have written about election cycles since at least 2004 for about a dozen readers.
This year with the power of twitter, I have literally 100s of people reading my words.
What a country!
Ok, I was a child of the 80s. You have to excuse my lame jokes.
My
goal is of course to lean toward the frivolity. I wish I could do
more, but I simply don’t have the time, and to be honest, my heart tends
to lean towards the fun stories like “
Marco Rubio hits a kid in the face with a football”.
In any case, I am hardly an expert,
but just due to geographical happenstance, I pick up on some local
stories that a nationwide audience misses out on.
So with
that said, I read an article last month that will probably be the
biggest thing to come out of April 2019. This may have bigger
ramifications than even Joe Biden’s announcement to run for President a
third time.
I read it in the local alt-newspaper and it has been otherwise under-reported, and surprisingly concerns Andrew Yang.
Yang
is a longshot, but I like him. He has devoted fans and though the
number is small, it feels like Yang is the future. Like, he is 2
election cycles ahead of the Democratic Party.
You might
guess that I am going to talk about Yangs idea to
give $1000 a month for a year to an Iowa family to sell people on his Freedom Dividend.
While I like his idea, it does feel like a stunt. It feels like a lotto and a gimmick.
It is certainly unique though and when the book is written on the 2020 Iowa Caucus, it deserves to be in it.
Those
who follow things a bit more closely might think if I am talking Yang
and I’m not talking about giving out money, then I must be talking about
Protesting Penguins.
Apparently,
if you don’t think people are paying attention to what Andrew Yang is
saying, you’re wrong. Liberal activist Ed Fallon and his group Bold
North did.
When asked about climate change, Yang said his
priority was to take care of the Economy and Poor Americans and quite
frankly, “the penguins can wait in line”
Which upset
said penguins who showed up at his campaign stop.
Although this will be one of the most memorable moments of the 2020 Caucus season, I actually was headed elsewhere.
Douglas
Burns
reported in CityView that Yang’s campaign was “working with a
hologram company, and could debut the technology...as early as July”.
The
Yang hologram would essentially be interactive in real time, in which
CityView only slyly alludes to, but we are starting to get into real
Leia-and-Obi-Wan stuff here
7 years on now from
Hologram Tupac playing at Coachella, I am surprised we weren’t here already.
In any case, what are the potential repercussions of electronic canvassing for votes.
As
an Iowan, it is wonderful that the candidates come to the Hawkeye State
and are able to meet the voters. A lady told me she was in a library
room with Obama and about 30 other people, and those stories are not
uncommon.
But to be honest, the last place someone like
Michael Bloomberg or Howard Schultz with all of the money and time in
the world would want to be is in Des Moines in December when he could be
some place tropical. Joe Biden probably would prefer a golf course in a
sunny locale to Cedar Rapids and Californians like Kamala Harris or
Eric Swalwell surely would prefer 60 degree weather in March to 6 degree
weather.
Shouldn’t our leaders be in Congress, the State House or South Bend? Will virtu-candidates be the wave of the future?
Andrew
Yang isn’t quite ready to go full virtual tilt, but he thinks that
HoloYang will bring excitement, admitting that Iowans may end up more
excited seeing his hologram than the actual him.
Technology is really cool,” Yang said. “When you see the hologram, the
whole thing is very fun and invigorating. Certainly when I saw the
technology in action, I enjoyed it a great deal. So for folks in Iowa
and other places, I think it will just be a fun way to experience it. It
might be even more fun than seeing me in person.”
He also reckons even
HoloYang May have a short shelf life and promises celebrity co stars.
“We can actually have some pop-culture and other figures appear,” Yang
said. “If you’re going to go to all the trouble of having a hologram set
up, you might as well have some other people appear and make it more
fun and entertaining for people than just coming to see a hologram of me
speaking. We would make it fun for people.”
Ironically,
it’s not like Iowans don’t have a chance to meet Andrew in person. He
already has made 60 campaign stops in Iowa according to the Des Moines
Register thus far and still counting.
But are we ready for
this Brave New World? Is 3D Donald Trump going to show up in my
bathroom when I’m taking a dump? Is Projection Pence popping up in my
bedroom all times of the night to make sure no hanky panky or smoking of
marijuanas are going on? Only time will tell.
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