Two Party Opera by Brian Carroll for February 19, 2020

“Me ‘n’ the boys have been noodling your slogan, campaign-wise, J.P. Lemme run this by you: ‘Morgan 2020: No Need To Panic.’ Huh? Huh? Whaddaya think, J.P.?”

Bloomberg/Buttigieg~2020

Ah, the good old days, when the filthy rich were content to be the power behind the throne….

Actually, I’m thinking more along the lines of: “ANY RATIONAL ADULT: 2020”

Probably in the 2060 Presidential Election (if elections are still allowed) there will be complaints about those arrogant Trillionaires buying the election.

When you have someone as corrupt and authoritarian as trump, yes “Vote Blue no matter who”. I’ll vote for a soap dish instead of trump. The soap dish will do less harm.

Speaking from the outside looking in…It appears that the Dems are bound and determined to give Trump 4 more years. If they don’t choose an electable candidate, that is what they(and the rest if us) will get.

Dang, I was seeing the first gentleman as Grant. Makes more sense your way.

(Footnote: I once watched a presentation by a professional Andrew Carnegie impersonator as part of the anniversary celebration of our local library. Of course, the actor looked different, and was likely portraying him closer to the end of his life.)

Careful, you’re coming close to saying being filthy rich should disqualify a person from running for president. Bloomberg has a an argument against the current crop of Democratic contenders. He has a good record of governance and social policies. At any rate he’s a boon for the Ad business.

A true billionaire might be difficult to buy..

Morgan is truly the poster child for the moral rosacea of the Republikkklans today.

That’s right Mr. Carroll – Blue no matter who!

Captain Industry! That was Woody Harrelson’s evil nemesis in Defendor.

The USA appears to be moving toward 3rd world status rather than 1st world status.

“In 1980, only about 12 percent of the population lived in places that were especially rich or especially poor. By 2013, it was over 30 percent.”— Robert Manduca

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/05/study-finds-gap-between-rich-and-poor-growing-regionally-too/

Dec 21, 2019 – A spike in California of more than 21000 people, or 16.4 percent, led the overall U.S. homeless population to jump by 2.7 percent.

The modern United States has also been described as an oligarchy because economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

Oligarchy – Wikipedia

It must be (sadly in 2020) pointed out that any incumbent is difficult to defeat. They have the platform of office to dominate the media, they know what it takes to win, and the opposition will always have to traverse their own in-fighting during the primaries — giving amble sound-bite ammunition to the party in power.

Bush-1 was the last one termer — let’s give Hairboy a similar place in history in November.

An actual billionaire, who’s neither a compulsive liar, nor a criminal, nor a traitor, IS in fact, an improvement over what we have now.

Could we do better than Bloomberg? Absolutely. But we’re worse off now than we’ve ever been, so we need to be willing to take what we can get. If we have to settle for a small degree of progress, it’s still better than Republican regress.

“Blue no matter who” is a realistic reaction to the Orange Excrescence because in the real world of US politics, the opportunity to vote for someone who’s neither Democrat nor Republican and who can win  has happened only very seldom, and never in the last 100 years or more.

Do I want  to vote for Bloomberg? Not even a little bit. But if the “Democratic” process puts him on the ballot, will   I do so? Yup. Because as bad as he is, and he’s bad; what we have now is worse both short and long term. (Yes, I’m subjunctively predicting that Bloomberg would not be particularly good for the nation, but would be far less of an awfulness than what I foresee if this one gets another term. My subjunctive predictions are, of course, worth what you might have paid for them)

Personally I have never seen anyone as disliked as Trump. If he wins I will suspect cheating.

Sounds like just another politician and his supporters, I just can’t put my finger on whom..

Good luck Brian! If you lived up here I’d vote for you.

…waiting for the results…

Brian, sorry you lost in the primary. I guess this is what happens when you run against a popular incumbent like Sherman.

I finally caught up!

Pardon the outdoor voice:

BRIAN, PLEASE COME BACK! WE NEED YOU!

Yep. Wall Street Joe is already selling out the working class Americans in the Democratic Party. Good luck with that, DNC. Your ability to hide your true colors just keeps getting worse.

Missing your strip friend!

I hope you feeling OK?

Brian, we’re all worried about you. Come back, even if it’s only long enough to say Hello.

have you stopped carrying this strip?

Earth to Brian – Earth to Brian – If you can hear us, come in please!

glad you aren’t sick.

Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller. They owned D.C. and did not let you forget it.