Yang officially breaks with Democratic Party

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Politico

Former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang announced Monday he has changed his voter registration, making official his break with the Democratic party.

“I’ve been a Democrat my entire adult life,” Yang wrote in a blog post explaining his decision. “And yet, I’m confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing.”

Yang said he had first joined the Democratic party in the 1990s in support of President Bill Clinton’s reelection bid. Yang wrote that doing so was “a no-brainer to me” at the time but says that he felt it was “something of an odd fit between me and the Democratic Party.”

“Breaking up with the Democratic Party feels like the right thing to do because I believe I can have a greater impact this way,” he wrote. “Am I right? Let’s find out. Together.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/yang-officially-breaks-with-democratic-party/ar-AAP7N0h?li=BBnb7Kz

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Meh

[ashredux]

1. Who cares?

[Evolve Dammit]

49. That's a real big tent comment. He's a good man and a Dem for a long time.

[ashredux]

52. No, he has left the party...he may try and start a third party

[Evolve Dammit]

53. Horrors.

[joetheman]

55. We all should care. We cannot afford to lose any votes to another 3rd party...ever!. I thought he

knew better than to do this at this time. We can't seem to win big for cutting off our noses to bleed on our guts!

[SayitAintSo]

2. I'm seeing more of that among many of my fellow Dems...

Brace yourselves midterms are going to be ugly ...

[Moebym]

28. Just what do they believe they are accomplishing with this?

Do they realize that this exodus has implications well beyond showing their displeasure with the Democratic Party?

[Cha]

48. I'm Not.. My Dem Friends are Smart Enough to Know

the Big Picture.. and are NOT Selfish.

They know we could slide into Fascism without every Dem on Deck.

[left-of-center2012]

3. "I believe I can have a greater impact this way"

He didn't win the Democratic presidential nomination.
He wasn't elected Mayor of NYC.

Now he's forming a new political party?
Where does he think the supporters will come from?

[notinkansas]

10. Exactly. And the timing

of this is terrible. Democrats can't afford fractures in the party at this time. The stakes are too high in the coming elections. He may as well declare himself a Republican. Don't know what he's thinking. He can't possibly believe this will give him an advantage in future elections. It will only siphon off Democratic votes, but it will never give him a win. Is this spite?

[Rebl2]

21. My thought

exactly. Sounds like spite to me!

[William Seger]

11. A.k.a. the Nader Fallacy (n/t)

[left-of-center2012]

15. I remember Harold Stassen

Harold Stassen was best known for being a perennial candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States,
seeking it nine times between 1944 and 1992
(1944, 1948, 1952, 1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992).

He never won the Republican nomination, much less the presidency;
but continued to campaign actively and seriously for President until just a year before his death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Stassen#Presidential_politics_(1944%E2%80%931964)

[The Mouth]

46. I liked Pat Paulsen better

[Moebym]

29. Indies, maybe?

[left-of-center2012]

30. Indies who vote 'Green Party'?

Doubt they'd leave the Greens.

Maybe the Libertarians, but I think they'd lean 'right', away from Yang.

Just regular old independents?

[ancianita]

31. A corporate white hat tech class that wants to get tech to actually BE the govt, maybe?

[LiberalFighter]

39. These people think they can form a political party starting at the top.

It doesn't work that way. Time and time it has failed.

Only from the bottom will it succeed.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

4. Bye.

[brush]

5. Take your ball and go home. Try getting experience in governance by running...

for a lower level than the highest offices in the land first...the presidency and for the mayor of New York.

Now start you third party, get secretly funded by republican entities which will help you siphon off votes from Dem candidates so republicans win.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt that says "Jill Stein" for president.

[DURHAM D]

6. Yang who?

[miss-nasty]

7. Boy, BYE!

[Texin]

8. Sooo, he doesn't say where he intends to land?

As far as I could determine, Yang was a single issue candidate, i.e., guaranteed annual wage (which isn't a "wage" per se). Yeah, anyone with half a brain would love that, but how does he think this can be accomplished when there is such pushback from both the Democratic and GQP. Within the Democratic party, there is a stubborn so-called conservative wing, not to mention the likes of Manchin and Sinema, who defy political characterization. Where and who does he think he's going to make an impact? On eighteen year olds? Green Party? Puzzling and his little announcement is probably a bird call in the wilderness.

[relayerbob]

38. He's starting his own party

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/09/andrew-yang-third-party-511033

I think he's calling it the Birthday Party

[LiberalFighter]

40. Would that correlate to the Baby Party?

[relayerbob]

42. Would seem to

[Mike Nelson]

9. Yikes!

... that's really bad timing! Sure, I wish there were more political options, like joining or forming new political parties... BUT the current state of politics in the USA demands otherwise.

[left-of-center2012]

12. From the NY Times ...

Mr. Yang recounted the strangeness of running for president and how the experience had inflated his sense of his own importance.
“I’d been a C.E.O. and founder of a company, but
running for office was a different animal,” he wrote.
He added:
“It turns out that power actually gives you brain damage.”

Mr. Yang has struggled to find his footing since skyrocketing to prominence during the 2020 race.

Mr. Yang, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020 and for mayor of New York this year, said he could be more “honest” about politics if he were not a Democrat.

A bid for New York City mayor this spring ended in defeat, after Mr. Yang struggled to answer basic questions about the functions of city government.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/us/politics/andrew-yang-democrat.html

[Sibelius Fan]

13. Now that he's no longer a D, he'll easily be able to answer those basic questions

about how a city government runs, right? 🤔🤔🤔

[bucolic_frolic]

14. He's not exactly a boostraps story

having graduated from Exeter, Brown, and Columbia.

I'd really like for just one of these elites to experience balancing a family budget on $12 an hour, paying rent, fixing the 15 year old Toyota, buying a used computer, and painting their own residence.

Absent that, don't let the barn door whack you on the way out.

[irisblue]

16. 👋👋👋👋👋

He had several points I agreed with, but his apparent inability to learn from the fact that he needed some learning about governance in a pluralistic society.

[comradebillyboy]

17. Well.........bye

[awesomerwb1]

18. Who?

[BobTheSubgenius]

19. I do not view any decision like this - especially the formation of a third party - by...

....erstwhile Democrats as being positive in the slightest, at least in terms of elections. There are some, who shall remain nameless, that Democrats could do without "emotionally," so to speak, but math is inexorable and pitiless.

In the last Presidential election, Biden's margin of victory was right around 3% of the total of eligible voters, and slightly under 5% of votes actually cast.

This has been portrayed as a big win, and given the history of national elections, it is...kind of. But we all know what a shockingly small numerical swing can do, if those votes are scattered "strategically." The "70,000 Vote Paradigm" is certainly well enough known, and understood, to be a very powerful lesson in "every vote counts."

I don't want to hear "if only" again.

[MarcA]

20. Democrats must message that this helps Rethugs.

Sad decision on his part, he could have been bringing more voters to Democrats.

[FM123]

45. My thoughts exactly!

[NurseJackie]

22. He will now snipe and take cheap-shots at Democrats trying to divide the party and kneecap Biden.

I fully expect him to start echoing the often-repeated smears that Democrats are "Coastal Elites" and "ideologically bankrupt" and "corrupt" and "no different that the GOP".

Just like those who spread those same lies, Yang will be NO FRIEND of Democrats. He's a danger and his goal is to divide and weaken and punish Democrats for "rejecting" him in all his glorious perfection. ~~ Sigh.

Same as it every was whenever an emotionally volatile and ego-driven politician is rejected by the Democratic voters. They all think they know better and rather than accepting reality and working within the system, the want to take-their-ball-and-go-home! Whaaa!

How long before Sarandon jumps on his bandwagon?

[Moebym]

33. Yang himself is one of the coastal elites.

This needs to be pointed out any time he utters the phrase.

His 15 minutes of fame as a presidential candidate and mayoral candidate, despite having very little relevant experience it knowledge as to how any level of government works, has truly gotten to his head.

[NurseJackie]

41. There's at least one other who uses that "Coastal Elite" smear...

... and appears to be oblivious to the hypocrisy of it all.

[Mickju]

23. He is dead to me.

What a fool! And I used to like him.

[PortTack]

24. Oh gee it doesn't quite fit for me...havin a sad!!

[SKKY]

25. Because that will help. Let's split the Democratic Party.

There's a reason he wasn't the nominee. Not sure why he can't accept reality.

[relayerbob]

37. They didn't give him enough birthday parties

[Moebym]

26. Bye.

Don't come begging to be let back in after your ego-fueled hot air balloon ride ends with you hitting a power line known as REALITY.

---

This goes for all of the people thinking of breaking with the Democratic Party over its perceived failures. By doing so, you are not punishing a political party, but you are undermining the only thing standing between us and a theocratic autocracy led by a vengeful demagogue. Trump's term was just a brief taste of what is to come if there are enough defectors to cost us the crucial '22 and '24 elections.

[elleng]

27. "It turns out that power actually gives you brain damage."

[DownriverDem]

32. And I care

not! I'm a proud member of the Democratic Party. That's how our country is structured. Join us to beat the repubs.

[hay rick]

34. Disappointed in Yang.

In the current American political situation there are three live options: 1) the Democratic Party for those who want a democracy, however imperfect; 2) the Republican Party for those who are willing to join the enemies of democracy and the science-denying enemies of the human race; and 3) those who want to snipe from the sidelines. They are not willing to join and improve an imperfect Democratic Party. They don't want to get their hands dirty but don't seem to mind getting their fingers sticky.

[C Moon]

35. "Let's find out. Together."

Oh brother.
I agree with someone above, this is about his ego. It's not about the well-being of the U.S.

[relayerbob]

36. Bye, Felicia

[DBoon]

43. His 15 minutes are up

?1468578805

[peoli]

44. Makes sense, His ideas don't really fit into this party of boring sameness

[0rganism]

47. Too bad, he was a dedicated advocate for UBI

and now his worthwhile ideas will gather dust and desiccate as Mr. Yang drowns in a flood of media hype and unneeded campaign donations

[Cha]

50. I Never liked him.. gee I wonder why.

Now he's 3rd party Egotistical RF trash.

[SouthernDem4ever]

51. Thanks for nothing Andrew

just when we need you the most.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

54. Let me guess, there's a book deal involved too?

[Steelrolled]

56. To me he was by far the most interesting candidate in 2020.

I liked him a lot, but knew he didn't have a chance.

I hope he does good for the country in whatever path he follows.

[lapfog_1]

57. 5 seconds into the 16th minute of his "fame"

never an egg timer around when you need one.

[Skittles]

58. who?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz