2020 Democratic presidential primary thread, pt 3: life is very long

holy shit biden looks terrible

Translation:

"Why do Sanders supporters think that calling Biden senile makes Sanders look a better choice considering how badly Biden beat Sanders at the polls?"

pic.twitter.com/njwOdQacMl

— PBF Comics (@PerryFellow) March 19, 2020

aren't dem primary voters more left-wing in every way than the general electorate or is this the "non-voters will show up when they haven't so far" theory of the case

Senile politicians are Bernies cryptonite. He can beat anything else, but not that.

that's kind of a dumb question given that the majority of voters seem to have no clue what Biden's proposals are and seem to actually like all of Bernie's signature policies

xp why during this global crisis are you obsessing over the primary campaign in another country?

maybe this is a good moment to give it a rest

Biden's not just any senile politician. He's got the Obama Brand of Electability.

Biden’s going to get flayed in November, just absolutely decimated, and y’all are still going to be in here snarking about how Bernie just couldn’t pull it out in... Alabama

you saw the poll results pretty much everyone on ilx wants bernie. we're obv not the ppl who need convincing.

biden has ben carson "pyramids were used to store grain" energy today

Bernie won the expat delegates: https://www.democratsabroad.org/news?utm_campaign=20gppresultsemea1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=democratsabroad

and yes duh obviously I realize he cratered after Super Tuesday, but ime the anger is more at the Democratic Party and the media circling the wagons in favor of an absolute loser than voters whom I believe have absolutely been cowed by notions of “electability”

eh that's only part of the explanation. You're removing agency from voters, some of whom are besotted with MSNBC notions of electability, others of whom as people of color cast a jaundiced eye on white saviors. But I'm tired of repeating this.

voters weren't brainwashed. if they believed bernie wasn't electable it's not bc someone tricked them into thinking it. idk why they believe biden is more electable but if you're right and they do that's on the voters imo not the "party."

not sure how Biden is any less of a “white savior”, but instead of uni healthcare it’s for showing that Cheeto what’s what by god, but ok

xp voters are untrickable, it's true

the united states electorate has a magnificent bullshit detector and is thankfully impervious to corporate media narratives

imagine where we'd be otherwise?

ILE.

that's kind of a dumb question given that the majority of voters seem to have no clue what Biden's proposals are and seem to actually like all of Bernie's signature policies

It's almost as if lots of voters make decisions based on things other than policies

voters made it clear over and over that their #1 priority is getting rid of tRump cheeto mango Mussolini small hands etc. It's fair given the history of leftist Presidents getting elected (which has happened zero times) to doubt that Bernie could make it happen. it just sucks that people think Biden is really a safer bet.

now there's a post I can agree with

It's almost as if lots of voters make decisions based on things other than policies

You're literally saying people were brainwashed

Yglesias is over-thinking it. Calling Biden 'dead' is just how they are rolling. The guy looks like shit, that's all.

he literally did not say that
xp

i literally shit my pants every time someone makes that mistake

if the left wants to win they need to become the mainstream either by allying/networking with mainstream dem politicians or by beating them in primaries until they control the party. i think that's the only real lesson the left needs to take away. it should try both imo - primary seats to move the party left and do better work allying with more mainstream + moderate dems so that when the time comes you don't only have a handful of junior congresswomen and radical leftie professors endorsing you.

Frederik B is the kindest, bravest, most wonderful poster I've ever known in my human life

i'm sure this has been brought up before, but might make sense for sanders to stay in, just in case one of them dies

Sort of like a "pinch hitter"

That's more like it xp

yeah I mean I get that, I mean I had the same fears b/c I really do think there's a large swath of people who do not like Trump and won't vote for him in 2020 UNLESS a perceived spooky socialist gets the nom, in which case they'll have no choice but to vote Trump for their own financial interests. just sucks that the "safe" choice we ran with is a 77 year old centrist who can barely speak right now and is basically MIA during a major crisis

re Joe dyin — that’s when it’s definitely going to go sideways bc the party will 100% just coronate whomever they want, which, as I understand it, is absolutely their prerogative. but damn, it’s going to get ugly.

Maybe we could make Biden a cyborg and crowdsource his policies and speeches

it would be objectively funny if the Weekend at Bernie's scenario happened to....Joe

To be clear, I think Biden has always sucked as a presidential candidate and Biden '20 really sucks.

I also think rejecting one white male savior for another is horseshit and in a much better world, this would have boiled down to Warren/Harris showdown.

However, I also know what world I live in and have almost 50 years of observing the ways people behave in it, hence here we are.

I also think Fred should take up Wii Bowling or something, get his mind off things

basically MIA during a major crisis

is he though? I know we all get spoonfed Bernie’s speeches via social media, but I thought Biden was giving updates frequently too?

Xpost So he can yell at his opponents and refuse to throw the first ball?

my impression is that started up more recently, quite possibly as a necessary counterpoint to Bernie's visibility xp

biden had a speech the other night. I didn't see it but yeah, I'm not following him on FB where I am following Sanders, AOC, etc, so when Bernie does these things it just launches automatically.

Whatever your inclination -- even if you're the brass-collared for Biden -- if you don't admit that Sanders is doing the right thing in the crisis in the pure political sense -- sitting behind a desk and hammering like hell -- then you're being dishonest.

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

That is a good tweet and you should share it with an audience that isn't 100% in agreement with it.

argh I wish we had an edit function

there should be an "also" after "should"

re Joe dyin — that’s when it’s definitely going to go sideways bc the party will 100% just coronate

words that look weird, now

Joe dying and being replaced by Bernie >>>>> Joe dying and being replaced by almost anyone other than Buttigieg > Joe living

this is the more salient followup, djp

I don't mean it's going to make a difference for Sanders. I mean Biden has given Sanders a vacuum, and Sanders has filled it. That's not good politics.

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

Joe dying and being replaced by almost anyone other than Buttigieg

Who's your money on for if this happens?

Klobuchar's husband has been hospitalized for Covid

Shit that really sucks