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I think Trump's dire performance as President is in danger of making us forget what a dismal candidate Harris was. She never seemed to say why she wanted to be President, had no original or inspiring ideas and, when given the chance to put her point across, actively fled from the media.

As I've said before, Democrats win when they have a charismatic bullshitter who inspires the young and the left without terrifying the centre and the middle-aged then lets them down in office - see Kennedy, Clinton, Obama. Trump may be so unpopular by 2028 that even Harris will win, or maybe she will be able to fake enough charisma, but the Democrats would be unwise to bank on that.

For all their faults Kennedy, Clinton, & Obama were three of the most outstanding political leaders of my lifetime. The only potential candidate coming anywhere near now is Buttigieg.

What do you think?

It depends what you mean by "leader". They were good at inspiring people, bad at delivering their promises. Obama achieved essentially nothing in eight years, apart from a half-baked healthcare reform, which, when you remember the hopes he inspired in 2008, is truly remarkable, and he was succeeded by Donald Trump. Many of Clinton's achievements, in particular welfare reform, were actually Republican wet dreams.

I think that repeatedly inspiring people with uplifting but vacuous drivel about "change" then letting them down, rather than telling them uncomfortable truths and being realistic about what can be delivered, is actually bad for democracy, and one of the reasons why it is discredited in many countries. It only works in the short term - it got Obama and Clinton elected, but their agendas both stalled quickly in Congress, and then they suffered devastating setbacks in the midterms - we forget today just how remarkable the 1994 and 2010 elections were - especially 1994.

I agree the Democrat field isn't exactly bursting with inspiring and charismatic leaders.

I think Trump's dire performance as President is in danger of making us forget what a dismal candidate Harris was. She never seemed to say why she wanted to be President, had no original or inspiring ideas and, when given the chance to put her point across, actively fled from the media.

As I've said before, Democrats win when they have a charismatic bullshitter who inspires the young and the left without terrifying the centre and the middle-aged then lets them down in office - see Kennedy, Clinton, Obama. Trump may be so unpopular by 2028 that even Harris will win, or maybe she will be able to fake enough charisma, but the Democrats would be unwise to bank on that.

For all their faults Kennedy, Clinton, & Obama were three of the most outstanding political leaders of my lifetime. The only potential candidate coming anywhere near now is Buttigieg.

What do you think?

I think Trump's dire performance as President is in danger of making us forget what a dismal candidate Harris was. She never seemed to say why she wanted to be President, had no original or inspiring ideas and, when given the chance to put her point across, actively fled from the media.

As I've said before, Democrats win when they have a charismatic bullshitter who inspires the young and the left without terrifying the centre and the middle-aged then lets them down in office - see Kennedy, Clinton, Obama. Trump may be so unpopular by 2028 that even Harris will win, or maybe she will be able to fake enough charisma, but the Democrats would be unwise to bank on that.

For all their faults Kennedy, Clinton, & Obama were three of the most outstanding political leaders of my lifetime. The only potential candidate coming anywhere near now is Buttigieg.

What do you think?

Sadly, I just can't see how Buttigieg gets through the primaries in the South.

Where do we go from here ?

Do we accept our new vassal status to the US as the Trump administration attempts to dismember the EU and redraw Europe's boundaries in collaboration with Putin ?

Or do we side with Europe ?

It not at all clear there's any way of avoiding the very uncomfortable choices coming up, long before any prospect of a change of leadership in the US (assuming that's still allowed to happen).

There is no way of avoiding the choices.

Europe needs someone to step up.

Merz is the best hope. We shall see if he has the balls and the brains to realise the world the world has changed.

I'd agree with you.
I'm just curious what the rest of PB makes of it.
Business as usual doesn't seem an option.

I think Gardenwalker's idea of an Anglo-Canadian Union was the right sort of scale of response needed.

It's very concerning that it looks like the EU will be unable to agree to seize Russian assets. That would indicate that the EU is not a reliable partner when it comes to confronting Russian aggression, weakened too much by quisling countries like Hungary, parochial self-interests, and weak links who can be easily intimidated by third countries. And a Le Pen victory in France will only make that worse.

So we have to draw close to whichever friendly countries are left, to gain the scale to stand against those powers that are a threat to our freedoms.

The British government hasn't seized the 25 billion quid of frozen Russian assets in the UK so basically what the fuck are you on about? The UK isn't any better, or worse depending on where you fall on the Ultra - Realist spectrum, than the EU with its 'quisling countries'.

I don't think it's unreasonable for Britain to want to act at the same time as other countries who hold Russian assets.

That's why I regret to Britain gaining scale, as being larger makes it easier to act unilaterally. An Anglo-Canadian Union would find it easier to act unilaterally than Britain does alone.

Hey, but what about our Sovereignity?

We left the world's largest and most successful free trade association to protect that. We going to give it up now to row in with Canada?

Where do we go from here ?

Do we accept our new vassal status to the US as the Trump administration attempts to dismember the EU and redraw Europe's boundaries in collaboration with Putin ?

Or do we side with Europe ?

It not at all clear there's any way of avoiding the very uncomfortable choices coming up, long before any prospect of a change of leadership in the US (assuming that's still allowed to happen).

There is no way of avoiding the choices.

Europe needs someone to step up.

Merz is the best hope. We shall see if he has the balls and the brains to realise the world the world has changed.

I'd agree with you.
I'm just curious what the rest of PB makes of it.
Business as usual doesn't seem an option.

I think Gardenwalker's idea of an Anglo-Canadian Union was the right sort of scale of response needed.

It's very concerning that it looks like the EU will be unable to agree to seize Russian assets. That would indicate that the EU is not a reliable partner when it comes to confronting Russian aggression, weakened too much by quisling countries like Hungary, parochial self-interests, and weak links who can be easily intimidated by third countries. And a Le Pen victory in France will only make that worse.

So we have to draw close to whichever friendly countries are left, to gain the scale to stand against those powers that are a threat to our freedoms.

The British government hasn't seized the 25 billion quid of frozen Russian assets in the UK so basically what the fuck are you on about? The UK isn't any better, or worse depending on where you fall on the Ultra - Realist spectrum, than the EU with its 'quisling countries'.

I don't think it's unreasonable for Britain to want to act at the same time as other countries who hold Russian assets.

That's why I regret to Britain gaining scale, as being larger makes it easier to act unilaterally. An Anglo-Canadian Union would find it easier to act unilaterally than Britain does alone.

Where do we go from here ?

Do we accept our new vassal status to the US as the Trump administration attempts to dismember the EU and redraw Europe's boundaries in collaboration with Putin ?

Or do we side with Europe ?

It not at all clear there's any way of avoiding the very uncomfortable choices coming up, long before any prospect of a change of leadership in the US (assuming that's still allowed to happen).

There is no way of avoiding the choices.

Europe needs someone to step up.

Merz is the best hope. We shall see if he has the balls and the brains to realise the world the world has changed.

I'd agree with you.
I'm just curious what the rest of PB makes of it.
Business as usual doesn't seem an option.

I think Gardenwalker's idea of an Anglo-Canadian Union was the right sort of scale of response needed.

It's very concerning that it looks like the EU will be unable to agree to seize Russian assets. That would indicate that the EU is not a reliable partner when it comes to confronting Russian aggression, weakened too much by quisling countries like Hungary, parochial self-interests, and weak links who can be easily intimidated by third countries. And a Le Pen victory in France will only make that worse.

So we have to draw close to whichever friendly countries are left, to gain the scale to stand against those powers that are a threat to our freedoms.

The British government hasn't seized the 25 billion quid of frozen Russian assets in the UK so basically what the fuck are you on about? The UK isn't any better, or worse depending on where you fall on the Ultra - Realist spectrum, than the EU with its 'quisling countries'.