2020 Democratic presidential primary

I think Carl was one of the people who argued that Bernie could pick off Trump supporters.

"ppl who voted Trump" vs "ppl who currently identify as Trump supporters" is a distinction worthy of interrogation

We may have to sacrifice a bit of progressive pleasure by choosing someone who can light a fire under voters' asses when it counts—the general election, not the primaries. Take the white house back.

I find it odd that you think these things are mutually exclusive. Obama '08 was the most 'progressive' campaign of most of our voting lives... and a blowout that drove turnout.

Trump's power being limited is exactly what keeps me sane. We haven't even approached the abyss of the GWB years.

in terms of innocent dead people, that's true. in terms of damage to gov't institutions, idk.

Johnny Fever may be overlooking that some ppl are insanely trying to make the case that Biden can light a fire under people's asses

the people are stoked about supporting the credit card corporations and draconian bankruptcy laws

I get the feeling that somewhere behind all this talk of Biden running for president is a media conspiracy spearheaded by The Onion.

would that twere so!!!!

what no one knows is that all this time biden has been running the onion

trump would beat biden imo

also he would definitely make a jibe about biden's dead wife and or children at some stage of the campaign

the next president should turn 35 on inauguration day

— Italian Alex Pareene (@pareene) December 17, 2018

thus meeting the most crucial criterion sought in a national leader

I’ve inadvertently encountered some rabid Kamala Harris fans on twitter who are very mad that anyone is criticizing her 15 months before the primaries. while I’m wary of her, reading her Wikipedia page did give me at least one reason to think a little better of her, and somehow dislike Feinstein even more, what a fucking scumbag:

In April 2004, San Francisco Police Department Officer Isaac Espinoza was shot and killed in the line of duty.[7] Three days later D.A. Harris announced she would not seek the death penalty, infuriating the San Francisco Police Officers Association.[7] During Officer Espinoza's funeral at St. Mary's Cathedral, U.S. Senator and former San Francisco mayor Dianne Feinstein rose to the pulpit and called on Harris, who was sitting in the front pew, to secure the death penalty, prompting a standing ovation from the 2,000 uniformed police officers in attendance.[7] Harris still refused.[7]

San Francisco Police Officers Association

some of the worst ppl in the world, tbf

Harris has alway been personally opposed to the death penalty I think

NEW from me - a year later, a bunch of big Dem donors are still burning at @SenGillibrand for saying Franken should go -- but meanwhile, she's raised more money (much of it from small dollar donations) than any 2020 contender in the Senate except Warren https://t.co/cvYhZaEJOM

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) December 18, 2018

Good

Buttigieg has announced he won't run for another term as mayor of South Bend, clear the field everyone

PETEY B

he seems nice but c'mon now

BREAKING: Texas Rep. @BetoORourke has been removed from the "No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge" following Sludge's report that he received more than two dozen large campaign donations from oil & gas executives. https://t.co/r3DSGsO58R

— Sludge (@readsludge) December 18, 2018

have to say that ppl pushing for Beto to run is the dumbest phenomenon so far

jfc doesn't he realize people will be looking at things like this? What a dum dum.

You just can't live in Texas and not get money from Big Oil

p sure I have friends in Texas that don't get money from Big Oil

Why are you not a fan? Or are you just not a fan right now, for 2020?

Buttigieg has announced he won't run for another term as mayor of South Bend, clear the field everyone

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, December 18, 2018 3:30 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pretty sure he's either a) angling for more name recognition to put him in better position for 2024/2028, or b) trying to get on the radar for a cabinet spot if the dem candidate wins

Why are you not a fan? Or are you just not a fan right now, for 2020?

to be clear, I think Beto is fine for a Democrat from Texas. I don't have any particular beef with him, and I def wish he had beat Ted Cruz. However, the effort to make him into some great white hope with presidential aspirations seems really misguided - he's not a good national candidate, he is a white guy with very little experience and no real progressive credentials, and it seems like what people see in him is p much Obama redux but this time as a white guy. And the big push for his candidacy seems to be coming from inside-the-beltway hothouses of overheated rhetoric like Politico (which, as I've noted elsewhere, is literally running a story a day on him). Pushing for his candidacy strikes me as an attempt to move the party back towards a centrist platform guided by white guys, as if Beto is some magical combo of the best qualities of Obama AND Hillary AND Biden, which is not what we need right now imo.

I don't know how centrist he is, though yeah, he is a white male. But so will be most of the field of hopefuls, none of whom are as appealing as this dude, imo, who, yeah, p much Obama redux but this time as a white guy. But in the non-white guy category I don't see any real hopefuls, not Harris, hell no Warren, maybe Gillibrand I guess, but she seems a risk just a few years after 2016. Or maybe not! The thing is, *someone* has to run, and while Beto is unproven, too centrist, too this, too that, I'm not sure any of the other potential runners are really any better. Maybe he can just run for Senator form Texas again.

there's gonna be like at least a dozen people running, I don't see Beto adding much of anything that the others don't have except for some "I don't believe in labels, I like to listen to people" centrist mush and a great fundraising gimmick

Also, people like him, which may make a difference.

Not sure if I love the guy either, but a charismatic, hopeful guy seems to be the type to get elected president as a democrat.

xp

people like him, which may make a difference

not sure this hypothesis has really been sufficiently tested

Shakey otm. Beto's good looking and did wonders but c'mon.

tbh it kind of amazes me that ppl are so eager to run a guy that was beaten by ted cruz against a guy who beat ted cruz by, like, half-remembering a headline from a supermarket tabloid

people like him, which may make a difference.

it's increasingly looking like the progressive base actually *doesn't* like him, and things like that oil money gaffe upthread will tarnish him quickly

also lol J.D. otm

p sure I have friends in Texas that don't get money from Big Oil

You'd be surprised at how many people in Texas get some amount of money, either directly or with a degree or two of separation, from Oil interests.

But I was really riffing on a Doug Sahm line, repurposed to say you can't be a Texas politician and not get energy (i.e. OIL) money.

Being verifiably human is inspiring enough when running against Ted Cruz but in a primary field that consists of other non-sea monsters, there's no particular reason to care about Beto.

I think looking for a "great white (male) hope" is definitely at work in regard to Beto-for-prez fandom.

If it's true that no Texas politician can run without oil money, then no Texas politician should run for president as a Democrat.

All true or relevant or whatever. But so far there is not a single candidate that's been floated that has any clear slam-dunk advantage over Trump (in a world where Trump was elected) other than not being Trump. Which may be enough! People don't like Trump. But ... may not be enough.

I'm not sure what that advantage would look like

(and nobody else does either, which is why the field is going to be so crowded)

Beto is total token white guy who doesn't pronounce hard H sounds in spanish VP material.

inspiring turnout among black and Latinx voters would be #1 to me

I'm not sure what that advantage would look like

Name recognition, charisma/likability? Something that offers an advantage beyond Not Trump, which is an advantage every Dem candidate will begin with. And yeah, inspiring turnout among etc., but I'm not sure who does that, either. Numbers were way up for Dems this past midterm, which took a lot of work and money. But a lot of those races were still relatively close.

iirc

I kinda hate to be this blunt but the key to beating Trump will obviously be turnout of several key constituencies: college educated white women, african americans, and latinx. that's it.

Beto's not gonna deliver any of those.