The Democrats USA (2018-2020)

[Andy_T]

Here's an interesting article:

The Myth Of Incompetence: DNC Scandals Are A Feature, Not A Bug

The Iowa caucus scandal has continued to get more egregious by the hour, with new revelations routinely pouring in about extremely…

medium.com

Put yourself in the shoes of one of the leading movers and shakers within the Democratic Party for a minute. Pretend you’re getting a nice paycheck, pretend you’re getting great healthcare benefits, pretend you get plenty of prestige and exclusive access and invitations to classy parties. And pretend you’re the type of person who’s willing to manipulate and deceive and kiss up and kick down and do whatever it takes to get to the top of such a structure.

Now ask yourself, if you were such a person in such a situation, would you care if voters pick Donald Trump or Pete Buttigieg in November? Would it affect your cushy lifestyle in any way whatsoever? Would you lose your job, your prestige or your influence? No party elites lost those things in 2016. Why would you expect this time to be any different?

But you might be at risk of losing your cushy lifestyle if a forcefully anti-elitist progressive movement gets off the ground and takes control of your party. So you’d stand everything to gain by doing everything you can to prevent that from happening, and, because you don’t care if Trump gets re-elected, you’d stand absolutely nothing to lose.

These people do not care if Trump gets re-elected, because they lose nothing if he does. The only people who stand anything to lose are the ordinary citizens who are suffering under a corrupt status quo of soul-crushing neoliberalism and increasing authoritarianism, many of whom currently support Sanders. Democratic Party elites are perfectly happy to keep shrieking about Russia for another four years while making sure that the status quo which rewards their manipulative behavior remains intact, and ensuring that they never wind up like those poor suckers out there who are suffering from poverty and lack of healthcare.

 

[Mischief]

Here's an interesting article:

The Myth Of Incompetence: DNC Scandals Are A Feature, Not A Bug

The Iowa caucus scandal has continued to get more egregious by the hour, with new revelations routinely pouring in about extremely…

medium.com

That's a really nice little conspiracy theory.

However, the fact is that the Iowa state party makes all the decisions wrt the state caucuses, not the DNC.

The state parties are often in direct conflict with the DNC.

 

[KLS52]

I found this interesting.

“We’re losing our damn minds”: James Carville unloads on the Democratic Party

Why the longtime Democratic strategist is “scared to death” of the 2020 election

www.vox.com

 

[Andy_T]

Sounds like a Party Apparachik to me.

 

[Second Summer]

I found this interesting.

“We’re losing our damn minds”: James Carville unloads on the Democratic Party

Why the longtime Democratic strategist is “scared to death” of the 2020 election

www.vox.com

Maybe the reason the Dems did so well in the 2018 elections was that it wasn't a presidential election where the party in the end has only one candidate who has to appeal to every area of the country, but a mid-term election where you have hundreds of candidates for hundreds of districts, each one especially picked to win in their particular district. They could field progressive candidates in areas with more progressive voters, and moderate candidates in areas with a more moderate voter base.

Sounds like a Party Apparachik to me.

Yes, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have anything valuable to contribute. I think he raised several good points.

 

[Andy_T]

My main concern with his article is his steadfast insistence that Bernie Sanders is not acceptable, because "he is not a Democrat".

That, together with his insistence that the party has "veered way too much to the left, totally off the Radar" makes me doubt the validity of his points.

 

[Andy_T]

Sorry, could not resist to share this article.

DNC Mulls Asking Donald Trump To Run As Democrat In Effort To Stop Sanders

WASHINGTON—As the beginning of primary season upped the stakes in their search for an alternative candidate, Democratic National Committee officials reportedly mulled Monday asking Donald Trump to run for president as a Democrat in an effort to stop Bernie Sanders. “He’s obviously not our first...

politics.theonion.com

 

[Second Summer]

Unfortunately, I don't think any of the remaining candidates are particularly electable. There is no obvious 'Barack Obama' or 'Bill Clinton' or 'John F. Kennedy' candidate in the current field. Maybe mayor Pete could become that candidate, but apparently he doesn't have a connection with African-American voters, so it's going to be hard. Bernie is good - he's got broad appeal, but may be too far left for some of the traditional supporters of the Democrats, and also, he's old.

Again, they stand the best chance of winning by banding together as a united League of Super Heroes to defeat the Super Villain.

My main concern with his article is his steadfast insistence that Bernie Sanders is not acceptable, because "he is not a Democrat".

But he also indicates that Bernie could yet win against Trump.

That, together with his insistence that the party has "veered way too much to the left, totally off the Radar" makes me doubt the validity of his points.

No, the interviewer asked if he thought the party has veered too far to the left, and Carville's response was that they had "tacked off the damn radar screen". He then goes on to say he isn't a centrist or moderate, but a liberal (which is a much broader term), and that not everything has to be on the left-right continuum.

Also, just because someone says one thing that's wrong, that doesn't mean everything they say is wrong.

 

[Blues]

I see Andrew Yang has chucked in the towel

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/andrew-yang-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/02/11/4fe2c97c-4c2c-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html?wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere

 

[beancounter]

Well, it appears that my town prefers Mayor Pete (by a substantial margin), then Bernie and finally Klobuchar rounding out the top 3.

 

[MoreGreens]

Well, it appears that my town prefers Mayor Pete (by a substantial margin), then Bernie and finally Klobuchar rounding out the top 3.

It will be interesting to see whether Bernie manages to take NH. If he can't, I'll once again regret he wasn't the Dem choice for 2016, because losing a New England state will reallllly hurt his national standing.

It will also be interesting to see whether Buttigieg can win SC should he manage to win NH or NV. It takes a lot of charm and cleverness to get the southern states' swing voters to choose blue. I know this as my vote hasn't mattered at the federal level since 1996 much to Al Gore's dismay.

 

[Blues]

Tom Steyer Drops Out of 2020 Presidential Race (Published 2020)

Mr. Steyer, the former hedge-fund executive, exited the race after a disappointing finish in South Carolina — a state where he had spent considerable resources and pinned the hopes of his campaign.

www.google.co.nz

Well more to come soon

 

[Blues]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/03/01/57a3b384-5743-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html?wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere

He’s out, but young enough to have another go in the future.

 

[Mischief]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pete-buttigieg-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/03/01/57a3b384-5743-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html?wpmk=1&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere

He’s out, but young enough to have another go in the future.

He needs to build some credibility with African Americans, and then he can have a really bright future in politics.

Doing as well as he did is really quite the achievement.

 

[Blues]

Well, another one out seems like she gave it her best shot but didn't go her way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amy-klobuchar-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/03/02/7e272ee4-4219-11ea-b5fc-eefa848cde99_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alert&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

I don't know how much her decision was influenced by the fall out from this rally

Klobuchar cancels campaign event after protesters occupy stage

Sen. Amy Klobuchar's campaign announced they would cancel a Sunday evening campaign event after dozens of protestors took the stage and would not leave inside a high school gym in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Forest Nymph]

Here's an interesting article:

The Myth Of Incompetence: DNC Scandals Are A Feature, Not A Bug

The Iowa caucus scandal has continued to get more egregious by the hour, with new revelations routinely pouring in about extremely…

medium.com

I one thousand percent agree with this article. My rage from 2015-2016 with Center Left is resurfacing. I honestly thought they couldn't get any worse than gleeful Hillary worship. I was wrong, the "stop Sanders" thing lets me know exactly what their priorities are. It's not the American people, nor is it climate change or really anything that is actually a pressing issue. They want that status quo.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Well, another one out seems like she gave it her best shot but didn't go her way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amy-klobuchar-drops-out-of-presidential-race/2020/03/02/7e272ee4-4219-11ea-b5fc-eefa848cde99_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alert&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

I don't know how much her decision was influenced by the fall out from this rally

Klobuchar cancels campaign event after protesters occupy stage

Sen. Amy Klobuchar's campaign announced they would cancel a Sunday evening campaign event after dozens of protestors took the stage and would not leave inside a high school gym in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

edition.cnn.com

I would like to see Amy Klobuchar follow Pete Buttigieg out the door. The sooner we admit this is a war to be had between "Lying About Getting Arrested For Nelson Mandala" Uncle Joe and Bernie Sanders, the better for us to all get on with our lives. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday.

 

[Forest Nymph]

He needs to build some credibility with African Americans, and then he can have a really bright future in politics.

Doing as well as he did is really quite the achievement.

Nonsense he's a centrist.

That's a really nice little conspiracy theory.

However, the fact is that the Iowa state party makes all the decisions wrt the state caucuses, not the DNC.

The state parties are often in direct conflict with the DNC.

AND so are you apparently.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Unfortunately, I don't think any of the remaining candidates are particularly electable. There is no obvious 'Barack Obama' or 'Bill Clinton' or 'John F. Kennedy' candidate in the current field. Maybe mayor Pete could become that candidate, but apparently he doesn't have a connection with African-American voters, so it's going to be hard. Bernie is good - he's got broad appeal, but may be too far left for some of the traditional supporters of the Democrats, and also, he's old.

Again, they stand the best chance of winning by banding together as a united League of Super Heroes to defeat the Super Villain.

But he also indicates that Bernie could yet win against Trump.


No, the interviewer asked if he thought the party has veered too far to the left, and Carville's response was that they had "tacked off the damn radar screen". He then goes on to say he isn't a centrist or moderate, but a liberal (which is a much broader term), and that not everything has to be on the left-right continuum.

Also, just because someone says one thing that's wrong, that doesn't mean everything they say is wrong.

Bernie is old but he doesn't seem to be in cognitive mental decline like Joe Biden. Unfortunately, I think the center left would take dementia over universal healthcare.

 

[Forest Nymph]

My main concern with his article is his steadfast insistence that Bernie Sanders is not acceptable, because "he is not a Democrat".

That, together with his insistence that the party has "veered way too much to the left, totally off the Radar" makes me doubt the validity of his points.

Someone who thinks the Dems have veered too far to the left should be doubted, as this country hasn't had a true left for decades. What passes for a True Democrat now would have been a Moderate Republican in the 1970s. They tend to employ this hysterical, exaggerated language calling Bernie "an extremist" or "off the radar" in order to manipulate the sort of voters who don't spend much time researching platforms and issues.