# Tulsi Gabbard (R-HI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 23, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104 "2024-10-23T16:25:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/1 "2024-10-23T16:25:25Z")
After breaking from the Democratic Party in 2022, although she had been moving that direction for a while already, Gabbard was an independent. Now she is officially a Republican. The funny thing in that she has made these decisions claiming the Democratic Party was racist and not accepting of dissenting views. I have a lot of issues with the Democratic Party but I never have thought that Democratic leadership were racist and the Republican Party is the one that tells me if I am pro-choice, pro-public schools, believe not everyone is their birth/genitalia gender, support EV cars, &c. that I’m not a real Republican. She did get something out of it be being co-chair of Mr. Trump’s 2024 transition team. My questions are: was she a DINO just so she could be elected to public office in Hawaii? What is here future now as an admitted MAGA? Do Hawaiians see this as a betrayal? They saw this all along? Or they don’t care since she’s out of office? Lastly, by waiting until now, did she blow her chance to be Trump’s running mate or was that never in the cards? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/2 "2024-10-23T16:36:49Z")
In general, I’d say that she is and always has been a true crazy person. There have always been plenty of crazy people among the left - hippies, commies, etc. - and, in general, that’s the traditional native home of crazies. There wasn’t much room for them on the right outside of some gun nuts. The parties have swapped sides on worker protectionism, abortion rights, scientific backing, etc. There’s really nothing to be surprised about that as the Democratic party becomes Lincoln, Teddy, Ike, and Reagan’s Republican party, the crazies move the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/3 "2024-10-23T16:44:42Z")
For the record, I did not tag this thread with “trump” and I don’t know who did. Although the topic is tangentally related to Donald Trump, I wanted this thread to be about Gabbard and not yet another “rant against Trump”. God knows we have more than enough of those already. With that in mind, could a mod remove that before this goes off the rails? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/4 "2024-10-23T16:59:14Z")
Not a mod and I didn’t mention Trump but, it should be pointed out, your OP does mention El Cthulhu Naranja so that seems like a poor way to avoid him. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/5 "2024-10-23T17:11:27Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > For the record, I did not tag this thread with “trump” and I don’t know who did. Probably the automatic tagger. You named it, you summoned it. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/6 "2024-10-23T17:12:50Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Probably the automatic tagger. > > You named it, you summoned it. This is the answer. If you mention Trump in the OP, the tag is automatically added. I fixed it. ETA: Also, @Saint_Cad, if you want a mod to act, please flag. We don’t always see in-thread requests to moderate. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/7 "2024-10-23T17:21:30Z")
She was always a grifter. She changed parties when the grift was no longer working on the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/8 "2024-10-23T17:22:10Z")
OK thanks. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > so that seems like a poor way to avoid him. Not trying to avoid him necessarily since he does enter to the discussion. What I am trying to avoid is the thread turning into a series of anti-Trump rants completely missing the OP. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/9 "2024-10-23T17:24:34Z")
Here’s a deep dive into Tulsi. I have only ever skimmed it, but may finally get to it in its entirety. Weird. > **[Tulsi Gabbard Had a Very Strange Childhood](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/tulsi-gabbard-2020-presidential-campaign.html)** > > Which may just help explain why she’s so totally out of place in today’s Democratic Party. And her long-shot race for the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/10 "2024-10-23T17:44:59Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Probably the automatic tagger. > > You named it, you summoned it. I don’t want to find out what happens if you name Trump three times. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/11 "2024-10-23T18:13:24Z")
He explodes? ---
**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:** [October 23, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/12 "2024-10-23T18:18:32Z")
What about her appealed to Hawaii voters originally? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/13 "2024-10-23T19:07:05Z")
Part of it is the (D-HI) after her name. But curiously she was a DINO even while in the House so why was she re-elected over and over? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/14 "2024-10-23T19:10:46Z")
Looking at the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii%27s_2nd_congressional_district) for that Congressional district, it appears to be overwhelming Democratic. That probably explains her repeated wins. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/15 "2024-10-23T19:14:25Z")
Not in the primaries IF she were a DINO. But that my be part of the bigger question, why are incumbents almost always 100% in winning primaries/generals even if they don’t represent their constituents? ---
**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:** [October 23, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/16 "2024-10-23T19:26:31Z")
Not asking why she won against the Republican candidate; asking why she won the Democratic primary. What did Democrats, the solid majority of voters in Hawaii, see in her in the first place? Had she presented herself as not batshit successfully then? If so was it only when she tried to get a national presence that she focused on the insane vote? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/17 "2024-10-23T19:39:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > What did Democrats, the solid majority of voters in Hawaii, see in her in the first place? It looks like she mostly ran as an anti-war candidate. Until Trump, the Democratic party was the pacifist party. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/18 "2024-10-23T20:36:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He explodes? Trump…Trump…Trump. (checks CNN for breaking news) Nope, didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/19 "2024-10-23T21:48:07Z")
The party will miss her as much as I miss a zit on my butt that I popped in high school. Maybe now she’ll make a couple White House runs as a Republican and be the first totally irrelevant person to run in two parties. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104/20 "2024-10-23T22:48:18Z")
I assume she’s hoping for a political appointment should Trump win the election. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tulsi-gabbard-r-hi/1009104.md?page=2)