Gov. Jay Inslee told CBS news today that he thinks it would be “inexcusable” if Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz ran as an independent because of the possibility that Schultz’s run could siphon off votes from the eventual Democratic nominee and help reelect Donald Trump.
Inslee urged Schultz to instead “come into the pool and compete as a Democrat” if he wants to be president. Inslee himself is preparing for a run for the Democratic nomination, saying that he is “seriously considering” officially entering the crowded primary race.
Schultz, a lifelong Democrat, announced on 60 Minutes on Sunday that he is exploring self-funding his own independent campaign. Schultz said that he thinks the Democratic Party has gone too far to the left for him to agree with, although his quibbles with the party seem less policy-based and more based on attacking the young, popular, female leaders on the left.
In his interview on 60 Minutes, Schultz said he agrees we need to fight climate change, wants to lower the tax burden for poor people, and even said we should grant citizenship to the 11 million undocumented people living in this country. Those are all core beliefs of the Democratic party. The only policy objections he seems to have with the party of Obama is that we shouldn’t give healthcare away for free and that Democrats are responsible for the deficit.
I don’t trust the authenticity of his gripe on either of these issues. I think his biggest problem with the Democratic Party is that he knows he can’t win its primary. He’s a weak candidate that has never won an election, has oratorical skills that are better relegated to a boardroom, and ideas that are as stale as a bag of Starbucks coffee beans. Schultz knows he’s going to lose, so instead of competing in a crowded primary race he’s exploring using his billionaire-white-male privilege to get a Fastpass to his own independent nomination.
And his selfish indulgence might reelect Trump. Inslee told CBS News today that if Schultz goes through with this independent campaign it will tarnish his legacy.
“No one in America should give Donald Trump a helping hand to become reelected as president of the United States. The devastation that that man could cause is profound and well-known. Do not help Donald Trump. That’s inexcusable,” Inslee told CBS.
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