South Carolina Primary

A rematch is a curious thing in presidential elections. 

We had it in 1956. There is also the curious 1892 election after a popular vote winner lost the election the time before. 

Trump running again after losing (and by a large margin in the popular vote) is curious.  Some even assume he's a lock to win. 

President Biden surely was a lock for the nomination, even if (this is getting a bit too much attention in some places) some people are fantasizing about Biden eventually choosing not to run. We still are having primaries, even though there are only token opponents. So, he won South Carolina with over 95% of the vote. Nice use of government resources, huh?

Back in the real world, I appreciate that Jennifer Rubin wrote a supportive op-ed entitled "Kamala Harris is an underrated asset." The "Biden is a horrible candidate" talk repeatedly has a subtext (or an aboveboard text) of Vice President Harris bashing. 

For now, Nikki Haley is sticking around. She is the last woman standing in a pretty sad field. As TPM notes, her showing in South Carolina (granting she was governor there not that long ago) is not as bad as it seems. We have been hearing about a disaster there for a while now. The current count is something like 60/40. Forty percent of the people in a red state like South Carolina voting against Trump is notable. 

(It looks like the state has a winner-take-all system since all the delegates went to Trump.) 

Why shouldn't Haley stick around, if she has the money? Now that she is the sole opponent, she has started to be a bit more nasty against Trump. It's hard to see that Trump (who is now aiming to take over the Republican National Committee with his daughter-in-law) forgiving that. 

She's only around fifty. She has a long future ahead of her. People talk of the possibility of Trump dying or maybe being convicted (if that matters). Who knows, for instance, what is going to happen even in 2028? Anyway, after she joined the others in soft-soaping the anti-Trump talk, half a cheer for now, Nikki Haley, though your positions still are horrible. 

While some are doom-ing, 40% of South Carolina voters went out of their way to vote against Trump. I'll take that as a good sign. 

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Back in 1944, there was a chance Justice William O. Douglas (only on the Court for about five years at the time) would be FDR's vice president. 

It was not to be. He turned down offers from President Truman. By the 1950s, Douglas was less likely to go into politics, though he played politics. Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas by Judge Margaret McKeown (she retired to leave open a slot for Biden) discusses his environmental campaigns. 

At some point, it gets a bit repetitive but does provide some depth regarding his techniques and talks about possible ethical problems. We also get the background on his famous dissent about giving standing to the environment (really for those who enjoy it). The judge herself sees him as a kindred spirit, both as a westerner and environmentalist. 

I wouldn't have minded a bit more devil's advocate, talking about how the people he campaigned against weren't all evil bastards or something. She did flag the accusations of elitism, opposing certain means to open up the environmental treasures to those without the ability to hike there or something. Also, she notes sometimes the development he opposed was supported by locals. 

So, we do get a bit of that too. The book ends with his comment that he wanted to leave this earth better than he came. The video from Good Morning America, right after his retirement, is as of now still up. 

And, his fourth wife (who he married in the 1960s while she was in her 20s) is still around. She shows up for various Supreme Court events.