It had fuck-all to do with their muskets and everything to do with command and control. In this era, instantaneous communication is limited to visual or aural signals, and your weaponry temporarily deafens soldiers and fills the field with sight-obstructing smoke. Effective battlefield communication extends only a few dozen yards.

In this environment, the commander who groups and tightly controls his forces has a significant advantage over one who does not.

That attitude is why we keep winning the popular vote, but losing elections.

That attitude is why the Republicans can run out to the starboard wingtip and stretch out over the edge.

You can’t enact progressive policies when you’re benched. We are able to achieve far more progressive policies when we approach them from the center than from the left.

I think he has a better chance than Harris at winning the election. I think the negatives attributed to him are positions held by his constituents, and are not unreasonable in context. I think he is progressive, but pragmatic.

Yes, I’d put him at the top of the ticket.

That doesn’t mean I’ll “Bernie or Bust” for him.

This, exactly. We have a history of winning the popular vote and losing the election. We can argue about how terrible the EC is later, but that fact is not going to be changed before the election. We need to win the EC.

Harris is a California Democrat. She will easily win the blue states that anyone with a “(D)” after their name would win, and she will almost certainly take the popular vote. But that isn’t enough to win a presidential election.

Kelly is a unicorn. He is a Democrat that has the demonstrated ability to win in a red state. He will win any state that Harris will win, and he has a good chance at poaching enough voters to turn some otherwise red states competitive.

Harris might squeak through a win if we are very, very lucky.

Kelly will beat Trump like a rented redheaded stepmule.

I thought the same people who didn’t want Biden also didn’t want Kamala,

I’m still one of those people. I think she is an OK candidate, but Mark Kelly is a far better one.

That being said, I don’t see a “Bernie Bros” situation forming here. I don’t see people voting against her if she wins the nomination.

I could have been a little bit clearer, but I used the same construction in both sentences, using “was” to refer to their previous status as officers, and describing the events of their presidential election process. The context of “malingering draft dodger” should have been enough of a clue that I was referring to someone other than Col. McSally.

I did not neglect how to avoid the swift boating. GW and Kerry were both low level military officers, each accusing each other of having had poor military records. Both of them had sufficient military experience to make their criticisms credible, but neither had enough time in for their service records to prove or disprove the other’s claims.

Trump has no military service. He’s already known as “Cadet Bone Spurs”. JD Vance has 4 years of service… As an enlisted reporter. Any attack they might try is only going to remind the voting public of their terrible military credentials.

Just so we’re clear, since you seem to have confused them.

I didn’t confuse them. I was talking about his future opponent, not the previous one.

John Kerry was a low-level officer in a race with another low level officer.

Kelly was a high-ranking officer, running against a malingering draft dodger.

Completely different circumstances

Cadet Bone Spurs insulting a high ranking military officer and astronaut isn’t going to sit well with the undecideds, or those “Republicans” who have to hold their noses when they cast a vote.

Anything he says about Giffords is going to backfire spectacularly: she was severely injured; he scratched his ear.

Domestic violence is about 4 orders of magnitude more prevalent than terrorism, you porcine shitsticks.

Kelly has a better chance than Harris. He should be at the top of the ticket.

The Democratic governor of Arizona is charged with filling his seat, and Arizona law requires it be filled with someone of the same party as the vacating senator. We aren’t losing the seat; it’s safe until 2026 at least.

JD Vance was a “combat correspondent” in the Marine Corps, and separated after one tour as a Corporal (E4).

Kelly was a Navy Captain (O7).

One of these men was trained and entrusted to operate the space shuttle; the other, a digital camera.

GW left the military as a First Lieutenant (O2). Kelly retired as a Navy Captain, (O7).

If their careers were firearms, GW’s would be a .22LR revolver; Kelly’s would be a 20mm CIWS.

Not a problem. The governor of Arizona, a Democrat, will fill that seat, and Arizona law requires she fill it with a Democrat.

I would love to see Mark at the top of the ticket, and Scott as his Chief of Staff.

Harris is a lawyer turned politician. Kelly is a fighter pilot turned test pilot turned Navy Captain turned Astronaut turned Senator, with an identical twin brother with a nearly identical career, and a wife who survived an assassination attempt.

You can’t swing a dead cat Trump’s toupee in DC without hitting a dozen lawyer-turned-politican Democrats.

Kelly might be starting from behind but he has every advantage here.

Yes, 59.

What the Democrats need is someone who will get dems to the polls come election day.

Democrats in contested states.

We win the popularity contest, time and again, but because we keep picking blue-state Democrats, we keep losing elections.

If we would ever pick a Democratic candidate who has actually won an election in a red state, the election would be a runaway landslide, and the GOP would have to come crawling left.

Because we abandon the Red and contested states entirely, the GOP is free to run candidates like Trump.

Mark Kelly is 60. The ideal age for a first-time presidential candidate is 57, so they can retire after two terms at 65. Mark is 3 years past ideal, but still 18 years younger than Trump is now.

He and his twin brother could both complete two full terms and still be 2 years younger than Trump is now.

Mark should be at the top of the ticket, though. He is far more competitive in the contested states.