Debates So White?

Adherents of the Democratic Party's liberal wing were appalled and party leaders were embarrassed when it became likely that there would be no candidates of color in the December Democratic presidential debate after Kamala Harris dropped out.

Look, I know that the Democratic Party is the party of diversity, and I am aware that all of the racial and ethnic groups ought to be represented in a Democratic presidential nomination campaign.  I get that.  And that's how the Democrat presidential nomination campaign for 2020 started out.  But there's a reason that Harris, Cory Booker, Julián Castro and Tulsi Gabbard have either dropped out or have failed to gain traction.  Rank-and-file Democrats looked at their policy proposals and heaved a big shrug of indifference.  It's all about the free market - the free market of ideas.  Democratic voters looked at what these candidates were selling and decided they weren't interested in buying.  It's not a problem that has affected only women and persons of color - it's the reason why the presidential candidacies of white guys such as John Delaney, Michael Bennet, Eric Swalwell, and Beto O'Rourke are either struggling or finished.  It's also the reason you don't hear white guys with guitars on pop radio or see them get Grammy nominations anymore - the free market has spoken, and that sort of thing doesn't make it in the music business anymore. 

Anyway, it ought to count for something that there are still three candidates that will be on the Democratic presidential debate stage who have husbands - and one of them is a guy!  But, of course, all of this political correctness obscures the need for a greater form of diversity - a diversity of thought.  We have two main schools of Democratic Party thought between the moderates and the liberals, and there are policy differences even within each school of thought, if the differences between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are any indication.  Maybe if the Democrats stopped worrying about the diversity of skin tone and looked more at the differences of ideas and policies - the very reason there are presidential primary debates in the first place - we'd be better off.

As for the rules that narrowed the pool of candidates for the next debate, that's a different post.  I'll look at that later. 

Oh yeah, Andrew Yang just became the seventh Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the December debate to be held on December 19 and aired by PBS, so Asian-Americans will be represented.  But I'm more interested in his inclusion for his unique ideas, such as a guarantee of universal basic income for all Americans and an annual $100 stipend for voters to donate to candidates to get big money out of politics.

Heck, I'd vote for him.