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Chuck Todd used the wrong track number to shade Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Candidate John Fetterman with a false equivalence with a Jan 6 insurrectionist candidate.
Chuck Todd, this false equivalence is journalistic malpractice
Chuck Todd should be ashamed of this one for so many reasons. He is trying to explain why the incumbent party usually takes a shellacking when people believe the country is on the wrong track. But he made a statement that defies logic and democracy.
“Where are we right now with the new NBC News poll?” Chuck Todd asked. “The wrong track is sitting at 75%. This is obviously in shellacking territory. But when you have 75% wrong track, that’s how you end up with nominees that people in Washington don’t want. OK? John Fetterman and Kathy Barnette are what you get when you get 75% wrong track this year.”
Really? Chuck. Did you compare insurrectionist Kathy Barnette with John Fetterman? But the following is worse.
“55% wrong track,” Todd continues. “You might get Conor Lamb and David McCormick, for instance. That’s what 75% wrong track means, and by the way, could see an incumbent lose tonight in a primary. These are terrible numbers for incumbents whether in a primary or a general.”
Understand that what Chuck Todd is doing is advocating for the mythical center that neoliberals like to support all of the time. If one doubts the former, understand this reality. John Fetterman was elected statewide on a Democratic ticket. One Pennsylvania district elected Conor Lamb. In other words, the only candidate that could legitimately say that Pennsylvanians elected them nationally is John Fetterman. He is the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.
Why would Todd try to group John Fetterman with insurrectionist Kathy Barnette? The false equivalence has a purpose.
Fetterman looks and sounds like a working man. More importantly, he supports all the issues that Progressives support and want. He supports the $15 minimum wage, family leave, abolishing the filibuster, Medicare for all, etc. And working people like him. Polls continue to show that while not identifying themselves as Progressives, Americans share support for most if not all the issues that Progressives support. And that is the fair of those in power.
They do not have to give Todd daily marching orders. The Powell Memo set the path they are to take to marginalize Progressives at all costs long ago. The infiltration in every aspect of our lives is now nearly absolute, from media to schools to churches.
What was the most telling statement Todd made? “When you have 75% wrong track, that’s how you end up with nominees that people in Washington don’t want.”
It is not about what the neoliberals in Washington want. It is about what the people want. It is time to assert our worth and convert them into winning candidates.
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