So in the world of Tulsi Gabbard politics, it is actually not whether or not the U.S. should engage in regime-changing wars, or whether money saved from supporting the military-industrial complex should go to advance socially progressive programs, or even whether Gabbard should be president.
The rationale for Gabbard’s presidential exercise appears to be about whether or not Hillary Clinton will blink, give up and say “sorry” to Gabbard. That’s not much of a reason to run for leader of the free world, but it appears to be the last pebble among the precious few Gabbard carries in her sure-to-fail campaign.
Gabbard last week hired legal counsel to demand that former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton formally apologize for hinting that Gabbard was a Russian asset and is being groomed by Russia.
In the spirit of the times, Gabbard demands that Clinton make her apology on Twitter. Clinton hasn’t responded. Since 2016, Gabbard and Clinton have engaged in a meaningless feud over who supports whom and who disrespects the other the most.
Back then Gabbard dropped out as a vice chairwomen of the Democratic National Committee and declared her support for Bernie Sanders.
Heavyweight Clinton supporters started emailing each other to say that was done in disrespect of then-presidential candidate Clinton, and to never give Tulsi any support or money.
At the time, Gabbard was marveling at her own political bravery, saying she had been warned failing to support Clinton would result in retaliation.
“There is too much at stake to let politics get in the way of what is real,” Gabbard said then.
If Gabbard is a political moth, the bright light that attracts her is publicity and being noticed — attention being paid seems to be the only focus of the Gabbard campaign.
So far that ambition has been without any real results.
In a report late last week by Geoffrey Skelley, an elections analyst for FiveThirtyEight — the statistical analysis website reporting on elections, politics, sports and economics — Gabbard’s presidential chances are ranked at nearly impossible.
“She’s averaging 1% to 2% in national surveys and 2% to 4% in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire,” Skelley wrote on Thursday, although a new Quinnipiac New Hampshire poll listed Gabbard at 6%.
When the research site dug into Gabbard’s support, it showed that her supporters are more likely to have backed President Donald Trump in 2016, hold conservative views or identify as Republican, compared to voters backing the other candidates.
So they are not likely to be voting in any Democratic presidential primary. And what support Gabbard has is almost entirely male.
“Her support among men is in the mid-single digits, while her support among women is practically nonexistent,” writes Skelley, pointing out that “The Center for Responsive Politics found that only 24 percent of Gabbard’s itemized contributions had come from female donors, the smallest percentage of any candidate in the race.”
If there is a prediction to be made about 2020 and Gabbard, it is that the 38-year-old Hawaii Democrat will not be president and any claims of political accomplishment will be
unfulfilled.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
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