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

I should never have to push the button for someone who thinks "America is ALREADY grebt" but nevertheless

Whether or not Hillary was "appealing" or "popular" is the kind of question that leads to a neverending and at this point highly predictable series of volleys that will never end in a point

yeah probably otm

brb going to the horrible ideas thread, thanks for the inspiration, man alive!

The real horrible thread idea is going full LARP and having an Obama-Clinton poll as if it was February 2008 to run with these appealing/popularity arguments.

I have to leave this thread for the night so I’m not arguing w/ people on my phone online instead of paying attention to people irl

Godspeed

thank you for your service

that is the best level of speed

xp

it's actually just behind a ten-speed. can't beat a ten-speed

Shakey bait

We’re not looking to keep Pelosi because there’s a progressive running against her who supports Medicare for All and the Green New Deal among other things. Check out @ShahidForChange at https://t.co/g293QvlKFB and vote by March 3rd. https://t.co/6G8MWfUzIP

— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 23, 2020

make Pramila Jayapal the speaker imo

She will be.

my theory with Trump's congrats Bernie thing and being measured is that he truly, intensely hates Bloomberg and wants to see him humiliated first, then he can deal with Bernie

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, February 23, 2020 6:14 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

My (possibly quite wrong but imagine if it wasn't) theory is that some part of his misfiring ape brain recognizes the very real possibility that Bernie stands a good chance of being president this time next year and it's never too soon to start the ass kissing.

As for Buttigieg -- it's like being sold a car, isn't it? Most people sense they're being sold a bill of goods, but a few, a certain group, leave thinking they made a great deal. In his case all those people are white.

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) February 23, 2020

This is many many xps but, about Warren,

What is the basis for thinking she would be a better administrator?

Overall impression I guess? I think she's a smarter system thinker than Sanders, whose ideas often seem sort of amorphous. She's immersed herself in how the financial system actually works e.g. I think she overdoes it with the plan for this and the plan for that, but I also think she has more specific, actionable ideas.

bernie is extremely repetitive and while some people see that as being ultra focused on his message and the grand idea, I sometimes see that as him just blowing off important concerns people have. Like when he campaigned for an anti-abortion dem candidate. I hold that grudge. I hold other grudges since the 2016 election. He likes to barter about shit I care about. It's careless.

I also think Warren is smarter, but in general, all around.

I think she would be a much better administrator. And given how important that's become, with both Obama and Trump basically doing any executive end-runs they can around Congress, it's a significant issue.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, February 23, 2020 4:13 PM (yesterday)

I never know what people mean, specifically, when they say things like this. What's an example of an important administrative responsibility of the president that you think Warren would be significantly better at?

Staffing the executive branch, regulatory agencies.

re Sanders and abortion

https://jacobinmag.com/2019/07/bernie-sanders-abortion-rights-record

his historical record on abortion wasn't what I was talking about. he's so willing to do the grumpy old man jazz hands when he just doesn't want to deal with or explain more recent "non-progressive" behaviour or comments.

lol @ old man jazz hands

Oh well, looks like the last 96 hours or so of campaign coverage based on unnamed sources may have been totally misleading according to new unnamed sources. Looking forward to the next set of unnamed sources completely clarifying the situation. pic.twitter.com/7H1DNNpC0y

— Ken Silverstein (@KenSilverstein1) February 23, 2020

bernie supporters shouldn't even worry about this stuff. defensiveness isn't the look. this campaign is not about bernie, it's about medicare for all, a bold approach to climate change, free public higher education, worker ownership of corporations, and the right to imagine the future in something other than dystopian terms.

Warren got the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau up and running, which is about as good an example of improving the administrative state as you could possibly hope for, I think

oh god who introduced morbs to that fake richard nixon guy?

fake nixon has always been with morbs

Epstein

Fake Nixon has pretty good insights imo

I hate the way he writes his tweets, the phony baloney jaded insider political thriller vibe, like some dork at a computer imagining he's a character played by Hal Holbrook telling the main character how things "really work in this town, kid"

nah, he imitates Nixon's crabbed prose style except with occasionally mordant insights

I stand by what I said

film nixon hulk guy 2020

My only issue with Fake Nixon is that all of his followers feel compelled to call him "sir," which I occasionally find embarrassing.

Change in Headline pic.twitter.com/tg9T5MFWnP

— Editing TheGrayLady (@nyt_diff) February 24, 2020

Road tripping to Reno to canvass and observe caucus this last weekend was so worth it

would be really curious to hear your observations if you have the time or inclination

We are a little over a week out from super Tuesday, so it's prediction time. I expect after next week's primaries, we'll still see Sanders holding a narrow lead, but the big story will be the resurgence of Joe Biden, with the rest of the race narrowing to a showdown between Sanders and Biden.

What do you all think will happen?

I approve of Sanders giving AIPAC the finger

I think that's overestimating Biden but, meh, I'm bad at predictions.xp

narrative will turn to how Bloomberg is holding Biden back

it's kinda funny, given that he got in to stop Bernie, Bloomberg being on the ballot is probably the best thing that could have happened, both stirring up further anti-billionaire sentiment and muddying the waters and further splitting the centrist vote, shaving votes off Biden, Pete or Klobs

Y'know, I get that the ostensible purpose behind the sudden wailing and gnashing of teeth is to make Bernie look like a bad idea but ultimately I think it's just going to strengthen perception of him as a legitimate threat to Trump.

alfred, any thoughts on the florida primary? seems like the one in which biden or bloomberg has the best chance of winning, if they're going to win any.

Bloomberg may still be a factor, but I think his impact is going to be more muted than people were fearing last week. That's a big reason why I could see Biden surprising.

xp to above, not a response to the FL question

I'd imagine so. Sanders' remarks about Fidel y Cuba have stirred up the more panic-prone SoFla pollsters.

xpost

I know this has been covered a lot already but there really are a lot of parallels with the GOP 2016 primary and the Dem 2020 primary. With Bernie and Trump there's a "tells it like it is" quality to both (obviously Trump is a pathological liar, but the way he frames things and the way he talks works comes off as being *real* to a certain portion of the population). Both are threats to party orthodoxies and structures. Both are funded in novel ways that break with established practice. Both are adversarial with the media. etc etc

xps

xpost

Yeah, you kinda wonder if the media's inability to stop droning on about what a disaster unelectable Sanders is will have the same effect it did for Trump... Sanders will end up dominating the election coverage, but the warnings will not resonate with viewers, the disdain will.

Idk, Trump supporters know he lies and they don’t give a fuck. His appeal is more the petty authoritarian being able to say whatever he likes to whoever he likes.

yes, absolutely.

I think where their appeals are parallel is that *because* they are so far outside of the calculated way most politicians speak/present themselves, their styles resonate with audiences as being authentic.

I think Sanders could find a base that knows his policy proposals are nearly impossible to implement and don't give a fuck