2020 Democratic presidential primary

wow almost as if he was really just promoting a book or something

Take this with a truckload of salt (ILX will at least be happy with the result). Bill James has been running Twitter polls the past few weeks that square off five candidates at a time against each other. He's started tabulating the results.

Methodology: http://www.billjamesonline.com/introduction_to_the_polling_system/
Latest daily tracking: http://www.billjamesonline.com/poll_results_5-8-2019/

almost as if he was really just promoting a book or something

inviting universal scorn and ridicule upon your poor judgment seems like a weird way to get people to buy your book, if all you are known for is being a CEO.

publicity is all that matters it seems

those polls look good. concern is the media pushing "Biden is now undeniably the front runner" narrative non stop even when things like this say no.

All these old clips of Bernie that were on the Daily Show last night are cracking me up this morning. Him asking kids about cocaine, telling them about bigotry...

xpost Which polls? The most recent ones I see have Biden in the 40s.

oh that one lol

Biden is clearly the frontrunner, and that is not really changed by twitter-experiments :)

I think warren will gain steam if people get to hear her pitch.

She just is the best candidate—so clearly

The best candidate always gets the nomination

sending Bernard money when i can. put Liz on the monthly plan.

Bernie's good on funding for a while. Let him get a little more desperate before throwing money his way again and see what about his campaign changes.

maybe I'm being overly cynical, but while Warren is far and away my favorite I just can't envision a path to her getting the nomination. even if electability doesn't turn out to be the overwhelming consideration, I think it's going to play a major role and she's undoubtedly the worst among the major candidates on that measure, for entirely stupid reasons of course.

Bernie's good on funding for a while

yeah i guess i just like to see the party leaders sweat

xp pretty sure this was posted already, but re: the fantasy of "electability":

https://newrepublic.com/article/153723/democrats-created-electability-monster

that's a great piece and I agree, electability is a crock of shit but lots and lots of people are absolutely buying it.

so how does that get pushed back on? serious question - is there anything we can do besides argue with friends who are willing to listen? (well, and give candidates money of course)

Vote for the candidate who best matches your policy convictions.

Well sure ...unless you live in one of the many states where the voting date is too late to matter.

That's the real source of my frustration here and why I'm more focused on trying to change other people's minds. Still seeing friends talking up the likes of Gillibrand and Beto.

for reference - Oregon is 5th from last not counting DC and PR

February 3: Iowa caucus[229]
February 11: New Hampshire primary[229]
February 22: Nevada caucus[229]
February 29: South Carolina primary[229]
March 3: Super Tuesday (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia primaries; Democrats Abroad preference vote through March 10)[229]
March 7: Louisiana primary[229]
March 8: Maine caucus (likely amended to a Tuesday-in-March primary if primary legislation passes)[229]
March 10: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Washington primaries; North Dakota firehouse caucus/primary[229]
March 17: Arizona, Florida, and Illinois primaries[229]
To be determined: Wyoming caucus (March, TBD)[229]
April 4: Alaska and Hawaii primaries[229]
April 7: Wisconsin primary[229]
April 28: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island primaries[229]
May 2: Kansas primary[229]
May 5: Indiana primary[229]
May 12: West Virginia primary[229]
May 19: Kentucky and Oregon primaries[229]
June 2: Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota primaries[229]
June 7: Puerto Rico primary[229]
June 16: District of Columbia primary[229]

wiki link is full of other data as well

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries

donald trump was not “electable”

The argument is pretty simple: Nobody knows who is 'electable' so go for the one you like, and then when she wins, she will have turned the electability conversation on the head.

this is the beginning of the Carly Fiorina movement

What are people's thoughts on the Sanders/AOC proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 15%? I've leaned towards favouring a socialized banking/credit option for a while; not sure what to make of this, though. I could see how it makes some sense, although it seems like the larger question to address should be why people are racking so much credit card debt in the fkrst place.

*first

Curious what people with more of an econ background think.

My problems right now, before i start racking up the cc debt, are a shitty hourly "gig" wage and paying thru the nose for an ACA plan

What are people's thoughts on the Sanders/AOC proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 15%? I've leaned towards favouring a socialized banking/credit option for a while; not sure what to make of this, though. I could see how it makes some sense, although it seems like the larger question to address should be why people are racking so much credit card debt in the fkrst place.

― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Thursday, May 9, 2019 1:37 PM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

without knowing any other details of this plan, its bad. basically, unless they also cap interest rates on other kinds of credit, banks will not offer CC's to people with riskier credit scores and those folks will turn to payday lenders/title loans, etc. which will charge even worse interest rates.

i think if you want to make a meaningful dent in indebtedness, you need to redistribute wealth which allows folks to absorb sudden costs. also universal health care and a robust public transportation system would be good.

don't really understand your post m bison, payday lenders and title loans?

ah, theyre just other lines of credit. payday loans are usually short term loans that give the borrower a sum which they pay off (with exorbitant interest) weeks later when they get their next paycheck. title loans are similar but you use your car title as collateral.

anyway, read a lil bit more and it looks like all forms of credit would be capped at 15% which means those who would not qualify for those rates would probably turn to the black market for emergency cash.

i should *would be more likely to* than "would probably"

credit card rates have become usurious. I'm fine with capping them at 15%. I have decent credit and most of my cards are at like 24%. Honestly I think mandatory reduction would probably spur spending and help the economy.

yes

i'd be much less reluctant to redo my entire kitchen right now if I could put it on card and pay if off next year but right now? no fucking way and I putting $15k on a credit card and eating thousands of dollars in interest for the next six months. sorry I'll wait for my tax return. sorry if this sounds like the fucking height of first world problems. I know.

Just want to point out that Payday Lender and Title Loan offices are the among the top repurposers of old Burger Kings, Wendy's, Long John Silvers etc. fast food sites/buildings.

my man, we know texas too good

this is a whole world I hadn't imagined

I know, it's sidetrack

*a*

the larger question to address should be why people are racking so much credit card debt in the first place

bingo! Poor people run up cc debt almost invariably to purchase necessities they cannot afford to buy from their earnings.

There was an op-ed in my local newspaper this week about how a carbon cap-and-trade bill in the state legislature, which would provide a rebate on income taxes to offset gas price increases for poor people, would be horrible for poor people who are living paycheck to paycheck. The op-ed writer drew the conclusion that 'the legislators should find a better way to fight climate change', but did not even touch on the idea that working people must be provided with sufficient earnings from their work that they can afford to buy food, shelter, transportation, basic utilities, medicine and clothing from their earnings. If they can't, then society must provide these things from its pooled resources.

the very definition of cynicism: treating your vote like it's Family Feud

More than 60% of Democrats in the poll say they prize electability over whether they agree with the candidates. There are not many fresh ways to write this, but either Biden rivals convince voters that he's not electable, or Biden wins. https://t.co/KgppUap1EG

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 9, 2019

mainstream media trains people to think that hewing to the middle of the road makes them smart and sensible adult citizens. it's honestly no less insane than Fox News training its audience to demonstrate fealty to Trump no matter what.

noooooooo

Presidential hopeful Biden looking for ‘middle ground’ climate policy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden is crafting a climate change policy he hopes will appeal to both environmentalists and the blue-collar voters who elected Donald Trump, according to two sources, carving out a middle ground approach that will likely face heavy resistance from green activists.

The backbone of the policy will likely include the United States re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement and preserving U.S. regulations on emissions and vehicle fuel efficiency that Trump has sought to undo, according to one of the sources, Heather Zichal, who is part of a team advising Biden on climate change. She previously advised President Barack Obama.

The second source, a former energy department official advising Biden's campaign who asked not to be named, said the policy could also be supportive of nuclear energy and fossil fuel options like natural gas and carbon capture technology, which limit emissions from coal plants and other industrial facilities.

(note: everything in the above paragraphs would mark a return to the Obama administration's "all of the above" energy "strategy")

The approach, which has not been previously reported, will set Biden apart from many of his Democratic rivals for the White House who have embraced much tougher climate agendas, like the Green New Deal calling for an end to U.S. fossil fuels use within 10 years. That could make Biden, vice president under Obama, a target of environmental groups and youth activists ahead of next year’s primary elections.

"I respect where they (activist groups) are coming from," Zichal said. "What we learned from the Obama administration is unless we find middle ground on these issues, we risk not having any policies."

Zichal is his climate advisor

We learned that, eh? The whipped cur flinches at the show of a hand.