Political Poker
You got to know when to hold ’em — to force transparency
It’s been an unprecedented season of poker in the political world. We started with 30 candidates and quickly the players dwindled as some didn’t have enough chips to ante up the fee to play the game. Unknowns like Mike Gravel, Seth Moulton, Wayne Messam, and John Hickenlooper (just the name would keep him out of the White House) withdrew from the game before the first hand was dealt, failing to appear on any presidential primary ballot.
Others had some name recognition, Kristen Gillibrand, Bill de Blasio, and Beto O’Rourke, and they got some good press, but when the cameras zoomed in on their hold cards, everyone could see they didn’t have what it takes, and also folded early.
A couple players held some interesting hands. Andrew Yang played his Universal Basic Income card, which brought true Socialists out of their seats cheering, but the establishment thought it was too bold. He held another interesting card called Next Generation Thorium Reactors that could solve the world’s energy challenges, but he only let us have a peek at this card because very few had ever heard of this revolutionary energy source.
And then there was a real fighter in Tulsi Gabbard. Former military and the first female combat veteran to play in this poker match, Tulsi…
