Saturday, February 22, 2020

Neptunian politics, Part II




“Given everything we’ve seen from the president, it’s almost certain that Trump sincerely believed Blagojevich’s sentence was unfair. So he tried to shake down a children’s hospital, using state funding as a way to extort campaign contributions. What’s the big deal? That’s just shrewd deal-making. Would we really want to live in a world where public officials can’t wet their beaks? 

But more than that, what Trump is really after is the normalization of corruption. The fact that Blagojevich was a Democrat makes it all the better. Trump would never argue that Republicans are clean and Democrats are dirty; he wants to convince you that everyone is dirty.”—Paul Waldman, WashingtonPost.com


The Waldman/WAPO article cited above is extremely disturbing if you happen to believe that there are decent, honest, even self-sacrificing individuals in this world, and that innocence lives, despite the efforts of cynics like Trump. Yes, this is a cruel, corrupt world for many right now, but believing that the corruption at the root of so much injusticde is “no big deal” sinks to quite a new low. Why would Trump want to “normalize corruption?” Perhaps because for him, corruption is normal?
 
The article goes on to characterize this quest of Trump as a ploy to convince opposition voters to not bother voting. Why vote, if nothing you do is likely to work? Why vote, when the corrupt—including Russia, according to last night’s New York Times article on new revelations about their meddling in 2020—have rigged the game and that’s just the way it is? 

Of all the misinformation campaigns we might imagine (see here for a lot more on that), Trump’s Russia-supported attempt to make us feel helpless and hopeless could actually be the most damaging to our election in November, and with the new revelations, it’s now not surprising that the GOP plans for this year echo some tactics reportedly used by the Russians in 2016—targeting potential Democratic voters with troll farm lies and distortions on social media sites, attempting to discourage them and convince them that it’s useless to vote. 

“Resistance is futile” and “democracy is an illusion…why bother?” are the ultimate Orwellian messages—messages that also echo White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s now notorious quip about his boss’s toxic blending of dirty politics in foreign policy: “get used to it.” In our early days as a Republic, people expressing such views would have been run out of town on a rail. Today they’re given Executive branch jobs.

In the last post we considered the Neptunian challenges to this coming election at length, then analyzed two candidate charts in that light. How would these individuals be able to respond and perhaps even thrive in the dirty game of Trump politics that looms ahead? In an interesting piece for The Atlantic, journalist Sarada Peri seems to pick up on the same Neptunian dynamic in her piece entitled “Trump is going to cheat: How should Democrats fight against a president who has no moral or legal compass?” This excerpt was especially striking:

 “But these concerns about policy and broad cultural appeal are secondary to the true electability’ crisis facing whichever Democrat wins the nomination: He or she will need to run against a president seemingly prepared, and empowered, to lie and cheat his way to reelection.”
Peri goes on to explain why Trump will find it difficult to run on his record—for those suburban voters he lost in 2018, his agenda to break down Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security should all register as a no-go. So what choice has he? To lie and cheat and scam the American people into giving him four more years. Despite people being alert to their own self-interests, Peri says, “But—and this must be said out loud—the facts may not matter.” 
The Nevada caucuses have experienced record turn-out.

Trump’s campaign has already initiated some disturbingly corrupt tactics to attract voters that Dems can usually count on—for instance, handing out cash awards to individuals of color so as to pretend he’s their friend? This, from Politico.com:
“Allies of Donald Trump have begun holding events in black communities where organizers lavish praise on the president as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees.

The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where recipients whose winning tickets were drawn from a bin landed cash gifts in increments of several hundred dollars, stuffed into envelopes. A second giveaway scheduled for this month in Virginia has been postponed, and more are said to be in the works.”

While I don’t believe these tactics—which smack of bald-faced bribery—will pull the wool over too many eyes and result in people ignoring Trump’s onerous policies and racist behavior, they could do some damage. Especially to those running their campaigns with integrity. Trump’s following a well-known authoritarian playbook principle here: deceive the people into thinking you have their interests at heart long enough to get their vote, and then wham! Let them know where they really stand when it’s too late to do anything about it. Let’s hope people wake up and smell this particularly creepy cup of coffee. The stakes are way too high here.
Nothing's sacred, it seems.

Finally, Peri calls out Republican enablers of Trump’s corrupt campaign by pointing out how the dirty tricks compromising election security have already begun:
“Using guerrilla tactics, his supporters jammed up the Iowa Democratic Party hotline on caucus night to sow chaos. Then, when the results indeed yielded chaos, Republican trolls, including Don Jr., tweeted out conspiracy theories about a rigged election. Worst of all, congressional Republicans are shamelessly blocking election-security bills, including two that would specifically fight foreign interference in American elections.”  
It would be interesting to know if Russia had anything to do with jamming up those phone lines—it’s certainly a do-able tactic for a troll farm, so we can’t really rule this suspicion out. So yes, the dirty gloves are off, folks—Trump has clearly realized that, with the GOP Senate’s help and a subservient Justice Department, that being openly corrupt is his best path to success. Not something to hide or be perhaps slightly ashamed of; no, corruption is something to crow about now—the lower the better. 
Speaks for itself!
No wonder every one of the 11 criminals he pardoned or showed clemency to today was convicted on some kind of bribery, corruption, racketeering, fraud or mishandling of the public trust. He pardoned a Giuliani associate/former N.Y. police chief convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud, etc. These are his people – why not? Not to mention, he’s found the perfect self-serving tool in these pardons for grooming new campaign surrogates,, collecting campaign donations (see here for much more on this) and stoking outrage to “trolg the Libs,” just to see them squirm. “If you don’t like it,” he seems to be saying, “try and stop me!”
So perhaps we didn’t know how good we had it with our American “rule of Law” approach to justice up until now. On the one hand, with our national Sibly chart’s Pluto return very near completion, is any of this truly surprising? The demise of our democracy has been rolling down the tracks like a fog-enveloped freight train, and too many simply haven’t noticed what’s approaching until it arrived. And here it is—the hallmark of authoritarian regimes is that elections are never fair, so we have decisions to make as a people, whether to fight to preserve our fair elections or not. For as long as Trump occupies the White House going forward, we will never be able to count on justice being truly “blind,” or even done at all—or on being protected by the Justice system ourselves. Only the proven corrupt and those who can be used for political purposes need apply for help. 

So where does that leave his opposition and the rocky road ahead to November’s election? In the hands of candidates like the ones whose charts we’ll consider ahead. Just to frame the discussion, we’ll be focusing on how each candidate is likely to be able to handle that Neptunian cesspool of lies, misinformation and cheating that’s threatening to subvert their candidacies and steal the election in November. 

Let’s begin.



Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Senator Klobuchar has been a rising star in the Senate for some time now, but she’s had a problem with name recognition out on the campaign trail. Her fortunes shifted a bit through the first two nomination contests, finally, and word has it that she’s the only candidate that stumped all 99 counties in Iowa. Chuck Todd noted that she also “outevented everyone in New Hampshire,” so what she may lack in that elusive quality of charisma, she makes up for with commitment and a solid work ethic. Her now familiar narrative centers on being from a struggling, but industrious Minnesota family (“my grandfather saved money in a coffee can in the basement”), so it’s safe to say that she is targeting the working and middle classes with her message and policies. She has a special affinity for the farming community, which can’t hurt, especially in her home state of Minnesota. Wikipedia summarizes her background nicely:

“American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the Hennepin County attorney. In February 2019, she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election
Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. She was a partner at two Minneapolis law firms before being elected county attorney for Hennepin County in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota's most populous county. Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006, becoming Minnesota's first elected female United States senator, and reelected in 2012 and 2018.[1] In 2009 and 2010, she was described as a "rising star" in the Democratic Party.[2][3]
I’ve watched her closely on the debate stage several times now—she’s had stronger showings every time, with the exception of the debate on February 19th, where she was put on the defensive by relentless attacks from Pete Buttigieg, a fellow moderate who probably sees her as a prime target. At times in that debate the animosity between these two seemed personal—unfortunately Klobuchar gave her fiery Mars (Aries, see below chart) free rein to react with visible anger and disgust. Women candidates are often held to different standards than their male counterparts when it comes to emotional expression, so we’ll have to see what impact her angry display will have on Nevada results. Will she fall prey to pressures arising from that stereotype?  Or will her work ethic impress and crowd out that negativity? 

Of course, she’s one of only two women remaining in the top-tier of Democratic candidates who make the debates (Tulsi Gabbard hasn’t been on the stage for several of them now), yet it’s hard to see where Klobuchar’s gender has ever been a real obstacle for her. My take is that she normally comes across as very professional, and she’s not shy about sharing her successes and stellar qualities. I get the impression that she owns her power and knows her mind, which might inspire confidence in voters. 

Klobuchar’s platform is decidedly centrist (she opposes Medicare for All, for starters), and from the rise in numbers that she experienced in Iowa and New Hampshire, it’s possible she’s in touch with what people are looking for. 

Between Klobuchar and her chief centrist rival, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (see chart from last post here),  they captured 44.2% of the New Hampshire primary—this says that stripe down the middle of the road has gravitational pull, so it’s not to be ignored. The question is, who’s the best candidate for leveraging that opportunity? Indeed, Klobuchar may be seen as a “safe” alternative to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and/or Bernie Sanders, whose policies veer far more to the left. 

So, how would Klobuchar handle the Neptunian onslaught of misinformation, distortion and dirty politics coming from the Trump camp? The analysis below considers her chart from that perspective. As with the last post, we’ll be examining the candidate charts alongside this year’s Aries ingress—this should give us some idea about the path ahead for 2020. 





Biwheel #1: (inner wheel) Amy Klobuchar, May 25, 1960, 12:56 a.m. DST, Saint Louis Park, MN; (outer wheel) Aries Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m., Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. 

Klobuchar Venus conjoins Moon and Sun (Gemini); Sun widely conjoins Klobuchar Mercury (Gemini); Ingress Neptune (Pisces) squares Klobuchar Mercury (Gemini). This strong Gemini energy explains Klobuchar’s facility on the debate stage, and when she points out that she’s won every race she’s been in, that might be her strong Venus at work. Even so, the transiting square from Ingress Neptune to her Mercury suggests that she may experience some challenges keeping her thoughts straight if a misinformation campaign targets her. 

Trump’s chart features a natal Mercury-Neptune square (Cancer-Libra), which explains a lot of his duplicity and delusionary thinking, but it’s difficult to predict how Klobuchar will experience this particular combination. She’s only polling at 9% in the latest national NPR/Marist poll (knocking her back from much better results in Iowa and New Hampshire), so maybe it’s a moot point. She’s a fighter (Aries Mars) and a strong Venus (Taurus) might lend her some charm for the road ahead. 

Of all the candidates, she’s been calling the most insistently for Michael Bloomberg to stop hiding behind his out-of-pocket ad blitz and actually show up to debate, and of course, that happened in Nevada last night, where he was basically savaged by the other candidates, especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Both women on the stage were fired up and combative last night, in fact – must have something to do with Venus (Aries) falling square Jupiter (Capricorn)![1] This reflects how both targeted the massively wealthy man on stage (Bloomberg). The combativeness was probably also stoked by Mars (Capricorn) square Uranus (Taurus), disposed by that warrior Venus. The men on the stage seemed a bit mystified by their female colleagues, but only Pete Buttigieg dared to question Klobuchar in fairly harsh terms. As I noted, that did not go well.

Klobuchar’s chart features four planets/luminaries in home signs: Mars in Aries, Venus in Taurus, Mercury in Gemini and Saturn in Capricorn. This suggests that she’s capable of firing on all pistons in both her personal and professional life. Her reputation as a passionate/determined “warrior” for her constituents is supported by her Mars-Eris conjunction (Aries), which may also account for her tenacity and self-confidence—and the anger she showed last night towards Buttigieg’s needling. She generally behaves with a lot more equanimity, but somehow Buttigieg’s approach threw her off balance and onto the defensive. That leaves us to wonder if she will be able to stand up against Trump’s brand of needling and verbal abuse. He certainly won’t be any kinder than Buttigieg was—this is a point to watch going forward.

Klobuchar's centrist agenda could help her with some, but hurt her with others.


Klobuchar Mars (Aries) inconjoins her Neptune (Scorpio); her Neptune squares her ASC-DSC (Aquarius-Leo). At their worst, these aspects would have a “muffling” effect on Klobuchar’s ambitions, undermining her ability to move forward at a pace that matches her efforts. Yet, these are natal aspects and she’s been living with them forever, so maybe she’s worked out how to navigate the frustrations of this nebulous trap. Perseverance is key: Neptune is capable of breaking down enthusiasm and commitment, but at best, it’s capable of firing people up with idealism. Hopefully, the latter is the case with Klobuchar—she seems to have some grit stored up for just these Neptunian occasions; again, the best case scenario would be that she doesn’t respond defensively. If she can handle the Neptunian onslaught—lies, distortions and nebulous threats—she could perhaps effectively counter Trump’s cheating. 

Time will tell—she has some formidable competition in the centrist lane, so she has to distinguish herself from those rivals, including Michael Bloomberg.   

Ingress Node (Cancer) squares Klobuchar Mars (Aries) and trines Klobuchar Neptune (Scorpio). This, together with transiting Pisces Neptune hovering within orb of Klobuchar’s South Node (Pisces) amounts to a lot of emotional “water” in the situation. That could be a positive, given that this year promises to be quite emotional—deploying that kind of energy for the right reasons may be just the ticket, if people respond. Again, public opinion (Node) will undoubtedly weigh in on the emotional dimension of her character during the caucus. Anything she can do to make sure her emotions come across as expressions of her idealism (Neptune) would be helpful. Trump is equally, if not more emotional in his campaign appearances, but then normal expectations for behavior never seem to apply to him.  

It’s interesting also that Klobuchar’s North Node conjoins Sibly Neptune (Virgo, chart not shown): if she gets the chance, perhaps she will be able to convey that 1) she’s seriously committed to her path of public service (Virgo), and 2) she really “gets” what the so-called “American Dream” is about (Sibly Neptune). This could mean that she will manage Neptunian challenges as well as anybody can—she’s “been there, done that!” (Pisces South Node). This may also make that Mercury-Ingress Neptune square a bit less concerning—she’ll be challenged to mentally “process” Neptunian energies (which is difficult for any one), but she’s likely up to the challenge. 

Let’s see how the other female candidate is likely to fare against the same challenges.




Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)


Sen. Elizabeth Warren

After seeming to disappear off the campaign radar screen for a couple weeks, Senator Warren came roaring back in last night’s debate. Of all the candidates on stage, she did the most effective, even aggressive job of holding Michael Bloomberg’s feet to the fire over past issues with women in his company and with his failed “Stop and Frisk” program as NYC Mayor. He was not amused, to say the least, and he had very few helpful answers for her.

Warren distinguishes herself among the candidates with her reputation for having a detailed “plan” for virtually every issue and initiative that she envisions will be important: health care, gun reform, paid family leave, universal pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds, student loan forgiveness, teacher raises, climate change, and on and on. 

She’s acknowledged, in fact, that some of her plans originated with former candidates (Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, etc.), and that she asked their permission to feature such plans in her campaign. In these times, we have to admire that kind of transparency. As for her own approach, she takes a solidly progressive, if not quite socialist approach to many issues, but she’s an advocate for capitalism, as long as its more cutthroat wealth inequality-producing tendencies can be regulated sensibly. Like Sanders, she doesn’t have much patience with billionaires, but she does seem to be more interested in making such individuals part of the solution instead of the problem. 

Warren has a record of fighting Wall Street for the sake of economic reform (she was in charge of organizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Obama), but I haven’t heard her call for the same type of “working class revolution” that Sanders promotes. 

She seems to have a facility for calling out others’ incongruities and catching key debate points on the fly, and she has no fear of saying tough things out loud. She began the evening last night by calling out Michael Bloomberg for being a “billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads and horse-faced lesbians’”—and when he went on to explain how good women have it working for his company, Warren quipped that his defense was that he’s “nice to some women.” I suspect she can take Donald Trump on in a debate, with little problem. His tactics will be dirty, of course, but she appears capable of landing some effective punches, and she will definitely see through his machinations.

Let’s consider her chart. 





Biwheel #2: (inner wheel) Elizabeth Warren, June 22, 1949, 12 p.m. ST, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ; (outer wheel) Aries Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m., Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.

Please note that we have no sure birth time for Elizabeth Warren, so we won’t dwell on angles, house or Moon placements. 

Warren Sun conjoins Warren Uranus (Cancer); these points sextile her Saturn (Virgo), square her Eris (Aries) and inconjoin her Jupiter (Aquarius). It was clear from Warren’s last debate performance that she’s feeling some heat and urgency about her campaign—Ingress Sun (Aries) exactly squares her Sun-Uranus (Cnncer) and sextiles her Jupiter (Aquarius). Between her Cancer conjunction and her Jupiter sign, she has a fairly prominent Aquarian nature—which makes for an “odd couple” mix for a nurturing, Cancer Sun, but she seems to make it work.  

She was the only debater on the stage that said “I believe in science” when asked about the climate change dilemma. She’s an advocate for meaningful change, always targeting areas where ordinary people are disadvantaged in some way (her specialty as a law school professor was bankruptcy law), and this isn’t pie in the sky with her: she’s compiled a long list of “plans” for every bit of it. 

Virgo Saturn (which also inconjoins her Jupiter) endows her with a steel trap mind for details, an attribute that’s reinforced by her Gemini Mercury disposing that Saturn. Her fighting nature and ability to make devastatingly sharp criticisms (i.e., against Bloomberg) is clearly on display here, too, with Mercury conjoined Mars (Gemini). 

Interchart T-Square: Ingress Saturn-Pluto (Capricorn) opposes Warren Venus (Cancer); this axis squares Ingress Eris (Aries)-Warren No. Node (Aries). It’s interesting that she shares this set of aspects with Trump himself (Trump’s includes a Saturn-Venus conjunction)—could it be that she will be able to counter him better because of this? Her t-square, however, also involves her No. Node, which in Aries, which reflects that warriorship of some kind is her evolutionary path. It appears Ingress Eries is on hand to keep her motivated. 

It’s worth pointing out here that Warren’s progressed Sun is at 8°+Virgoconjunct her progressed Saturn (Virgo). This puts both progressed points square her natal Mercury-Mars—certainly a reflection of the workload she’s been handling and the “sound the alarm” role she’s committed to playing in these times. Another interesting detail: her progressed Jupiter (Capricorn) conjoins Ingress Mars-Jupiter (Capricorn) and her Sun/Pluto and Uranus/Pluto midpoints at that same degree. It’s an amazing, ambitious convergence of several energies that gives us insight into the role Warren sees herself playing. Here’s what Michael Munkasey has to say about the Sun/Pluto midpoint, with Jupiter: 

“An idealistic desire to become number one; cheer or laughter lightens your perspective on life; a need for creating a more complete set of ethics or morals…a debasing of personal standards.”[2]
This suggests that the dynamics that go into fully embracing power on the almost unimaginable scale of the U.S. presidency, which can certainly be done for righteous reasons, despite our current experience with Trump. Nothing about Warren’s behavior that I’ve seen suggests a lack of ethics or morals, but she’s as exposed to temptations as the next person. As we know, Trump has decided his best bet is to simply be openly corrupt and to challenge those with reservations to do something about it!  As for Warren’s Uranus/Pluto midpoint (Capricorn)with Jupiter:
 “Added insight into legal and political processes which you use for expressing ideas about reform and change; an excess of strong feelings about imposing major changes into the many various paths of life.”[3]
Anyone who witnessed Warren’s debate performance this past Wednesday can relate to this: Mars adds an abrasive, potentially angry edge to these midpoints and dynamics. It could be that Mars will be “fuel” for Warren—according to Politico.com, her coming out swinging boosted her fund-raising significantly.
Ingress Neptune (Pisces) trines Warren Venus (Cancer). It’s possible that Neptune also sextiles Warren Moon (Taurus), but since we’re not sure of her timing, we’ll pass on that consideration. If her chart did have this sextile, it would increase her capacity for compassion and idealism, but this is also suggested by her Neptune-Venus trine (Pisces-Cancer). She expresses both qualities pretty nicely, and even though her idealism at times seems a bit naïve and “pie in the sky,” once she explains her plans to address lofty goals (like universal pre-K), those goals usually sound more rational and clear-headed. These aspects also represent her ability to inspire others with her ideals. 


Warren communicates deep concern for human needs in her rhetoric and policies.


These are fairly hopeful aspects, in fact—perhaps a sign that she can handle the Neptunian energies at work on less lofty projects, like misinformation campaigns, etc. Finally, if her Moon (Taurus) is roughly where it’s shown here, it squares Pluto (Leo), suggesting that her family life growing up was profoundly transformative in some way, and she’s alluded to this in so many words when describing her upbringing. This may help her  come across as authentically caring, compassionate and aware of human needs. 

So, I’m cautiously optimistic that Warren will fare pretty well if she wins the Democratic nomination. The question is, can she win the nomination? If she can’t, she would be, in my estimation, a great running mate for whoever does win. She’s probably one of the hardest-working Senate members and presidential candidates, and she wears it well, being incredibly energetic and looking much younger than her years (71) .  In this she distinguishes herself from Sanders and Biden—her fellow septuagenarians. As much as we might hope such factors don’t really matter, they do.  

 


Former V.P. Joe Biden


V.P. Joseph Biden

To my recollection, this is the third time former V.P. Joe Biden has sought the presidential nomination, so he has obviously known the agony of defeat without losing confidence in himself. Having served two terms in the Obama administration, brought on by Obama for his foreign policy experience, he probably is the most knowledgeable and experienced candidate when it comes to national security and international alliances and agreements, including the Paris Agreement. That should mean something to voters; however, Biden also represents most starkly the generational divide that bedevils this race, so thus far, he’s just doing “okay,” not really catching on in a big, sustainable way.  We’ll see what happens today (as I write this) in Nevada!

As discussed earlier, and more thoroughly in the last post here, Russia’s poking its nose into our election with a misinformation campaign that picks up where they left off (if they left off) in 2016’s election. One of their priorities, it seems, is to deflect support from Biden to Sanders—with the ultimate aim of facilitating Trump’s re-election (Trump has expressed a desire to run against Sanders, so maybe Russia’s taking their marching orders from him or vice versa). Could Trump and Russia end up being sorry for what they wished for? Stay tuned—the point here is how all this might impact Biden’s chances at the nomination. This dilemma gives us something tangible to ponder when we consider how Biden will be able to handle toxic Neptunian tactics aimed at undermining him. Let’s begin.







Biwheel #3: (inner wheel) Joseph Biden, November 20, 1942, 8:30 a.m. War Time, Scranton, PA. ; (outer wheel) Aries Ingress 2020, March 19, 2020, 11:50:01 p.m., Washington, D.C... Tropical Equal Houses, True Node.

Ingress Pallas-Mars-Jupiter-Pluto-Saturn (all conjunct in Capricorn) oppose Biden Jupiter (Cancer) and sextile Biden Mercury-Sun-Venus (conjunct in Scorpio). These aspects are both hopeful and discouraging for Biden’s prospects, unless he is capable of absorbing Capricornian pressures (stellium opposing his Jupiter) and projecting them back out at his opponents. He’s a bit disadvantaged by so many key natal points hiding away in his 12th house (his birth data is rated “A”), but it may help that his Progressed Sun is in mid-Aquarius and his Progressed Moon is in late Aquarius, conjunct Sibly Moon (chart not shown). 

With the new Jupiter-Saturn cycle launching at 0°+Aquarius at the end of this year, he may be emotionally and mentally “in tune” with the electorate and the future trends in government. This might seem strange, given his age, but I don’t think we can count him out because of his age, either. Other high profile politicos like Nevada’s Harry Reid have made similar observations—that we shouldn’t count Biden out so easily, so maybe we should listen.

Consider the fact that, of all the candidates, Biden is the only Scorpio. This may, strangely, put him at an advantage because Scorpio sextiles Capricorn and several key points are caught up in that sextile, including his Venus. Will the Ingress Jupiter-Natal Jupiter opposition cancel out the protection afforded by his natal Cancer-Scorpio trines? Or perhaps it will simply keep him fighting for his agenda? He will do well not to take anybody’s support for granted under these oppositions—though he started out the race as the frontrunner among fellow Democrats, he has to earn every vote just like everyone does. His Jupiter is dignified in Cancer, rules his Sagittarius ASC,  and is well-connected throughout his chart, so he’s still the beneficiary of some supportive natal aspects. 

As for the misinformation and smear campaigns that seek to derail him, if anyone should be capable of withstanding the machinations of a corrupt administration, it should be a Scorpio “phoenix” like Biden. He’s known life-changing tragedies his entire professional life and has kept on going—among the most shocking tragedy, he lost his first wife and only daughter to a traffic accident in December 1982, one month after winning his first Senatorial race. 


Joe Biden's son Beau Biden was buried with military honors in 2015.

So Biden raised his two sons Beau and Robert Hunter (both were wounded in that accident, as well) for several years as a single dad; his oldest son Beau served in Iraq and died of brain cancer in 2015 (which influenced his dad’s decision to not run in 2016) and “Hunter”—who was a Washington attorney and lobbyist before he got involved in Burisma in Ukraine—has been the constant target of Trump’s attempts to smear his dad (the Ukraine scandal and impeachment were about this). So Biden is no stranger to difficulties and attempts to destroy his life. 

And yet he comes back with the intention of serving the country one more time—what he’s suffered doesn’t give him a “free pass” to the presidency by any stretch (nor does his time with Obama), but I’d credit his resolve and tenacity as being the light side of Scorpio “phoenix” energy. He could be retiring with a handsome pension and an honorable legacy—why put himself through all this punishing stress? He says that he’s running because his son Beau made him promise he would, so whether he wins or not, I think he deserves a chance to give it his best shot.

Biden Saturn-DSC-Uranus (conjunct in Gemini) sextiles Biden Pluto (Leo); Ingress Uranus conjoins Biden Moon (both in Taurus) squares Biden Pluto (Leo). We can only imagine the kind of emotional stress that Biden has experienced in the past year, since his son Hunter has become a political football and old “friends” like GOP Senator Lindsay Graham (SC) have allowed the dark conspiracy-thinking of the White House to overwhelm his better nature, actually supporting those trying to investigate his son, allowing Trump to get by with his corrupt Ukraine machinations with impunity and so on. The emergence of “enemies” like Graham is perhaps reflected in transiting Uranus sextiling Biden 6th-7th house Uranus-Saturn—disruption to alliances and the onset of repressive changes. 

The misinformation campaign against the Bidens itself, however, seems to be reflected more by Ingress Neptune (Pisces) opposing Biden MC (Virgo). This is somewhat softened by the Ingress Neptune trine to Biden Mercury (Scorpio), which rules Biden MC, but the damage to his career and his family are both represented here. Obviously, this is a long transit going on in his 4th house, and its impact can be quite debilitating. Whether this put a “victim” label on his forehead or not remains to be seen—his MC is still nicely supported by his Scorpio and Cancer points, and it is being trined by Ingress Capricorn Mars-Jupiter and Pluto (Capricorn). Quite a phalanx of energies to navigate—we can certainly respect the challenges he’s up against from all this, even if he’s not our first choice for president. 

Finally, back to our initial exploratory question: how will Biden be able to navigate the Neptunian dynamics of our times? Will the misinformation campaigns targeting him succeed in disabling his candidacy? Obviously, the Neptune opposition to his MC has to leave a mark, but it’s been there the whole time he’s been running his 2020 campaign, and he was the frontrunner for months. 

So we shouldn’t leap to conclusions—Neptune can also enhance his “charisma” and lend him some celebrity appeal. If he has the inner resources to absorb the corrupt efforts against him, recycling them into something productive, he may withstand this latest assault and even prosper.  I think we’ll find out as we get into the Super Tuesday primaries – his campaign probably won’t be able to sustain tepid results in those five states. We may know sooner—Nevada could make the difference, and hopefully those results will turn out to be clear, one way or another.



The delegate count going into Nevada.

Final thoughts

An emboldened Neptune calls upon us to dis-illusion ourselves as best we can. This is especially key this year because people will vote against their own self-interests for various reasons. We saw it in 2016 and we’re seeing it again this year, with reportedly 40%+ of Latinos polled saying they would vote for Trump. There’s some question about the credibility of this “Telemundo” poll, but considering how badly would-be immigrants at our southern border have been treated by Trump’s immigration policies, does this make any sense? 

No, but there you have it—under Neptune’s sway, perfectly sane individuals can be enchanted into supporting very dangerous leaders. This makes misinformation campaigns, gaslighting (i.e., Putin saying we’re “paranoid” if we think Russia’s involved, while Trump chimes in, calling his own intelligence services’ conclusions a “hoax” and accusing Democrats of running a “misinformation campaign!” It sure gets old being blamed for what he’s doing—again, Gaslighting 101. 

So, we’ll know a lot more after Nevada results come in later tonight. So far, it’s looking like Sanders has the lead, but the night is young. In coming posts and as the field of candidates narrows, we'll take a deeper dive into the remaining candidate charts and if he's still in the race, we'll definitely consider Mike Bloomberg's chart, as well.

 Hang on for the ride!






Raye Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane, collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years.

She is also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.

© Raye Robertson 2020. All rights reserved. 





[1]Las Vegas Democratic Debate, Feb. 19, 2020, 9 p.m. ST, Las Vegas, NV.
[2]Michael Munkasey, Midpoints: Unleashing the Power of the Planets, ACS Publications, San Diego, CA, 1991, p. 93.
[3]Munkasey, p. 317.