Your next 2020 Democratic presidential primary thread: Now we're serious

Chuck Todd in November:

"There's only one running mate for him... It's the same running mate Joe Biden has to pick and it's the same running mate Pete Buttigieg has to pick. It's Stacey Abrams, by the way," Todd told the panel. "There's nobody else that Bloomberg can match up to beat out someone in this nomination than Stacey Abrams."

Todd added, "I think he has to have a person of color. I think he needs diversity on the ticket, person of color."

Now, Abrams isn't a socialist or anything, but Todd (who seems to embody dumb pundit-class conventional wisdom) at least acknowledges that a safe white guy isn't the way to go.

Chuck Todd has also repeatedly said things like "But don't forget about Amy Klobuchar!" or "What about Amy Klobuchar?" when MTP panels start to get too excited about Warren or Sanders for his taste. Believe me, he's one of her biggest media boosters.

the candidate i think is really interesting is that senator from vermont. bernie sanders, i think.

Are you quoting from Pete Buttigieg's Profile in Courage essay?

huh hadn't read this before. kind of an interesting time capsule -- in the first paragraph he says cynicism and apathy are the main problems in american politics. today i guess high schoolers would talk about paranoid rage and information warfare and online radicalization

He was an old millennial reacting against Gen X values.

the quiet part loud

Word to God, I actually think this is Biden's biggest hidden strength. I think after nearly 4 years of Trump, the country is going to be ready to zone out and Biden can give us that. I'm 100% serious. https://t.co/ltCST7iiXV

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) January 15, 2020

Bernie apologizing to Biden for an op-ed Zephyr Teachout wrote once again making clear this has been a kids' glove primary. Which has been great news for Biden.

this has been a kids' glove primary.

the campaign is young. iowa hasn't even caucused, yet. By late March, we'll see how gently the survivors are playing with each other. By the time it's down to two or three apparently viable candidates the odds are they won't be aiming to inflict shallow paper cuts and light scratches on each other. They'll still joust as cleanly as they can - but they'll look to draw blood and maybe break a bone of two.

I don't think it was as obvious in 2016 that Clinton needed to court voters to her left, especially not when the historic nature of her candidacy was itself branded as progressive.

The Dem establishment's assumption is that progressives will have to suck it up and vote for the candidate - and if left doesn't (or... even if they do and the candidate loses anyway) they get even more reason to punch left on a regular basis.

xxxp - 'bring back the normalcy of 2012' isn't even the quiet part, it's the foundation of Biden's campaign

Yup.

normalcy sure, but the zombies don't usually point out that normalcy for them means complacency, hibernation, autodriving off a cliff

On day one of my presidency, I will take aggressive steps to root out the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration, starting by removing all political appointees, except those necessary to preserve continuity and protect national security.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 21, 2020

I will also direct the Justice Department to establish an independent task force to investigate violations of specific anti-corruption and public integrity laws during the Trump administration, with independent authority to pursue any substantiated violations.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 21, 2020

glad warren understands that the white house is gonna need some serious disinfecting

wait a second, shouldn't warren just issue a blanket pardon to trump and his entire administration, so that the nation can finally move on and begin the difficult process of healing?

sometimes healing requires medicine, amirite

and amputation

and bloodletting

i'm reminded of some proposed phobia treatment therapy that involved forcing the patient to face all of their worst fears all at once, like being trapped in an elevator stuffed with spiders, suspended high above the ground

1984?

http://www.psychologywizard.net/uploads/2/6/6/4/26640833/3467021_orig.jpg

lol
i'm 99.8% sure that's where i got that idea from

i wish gary larson was my dad

the past three years has been immersion therapy for people with a phobia of Donald Trump ending up as President

Many of them didn't even know they had that phobia!

Bernie apologizing to Biden for an op-ed Zephyr Teachout wrote once again making clear this has been a kids' glove primary. Which has been great news for Biden.

― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Monday, January 20, 2020 10:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I don't know, it seems as if the sudden uptick of hostility is also proving very good for biden; so if we got a choice, it would be nice to choose the one that did not produce as much existential despair

I just asked @SenSanders for his reaction to @HillaryClinton saying “no one likes” him. He said, “On a good day, my wife likes me, so let’s clear the air on that one.” He then pivoted to talking about impeachment. More tonight on @NBCNightlyNews

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 21, 2020

I also asked Sanders why he thinks Clinton is still talking about 2016. “That’s a good question. You should ask her,” he said.

— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 21, 2020

Bernie has been hot with the zingers just lately

also that's the correct response to one of those totally abysmal questions journalists tend to ask

he's becoming very ... presidential imo

putting aside whatever qualities he has or doesn't have relative to other candidates, I can't imagine a starker contrast to Trump in terms of proclivity for bullshit

trump is usually on the supply-side of bullshit

i refuse to believe Zephyr Rain Teachout is a real name, it's one of those names like Piper Peraboo and Picabo Street that my brain refuses to accept.

Pilot Inspektor Lee would like to have a word with your examples

Beryl Sprinkel always impressed me.

Reality Winner

this simulation is getting too cutesy clever for me

one of my favorite "no way is that a real name" stories can be found deep in the ILX archives: Ally = Valley!

i've met Zephyr and saw the birth cert

uh

why?

just a lame name joke... don't read too much into me

speaking of bernie and bullshit (and bernie and bullshit and bernie and bullshit), forgive me if this was already posted but it's fun to watch

"I don't tolerate bullshit terribly well" - @BernieSanders #TheWeeklyNYT pic.twitter.com/SKN48EkAPv

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) January 20, 2020

is that Brent Staples?

yep

On one hand I admire the no-bullshit; on the other, I worry about a Sanders administration's relationship with Congress because bullshitting and backslapping them is the only way to deal with them. I'm reading Carter fan/staffer Stuart Eizenstat's Carter biography and am reminded anew of how a Dem majority after the first year couldn't work with him.

But the point's moot if the Senate stays GOP.

opinion columnists don't have seats on the editorial board apparently
― international sword swallower, producer and creative director (bizarro gazzara), Monday, January 20, 2020 9:02 AM

Opinion columnists do. Op-ed columnists don't.

opinion columnists are NYT employees, while op-ed columnists are not and have no regular standing or regular appearances

Ah, right yes. But Liz Bruenig is employed by the NYT, right? That's what's confusing me about the exchange above.