Starbucks founder and former CEO Howard Schultz was just on 60 Minutes. The man is considering a third-party bid for the Presidency in 2020.
Bloody hell.
Folks, that’s the ballgame if he runs. Schultz is a billionaire with the money to make a serious dent in the contest. He has no chance of winning the election, mind you. But he will swing the election to Trump. The Electoral map and the rules of the game all but guarantee it, regardless of the Democratic nominee. When directly asked if he was concerned about his negative impact on Democrats, Schultz dodged the question with some “I want to see America win” pablum reminiscent of the current occupant of the White House. Make no mistake: Even more so than Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, and Jill Stein before him, an independent vanity candidacy by Schultz will be a catastrophic spoiler.
Steve Schmidt, the former manager of Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, is on-board with Schultz. Schmidt, you might remember, is the genius responsible for putting Sarah Palin on that ticket. You’d think he’d be done screwing with America. But apparently not.
Despite contemplating the massacre of a Democrat’s chances in 2020, Schultz claims to be a “lifelong Democrat” himself. If true, then he should declare as a Democrat, enter the primary, and see if he can gather enough Democratic support to win the nomination. I’d even listen to his pitch myself. There are worse choices. If Schultz doesn’t like the Democratic party, he should try to fix it rather than undermine it. In any case, if Schultz is ultimately responsible for another four years of Trump, history will never forgive him. I know I never will.
I am a very regular customer at Starbucks and have, in fact, composed multiple blog entries at local establishments. I use the Starbucks app so I quite depressingly know exactly how much I spend with them. While I’m not generally one for boycotts, at this point I cannot in good conscience continue to frequent the chain. Schultz is the largest shareholder of Starbucks and I don’t want a penny more of my money to assist his potential campaign. I will use the remainder of my nine Starbucks Stars to make them give me the free drinks I’m already owed, but I will then take my business to other coffee shops. If Schultz comes to his senses and backs off the idea of an independent bid, I’ll return to Starbucks and offer him my sincere appreciation.
In the meantime, whenever this idiot talks, I’ll only hear the immortal words of a possible fictional relative, one Sergeant Schultz from “Hogan’s Heroes”:
“I see nothing! I know nothing!”