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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:34:50 JST Evan Prodromou

   So, I was going to originally say "mostly quick", since I think that it's been important that Democrats showed unity so quickly and can now execute on the campaign over the next 100 days. A lot of the concerns that Harris getting the nod not seem like a "coronation", and that there be some kind of contest where she has to earn the nomination, seemed kind of empty.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:37:02 JST Evan Prodromou

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     Then I thought about a counterexample -- what if Harris had been passed over quickly and a coterie of donors had instead managed put forward some pliable, center-right Bob Roberts character? And everyone was expected to rally quickly around him "for the good of the country and the party"? I don't think I'd be enthusiastic about that, no matter how quick it was.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:45:17 JST Evan Prodromou

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     So, I guess I'd say "mostly fair". I can argue for a lot of reasons why VP Harris is a fair choice, and why choosing someone else would feel unfair. The fact that it happened quickly is a relief, but less important.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:47:00 JST Evan Prodromou

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     "Bob Roberts" is a really good movie, btw.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Roberts

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     Bruce Elrick (virtuous_sloth@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:47:58 JST Bruce Elrick

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     @evan That was the scenario I feared with all the establishment types (corporate media and political power brokers) calling for Biden to step down, and that would be a party in disarray.

     With the establishment political types endorsing rapidly and on an ongoing basis, along with an organic groundswell of support presumably due to Harris's inherent positive qualities among other things, I'm not even upset at the charges of it being a politically engineered change.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:50:23 JST Evan Prodromou

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     I found the replies to this poll frustrating. A lot of people felt like the process could be both quick and fair, which I agree with. But that doesn't mean they're equally important. When you're saving a baby from a burning building, it's more important to be quick than fair. When you're resolving an argument with your romantic partner, it's more important to be fair than quick.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 03:56:10 JST Evan Prodromou

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     When I explained that the "mostly quick" and "mostly fair" options encompassed that framework -- both are important, but one is more important -- some people dug in their heels and said that both factors were exactly the same level of importance.

     This seems really unlikely to me in any situation where two factors have non-negligible importance.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 05:14:25 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Jason B

     @jehb a good example. I think being quick is still better than being fair in that situation.

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     Jason B (jehb@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 24-Jul-2024 05:14:26 JST Jason B

     in reply to

     @evan The problem with that analogy is that the desired outcome is obvious.

     What if there are five babies in the burning building and you can only carry one? Should you be quick or fair?