2020 Democratic Candidates Tracker

[JoeMorgue]

So you can be the most bipartisan, straight down the middle candidate and not be a centrist just because the GOP base invents crazy fantasies about you?

Hi have you met my friend? His name is "All Politics Ever of All Time."

 

[dudalb]

Tulsi Gabbard picked up an endorsement of sorts:

Still trying to get why Duke likes her on Israel, since her criticism of Israeli have been pretty mild.
But her being Buddies with Assad in Syria is enough for me to write her off as a contender.
Also not thrilled with her support for India's Modi, who seems hell bent on making India a Fundy Hindu Theocracy.
Still, her candidacy is going where fast.
She seems to be sort of like Trump in one way...a fondness for dictators if they are of the right stripe.

 

[Stacko]

Still trying to get why Duke likes her on Israel, since her criticism of Israeli have been pretty mild.
But her being Buddies with Assad in Syria is enough for me to write her off as a contender.
Also not thrilled with her support for India's Modi, who seems hell bent on making India a Fundy Hindu Theocracy.
Still, her candidacy is going where fast.
She seems to be sort of like Trump in one way...a fondness for dictators if they are of the right stripe.

I think he likes her on Israel since she's the only candidate for president right now that has criticized Israel at all. She's going nowhere because she's running as a foreign policy first candidate and her foreign policy is basically the Bush Doctrine 2.0.

 

[Segnosaur]

Every major issue that Democrats advocate are favored by a majority of Americans. How is that not "centrist?"

Keep in mind that when policies are taken individually, people may like the Democratic party's policies. But, sometimes people want things that are... contradictory. They may say "I want the government to do X", but if doing X would cause (for example) an increase in taxes then support may drop.

And its always easy to want something that you don't have, especially when such promises are often vague; once you have it, you might not find it was the utopia you were expecting. "Free health care? Hurray! Wait, its now causing waiting lists? Booo!!!"

Overall though, I do agree that the Democratic party is (on average) closer to what the average U.S. citizen wants.

 

[kellyb]

I think he likes her on Israel since she's the only candidate for president right now that has criticized Israel at all. She's going nowhere because she's running as a foreign policy first candidate and her foreign policy is basically the Bush Doctrine 2.0.

No, she's a borderline isolationist, pretty much the antithesis of the Bush Doctrine.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Keep in mind that when policies are taken individually, people may like the Democratic party's policies. But, sometimes people want things that are... contradictory. They may say "I want the government to do X", but if doing X would cause (for example) an increase in taxes then support may drop.

I once heard it expressed as people want a Liberal World that somehow still only has Conservative Policies (or something to that effect.)

That's obviously a tongue in cheek bit of over-simplification, but there is a truth in the margins of it.

I'd wager the the number of people who want all the things they claim they want from the Democrats (universal health care, increased societal safety nets, greater money spend on environmental reform, etc, etc, and so forth) and who really want to pay for it... well I'm not saying it's a lot but I am saying it's probably more then the Dems want to admit.

 

[kellyb]

I once heard it expressed as people want a Liberal World that somehow still only has Conservative Policies (or something to that effect.)

That's obviously a tongue in cheek bit of over-simplification, but there is a truth in the margins of it.

I'd wager the the number of people who want all the things they claim they want from the Democrats (universal health care, increased societal safety nets, greater money spend on environmental reform, etc, etc, and so forth) and who really want to pay for it... well I'm not saying it's a lot but I am saying it's probably more then the Dems want to admit.

Look at what we pay for Medicare, Medicaid, and military health care ("public" expenditures) per capita compared to all those other countries, including the single payer ones:
http://www.oecd.org/health/expensiv...thebesthealthcaresaysoecdshealthataglance.htm
Pick a country, any country, emulate how they do it, and we can have UHC without even raising taxes.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Look at what we pay for Medicare, Medicaid, and military health care ("public" expenditures) per capita compared to all those other countries, including the single payer ones:
http://www.oecd.org/health/expensiv...thebesthealthcaresaysoecdshealthataglance.htm
Pick a country, any country, emulate how they do it, and we can have UHC without even raising taxes.

and if you think that is out of date, the figures for 2014 show that the US spent 17.1% of it's GDP on healthcare, the closest runner up being Sweden with 11.9%!

 

[Brainster]

Another fish enters the barrel:

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced her candidacy for president at a rally in Minneapolis on Sunday, becoming the fifth Democratic senator1 to launch a campaign. In contrast to some of the big names — Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren — who had been expected to run for president for years, Klobuchar is a little bit more of a homespun, independent-label candidate.

Updated:

In Or At Least Exploring (By Current or Highest Office Held):

Senators:
Corey Booker
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kamala Harris
Amy Klobuchar
Elizabeth Warren

US Representatives:
John Delaney
Tulsi Gabbard

Cabinet Members:
Julian Castro

Mayors:
Pete Buttegieg

Unannounced But Considered Likely:

Vice Presidents:
Joe Biden

Senators:
Sherrod Brown
Bernie Sanders

US Representatives:
Beto O'Rourke

Mayors:
Michael Bloomberg
Bill De Blasio

 

[Foolmewunz]

If you count Beto and DiBlasio, you have to count Swallwell, who's apparently planning on stealing Iowa because he was born there. Split the policy driven voters and get the "local hero" vote. He's a CA Congressman but has made something like fifteen trips to IA and zero to NH in the past six months.

 

[Brainster]

If you count Beto and DiBlasio, you have to count Swallwell, who's apparently planning on stealing Iowa because he was born there. Split the policy driven voters and get the "local hero" vote. He's a CA Congressman but has made something like fifteen trips to IA and zero to NH in the past six months.

Hadn't heard of him, thanks!

Updated:

In Or At Least Exploring (By Current or Highest Office Held):

Senators:
Corey Booker
Kirsten Gillibrand
Kamala Harris
Amy Klobuchar
Elizabeth Warren

US Representatives:
John Delaney
Tulsi Gabbard

Cabinet Members:
Julian Castro

Mayors:
Pete Buttegieg

Unannounced But Considered Likely:

Vice Presidents:
Joe Biden

Senators:
Sherrod Brown
Bernie Sanders

US Representatives:
Beto O'Rourke
Eric Swallwell

Mayors:
Michael Bloomberg
Bill De Blasio

 

[The Big Dog]

Oh Hai! I am Kamala! And I smoked the marijuana while listening to rap groups that were popular in the 1980's! Like the Snoopy and the Tupac.

Uhhh...

and then I prosecuted pot crimes...

I love Tupac!

/she makes ******* Hillary look cool

 

[Axiom_Blade]

/she makes ******* Hillary look cool

Funny you should say that...

Kamala Harris is adding former Hillary Clinton staffers to her 2020 presidential campaign.

Veteran campaign finance lawyer Marc Elias will serve as the campaign's general counsel; Angelique Cannon, who worked for Clinton's 2016 campaign, will serve as national finance director; and David Huynh, who was Clinton's director of delegate operations in 2016, will serve as a senior adviser.

Lily Adams, a Clinton campaign alumna who has worked as Harris' spokeswoman, will be communications director.

It looks like Kamala is Hillary 2.0.

 

[Brainster]

Oh Hai! I am Kamala! And I smoked the marijuana while listening to rap groups that were popular in the 1980's! Like the Snoopy and the Tupac.

Uhhh...

and then I prosecuted pot crimes...

Lock 'em up by day, smoke 'em up by night? (Gag stolen from a blog).

It's interesting to see the media's reaction to this; the NY Times reveals it is in the bag for Harris:

Kamala Harris Was Accused of Lying About Listening to Tupac and Snoop Dogg. The Truth Is More Complicated.

Note that despite that excessively long headline, the Times managed to obscure the actual accusation. She was accused of lying about listening to them while high. But the Times doesn't stop there. They labor mightily to prove the more complicated truth is that she was asked what musicians she liked, and before she could answer the second deejay asked her what she listened to while high. So she could argue that she meant she liked Snoopy and Tupy, not that she listened to them while high.

And more important, the Times avoids mentioning the possibility that what Harris meant was that she continued smoking pot after college when she was an Alameda county prosecutor working hard to convict people for pot possession.

Amusingly, given your comparison of Kamala to Clinton, the Times closes with what they see as a similar controversy. Clinton was interviewed on the same podcast years ago and mentioned that she carried around a bottle of hot sauce in her purse. Republicans supposedly pounced claiming that Hillary was obviously referring to some recent Beyonce lyric. Never mind that news outlets had reported on Hillary's Tabasco fetish back when she was the first lady.

 

[dudalb]

I once heard it expressed as people want a Liberal World that somehow still only has Conservative Policies (or something to that effect.)

That's obviously a tongue in cheek bit of over-simplification, but there is a truth in the margins of it.

I'd wager the the number of people who want all the things they claim they want from the Democrats (universal health care, increased societal safety nets, greater money spend on environmental reform, etc, etc, and so forth) and who really want to pay for it... well I'm not saying it's a lot but I am saying it's probably more then the Dems want to admit.

Someone once said Americans like a lot of government programs, but don't like big bureaucries.

 

[dudalb]

Funny you should say that...



It looks like Kamala is Hillary 2.0.

Axiom, somebody who is as far to the left as you would like could never win a general election.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Someone once said Americans like a lot of government programs, but don't like big bureaucries.

We are the country that loves giving money to the poor and hates welfare in roughly equal measures.

 

[dudalb]

Look at what we pay for Medicare, Medicaid, and military health care ("public" expenditures) per capita compared to all those other countries, including the single payer ones:
http://www.oecd.org/health/expensiv...thebesthealthcaresaysoecdshealthataglance.htm
Pick a country, any country, emulate how they do it, and we can have UHC without even raising taxes.

But you forget one thing:Americans are going to insist on a lot of freedom in any UHC, they are going to demand the right to choose their own doctor, and to get another if they don't like the one they got. I don't think a Euro system where you pretty much are stuck with whatever doctor you get assigned will ever fly in the US. Choice is very important to Amereicans.

 

[Segnosaur]

But you forget one thing:Americans are going to insist on a lot of freedom in any UHC, they are going to demand the right to choose their own doctor, and to get another if they don't like the one they got. I don't think a Euro system where you pretty much are stuck with whatever doctor you get assigned will ever fly in the US. Choice is very important to Amereicans.

Minor point... there is no 'Euro System' for universal health care. There are multiple systems that implement universal health care in different ways.

Britain covers everyone under their national health care system, but allows private insurance.

Switzerland makes it mandatory for people to have private health insurance (but subsidizes the cost for poor people).

France has a public health care system that covers everyone, but doesn't always pay 100%.

 

[JoeMorgue]

But you forget one thing:Americans are going to insist on a lot of freedom in any UHC, they are going to demand the right to choose their own doctor, and to get another if they don't like the one they got. I don't think a Euro system where you pretty much are stuck with whatever doctor you get assigned will ever fly in the US. Choice is very important to Amereicans.

This does speak to one of, in my opinion, one of our bigger problems in our political discourse where we talk about why one country has X but this country doesn't.

Government systems work better in countries where the populace want that system in place. That's not surprising.