2020 Democratic presidential primary

*will be

still feel like Harris is inevitable and she's my preferred candidate; but if you thought the right wing was over the top in calling HRC unlikeable, wait until they have a stern black woman. Girding myself for the racist and sexist memes now.

haha yeah I have often thought about how crazy (brave?) it is for Harris to willingly step into that line of fire, she has to know what's coming

I may be dense, but I fail to see how I'm supposed to hold her prosecutorial background against her. It's her positions now that matter to me. If anything, the legal background makes me more confident that she understands the system. I'm not leaning toward her, but she's never not impressed me as a Senate inquisitor.

because when she becomes president she will defy the will of her party and constituents and secretly institute her dastardly plan to continue incarcerating as many black and brown people as possible duh

because truly that is within her heart of hearts as a policy goal

shit that's right

lol

He isn't the most natural fit for the Democratic Party of 2020, but @MikeBloomberg can claim leadership on climate change and gun control like no other. Pundits and activists are underestimating the potential of a campaign focused on those issues. https://t.co/HAbncaeBhj

— Ben Ritz (@BudgetBen) January 21, 2019

sad lol

it's such a waste of time. they should just do warren vs. harris and then the establishment and progressive wings can battle it out and come to some kind of synthesis at the end.

Bloomberg doubtlessly on board with that 70% marginal tax rate

I may be dense, but I fail to see how I'm supposed to hold her prosecutorial background against her. It's her positions now that matter to me. If anything, the legal background makes me more confident that she understands the system. I'm not leaning toward her, but she's never not impressed me as a Senate inquisitor.

I'd agree if we hadn't recently seen models for what a "progressive prosecutor" can do — actually shrink prison populations, work to blacklist cops who've been written up from testifying, etc. It's not just about the position, it's about values.

*from testifying in criminal cases, I should specify there for clarity's sake

otoh you can always count on michael tracy to come up with the dumbest objection possible

I'm a Harris skeptic for the usual reason (prosecutor), but... come on, man pic.twitter.com/sVi9K6gkle

— David Klion (@DavidKlion) January 21, 2019

jfc

Twitter is toxic and terrible, but Tracey is one of the worst.

yeah he’s useless

not that this is the problem with that post but there's something so weird and race-sciency about the "I'm gonna tell you what KIND of Indian she is" move

Also it's terrible that his profile pic is literally a drawing of him imitating the HMM emoji

I have no idea who this guy is though

we’ve done the harris stuff to death at this point, but it’s not just her “background” as a prosecutor, it’s her actual record, which seems to conveniently escape discussion among her supporters

politically I do think she’s a good candidate and I’ll keep an open mind — she’ll certainly have plenty of chances to defend her record over the next 18 months

I'm perfectly aware of her record. Maybe it's my pychic ability for me to see that she knows which way the progressive winds are blowing

I have no idea who this guy is though

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, January 21, 2019 9:55 AM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

super-contrarian, weirdo journalist guy. about the only thing you could possibly say in his favour is that he called Trump's victory months before the election based on reporting in the rust belt

harris is not the worst person running, so she's got that going for her

There’s some service journalism in @melmason’s @KamalaHarris story: https://t.co/RC6La2EomM pic.twitter.com/jFHer7kc7D

— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) January 21, 2019

i was not aware of that

she could fuck trump up in a debate, i feel, in a way the other candidates wouldn't be able to.

i'm not going to vote for someone based on that, but to me that's her advantage. she's obviously extremely composed and comfortable under pressure. anyone who has seen her grilling kavanaugh and others as a senator has seen that.

Harris can/will be a good candidate on a technical level down the road, but that announcement video is dullllllllllllllll

What exactly do you want from an announcement video? Should she have leapt out of a cake shaped like Donald Trump's severed head? Screamed her announcement through a bullhorn while wearing a black leather jacket and waving an antifa flag? Seriously, what should she have done differently that would have made you - specifically you - say "Wow, that was an exciting announcement!"

― grawlix (unperson), Monday, January 21, 2019 11:01 AM

More biography, more slowly cut shots of her speaking with people who are presumably constituents she already represents instead of just abstract stock footage of "Americans," less talking directly to a camera from something that looks like the waiting room at the Chrysler dealership while using that hand motion Bill Clinton invented. It's constructed like the beginning of some "educational programming" kids have to watch in high school instead of a story.

I guess because it's an announcement about an announcement they chose not to go for the rafters out of the gate, but she should be looking at AOC's approach or even Warren's. What she made is an announcement ad that might have worked 15-20 years ago.

My criticisms are purely about the product, not her candidacy.

she's a completely different kind of figure than warren or AOC

it would be disingenuous for her to present herself as the left populist in the race

even Warren's

haha come on now

I'm just talking about the simple construction of the ad itself. Not her positions or even her persona. It's a corny video.

Warren's video wasn't bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbH0RU4GcVo

AOC's is the benchmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3QXIVR0bs

I'm just saying there are a lot of outfits out there capable of producing quality, motivated/motivational advertising for campaigns and it feels like Harris was giving an intern a task for course credit.

I'm perfectly aware of her record. Maybe it's my pychic ability for me to see that she knows which way the progressive winds are blowing

― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, January 21, 2019 1:10 PM (twenty-three minutes ago)

have we considered that someone who is able to adapt their positions to win a primary may also be pretty quick to sell those out once pressure comes from the other side? is that not logical?

re: Harris vs HRC upthread, I don't think Harris has nearly the same charisma or likability issues as HRC did. For one thing, as suggested upthread, I do think she has the potential ability to disarm and destroy Trump in a debate without losing her cool.

Of course! And if a Dem president nominated Harris for attorney general, her prosecutorial record would trouble me.

xpost

ok, and president harris will be appointing her own AG

once pressure comes from the other side?

what other side? the conservative, "law and order" side of the Dem party? how strong are they right now/how many votes do they have? or do you think she's gonna take marching orders from the GOP, who will never vote for her?

she's going to take the measure of where the party/her voters are currently at, and where they are currently at is not WAR ON DRUGS/Superpredators!/imprison more people

surely there is no precedent for a democratic president, especially in this century, who has shown a concerning openness to dialog with republican legislators. you're right

I am glad you're genuinely so convinced by her. I wish I could be less cynical

We share your skepticism, believe me. I'll continue to shop for the least awful among them.

the only presumptive candidate that creeps me out besides Biden is Corey Booker.

and Bloomberg isn't a candidate, he's a dildo for rich Third Way/Dem satraps

I don't think Harris has nearly the same charisma or likability issues as HRC did. For one thing, as suggested upthread, I do think she has the potential ability to disarm and destroy Trump in a debate without losing her cool.

HRC didn't lose her cool, she kept countering Trump and saying true things about facts, history, policy and Trump, while the moderators allowed him to spout insane bullshit and talk over the top of her.

I can't see Harris disarming Trump in a debate, but I can see her enraging him with calmness and facts even more than HRC did. Actually I'll pay $5 to watch that tomorrow, someone call the networks.

surely there is no precedent for a democratic president, especially in this century, who has shown a concerning openness to dialog with republican legislators. you're right

we're in a political era where precedents don't count for much imo. But for what it's worth, I don't think any national-profile Dem honestly thinks there's any working with the GOP as currently constituted - I think Obama getting burned and the rise of Trump have pretty well torched any serious room for compromise.

like I don't think anybody, even in the Senate (which is def more collegial than the House), looks across the aisle and says "huh, if I just adjust my position a little bit, I will peel off the necessary votes from the other party to get this bill passed". Because that doesn't happen anymore. at best you get a couple of defections and that's it, which really only matter when the partisan split in the Senate is *very* close - and who knows what it will be if/when Harris is President. But even in that scenario, I doubt she'll be crafting too many policy proposals with the specific goal of peeling Huckleberry's vote away from the blobfish.

Michael Tracey in the 2016 campaign would posted pictures of Trump shaking hands w famous black people as proof he wasn’t racist like the libs say he is.