2020 Democratic presidential primary

the odds that the Dems will have a comfortable margin for passing legislation in the Senate are very long

You are right about the odds. But two years can bring incalculable changes, especially under the present regime.

that's true. obviously my fear is that significant progressive legislation will be at the mercy of the likes of Joe Manchin (just as Obamacare was at the mercy of Lieberman and Nelson)

The bigger the wave, the more that gets swept aside or carried in. If the country swings in a definite direction, the politicians all see that trend and tend to swing along with the voters. And 2020 will have a more favorable map for dems in the senate. Good luck, USA.

it's more favorable, but it isn't 60-gettable seats favorable

A (mostly) earnest question for those who like Beto for 2020: Is there a policy you like that he supports and other likely candidates do not support? An idea he talks about that other likely candidates don't?

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) December 23, 2018

Threads of Sanders supporters going on about how supporters of other candidates don’t know/care about issues and are mere fans. Never gets old.

Interesting that he thinks this

It's interesting to me that centrist Dems haven't been buzzy about any candidate in particular until Beto. There's been no comparable push for, say, Booker or Harris. https://t.co/aVMwi6AcL1

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) December 24, 2018

Hm yes what is the difference between those candidates, let me think on it for a sec

There was some mild talk about Harris last year that resulted in a similar freak out

Lol yes, every bit of criticism and scrutiny amounts to a freak out w you ppl.

The Sirota stuff can’t be called honest vetting. That kind of got exposed. It’s particularly transparent when he was saying Beto should be speaker two weeks earlier and then suddenly starts w an oppo blitz

All of these people have problems. I’m voting Trump.

The Speaker is not the President IIRC

Yeah no the tenor of the criticism isn’t “we’ll still like him but he’s not ready” it’s “we decided he’s an evil centrist overnight”

What is the center point between the moderate social democracy of the democrat’s “progressive wing” and the extremist death cult of the modern GOP? Does it make any sense at all to be wary of universal healthcare, say, or taking bold action to save the planet from climate change and renew our infrastructure in the process? Why give that hp to be closer the the death cult?

The whole conversation is weird to me because the “left wing” solutions to our serious problems seem like the obvious ones. There’s no moderate line on addressing police brutality—there needs to be accountability and reform. Same with every other makor issue. The form of politics we were practicing—which led to things like the absurd bank bailout—has reached its endpoint. It’s not a sustainable game.

I’m supporting the primary candidate who has shown that they grasp this.

The thing is centrism IS effectively evil at this point for those reasons and that's why I don't mind people being vigilant in opposition to it

It’s a meme-y buzzword for attacking democrats.

Are Democrats your dad

Haha that’s really cool.

Are Democrats your daddy?

I’ve gotten multiple direct mailings from John Delaney, the most recent indicating he for sure is targeting the primary

I am not even completely sure what his deal is, but the material is very wtf

like the first one is “if you want a guy to take on Trump..” and is a partial reprint of a friggin George Will column

that is who he is targeting I guess, very early primary voters registered Democrats who don’t know what George Will is

treesh and simon otm

I am not voting for another hetero white man for office for the rest of my life.

I'm voting for the Democrat literally no matter how bad they are for the rest of my life, and urging others to do the same, and repenting daily of my once-deeply-held "it has to be a candidate I'm excited about" position

^^this is also the position held by...let's say at least 90% of those who are brutally critical of establishment Dems. (barring of course the formation of an actually viable third party, which really would not be the wildest thing to ever happen)

yeah, r&f Dems can be taken for granted

that's why we get such a bounty from the Dems

hoping yerac and joanie keep getting variations of Dianne Feinstein

Happy Holidays to you too!

xp joan rivers, i will vote for the democrat enthusiastically no matter who it was, as i did for hillary. but in the primaries i want someone who isn't afraid to say what needs to be done.

I can't imagine any good reason to take offence to the Osita Nwanenu thread NP linked, especially when read in full. He even rejects the "Beto couldn't even beat Cruz" low blow (which I absolutely would not) and pisses off Bernie fans by mentioning he didn't vote for him in the primary

What a novel argument we're having!

can anyone even tell me who John Delaney is, without looking it up, because his promo material is vague on this

he's the hot one from s club 7

he's a stand-up comedian; voice of Peter Porker Spider-Ham and occasionally in a double-act with Nick Kroll

wait no

i'm writing in uncle kracker

uncle kracker can connect to the white working class

I strongly suspect, though I can't prove, that this is a fair summation of what many left-leaning liberals feel re this whole mess

The Bernie people people in my cohort basically land on “I wish he wasn’t so old and crotchety but he’s the most vocal about income inequality and Medicare for all, so.” If another candidate signals a concrete commitment to those issues I feel like he/she will eat Bernie’s lunch.

— Will Isenberg (@Wiloceraptor) December 24, 2018

add in something there about climate justice of course

How have they not gone to Elisabeth Warren already, then?

The only thing she's been visible for over the last while (iirc) was that DNA fracas we'd all rather forget about, but I wouldn't rule out her eating into his base if they both run and she never ever brings it up again

I like his oldness and crochety-ness honestly.

And the new york accent. He seems more like someone I’d know irl—like a friend of my uncle’s or something.

I am disappointed he's not more religious tbh

I felt bad about how people piled on to attack her over the dna test since it was well meaning but there’s something to be said for not letting your adversary define the terms of the debate. Makes me think a lot of people question her instincts re:optics because of it.

I agree with that. Idk how she'll handle it if Trump opens up a copy of Pow Wow Chow at a rally (assuming he can read)

the DNA test thing was a misstep, but obviously not something that will prevent any reasonable person from voting for her on its own. I thought this masha gessen essay was the best thing I'd read about it at the time: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/elizabeth-warren-falls-for-trumps-trap-and-promotes-insidious-ideas-about-race-and-dna