Democrats 2020

[lpetrich]

Pete Buttigieg endorses Joe Biden for president He joins Amy Klobuchar.

So the centrist lane now has only two: Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg. I'll give Joe Biden credit for being an experienced politician. Mike Bloomberg? One megalomaniac businessman is enough. But let's see how they do as they slug it out. Mike Bloomberg is willing to spend a LOT of money, so he isn't giving up yet.

Amy Klobuchar Looked Great On Paper. What Went Wrong? | FiveThirtyEight

1. Joe Biden. Too much like him, and he was better-known.
2. Gender. Worries about electability.
3. Pete Buttigieg. Too much like him also.
4. Lacked support from blacks and Latinos.

What Makes Southern Democrats Unique | FiveThirtyEight - present-day Southern Democrats, not Dixiecrats

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "What do they call doing the same thing over and over again,& expecting different results?
If we do not run a strong, progressive candidate that directly addresses the core crises Americans face, we take a major risk.
The time is now.
Vote @BernieSanders. https://t.co/rzaKXx0Tk6" / Twitter

Meaning that we don't need some cowardly centrist who is obsessed with pleasing the Republicans no matter how much the Republicans refuse to work with them.

Haley Talbot on Twitter: "Q: What is the danger of a Biden nomination? @AOC: Well, I think there'll be struggles to expand the electorate, to the extent that we need to win in November. I think that the platform is not as energizing, and I don't know if Joe Biden can expand youth turnout, to the... (1/3)" / Twitter

Haley Talbot on Twitter: "(2/3) ... point that we need it. I don't know if he can expand the electorate with communities of color, with working class communities. And, you know, I think that, while he does well with older voters, which is an important electorate..." / Twitter

Haley Talbot on Twitter: "(3/3) I am concerned because what we need right now to win this year is a dramatic expansion of the electorate and I think we need a candidate that can deliver that." / Twitter

AOC's preferred strategy is to expand the electorate, by trying to get the votes of those who don't often vote or don't vote at all. That's how she won against Joe Crowley, and that's what she plans to do in her district this year.

Haley Talbot on Twitter: ".@AOC on if Warren should drop out: “I don't think that's up to me. I think that's a very deeply personal decision for any one candidate, I don't think it's appropriate to call other candidates to drop out.”" / Twitter

Haley Talbot on Twitter: ".@AOC: Sen Sanders has a better chance of defeating Trump than Joe Biden, I genuinely believe that. I think that there's too much at stake. However, I think we need to let this process play out. And what's really important is that that process is fair, and that its transparent." / Twitter

That it doesn't involve backroom deals or backroom backstabbing.

 

[PyramidHead]

Yeah, I’d wager the hardcore Bernie Bros and Gals will poop on the Dems and the nominee if it ain’t Bernie.

If Bernie gets fewer delegates than someone else, he doesn't deserve to be the nominee. But if he gets more delegates than everyone else, the DNC has a clear choice: nominate him or lose the presidency, both houses of Congress, and the judiciary for a generation

Skipping my point about how Bernie's supporters will react if he does indeed fail to get the nomination.

I agree with it, and it warms the cockles of my heart

 

[Jarhyn]

Skipping my point about how Bernie's supporters will react if he does indeed fail to get the nomination.

I agree with it, and it warms the cockles of my heart

Personally, only if it's Bloomberg. I'm not voting for Trump 2.0.

 

[lpetrich]

Democrats Craving a Brokered Convention: Learn the Lessons of 1968

About the Democratic Convention of that year:

The convention was a brokered one, marred by protests and riots outside the convention hall, and angry fights among delegates inside of it, that culminated in the anointing of the establishment candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, over the anti-war candidate of the left, Sen. Eugene McCarthy.

Not Sen. Joe McCarthy!

LBJ ran for re-election, but EMC defeated him in New Hampshire, and he quit. Hubert Horatio Humphrey succeeded him as the party bosses' choice, though he had no grassroots support. HHH ran in the caucuses, where the party bosses could deliver their support, and all but ignored the primaries proper, where EMC won big. By the time of the convention, EMC had more delegates than HHH, though not a majority of them.

As the convention began, with anti-war and anti-Johnson protests growing outside, Johnson and Chicago Mayor and Democratic Party machine boss Richard J. Daley began maneuvering to ensure that delegates lined up behind Humphrey. As the party’s left-wing, anti-war activists began realizing that the party’s bosses were going to nominate a candidate who had relied overwhelmingly on establishment support, with very little grassroots approval, their anger grew. It reached a boiling point as the establishment bosses used their control over the rule-making process to defeat anti-war planks in the platform.

In response, Daley’s police force became increasingly repressive and violent against his party’s anti-war left. The Humphrey-supporting Chicago mayor was seen on national television using vulgar anti-Semitic slurs against the Jewish Connecticut Sen. Abraham Ribicoff after Ribicoff denounced Daley’s police for using what he called “Gestapo tactics” against the protesters, as well as dissident delegates inside the convention hall, and even network news journalists covering the increasingly ugly battles.

That intense conflict, disunity, and intraparty strife completely consumed the Democratic Party convention, crippling the messaging and candidacy of Hubert Humphrey. To say that it spawned lingering resentment within the party and prevented unity heading into the general election is a massive understatement.

The millions of Democrats who had voted for McCarthy felt — with very good reason — that they had been undemocratically robbed by party bosses, led by Johnson and Daley, who had installed a pro-war, pro-establishment candidate by exploiting anti-democratic convention floor rules to subvert the anti-war, anti-establishment candidate who had received the most actual votes during the primary process.

The article then goes into parallels, like Democratic Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Bernie Sanders - The New York Times - including supporting Elizabeth Warren to split the lefty vote.

DNC Superdelegate Pushing Brokered Convention Is GOP Donor

William Owen, a Tennessee-based Democratic National Committee member backing an effort to use so-called superdelegates to select the party’s presidential nominee — potentially subverting the candidate with the most voter support — is a Republican donor and health care lobbyist.

Owen, who runs a lobbying firm called Asset & Equity Corporations, donated to Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and gave $8,500 to a joint fundraising committee designed to benefit Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in 2019.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Skipping my point about how Bernie's supporters will react if he does indeed fail to get the nomination.

I agree with it, and it warms the cockles of my heart

Well it warms your cockles.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc) • Instagram photos and videos - in her most recent Instagram Story, she puts in a plug for Bernie Sanders, complete with an Instagram filter that frames her face with "I'm voting for Bernie".

BS himself:
Bernie Sanders on Twitter: "If you can vote, show up today for those who can't—
The disenfranchised, who deserve their rights restored.
The undocumented, who deserve a path to citizenship.
Our kids, who deserve a healthy and habitable planet." / Twitter


Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders may not get along with each other very well, but some of their supporters don't want their squabble to carry over.

SabinaNYC on Twitter: "@SenGianaris @Biaggi4NY All elected officials should reach out to @BernieSanders and @ewarren and share with both of them that we expect them to #BuildTogether, support and elevate each other." / Twitter

Sen. Mike Gianaris on Twitter: "I’m a Bernie supporter who builds with Warren supporters. Let’s do this @Biaggi4NY. #BuildTogether Pass it along" / Twitter

Alessandra Biaggi on Twitter: "I’m a Warren supporter who builds with Bernie supporters. Let’s do this @JuliaCarmel__ #BuildTogether Pass it on! https://t.co/QdgX6mfFRD" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’m a Bernie supporter who builds with Warren supporters. It’s how we got a top-to-bottom progressive ballot sweep in NY14.
Throughout it all, Alessandra & I do town halls &collect signatures together to get each other on the ballot.
We’ve got each other’s back.#BuildTogether https://t.co/G0QZVbbcDR" / Twitter

Rebecca Bitton on Twitter: "Please build with Warren supporters to call on @ewarren to stop disparaging Bernie and his supporters. Thanks! #BuildTogether https://t.co/4zsCgKQrE7" / Twitter

Very Stable Social Worker * on Twitter: "YES YES YES! Took the words right out of my mouth. Ya love to see it.
#BuildTogether https://t.co/dRIL2aJ8B1" / Twitter

Build with someone?

AOC then has some broader thoughts.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I know the internet can be an ugly place - speaking as someone who deals with a LOT of vitriol - but if your opinion of a campaign is primarily shaped by the internet, try taking a 2nd look at the work and movement-building happening on the ground. It’s different & special." / Twitter

Elizabeth Conjar on Twitter: "@rebeinstein You should try to see the bigger picture here. AOC does. She's building a unifying message in contrast to rhetoric that isolates Warren supporters, bc ultimately, she is inviting them in." / Twitter

 

[angelo]

His prediction is correct - the US voters will not a commo in the White House because neither major candidate will be a commo.

Which has been pointed out many, many, many times. Won't stop his "four legs good, two legs bad" bleating however.

You guys need to be more tolerant of angelo. I find him to be a constant and very pleasant reminder that the US has no monopoly on willful ignorance, science denial and paranoid bigotry.

What is completely forgotten is that the Bern is a self proclaimed socialist. His best friend is the UK's Labour socialist party's Jeremy Corbyn. An admirer of Chavez-Maduro, not to mention his high praise of Cuba's Fidel Castro's socialist policy. The man is a complete loon who hasn't got a chance in hell of defeating the Trump, and the moderates in the Dem party know it. That's not ignorance, that's there for all to see if one removes their ideological blinkers.


as for the other front runner Biden..............The advertising people would have a feast with this.

https://gellerreport.com/2020/03/biden-wife-sister.html/

 

[ZiprHead]

Bloomberg is out.

 

[lpetrich]

Joe Biden's Super Tuesday comeback - POLITICO

‘I’ve never seen anybody mount a comeback like this — ever’

Joe Biden, for all intents and purposes, gets the two-person race he wanted.

Scared of Sanders presidency, Wall Street Dems double down on moderates - Reuters
They liked Michael Bloomberg.

Michael Moore Calls Out Klobuchar, Buttigieg for Dropping Out Before Super Tuesday: 'They Couldn't Even Go 24 More Hours' - he noted that they had spent a year of campaigning. He suspected that they wanted to help Joe Biden by consolidating the moderate lane.

Bloomberg considering dropping out after Biden rout - POLITICO

Mike Bloomberg is weighing dropping out as early as Wednesday after losing a string of Super Tuesday states where he invested a fortune in advertising, according to several people familiar with his plans.

While the multi-billionaire former New York City mayor was on track to win delegates, he was roundly beaten by Joe Biden, on whose collapse Bloomberg had been counting.

As to Elizabeth Warren, I'll quote Ana Kasparian of The Young Turks:

Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "(Thread): While I always prioritize differences in policy proposals when deciding which candidate I'd support, I do want to make one character analysis regarding Warren and her behavior in this election cycle." / Twitter

Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "How people treat those close to them - whether it be friends or family - says a lot about who they are. The dishonest snipes at Bernie were weird and disappointing at first. But we don't really have time to be heartbroken by people who casually torch friends for political gain." / Twitter

Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "I'm pretty guarded and keep my circle small. I don't throw the word "friend" around. For Warren, friends apparently mean nothing if she can lie about them for her own political agenda. She went from pretending to be a progressive warrior to positioning herself a moderate." / Twitter

Ana Kasparian on Twitter: "Clearly she's easily swayed in any direction whether it comes to her "friends" or her political ideology." / Twitter

Mr Quimper on Twitter: "@AnaKasparian https://t.co/oncqLfS0lg" / Twitter and Mr Quimper on Twitter: "@AnaKasparian https://t.co/gM6HZfDeeE" / Twitter - discussing how EW was once a Reagan Republican and calling her an opportunist. But I think that EW is correct in discovering that poor people aren't all deadbeats and lazy bums.

Warren team turns grim after Super Tuesday wipeout - POLITICO

Elizabeth Warren had a plan for winning. It didn't work: In 18 nomination contests, she hasn't finished above third place — including in her home state.

Now, she's facing political and financial pressures to get out.

So being a favorite daughter didn't help her very much in MA.

 

[lpetrich]

Another one bites the dust. Bloomberg suspends presidential campaign, endorses Biden - Axios

Bloomberg opted to skip campaigning in early states, staking his candidacy on a string of Super Tuesday victories to launch him to frontrunner status, but that plan was ultimately felled by the resurgence of Joe Biden's campaign.

Helped by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropping out at the last minute.

Bloomberg will pay staff to support whoever becomes Democratic nominee - Axios

At least there's now in the race only one egotistical billionaire with a history of racism and sexism.

 

[Xoxarle1]

At least there's now in the race only one egotistical billionaire with a history of racism and sexism.

Well, we don't know, do we? He won't release his tax returns.

 

[PyramidHead]

This is it, this is what it comes down to. A man who has spent his whole life trying to help the poorest, most underprivileged and forgotten people in society obtain basic dignity, or the guy who mistook his wife for his sister last night.

A pundit put it pretty well: the political system in America is described accurately by the fact that Sanders had to raise millions of dollars through small donations over a year of campaigning in every Super Tuesday state, and all the DNC had to do to destabilize him was have Obama make a few phone calls and convince Warren that she would be part of Biden's cabinet if she kneecapped the progressive movement. And you people wonder why I'm a tankie.

 

[Ford]

A pundit put it pretty well: the political system in America is described accurately by the fact that Sanders had to raise millions of dollars through small donations over a year of campaigning in every Super Tuesday state, and all the DNC had to do to destabilize him was have Obama make a few phone calls and convince Warren that she would be part of Biden's cabinet if she kneecapped the progressive movement.

Or maybe the Bernie supporters just didn't show up to vote. Did Obama call them and say "stay home, folks" and did Warren conspire with the DNC to convince them to not vote in the primary?

And if the butt hurt Sanders supporters do nothing but whine about the party he chose to hang his hat on and stay home out of anger and hurt feelings, all the calls from Obama and nefarious activity from Warren (for which there is no evidence whatsoever) won't do a damned thing to defeat Trump. It's great to be idealistic, donate 5 bucks to Bernie, show up for a rally or two and argue with "the establishment" on the internet, but it's all for naught if those passionate supporters simply don't fucking show up on election day.

 

[ZiprHead]

A pundit put it pretty well: the political system in America is described accurately by the fact that Sanders had to raise millions of dollars through small donations over a year of campaigning in every Super Tuesday state, and all the DNC had to do to destabilize him was have Obama make a few phone calls and convince Warren that she would be part of Biden's cabinet if she kneecapped the progressive movement.

Or maybe the Bernie supporters just didn't show up to vote. Did Obama call them and say "stay home, folks" and did Warren conspire with the DNC to convince them to not vote in the primary?

And if the butt hurt Sanders supporters do nothing but whine about the party he chose to hang his hat on and stay home out of anger and hurt feelings, all the calls from Obama and nefarious activity from Warren (for which there is no evidence whatsoever) won't do a damned thing to defeat Trump. It's great to be idealistic, donate 5 bucks to Bernie, show up for a rally or two and argue with "the establishment" on the internet, but it's all for naught if those passionate supporters simply don't fucking show up on election day.

This.

I see so many Bernie supporters complaining about the DNC screwing Bernie again. If you don't have the votes, you don't win.

 

[PyramidHead]

A pundit put it pretty well: the political system in America is described accurately by the fact that Sanders had to raise millions of dollars through small donations over a year of campaigning in every Super Tuesday state, and all the DNC had to do to destabilize him was have Obama make a few phone calls and convince Warren that she would be part of Biden's cabinet if she kneecapped the progressive movement.

Or maybe the Bernie supporters just didn't show up to vote. Did Obama call them and say "stay home, folks" and did Warren conspire with the DNC to convince them to not vote in the primary?

And if the butt hurt Sanders supporters do nothing but whine about the party he chose to hang his hat on and stay home out of anger and hurt feelings, all the calls from Obama and nefarious activity from Warren (for which there is no evidence whatsoever) won't do a damned thing to defeat Trump. It's great to be idealistic, donate 5 bucks to Bernie, show up for a rally or two and argue with "the establishment" on the internet, but it's all for naught if those passionate supporters simply don't fucking show up on election day.

This.

I see so many Bernie supporters complaining about the DNC screwing Bernie again. If you don't have the votes, you don't win.

Votes don't exist in a parallel static dimension, they are influenced by media coverage and perceived momentum, and how much each vote matters is a consequence of the electoral system that assigns victory based on them. There are many levers the DNC is pulling to kneecap Bernie, because he is their enemy. My question to those who doubt this is why don't you think they would do so? If they see him as a threat, which they do, and they have the advantage of a coordinated national organization and a sympathetic media, why on earth wouldn't they use that advantage?

Do you truly think politics is about who gets the most votes? And you call Bernie supporters delusional!

 

[Playball40]

I don't even own a black mask!

I'm not talking about Bernie, but his supporters.

 

[lpetrich]

Elizabeth Warren: A Populist for the Professional Class - The New York Times

She was just a girl when her father (“my daddy,” she calls him) had a heart attack. The family lost its station wagon and came close to losing its home. That is when her mother dug out “the dress.” “You know the one,” Ms. Warren says of the outfit that her mother saved for weddings, funerals and graduations. Muttering to herself “we will not lose this house, we will not lose this house,” her mother slipped it on, marched to Sears and won a minimum-wage job to keep their family afloat.

From Iowa to New Hampshire to California, most of the 100,000-plus people who have taken “selfies” with Ms. Warren have heard some version of the story, often listening in rapt silence. But Ms. Warren’s presidential campaign has never packaged the wrenching tale into a tidy television commercial for the millions of Americans who will vote on Super Tuesday, or who voted in any other state so far.

Nothing like AOC's "Courage to Change" video.

“What too many voters see,” said Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who worked on President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, “is Professor Warren from Harvard Law and not Betsy from Norman, Oklahoma.”

Mr. Begala favorably compared Ms. Warren’s up-by-the-bootstraps life with his old client’s: a kid from the South who grew up amid hardship, ended up in an Ivy League institution and ultimately ran for president.

...
Even at her peak, her strongest support came from what political operatives call the “wine track” of Democratic politics: white, affluent and college-educated voters, especially women.

Like Howard Dean back in 1984.

In many ways, the arc of the Warren candidacy is the story of her cornering an upscale demographic early, only to become confined to it, and then lose her grip on it.

...
“It’s an extra challenge to be a very obviously well-educated, articulate female,” said Barney Frank, the former Massachusetts representative, who also worked with Ms. Warren after the 2008 economic crisis. “There is a cultural element there and she clearly is at the more high end, as things go.”

She tried to fix that by showing herself drinking some beer out of a bottle, but that seemed less-than-convincing. - Elizabeth Warren drinking a beer on Instagram Live gets mixed reactions - YouTube - AOC is much more convincing in coming off as an ordinary person.

Let's see how long EW lasts before she throws in the towel.

 

[lpetrich]

Joe Biden mixes up wife and sister in Super Tuesday speech - CNN Video

Ouch!

Tulsi Gabbard snags her first delegate in American Samoa - POLITICO - where she was born. Though Mike Bloomberg is the likely winner, TG is in second place, likely from being a favorite daughter.

 

[PyramidHead]

Reminder to everyone: this isn't over, not by a long shot. Biden wilts under the spotlight, and all the other moderate candidates dropping out of the race means all eyes are on him. In the campaign, in the debates, and ultimately in the minds of voters. We'll see how far his reputation takes him when people get used to seeing him in action.

 

[Trausti]

Reminder to everyone: this isn't over, not by a long shot. Biden wilts under the spotlight, and all the other moderate candidates dropping out of the race means all eyes are on him. In the campaign, in the debates, and ultimately in the minds of voters. We'll see how far his reputation takes him when people get used to seeing him in action.

At this moment, Sanders is not far behind in the delegate count. So many more up for grabs. He easily gets WA and OR. Giddy up!