Does anyone think the GOP is NOT grooming Tulsi for a 3rd party run?

[DanTex]

We know that the GOP supports Green Party runs. We know that Tulsi is tight with a number of right-wingers, Tucker Carlson in particular seems to be a favorite of hers. We know Tulsi doesn't like the Democratic Party very much. We know that Tulsi has been talked up by right-wing and Russian media for a while. She's the go-to, top choice "Dem who will trash Dems".

Does anyone think that no prominent right-winger has suggested to her that she run third party? That Tucker has never told her that he'd have her back if she broke away from the Dems? Or Steve Bannon, who reached out to her to arrange her meeting with Trump? That she hasn't been offered media or fundraising support, or a future job at FOX or RT, in exchange?

Let's be real. These guys are willing to sell out Ukraine to Russia, putting lives at risk, in order to manufacture dirt on Biden. Trying to get Tulsi to run third-party doesn't get anyone killed. It isn't even illegal. Yeah, they're doing it.

[dhol82]

1. I would go with republicans first and then throw in the Russian trolls

Let’s spread the Kompromat around.

[blm]

2. That's why FOX and RT have her in heavy rotation.

[Hekate]

3. Kick

[LiberalFighter]

4. Let them. Her tie with Russia will be her downfall.

[emmaverybo]

5. Her saying that the primary race is now between herself and Hillary is telling. She knows she

is not running against Hillary. So her framing the race in these terms is a dog-whistle. She is trying
to attract Hillary-haters to vote for her. Not criticizing Trump, but liberals instead? Not denouncing
Russian supporters, trolls, white Supremacist supporters?

Something is off.

[Cha]

8. yes, TG is totally baiting

"Hillary Haters".. not too subtle, is she? And, going on white supremacist Tucker's show to do it? Come on!

[sheshe2]

13. Never thought of that angle.

You are spot on.

Here we go again. **sigh**

[C Moon]

19. So true!

[BlueMTexpat]

22. Excellent post! eom

[Cha]

6. And, along comes Hillary the spoiler.. is it

any wonder TG is acting out so ridiculously?

Link to tweet

Yeah.. thanks for putting it this way, DanTex..

Does anyone think that no prominent right-winger has suggested to her that she run third party? That Tucker has never told her that he'd have her back if she broke away from the Dems? Or Steve Bannon, who reached out to her to arrange her meeting with Trump? That she hasn't been offered media or fundraising support, or a future job at FOX or RT, in exchange?

[Quixote1818]

17. I seriously doubt she will run 3rd party but if she decides to, what Hillary did would not change a

thing and possibly makes it more likely. It would be an in your face kind of thing like Trump does and she would just laugh off the Russian asset thing no matter who points it out. In fact, I think she has a big ego on her and people should leave her alone so she doesn't get pissed off and actually do something stupid like that. She is the type that if you tell her not to she will. She was much less dangerous when everyone was ignoring her.

[yardwork]

25. Gabbard is not doing this on her own. She's part of a cult.

Tulsi Gabbard was raised in a cult and she's still under the influence of the cult. She funnels her campaign money to them. She was elected to Congress on a vile homophobic platform - she actually supported "ex-gay" torture - that was dictated to her by the cult.

She's narcissistic, sure. She's also a puppet.

[TheFarseer]

54. Totally agree

Just let her say her piece, almost no one will pay attention, and she’ll fade away. No one gets hurt.

[thesquanderer]

7. TG has said multiple times that she will not run ind/3rd party. (n/t)

[DanTex]

12. That won't stop the GOP from trying to convince her to.

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. If by GOP, you mean Russia,

I completely agree.

[Hoyt]

10. I'm not sure Gabbard would attract many, if any, Democratic nominee votes. I wouldn't

discount a Sanders, or even Warren, 3rd Party run if we are just speculating.

[sheshe2]

14. No way in hell will Warren run third party.

She is my Senator and no way in hell would she disrespect the people of MA or Teddy for the seat she won.

Just stop!

[BlueMTexpat]

23. This!

Anyone who would ever think that knows absolutely NOTHING about Elizabeth Warren.

[sheshe2]

40. Thank you!

[BeyondGeography]

29. Warren making a 3rd party run?

Wow. That's special.

[Hoyt]

30. Well, she's been quite critical of Democrats including Obama and Clinton running up to Nov 2016

election, playing right into hands of the GOP and helping to give us trump. And, she was a Republican.

If she's the nominee, she has my support.

But, it's hard to ignore her criticism of Obama and Clinton on global trade -- an issue that trump did well running on -- and her criticism of the ACA, taking up the cause of the medical device manufacturers and lobbyist (big industry in Massachusetts) on the medical devise tax which, though small, was designed to make those who profit from healthcare help pay for coverage.

So, yeah, I could see Sanders and Warren doing something like that.

[BeyondGeography]

32. You have WDS

It has been apparent for a while now. Now we have it out in the clear.

[Hoyt]

41. And you are ignoring the facts.

[Celerity]

46. +10000

[rampartc]

35. sanders could have run as a green in 2016

he declined the offer and worked for ms Clinton.

[BeyondGeography]

36. C'mon, he only gave 37 speeches for her in the campaign

[Midwestern Democrat]

43. A Democratic Senator or Congressman would be stripped of his seniority if he simply endorsed Trump -

much less actually ran as a third party spoiler - not one of those three would be given the special exemption Joe Lieberman was given in 2008 to endorse McCain without consequences (Lieberman himself wouldn't have gotten it if he had won the Democratic Senate primary in 2006 and didn't retain his seat by running as an Independent).

[Turin_C3PO]

44. No way in hell

would Warren do something like that. She’s a Democrat, period. C’mon, man.

[Hoyt]

45. Never would have thought she'd criticize Obama and Clinton on global trade

just before election, either. But she did.

[philly_bob]

11. Perhaps. The best way to head this off is ...

for mainstream Democrat candidates to confront Tulsi's arguments against a foreign policy of what she calls "endless war" and the neoconservative belief that the U.S. has a right to do "regime change" in other countries.

(Note that I do not support Tulsi and I don't think she does a very good job of articulating her arguments against warlike neocon foreign policy.)

[rampartc]

33. that would be the best plan

she has what I consider to be legitimate concerns. if the "democratic establishment" has good reason to support regime change and "endless war" lets stop calling names and debate the issues.

[relayerbob]

15. She's angling for a spot on Fox News

[Quixote1818]

16. She has already said quite directly she will not run 3rd party nt

[BannonsLiver]

21. Because politicians never say one thing and do another.

[phleshdef]

18. I don't know. I do know that I've never trusted her.

She spent the Obama years echoing right wing bullshit about "radical Islam", which to me is language that promotes Islamophobia. That was my first clue. Then all the stuff with the weird cult she is associated with and her support for Modi further sealed the deal on my mistrust.

[dchill]

20. The GOP is doing it, all right, but the talking points are Putin's.

[brooklynite]

24. I do...

Tulsi has already said she won’t run third party, and if she did she would Kyle ‘tdraw enough. It’s to make a difference.

[DanTex]

26. I'm not saying she will. Just saying the GOP has pitched/is pitching it to her.

[brooklynite]

37. Again-show the evidence

“We know they’d want to” doesn’t do it for me

[DanTex]

38. I don't have proof, it's an opinion based on circumstantial evidence. Shared by Hillary Clinton.

I am not privy to private communications between Tulsi's team and the GOP. But based on how politics works, and based on Tulsi's actions and statements, it seems likely.

My point in the last reply is that the fact that Tulsi has ruled out a third party run doesn't mean that the GOP isn't pitching it to her. For example, I would imagine that before Arlen Specter switched to D, the Dems had been working on him behind the scenes for a while.

[kcr]

27. No doubt

I don't think it's even a secret.

[Mike Nelson]

28. Agree...

... Hillary knows politics and how this works... she's had experience. There will be a Tulsi-type candidate in 2020. We need to expect this and factor in a plan.

[rampartc]

31. it is possible we may be pushing her in that direction.

ms gabbard is a democrat in good standing and should be treated as one.

the green party has several candidates seeking their nomination. why would the invite ms gabbard to run?

other than the working families, most other 3rd parties are right wing nut jobs who would never nominate ms gabbard.

[Jirel]

34. I'm ambivalent on this.

Using her as a disruption in the race? Totally. But 3rd party run? I don’t know. She is not in any good position for this, with low polling and being called a Russian asset even before Hillary popped that off. I think she’s more of a disposable asset for the right wing - trot her around in their crooked media, get her to consistently throw shade at the party and its leaders, use her as a propaganda subject. Hopefully she gets primaried out, then winds up as the “progressive” on Fox and Friends (to be fair and balanced).

[Gothmog]

42. No

[Eric J in MN]

47. Tulsi Gabbard isn't going to run Third Party in 2020.

If a Republican told her she should, that’s not a big deal. She shouldn’t be smeared with what someone may have said to her.

[DanTex]

48. OK, then it's not a "smear". So why is Tulsi so upset?

What Hillary said is that the Russians love her, and the GOP is probably grooming her for a third party run. That the Russians (and Republicans) love her is a verifiable fact, and that she's being groomed by the GOP is likely.

Maybe she can't control who likes her. Although, I have to say, going on Tucker Carlson repeatedly to attack Democrats, and accusing Obama of being soft on Muslims, probably doesn't help.

So why did she go psycho on Hillary? She could have just said, yes, the GOP would love for me to run third party, but I'm not going to do it.

[pintobean]

49. Because, the story was that Clinton said

that the Russians were grooming her. That would be calling her a traitor to the country. But, grooming requires one's participation. She's actually being accused of being too stupid to realize she's being groomed, or that she's really actively helping the GOP. Either accusation is reason to be pissed, especially coming from someone with Clinton's stature.

Funny how the NYT correction had absolutely no impact on so many of her haters.

[DanTex]

50. Apparently she actually said it was the GOP grooming her.

But since the GOP and Russians are interchangeable these days, it doesn't matter so much.

Does grooming require participation? I don't think it does, in this context. I guess it would be more precise to say "Russia/GOP is laying the groundwork for a third party run" rather than "Russia/GOP is grooming her for a third party run", but we're really splitting hairs at that point. It was an offhand comment on a relatively obscure podcast, after all.

As far as "actively helping the GOP," even though Hillary didn't make that accusation, it's obviously true. There's no way to describe the choice to go on Tucker Carlson's show repeatedly for the purpose of attacking Democrats other than "actively helping the GOP." Whether it's acceptable for a Democratic candidate for president to actively help the GOP is another question. Maybe it is. In which case, Tulsi should come out and make that argument.

[beachbumbob]

51. actually the GOP would groom any one willing to run 3rd party from Warren to Sanders to Yang

its the only way that trump could remotely win in 2020

[The Mouth]

52. I wonder if it might backfire

There were a lot of people who didn't vote for Trump so much as they voted against Hillary.

A conservative, 'Republican Lite' democrat might well hurt the Republicans more than they hurt the Democratic candidate. We're fired up to get rid of the POTUS, lots of Republicans are embarrased by him but nowhere nearly ready for anything even approaching Democratic Socialism.'

If we go with anyone besides Biden, she might well siphon off more R votes than D votes. And most of use are 'vote blue, no matter who' at this point.

[TheFarseer]

53. I suppose some GOP *want* her to run 3rd party

But she said she’s not going to. She’s not running 3rd party. But don’t worry. The greens will run someone, so you can still be mad about something.