2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumGary Johnson knew what and where Aleppo is.
However distasteful his views, the man's no dummy. He knows a lot of things.
He knows that even though third party bids usually go nowhere, having two widely-reviled (by different sections of the electorate) major party candidates make a good environment for a third party run as any for years, and maybe years to come.
He also knows that to have any credible chance at all, no matter how slim, he needs to make it to the debates. And so he needs to increase his poll numbers, and quickly.
He knows that name recognition, for better or worse, plays a significant role in polling. And to get more of that in a hurry, he needs press attention. In his situation, bad press is better than no press.
So, why not bait press attention by saying something stupid? He can gamble that it will bring him more new supporters than it costs him; additionally, it allows him to criticize Trump for being much worse, then try to suck up to press-hating right wingers by saying that his "gaffe" was no big deal and they are making too much of it.
In other words, it's exactly the kind of Hail Mary that a long shot candidate needs to throw, having hardly anything to lose by trying.
Agree? Disagree?
Demsrule86
(68,710 posts)And why do we care. I don't want him at the debates...just Cheeto and Hillary.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)News cycle moves fast and furious during campaign horse race season.
Response to Rochester (Original post)
MichiganVote This message was self-deleted by its author.
BumRushDaShow
(129,651 posts)Libertarians are isolationist. They have no need to worry their little heads about foreign affairs.
Spazito
(50,511 posts)The look on his face was priceless, he really didn't have a clue.
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)... not knowing where Aleppo is wouldn't be the way to do it.
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MattP
(3,304 posts)And wants a coal based economy and Bernie voters are considering him
LisaL
(44,974 posts)I don't believe it for one second.
brooklynite
(94,786 posts)relayerbob
(6,559 posts)occam's razor
frazzled
(18,402 posts)This was a cigar. The word Aleppo had no meaning to him in his little isolationist universe.
But nice try at a very labyrinthine theory.
William769
(55,148 posts)Divine Discontent
(21,056 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,047 posts)tblue37
(65,490 posts)actually know about, but because it comes in from a direction that you are not focusing on, you draw a blank. This especially happens when you are tired, stressed, rushed, etc.--which a person typically is when on the campaign trail.
Then, when he realized his error, he was flustered, thus adding to the stress, and his scrambling to explain made him sound even more ignorant.
I can easily imagine him hearing the word and responding to it as an unfamiliar acronym. Politics, because it is entangled with the language of government policy, is awash in acronyms and initialisms, and Aleppo does sound rather like one.
I bet he knew what Aleppo is, but I also bet he doesn't really have a clue about how the situation there should be handled. Of course, neither does anyone else.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)VOX
(22,976 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)He's not worth propping up.
MineralMan
(146,338 posts)Stop making excuses for him. It's unseemly.
LexVegas
(6,111 posts)Skidmore
(37,364 posts)Stunts still don't get you to 15%.
Maru Kitteh
(28,343 posts)brush
(53,922 posts)whether it was a place or a thing.
To get attention and a place on the national TV debate by getting noticed for being a dummy makes little sense.
Onlooker
(5,636 posts)... and libertarians really have very little interest in what goes on in the rest of the world. They think the United States should stay out of it, even if it's really bad, so it's no surprise that Syria is not his strong suit.
JI7
(89,278 posts)GeorgeGist
(25,324 posts)Democrats Ascendant
(601 posts)Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)I think the simpler explanation that he did not know about Aleppo is the most likely.
Kathy M
(1,242 posts)Anyone voting for Gary hopefully aware he wants to privatize social security ( or at least part of it ) also medicare
Democrats Ascendant
(601 posts)I'm sure he'd heard of it, but he's a Libertarian, which means he has the liberty to have a 6th grade view of the world. A grown-up who aims for leader of the free world fucking knows and deeply cares about the pain and suffering of the Syrian people. So, um, disagree.
Q: What is Gary JohnsTon??
A: Ummm, I forget......
In short: fuck him for having a "brain fart" about the death of SO MANY fellow human beings!