Enlightenment came from Scott Adams (695) who suggested her appeal is partly sexual, proposing that a lot of men (disproportionately Republicans) are "in love" with Tulsi. At age 38, she is by far the most attractive candidate, and a lot of guys just want to see more of Tulsi on TV. I can relate to that, and I was rooting for her.
So I was disappointed by her performance during the October debate. She got very little air time, and while she tried to land a punch, she never connected. Pete Buttigieg argued her to a draw during their exchange, not least because her description of Syria as a "regime-change war" isn't accurate.
So now comes Hillary Clinton who said
I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She's the favorite of the Russians. [...]Tulsi--who obviously is at least as smart as she looks--didn't miss the opportunity:
They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. And that's assuming [Green Party politician] Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she's also a Russian asset. She's a Russian asset, I mean, totally. They know they can't win without a third party candidate.
Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a ...It's a wonderful set of tweets. Look how she reduces the campaign to a race between her and Hillary--between a person of integrity and the "personification of rot". Between the real voice of the Democratic Party and the sick, warmongering pretenders. Note how she indirectly tars the other candidates with the sick, warmonger label, among whom Hillary is the leader.
... concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and ...
... powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.
Mr. Adams thinks Hillary is just stupid (698), which seems to be the consensus opinion. And that could be true. But Hillary might not be as dumb as she sounds--it's possible she has a strategy.
It's a given that she really wants to be president, which means she has to win the Democratic nomination. The odds are long no matter what she does, but steady-as-she-goes is definitely not gonna work. So she has to shake the box (as Mr. Adams would put it). Her comments do that--they're way over the top, and they've definitely gotten attention. She's borrowed the Trumpian tactic that there's no such thing as bad publicity--there is only publicity.
Ms. Clinton's comments are provocative in exactly the same way that Mr. Trump's Muslim ban was. It was never realistic, but it definitely got everybody talking.
Then follows an astute analysis of the campaign. Biden is on his way out--he has no chance. Bernie's support is self-limiting, and will gradually shrink over time. He's not a serious candidate. But if Bernie's voters migrate over to Liz Warren, then she becomes nearly unstoppable.
So the trick is to draw the Sanders' brigade over to Tulsi. There are at least three reasons to think that might happen. First, Tulsi endorsed Bernie in 2016, so there's a link there. Second, Tulsi's campaign has that radical, transgressive flavor that attracted people to Bernie in the first place.
And third, Bernie's Bros are obviously men. They're disinclined to support an aging harridan like Liz anyway, and if given half a reason will readily plump for sexy Tulsi. Like us Republicans, they'll "fall in love."
The other candidates are easily dismissed: Kamala is a loser; Mayor Pete is the windbag mayor of the fourth largest city in Indiana; Castro has a tin ear; Corey is a nice guy who finishes last, etc. So by turning Bernie's Bros into Tulsi's Toys, Hillary splits the Left Lane three ways. By locking down the middle lane for herself, she has as good a chance as any of winning the nomination.
It's a long shot, but it's all she's got. That Tulsi invited Hillary to join the campaign is an added bonus.
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