Tulsi Gabbard is a moderate Democratic candidate for the Presidency from Hawaii. She’s been sidelined and marginalized by Google and the Democratic National Committee, because she’s not far left enough for their likes.

Her biography is quite interesting. Her mother is a White woman born in Indiana who moved to American Samoa (now called Samoa) and converted to Hinduism. Her father is Mike Gabbard, a Hawaiian State Senator of mixed White and Samoan ancestry. He was elected as a Republican, switched parties in 2007, and was re-elected as a Democrat despite his outspoken criticism of same-sex marriage which continues to this day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard was active in her father’s Hawaii-based organization that promoted traditional marriage and opposed the LGBTQ movement, and she has only recently distanced herself from that position. News reports say this change has brought her father to tears.

Tulsi’s about face on the LGBTQ movement may or may not reflect an actual change in her beliefs. It may be out of political necessity. To be a serious Democratic candidate in 2019, one must support the LGBTQ community, and the LGBTQ community must support you. And the latter is simply not happening, due to her past activism.  Tulsi says she was exposed to both Hindu and Christian teachings during her upbringing. She considers herself spiritual but not religious, and places an emphasis on yoga and the Hawaiian concept of aloha.   

Lots of people think she hasn’t changed, and actually that is just fine with me. If this country had to have a Democrat as President, and I had to pick among the current selection of wanna-bees for the one person I’d be least fearful about selecting a Supreme Court justice, it would be Tulsi Gabbard. Her advocacy of environmental and consumer protection measures, and her criticism of the social media giants, are also a plus for me.    

Tulsi Gabbard is considered too moderate by folks at Google, and nothing could be more telling than their discrimination towards her. I had no serious interest in her campaign until I saw that she was suing Google, and echoing conservative talking points regarding the social media giants. This immediately had my strong attention.  

After the first televised Democratic debate in which she participated, her name was the most searched online of any of the candidates.  Google mysteriously suspended her ad-word search, preventing voters from finding information about her in those critical few hours in which her star could have risen.  https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/25/8930373/google-tulsi-gabbard-democratic-candidate-lawsuit-ad-search-ban-political-bias-debates

More than likely, Google suppressed her because they want a candidate who is further to the Left. She is suing Google for $50 million, and getting lots of coverage from various pundits on Fox News on this matter.

The early suppression of Ms. Gabbard’s candidacy by Google was a critical factor in shaping what percent of voters supported her candidacy. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) then tweaked the criteria to qualify for the 3rd round of debates to narrowly exclude Ms. Gabbard.  First they raised the number of donors that a candidate must have, which she then achieved. Then, in a controversial move, they decided which polls are authorized and which are not, and based on the average of the polls they accept, she doesn’t quite meet the 2% criteria.  Ten candidates made the cut, and she did not.

Tucker Carlson is a Republican, but he likes Tulsi Gabbard. And so do I. I’m not necessarily saying I would vote for her over Trump, but I do like her, and I believe the political process would benefit from her continued candidacy. I wish she was a Republican, and if so she would be a pro-family, pro-environment, and pro-consumer protection Republican. What more could I ask for? As a Democrat, she’s instead subject to the radical agenda of the activists, political figures, and pundits on that side. They push all candidates and Democratic elected officials further to the Left than I am comfortable. Environmental protection becomes radical like the Green New Deal, for instance.

What also sets her apart from her competition is that she presents herself very well. She doesn’t come across as a looney toon, and she’s not battling with her rivals to see who is furthest to the Left.  She would be a formidable challenger to President Trump, especially given her military rank as a Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, and having served two tours of active duty in Iraq and won various medals.

She has the potential to bring over many Republican and Independent voters.  Her participation in the Democratic Primary would steer the discussion in a moderate direction. This would be welcomed.

In the unlikely event that she wins the nomination, facing her would be a nightmare for Donald Trump and the Republicans.  Trump wants to face a candidate who is as radical and Far Left as possible, knowing that moderate and independent voters would be leery and unlikely to support such a candidate. The very last person Trump wants to face is someone who is close to the political center of this country, and is an officer in the Army.

Tulsi Gabbard has lots of qualities that would make her tough to beat. First, she would draw some votes from Trump just by being a woman and multi-racial. Racism against Trump remains concentrated on the fact that he is a White male, and we are labeled as the evil people of the world. Trump knows his weakness is among suburban White women, which is the most significant demographic in which he continues to lose support. Trump has greatly increased support among Blacks and Latino’s, but the all-important suburban White woman remains alienated by his antics, his tweets, and his aggressive male persona. The 2020 election remains up for grabs.

Tulsi Gabbard is well spoken, confident, and professional. She comes across as sincere about her positions, and even if I may disagree with her on some key positions, I at least respect her positions.

Ms. Gabbard is an especially stark contrast to Corey Booker, who is simply parroting whatever he thinks is the views of the Democratic voter. Booker was my mayor when I lived in Newark. I’ll talk about him much more in an upcoming blog.

Gabbard’s greatest asset is that she is personally likable. She will never have the burden carried by Hillary Clinton in which huge numbers of voters simply loathe her existence, and curse the air that she breathes. Donald Trump joked when Kirsten Gillibrand withdrew from the presidential race that Gillibrand was the one candidate he most feared.  No, I think Tulsi Gabbard owns that distinction.   

I don’t think Ms. Gabbard will survive the Democratic Primary process, having been excluded from the upcoming debate. The public is eager to see the number of candidates reduced, and will lose interest in anyone not up there debating.

However, we haven’t heard the last of Tulsi Gabbard. She’ll be back in 2024, I hope. This country seems to go back and forth between a Democratic and a Republican president every 8 years. If 2024 is a destiny year for the Democrats, she will have my continued attention.  Her campaign website is https://www.tulsi2020.com/