Tulsi Gabbard Auditions For The Russian Nod

I can't believe Tulsi Gabbard will actually openly run as the Russians' pet candidate in 2020, but it's looking increasingly-likely. Gabbard doesn't appeal much to Democrats, but could attract Libertarian and Republican voters, so maybe it's OK to let her do whatever the hell she wants.

Her positions seem idiosyncratic, and not calculated to get mainstream Dem support. She may attract idiosyncratic supporters willing to overlook a lot. In 2016, Jill Stein accepted Russian support, apparently without realizing how it would damage her message. Bernie Sanders resisted the Russians, to his credit. Gabbard may welcome Russian support with gusto, which would be a genuinely-new event in American politics. Just as long as she's open about accepting Russian assistance, that's about all one can ask. After that, caveat emptor. Question is, will she deny getting Russian support and nevertheless get it surreptitiously?

Though Gabbard’s decision makes sense given her fundraising and polling disadvantage, some Democrats cited the move as evidence that she may launch a third-party presidential run after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predicted as much in an interview last week.

In an interview with former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, Clinton claimed that Gabbard was a “favorite of the Russians” and predicted that she was being “groomed” for a third-party run. Clinton said she believed Gabbard may play the same role as 2016 Green Party nominee Jill Stein, whom Clinton labeled a “Russian asset.”

Gabbard fired back, calling Clinton the “queen of warmongers” and the “embodiment of corruption.” Gabbard earlier this year ruled out a third-party run and hit out at “smears” by media outlets, who labeled her an “asset of Russia” in the last Democratic debate.