2020 Democratic presidential primary

where do Harris heads go? Butteigeig or Biden? Maybe some Warren?

feel like I took a lot of shit for being an early supporter of her but no way am I voting for the lil mayor or toofless Joe

the truth is I don't really like anybody now. Warren is fine on policy but I think she's a terrible match for Trump, she is not a galvanizing figure for the key Dem constituencies we need to win (African Americans and young ppl, basically), just can't see her driving turnout/enthusiasm. The president needs a cult of personality and she doesn't have it. Bernie is old and annoying, much as I agree with a lot of his positions and find his cantankerous Jewish grandpa steez entertaining. Biden is terrible, Mayor Pete is obnoxious. The rest mostly don't have a chance.

I think you are underselling both Warren and Sanders

can we really undersell the awfulness of a plurality of the American public, though

Bernie def has the cult of personality. But he also has a ceiling, which he’s already hit, i think.

Obv. I wasn't going to vote for her in the primary but I really thought Harris's potential to bring minority turnout back to even 2012 levels (which would have given Hillary a win in 2016) would have been a boon to her candidacy. Instead the lesson all the hacks took from 2016 is that we need to appeal to old white people (Biden) or rich white people (Buttigieg) and in those cases everything's hopeless anyway.

Harris’ appeal to minorities was ultimately undone by how her tenure as DA was reported in the media and she was tagged with the “black when convenient” label that’s been chasing Booker around his entire career

I also think Lara Bazelon's dishonest op-ed in the NYT had an effect, it was used by Gabbard to kneecap her in the second debate

*which I guess is what you mean by how her tenure as DA was reported in the media

"ceiling" is diff for primary and general tho - if you're talking about them battling trump then we're not in a world where bernie is still competing with the rest of the field. and galvanizing youth probably isn't out of warren's reach, i guess depending which youth and how the primaries go and who her running mate is, yadda yadda.

Warren is fine on policy but I think she's a terrible match for Trump, she is not a galvanizing figure for the key Dem constituencies we need to win (African Americans and young ppl, basically), just can't see her driving turnout/enthusiasm. The president needs a cult of personality and she doesn't have it.

I disagree. Warren is kicking ass on the road, but the press fucking hates her. Fortunately, she has the advantage of running against Donald motherfucking Trump, who is getting worse - as a politician and a psychological specimen - pretty much hour-by-hour.

Bernie is old and annoying, much as I agree with a lot of his positions and find his cantankerous Jewish grandpa steez entertaining.

I agree, except for the entertaining part. I can't stand him. I would vote for literally anyone who shares his positions and isn't such a terminally tone-deaf asshole.

asshole, huh

Yes. Bernie Sanders is an asshole who would make a terrible, terrible president. He's a lot like Jimmy Carter in that respect. Carter was a bad president who's done incredible things since leaving office. Bernie should consider fast-forwarding to that part.

it's going to be real interesting when Bernie slips up and wins New Hampshire & Nevada and comes in second or a "strong" (lol) third in Iowa and S. Carolina

xp Yes, this cantankerous, atheistic, union supporting, Socialist-Democrat campaigning on universal health care, non-intervention, and free college tuition is "a lot like" the gentle, moderate, Christian nuclear-submarine officer who moved into the wake of George Wallace and was swept into the WH by rural/conservative voters

they are definitely both people though

lol yeah, i dont get the carter comparison at all

The Bernie/Carter comparison was that he would also be a bad president (like carter), not personality

I like Bernie but am disconcerted by his recent heart attack

Warren is kicking ass on the road, but the press fucking hates her.

tell that to the bernie bro who told me i was getting all my info from MSDNC when i said warren was left wing

"Morning Joe"'s position on Warren reminds me of my parents when I applied to out-of-state universities: "Go ahead! I'm so proud of you! IF you think you're leaving, you're fucking nuts!"

I wish every candidate’s stans weren’t so obsessed with how much the media hates their favorite, it just plays into the same bullshit trump has been peddling for four years.

from what i've seen it's mostly a vocal minority of bernie stans who act like that. which is especially disappointing since bernie himself seems like a very gracious guy.

i personally think it's lazy and stupid to blame the media because people should be able to think critically for themselves

I know a Warren fan who absolutely hates Bernie because he 'ran as a third party against Hillary' so there are morons and assholes across the spectrum I'd say.

there are def obnoxious bernie stans, but i'm not sure how you can say that msnbc, nyt, cnn, wapo, etc don't traffic in some creative headlines that downplay or ignore good news for bernie

*headlines & coverage

xxp oh yeah of course i meant specifically people who attack the media. (which tbf i think the media does treat bernie less favorably than other candidates.)

if people are only reading the headlines then that's on them not the media yknow

Personally I think it’s a lot of confirmation bias but either way I don’t think it’s really moving the needle much wrt his prospects

xxp I also had that experience, Alfred

xpost - oh agreed, and i do think it extends to coverage in general. but headlines, especially mixed w social media, have a 'wallpaper' effect that i'm certain is a consideration by legacy media outlets.

No she didn't. Tulsi is a SENATOR, meaning she's in the SENATE and doesn't vote on HOUSE resolutions. https://t.co/QnG2XyL1LB

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 31, 2019

ann coulter is literally arguing with a cat turd on twitter

Game recognize game

On Warren's MFA plan.

lol you mean M4A. I thought Warren wanted everyone to join poetry workshops

I'll wait for the Tim Faust take

it seems

1) Perfectly designed to deflect tax talking points
and
2) so not gonna happen

having detailed plans is a fool's game tbh, anybody expecting any candidate's plan to pass as proposed is in some weird fantasyland. They should be taken as what they are: statements of priorities.

But once you start dealing with people like Manchin or Collins or Romney or Sinema or whatever other douchebag "swing vote" is left all that shit goes right out the window.

Some commentary.

i'm reading https://smile.amazon.com/American-Sickness-Healthcare-Became-Business/dp/1594206759 right now and honestly, what a mess! good book so far!

News: BETO is ending his presidential campaign

He will not run for Senate, has no immediate plans to endorse

"My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee"https://t.co/MXUSDiLDIK

— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) November 1, 2019

Oh well. Whatever. Never mind.

believing is art

He's gettin' the band back together.

"My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee"

you're too old to enlist, robert

lame that he's ruling out challenging Cornyn wtf

To be fair, he's probably burned out on campaigning, and wants to be a dad for a bit, or maybe write a book or something.

I mean, with exception of the two or so months between the end of the senatorial race and the beginning of his presidential run, O'Rourke has been on the trail since early '17.