2020 Democratic presidential primary

The Democratic primary campaigns have been remarkably policy-driven so far. As a consequence, there has been a little less talk about the matters that have often dominated Presidential politics, or at least coverage of Presidential politics—character, temperament, and personal history. These aspects of a candidate’s identity can be rendered superficially, but they can also be illuminating. An election sends a person, not a platform, to the White House. And politicians are ultimately more than the promises they make. One cannot understand how candidates might behave in office—how they might respond to unexpected situations or thorny problems, how hard they might push for what and why—without some sense of the passions that they carry in their hearts.

All that said, those who would like to see a President who has spent much of his life outside of and at odds with conventional politics, and who care deeply about advancing socialism in the United States—or, at least, are beginning to doubt that we can continue to patch and repatch capitalism into sufficiency—have ample reason to support Bernie Sanders, a candidate who was once a dedicated proponent of true socialism, even if he says little about it now. If you are opposed to or ambivalent about socialism or would prefer a President from a technocratic or academic background or a woman in the White House, you might give some thought to supporting Elizabeth Warren, a candidate with a deep and righteous conviction that the wrongs of the current economic system can be righted.

seems like a pretty fair breakdown to me

osita on warren/bernie btw: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-and-two-paths-for-the-american-left

― k3vin k., Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Good read, thanks. I posted an Osita tweet uptread as a related note.

Bill de Blasio: still running for President.

It’s 2019 & @JoeBiden is longing for the good old days of “civility” typified by James Eastland. Eastland thought my multiracial family should be illegal & that whites were entitled to “the pursuit of dead n*ggers." (1/2) pic.twitter.com/yoOOkpaTX2

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) June 19, 2019

This whole thread is worth reading, albeit ugly as hell.

This is Biden's Mississippi "civility" pal Sen. Eastland at work, via LATimes obit:https://t.co/CXiMMiUho4 pic.twitter.com/odJq1QYPT5

— Tim Dickinson (@7im) June 19, 2019

"That was another time... and I am proposing we go back there." - Joe Biden

His rapid transformation from America's Uncle to America's Uncle would be fascinating to watch if I were in another country.

djp otm times 2

My fear of Biden's candidacy surviving to the convention really has melted to almost nothing in the last 2 weeks. He may not make it to Groundhog Day.

fingers crossed

his numbers have steadied but they are p low for a "frontrunner" and i cant see them going up rn. but then again i thought trump would lose badly so the fuck do i know.

well, they're low too because 57 other candidates are running

ha true

his numbers 7 months before any voting don't mean much

don't fuck up, Iowa

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2015/06/12/jeb-bush-likely-gop-nominee-cfo-survey.html

https://christophermacneil.blogspot.com/2015/06/june-8-2015-gop-front-runner-scott.html

love a good jeb! throwback

sorry, I should stay out of this thread

well, they're low too because 57 other candidates are running

One from each American state.

No, you won't. https://t.co/x8E7Mlriue

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) June 19, 2019

I'm not suggesting that anyone support Cory Booker, but well done.

well she's definitely not gonna be voting for Cory Booker

so uhh is this biden saying "cory should apologize to me" gonna be a thing or is biden just gonna keep on trucking?

Lots of people willfully misreading Biden's comments. He's not praising Eastland for being especially civil, he's saying it was a time when there was a norm of civility in the Senate that even people like Eastland adhered to.

dude

I mean the whole point of the anecdote was to give an extreme case of someone whose politics Biden disagreed with.

right and it makes him look like a fuckin sucker, fuck getting along with racists

He's offering Democrats a clear choice. Those who prefer that their elected representative refuse to work alongside those who hold the wrong views, even on areas where there may be mutual agreement, shouldn't vote for him.

His rapid transformation from America's Uncle to America's Uncle would be fascinating to watch if I were in another country.

― brigadier pudding (DJP), Wednesday, June 19, 2019 3:25 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

kudos

More Biden news: Mark Putnam, cinematic Dem admaker who signed on early, splits with ex-VP’s campaign

“I wish the vice president well,” Mr. Putnam said.https://t.co/Qkdhuf894c

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) June 20, 2019

He's offering Democrats a clear choice. Those who prefer that their elected representative refuse to work alongside those who hold the wrong views, even on areas where there may be mutual agreement, shouldn't vote for him.

What were some of the things they worked on and 'got done' together in civility, I wonder? CNN mentions one:

Biden in the 1970s was a staunch opponent of busing to desegregate schools; letters from the period show how he sought and received the support of Eastland, who was then the powerful chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Eastland repeatedly said he viewed black Americans as belonging to an "inferior race" and worried that desegregation would "mongrelize" white America.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/19/politics/joe-biden-senate-segregationists-civility/index.html

"He never called me 'boy,' he only called me 'Son,'" is like a Tom T. Hall lyric gone terribly, terribly wrong.

He’s like Lyndon Johnson gone horribly wrong at the moment.

"He never called me 'boy,' he only called me 'Son,'" is like a Tom T. Hall lyric gone terribly, terribly wrong.

I agree that particularly line is borderline insensitive, and a timely reminder that Biden didn't get his reputation for being gaffe-prone for nothing, but I think his overall point was valid. Apparently there were some Republicans (like Al D'Amato) at the fundraiser so perhaps that's why Biden was thinking about working across the aisle, and he's been known to use the example of working with segregationists to illustrate that point.

It's hard to judge without any context though. Was Biden responding to something someone else said? Did someone ask him if Eastland called him "boy"? This is all second-hand overheard remarks so there may be a bit of telephone game going on.

come on man

What a f'ing waste of air Joe Biden has as a legacy. To be this harmlessly, offensively impotent in everything.

wtf nate

It's hard to judge without any context though. Was Biden responding to something someone else said? Did someone ask him if Eastland called him "boy"? This is all second-hand overheard remarks so there may be a bit of telephone game going on.

― o. nate, Wednesday, June 19, 2019 9:03 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

do you really think it's possible someone asked him this question? also, come on man

All I'm saying is I have yet to see a verbatim transcript so I don't know the context. Would they look better in context? Probably not, but were they meant maliciously? I doubt it.

his saying Cory Booker should apologize to him is so insane & i look forward to him getting absolutely eviscerated by every other candidate in the debates next week

just gonna gloss over Sund4r’s link, huh

Is there a verbatim transcript there? I haven't been able to find it.

Citing James Clyburn's defense of Biden is better than demanding a transcript, come the fuck on.

If I'm going to damn someone for an insensitive remark I'd like to know the full context of exactly what was being said. I've seen too many cases of things being taken out of context to make someone look bad.

part of what's lame about Biden's Eastland example is it doesn't even exemplify "bipartisanship." Dude was in the same party. and collaborating with a segregationist on an infrastructure bill, let's say, would be one thing, but the only thing i've heard of them collaborating on is...support for segregation!

Opposing busing is not quite the same as supporting segregation.

Anyway I'm starting to feel like the only Christian in the Colosseum here. Good night all!

we just wanna talk

i'm into everyone going after biden

Cory Booker on CNN called it "insulting'' that Biden asked him to apologize and didn't acknowledge anything wrong in what he said about segregationists. "This should not be a lesson that someone running for president of the US should have to be given.”
https://t.co/IuzNowQGlq

— Janet Hook (@hookjan) June 20, 2019

lol

Another Biden campaign source throwing shade at the boss:
"there’s only so much we can do. This is his decision." story from @MarcACaputo https://t.co/B8ZhA2hpTd

— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) June 20, 2019

praying this is his "please clap" moment, get this fool out of the paint forever