Electability is a sham

Every time I hear someone talk about 'electability,” I cringe. What the hell is 'electability?”

Did you honestly believe in 2006 that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama could be elected? (I was on his team that early, but I was far from certain!) Did you honestly believe in 2015 that Donald Trump could be elected? I didn't.

And the list goes on and on. 'Electability” is not real. It is a creation of pundits - pundits whose predictions are about 80 percent wrong. 'Electability” can only be measured after the fact - did the person in question get elected? Anyone who pretends to know something about 'electability” before an election is simply a fraud.

Now the pundits have regular people thinking about this completely fabricated idea. And regular people are making decisions based upon guessing how their neighbors might guess. The whole thing is a big farce! The Emperor has no clothes!

What's more, when asked to define 'electability,” we often get into racist, sexist, homophobic traps. Who 'looks like” a President? Well, all but one are old white guys. So I guess it is the old white guy?

Polling of Democrats continues to show that their number one issue - by far - is defeating Donald Trump. If this polling is accurate, then one becomes 'electable” simply by winning the Democratic nomination.

So please, stop perpetuating the 'electability” myth. Let's talk policy. Let's talk ideas. And let's stop trying to guess what will happen.

Rod Sullivan

Iowa City