
is more a centrist than progressive.

[Talitha]

33. Are there any laws/rules to prevent her from going independant?

Seems logical that once a person declares their candidacy they should be made to stick with their party and not be able to cut and run, you know?

[applegrove]

34. I think she stated that she would not run third party. I will check that.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/campaign/459289-gabbard-rules-out-independent-bid-in-2020-if-she-loses-democratic%3famp

Yes she said it. But i don't trust anyone in a cult.

[Talitha]

35. Thanks for the info!

[applegrove]

37. She could do a bait and switch.

She could do a bait and switch. She only needs 3% of dems to follow her as an independant to mess things up. Saying she will not run as an independant might be to garner more democratic support.But i'm speculating.

[herding cats]

41. Even if she did she'd fragment the RW as much as she'd pull from extreme left.

Her stances are where those two overlap.

[herding cats]

38. I didn't see this... I'll delete mine.

My apologies!

[applegrove]

39. Leave it up. The more discussion the better.

[herding cats]

40. I appreciate that but I'd just posted after reading the article then saw yours.

I'm trying to not fragment the discussion.

[applegrove]

45. Okay. Great.

[dansolo]

46. Probably running away from criticizing Edrogan and Assad

She has been using her military background and foreign policy as her supposed strength. In this debate, she will be asked to comment about how Syria and Turkey are slaughtering the Kurds and releasing thousands of ISIS fighters that the Kurds had captured.

[applegrove]

48. Now that the kurds have joined with Assad out of necessity she should

be pleased.

[Yoopy]

47. She should run as Putin's VP

She likes him more than she likes the Democratic Party.

[ecstatic]

49. I agree with others who said she will be Jill Stein 2.0

aka Nader 3.0.

And Nina will once again lead the charge in diverting BoB'ers to Gabbard's camp.

Link to tweet

[not_the_one]

50. After throwing a public tantrum about mistreatment, she could flip from dem to repub.

That could easily set her up as the #1 female republican to run for president...

Just sayin'...

I don't trust her. She is slime.

[dchill]

51. I'm thinking kompromat.

[applegrove]

52. She grew up in a cult so she is already harnessed. Cult leaders rely

on cognitive openings in people's consciousness, like when they are in their early twenties, to redo their thinking and bring them into the fold. Gabbard was born in the fold or joined it when young. Some cult leaders appeal to people's vanity. Kompromat is not always used. Depends on who is leading the cult and how psychopathic they are.

[Pachamama]

53. Raising cash and visibility ....

Tulsi is for Tulsi....at this point, staying in the campaign is for visibility and money. Once the primaries are over mark my words, she will be flush with cash (regardless of who it came from) and she can use that money to then keep her seat in Congress. She has higher ambitions...my guess to become a Senator from Hawaii next....

On that note...maybe she will try to run as a 3rd party candidate....