# The Kamala Harris thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [October 20, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236 "2018-10-20T03:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![DavidChou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@DavidChou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidChou)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/281 "2019-02-25T19:51:45Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > our shit electoral system ensures third parties don’t work mathematically Hey, just wanted to share this bit I only learned about myself literally yesterday: It's the "First Past the Post Voting Problem" that explains why a two-party system is actually a mathematical\* inevitability. Just as a FYI, if you like nerd porn. 😉 - In the sense of Game Theory. ---
**Author:** ![DavidChou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@DavidChou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidChou)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/282 "2019-02-25T19:57:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’m confused about why anybody is pushing her so far, she seems like the candidate that appeals to the most narrow possible band of slightly-but-not-too-left Democrats who are vaguely sympathetic to social democracy. Yeah…so you don’t know?? I’ve been spelunking through this whole thread to get a sense\* of why I see her in the papers all the time…I mean besides Smollet – she was in the papers all the time before that, too… I’m thinking she’s just the safe corporate candidate “the powers that be” believe will stick. I hate to sound so conspiratorial but I can’t get any other sense of what the big deal is. Anyone know, thanks! - Of course, it could be argued that anyone interested in such a thread would already be a supporter and thus wouldn’t be discussing why they support her in the first place, understanding one another already. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/283 "2019-02-25T22:17:31Z")
No, Dr. **Seid** , you didn’t post in that thread. This one: [Should taxpayers pay for gender realignment surgery for prisoners? - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=426629) Twelve years ago, we were still struggling to communicate to the public that we deserved _any_ human rights _at all_. I’m very thankful for all the progress since then. I think it’s reasonable to expect that a smart cookie like Kamala Harris is able to change with the times without presuming bad faith on her part. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/284 "2019-02-25T23:10:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > To quote from [the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey Executive Summary](https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Executive-Summary-Dec17.pdf) - It is in my mind a stretch to call someone who “ever” exchanged sex for income a “sex worker”, a further stretch to call even those “ever” or “in last year” 12 or 9% “often”, and even more of a stretch to imply that such means the converse, that a high fraction of all sex workers are trans. > > From what I understand the explanation for the numbers of transpeople who have ever exchanged sex for money is desperation for money due to severe discrimination. As sex workers they are often subject to abuse and victimization. > > Seems to me order of business is to fight against that discrimination, not to facilitate sex work as a viable option. Well, ignoring anyone who makes a career out of sex work, the fact of the matter is that the discrimination and circumstances that force this aren’t going away any time soon, even if you try your hardest. Sure, I’d love to get rid of the circumstances that **force** anyone into sex work (an legalize it regardless), but until then we need to have channels available so the people who are forced into it for whatever reason can do it as safely as possible. Yes, the whole Backpage situation was a mess, and the child trafficking is a huge blow against it. I can honestly see shutting it down, but the legislation in question also prevented any similar site from opening, even a hypothetical one that didn’t participate in child trafficking. Yes, yes, sex work is illegal, but again, it being illegal is incredibly unsafe, and even if you maintain it should be illegal, that’s no reason to put the people who are forced into it (via financial reasons as opposed to trafficking) in even more danger. As for the trans prisoners and SRS thing, the brief she filed was [in 2015](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2015/05/Norsworthy-Motion-to-Stay-Filed-Version.pdf). Which isn’t that long ago, granted significant motion can happen in 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/285 "2019-02-25T23:31:54Z")
> [@DavidChou](#): > > I’m thinking she’s just the safe corporate candidate “the powers that be” believe will stick. I hate to sound so conspiratorial but I can’t get any other sense of what the big deal is. What makes Harris a “corporate” candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/286 "2019-02-26T01:48:22Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > What makes Harris a “corporate” candidate? The Kremlin, of course. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DavidChou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@DavidChou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidChou)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/287 "2019-02-26T02:40:14Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > What makes Harris a “corporate” candidate? She’s all over the media, even before the Smollet hoax unraveled, and when I go looking for stuff on why she’s so popular, I see it’s because she’s a black woman who can argue tough-on-crime to placate whites. Sounds like the color-by-the-numbers Demoratic Leadership Council playbook. Then I just found out today that she’s _still_ hasn’t even a policies page up yet! ---
**Author:** ![DavidChou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@DavidChou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidChou)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/288 "2019-02-26T02:46:52Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The Kremlin, of course. :rolleyes: I’m not sure how the Democrat hysteria over unregistered Russian influence peddling via social media dismisses my remark, but if you’re for her I am curious why you are if she doesn’t even have a policies page up yet despite all the media attention. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/289 "2019-02-26T10:07:54Z")
It puzzled me too, which is why I immediately went to her campaign page on FB and sent them a message about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/290 "2019-02-26T10:10:30Z")
Calling her “corporate” is just another retread of old attacks on Hillary Clinton. The trolls can’t even think up any new smears that even apply to the woman! ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/291 "2019-02-26T11:15:07Z")
Corporate donations were pouring in for Clinton. It wasn’t a smear. It remains to be seen whether Mass Incarceration Harris can capture that Suprepredator Clinton money-making magic. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/292 "2019-02-26T12:37:19Z")
Aint he cute? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/293 "2019-02-26T14:08:31Z")
People genuinely like her. She excites them. You can think of no explanation for her popularity other than a conspiracy by corporations? If someone is popular, it must be a conspiracy? She refuses to accept donations from corporate PACs. 2016 called; it wants its conspiracy theories back. It’s pathetic how lazy the haters have gotten. At least come up with something that isn’t so laughably outdated. The only Democratic “hysteria” going on here is hysterical laughter at how dumb these attacks are. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/294 "2019-02-26T14:37:06Z")
It was a conspiracy theory to point out Clinton received huge amounts of corporate money? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/295 "2019-02-26T14:45:09Z")
What are you responding to, **WillFarnaby**? We’re talking about Kamala Harris, here. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/296 "2019-02-26T14:54:43Z")
> [@DavidChou](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > What makes Harris a “corporate” candidate? > > She’s all over the media, even before the Smollet hoax unraveled, and when I go looking for stuff on why she’s so popular, I see it’s because she’s a black woman who can argue tough-on-crime to placate whites. > > Sounds like the color-by-the-numbers Demoratic Leadership Council playbook. > > Then I just found out today that she’s _still_ hasn’t even a policies page up yet! How would any of that make Harris a “corporate” candidate? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/297 "2019-02-26T15:38:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What are you responding to, **WillFarnaby**? We’re talking about Kamala Harris, here. Post 293 An attempt by the poster to undermine criticism of corporate-financed candidates like Harris by associating concerns with conspiracy theories. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/298 "2019-02-26T17:54:46Z")
But you weren’t talking about Harris; you were talking about Clinton. Maybe it’s true that Clinton was a corporate candidate, but that doesn’t mean that it makes sense to re-use the label for Harris. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/299 "2019-02-26T18:25:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But you weren’t talking about Harris; you were talking about Clinton. Maybe it’s true that Clinton was a corporate candidate, but that doesn’t mean that it makes sense to re-use the label for Harris. The poster tried to delegitimize criticism of Harris by associating the criticism with “conspiracy theories” about Clinton. If you have a problem with the introduction of Clinton to the discussion you have the ability to correct yourself and leave me be. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236/300 "2019-02-26T19:25:21Z")
In the interest of full disclosure, **WillFarnaby** , I reported that post. It (my reason for reporting it) had nothing to do with the corporate aspect. It was about the term “SuperPredator,” which, in my opinion, was an unnecessary dig in a thread where everyone was being civil to each other. Of course, I’m not a moderator, so that’s just one person’s opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kamala-harris-thread/823236.md?page=16)