11/08/2022, The Midterms, aka build on 2020 aka The Election Thread

[GulDukat]

I'm starting to think Trump won't run for another term. His numbers are terrible and he just looks miserable. He could say:

I've spoken with Melania and after some real thinking, I've decided not to seek another term as your president. Although I've done great things--strongest economy ever, peace in the Middle East, lowest unemployment ever, I've decided to spend more time with my family. And although I'm sure I would be reelected in a landslide, I have done what I set out to do, four years ago, I've made America great again!

[Wretchedest]

The information campaign against Kamal Harris just indicates to me that Republicans are afraid of her viability compared to the other current options.


I wonder, though if liberals are just seeking the ultimate flawless human being, idk

[sweeterthan]

I loved Kamala Harris’s speech today. I am hoping she can take it all the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[allegro]

I'm starting to think Trump won't run for another term. His numbers are terrible and he just looks miserable. He could say:

I've spoken with Melania and after some real thinking, I've decided not to seek another term as your president. Although I've done great things--strongest economy ever, peace in the Middle East, lowest unemployment ever, I've decided to spend more time with my family. And although I'm sure I would be reelected in a landslide, I have done what I set out to do, four years ago, I've made America great again!

I fantasize about this nearly every day.

[ltrandazzo]

Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame is considering a run as a centrist Independent nominee for President. I'll let you all find them yourself, but his first three tweets have all been ratio'ed with replies in the vein of DON'T DO IT.

That's all the attention I care to give to him. He already said something about cutting "entitlements," so he can fuck the fuck off.

[allegro]

^ Now there’s also talk that he could be the Ralph Nader of the 2020 election if he runs Independent. Although, I think he’d split the Republican ticket more than the Democratic. He’s another dick wanting to jump into running a country with no experience.

[ltrandazzo]

Dumb thought exercise time - below is my Top 3 of who I would vote for in the Democratic Primary if I had to vote today with all of the current information that we all have -

1. Elizabeth Warren - my current front-runner. She has experience with financial matters that hit VERY close to me and have usually always been the right thing to do. I also like that she's making DC statehood a thing. Wealth Tax? Check.
2. Kamala Harris - I love Kamala and think that she would win outright right now. I need some more specific things for her to endorse and introduce. Her criminal justice record can be a strength; she will have to answer for her record with conviction.
3. Kirsten Gillibrand - Kirsten could move up the ranks and end up competing for the presidency based on several factors that folks often forget - she has endorsed postal banking, which would end payday loans and give low-income people a bank with reasonable fees and also potentially save the post office system. She has called on addressing sexual harassment in the military with a bill, which is an extension of her efforts in 2009 to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. She wants to start digging into a federal jobs guarantee. She has a lot of great ideas so if she can expand her platform, she could end up being a serious contender.

[ryanmcfly]

I would vote for Kamala before anyone not named Beto O'Rourke. But I'm not sure if he's going to run for president at this rate. Wouldn't be shocked he went for Cornyn's senate seat next year.
1. Beto
2. Kamala
3. Bernie
4. Warren
5. Gillibrand
6. Dwayne Johnson
7. Clinton

[Sarah K]

The thought of having to vote for someone who spent time as a prosecutor makes my skin crawl.

Gillibrand is probably my top pick so far.

[allegro]

The thought of having to vote for someone who spent time as a prosecutor makes my skin crawl.

I know what you mean by that, except the Executive Branch “executes” laws; so, in effect, the Executive is the highest level of prosecutor, hence why the Attorney General reports to the Executive (and the DoJ is part of the Executive Department).

The Legislative creates laws, the Executive enforces laws, the Judicial interprets laws.

[allegro]

I think Elizabeth Warren is REALLY smart and has an awesome background. I *LOVE* her.

I really like Amy Klobuchar and her policies and I follow her on Twitter.

And, someday -- IN MY LIFETIME, HOPEFULLY -- I'd like to have President who happens to be female.

That being said ... This next election, to me, is ESPECIALLY about STRATEGY to BEAT TRUMP.

And, in my opinion, the strategic candidate who can beat Trump:

Joe Biden.

Many Republicans love him. Many Republicans who don't love him at least accept him as bipartisan and they respect him a lot.

Joe's a deal-maker. He gets things done. He's someone who can get fence-sitter votes.

If there are Republicans who can't bring themselves to hold their noses and vote for Trump, they could very well hold their noses and vote for Joe Biden without losing sleep at night. (Note that this is also true of Klobuchar, FWIW.)

I think if Biden selected Beto O'Rourke or Warren as V.P., then he'd especially be successful.

Biden's a bulldog. He takes no prisoners during campaigns and debates which has hurt him in the past; his vice presidential debates with Pence - with Pence calmly swatting away Biden's yelling - made Biden look angry and Pence look like he was tranquil. BUT THIS TIME, BIDEN WOULD BE AGAINST TRUMP. Trump: (a) is stupid; (b) can't debate; (c) is a RABID DUMB bulldog.

Biden is a brilliant attorney, is a really smart guy, he's just a strategic best option right now.

Ultimately, Presidents don't make laws; CONGRESS does that. The triple-win would be Biden in the Executive with a Democratic Congress.

[theimage13]

I think Elizabeth Warren is REALLY smart and has an awesome background. I *LOVE* her.

I really like Amy Klobuchar and her policies and I follow her on Twitter.

And, someday -- IN MY LIFETIME, HOPEFULLY -- I'd like to have President who happens to be female.

That being said ... This next election, to me, is ESPECIALLY about STRATEGY to BEAT TRUMP.

And, in my opinion, the strategic candidate who can beat Trump:

Joe Biden.

Many Republicans love him. Many Republicans who don't love him at least accept him as bipartisan and they respect him a lot.

Joe's a deal-maker. He gets things done. He's someone who can get fence-sitter votes.

If there are Republicans who can't bring themselves to hold their noses and vote for Trump, they could very well hold their noses and vote for Joe Biden without losing sleep at night. (Note that this is also true of Klobuchar, FWIW.)

I think if Biden selected Beto O'Rourke or Warren as V.P., then he'd especially be successful.

Biden's a bulldog. He takes no prisoners during campaigns and debates which has hurt him in the past; his vice presidential debates with Pence - with Pence calmly swatting away Biden's yelling - made Biden look angry and Pence look like he was tranquil. BUT THIS TIME, BIDEN WOULD BE AGAINST TRUMP. Trump: (a) is stupid; (b) can't debate; (c) is a RABID DUMB bulldog.

Biden is a brilliant attorney, is a really smart guy, he's just a strategic best option right now.

Ultimately, Presidents don't make laws; CONGRESS does that. The triple-win would be Biden in the Executive with a Democratic Congress.

This is the take I needed to get behind him as a contender (that, and a headline the other day saying that apparently he's the only one Trump is actually afraid to take on). But the idea of someone drawing votes from both the true independents as well as Republican voters who just can't stand Trump...that's a very good notion. I've admitted before that I'm uneasy about continuously voting for people who are near the age of my grandfathers when they died, but if their running mate is someone who I also would have readily voted for as President, then that would calm those nerves.

[ryanmcfly]

Cory Booker is running

[ltrandazzo]

Here's the announcement video -

I remember the early days of Twitter and seeing this guy responding to people in Newark during snowstorms in 2010 - http://content.time.com/time/nation/...039945,00.html

I'm interested to see how he does and what his key issues will be. Regardless of the primary, I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up on a ticket as either President or VP.

[ltrandazzo]

Elizabeth Warren has apologized to the Cherokee nation for her DNA video

Good on her for this. This was the right thing to do.

[ltrandazzo]

Third post in a row, but it ties into the first - Kellyanne Conway suggests that Cory Booker is sexist for running against a growing field of Dem women in the primary

My take - she's softening the blow for when Trump calls Booker the n-word in public.

[bobbie solo]

Cory Booker is running

DOA in my opinion. He's as slimy as they come (he's my senator), and will not be able to get past how he's in Wall Street & Big Pharma's pockets. Especially when Harris looks to have already carved out the biggest lane for "centrist that voters who traffic in identity politics over voting records/policy stances".

[ltrandazzo]

DOA in my opinion. He's as slimy as they come (he's my senator), and will not be able to get past how he's in Wall Street & Big Pharma's pockets. Especially when Harris looks to have already carved out the biggest lane for "centrist that voters who traffic in identity politics over voting records/policy stances".

Wall Street's pockets - they influence him so much that he

also introduced bills to put more money in working Americans’ pockets; making sure workers get a share of stock buybacks that normally go to company shareholders, and stopping banks from tacking overdraft fees on consumers’ debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals that are over their available balance — a move to protect low-income people who get hit with fees for being in debt.

Huh. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...-2020-democrat

Big Pharma's pockets - they influence him so much that he

said in 2017 that he would put “a pause” on accepting money from the industry. This was after he received heavy progressive criticism for helping kill a bill sponsored by Sanders to lower drug prices.

New Jersey hosts the headquarters of many major pharmaceutical companies and they have long had good relations with the New Jersey delegations.

Huh. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...is-2020-money/

[bobbie solo]

I feel like the bottom two quotes only help prove my point. And his "pause" on taking the money (meaning, as I said, he takes money from them and therefore is bought & sold by them) was the most tepid response he could have had to the backlash he got after killing that bill. The "pause" was roundly laughed at when he announced it and showed how tone deaf he was/is.

As far as the first quote, those bills had no chance of passing iirc, and he knew it. Empty rhetoric to try and shore up the base. But the base has never believed him, and still doesn't. His attempts to push charter schools (and accept tons of money from shitty charter school backers) is terrible too. Problem Booker has is that the base and the more far left turn out more in primaries. And he does not appeal to us. Hillary had the name recognition and entire DNC behind her, so she won despite how unpopular alot of her stances were. No candidate is gonna have any of that this time.

I'm surprised you'd even defend him Randazzo. Seems pretty clear you're not gonna vote for him over some of the other candidates.

Anyway, I welcome more and more of these establishment people. Keep splitting that establishment/corporatist vote, hopefully making it easier for Bernie or Warren to win enough states where the progressive vote won't fracture as much. Amy Klobachar (loooool) come on down!

[ltrandazzo]

@bobbie solo - these hardcore takedowns of candidates who engage in daily political things, like working with large corporations who employ thousands of your constituents, shines the light away from other important issues like the candidate's support for medicare-for-all policies, immigration reform and better economic policies. Cory introducing legislation that won't pass in the current congress is no different from Bernie introducing medicare-for-all legislation that won't pass in the current congress - it's designed to put people on the record and start building support now so that it can be hashed out and passed in the future. Duh. I'm a banker and I would love for legislation to pass that limits NSF fees because they're horrible.

Cory got blowback for killing the pharmaceutical bill Bernie put forward, so he worked with Bernie to re-write it so it wouldn't hurt his constituents who work for pharmaceutical companies in his state. Then Bernie intro'd a new bill and Cory endorsed it.

It's a pissing contest similar to the one that consumed the 2016 Dem primary and it's not something that should be encouraged for this go-round. I often compare it to online cancel culture - we can't cancel these folks for their prior politics, but we can change their minds and show them that the prior path is untenable for the future. They're still Dems, they still need to be held accountable, and they still need us to do that so they can progress forward instead of backwards. We're not Republicans.

[theimage13]

It's a pissing contest similar to the one that consumed the 2016 Dem primary and it's not something that should be encouraged for this go-round. I often compare it to online cancel culture - we can't cancel these folks for their prior politics, but we can change their minds and show them that the prior path is untenable for the future. They're still Dems, they still need to be held accountable, and they still need us to do that so they can progress forward instead of backwards. We're not Republicans.

I think this might be where we disagree a little. SOME people can change, but you never know. Especially in politics. People will SAY anything to get elected; what they DO once they get there is a whole different story. This is a general statement, not directed at any particular candidate(s): I care far, far more about what someone has already done than what they say they'll do in the future. Even if that means the things they've done are things they know won't pass - moonshot legislation for things they believe in even though it'll never get voted for, etc - I'd rather vote for that candidate than someone whose past behavior I dislike but who says they can change. Everyone says they can change. Most don't. I put more faith in the past than in promises. Maybe we can change their minds, but I would never cast my vote based largely on that possibility.

[allegro]

^ Right on.

I admit to getting impressed by pathos and campaign rhetoric sometimes, and my immediate reaction is hope and emotion. But shortly thereafter, I come back to logos and basic civics.

These Presidential candidates CAN’T LEGISLATE once they’re in office, that’s reality. They can cheerlead or attempt to quarterback legislation, but legislation comes from Congress. So promises of healthcare or whatever else coming from a PRESIDENT should be taken as empty promises that cannot be delivered by the Executive; the ACA was delivered by CONGRESS, not by the Executive. The Executive signed it, but the Legislative has the power to override Executive veto.

What we can and should focus on is behavior from candidates’ past actions (not rhetoric). Yes, when Booker has been bipartisan, that can be good. However, bipartisan and shooting down legislation in the interest of protecting Big Pharma or Health Insurance, noooooo.

Note that MOST OF CONGRESS has a history of being in the pocket of Big Pharma and Health Insurance. THAT SHIT NEEDS TO STOP.

When AOC asked the below question, it was noted on the liberal Twitterverse not so much for her being “smart” but for her being BRAVE:

[theimage13]

After watching that, I'm waiting for someone to say "well if you just bought Big Pharma stocks then you'd be reaping all the rewards!" You know, somehow thinking that that statement is actually smart or accurate.

Also after watching that, I hope she has an extremely long career in politics.

[ltrandazzo]

Maybe we can change their minds, but I would never cast my vote based largely on that possibility.

I agree with this. My main point is still this - we need to continue pushing candidates, and politicians overall, to be more progressive because regression gets us nowhere. Back to the larger point your post makes, I agree with you - we will have a large field of candidates to choose from that will still grow more in the coming months, so we will have a lot of records, promises and policy proposals to review to make the decision on who we want to run as the Dem for President.

[Jinsai]

Also after watching that, I hope she has an extremely long career in politics.

She will, and the Republicans know it. The smear campaign against her is so inordinately aggressive and intentionally misrepresentative of what she's actually saying. Even James Woods is sharing memes that imply she wants to tax the average person 70% of their income, and the twitter responses all seem to be buying it.

[binaryhermit]

I'm not a fan of Joe Biden, he was MBNA's personal senator before they got bought by Bank of America

[Jinsai]

I think Trevor Noah was on to something when he blamed a large part of Trump’s ascension to the fact that he had a ton of primary competitors, and that limited messaging to quick, empty sound bites. I really hope the dems don’t fall into shit talking infighting in a bloated primary... let’s all get along, and stay on target: we need to defeat Trump in 2020, all other concerns are comparably of no importance.

if democrat infighting and this Starbucks motherfucker hand Trump a re-election... has anyone heard this Starbucks guy talk about how he wants to hear billionaires referred to as “people of means?!”

Really. https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....-of-means/amp/

[allegro]

Unfortunately, this Native American business has pissed off a LOT of Black Twitter. Black people just ain’t gonna vote for Warren after that mess. They’re like, “look in a mirror - you’re white, living with privilege, fuck you using this Native American shit to try to get anything.” I don’t know how she can undo it after that newest evidence came out, with her Texas Bar card from the 80s listing “American Indian” on it.

She’s supposedly announcing her candidacy this Saturday. Or not.

Amy Klobuchar is making an announcement on Saturday, as well.

Beto O’Rourke is weighing the Presidency run vs. a run for the other Texas Senate seat in 2020.

This Pete Buttigieg guy, the Mayor of South Bend, IN, and the first openly gay Democratic Presidential candidate, is great. According to Wikipedia, Pete is “a graduate of Harvard University, a Rhodes Scholar, and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan” (Naval Intelligence Officer). He’s also Phi Beta Kappa.

[elevenism]

I saw Julian Castro on Jimmy Kimmel; he seemed presidential.
Idk if I want to see Beto run for president or run for Senate again. As someone who's family has been here since before the civil war, who was raised by a yellow dog dem, I would LOVE to see a dem win Texas, if only to get people to understand that Texas isn't really what a lot of them think it is.
We're not all redneck trump supporters: Texas is a purple state, I think. Hell, before W, our governor was a Democrat, and a female at that.
We also had a democratic governor from like 71 to 79.

Good GOD, I'd like to see Beto take out the zodiac.

[allegro]

@elevenism , You’re stuck with Cruz until 2024.