2020 Democratic Candidates Tracker

[Belz...]

A sharply divided democracy can't get good leadership out of a president who's actively hated by half the country (give or take).

Of course it can. Just like you can be loved by someone you despise.


The issue is that you keep dancing between electability, and competence.

 

[Belz...]

The argument I'm making is that if you are trying to find the electable candidate, you'd damn well better know the flaws of all of the candidates. Some you may discount or even find as not a flaw but a feature (I am sure that a lot of progressives will be thrilled to find out that Mayor Pete's dad was a Marxist).

Boy, I sure hope no one in your immediate family ever did anything wrong.

 

[Travis]

Did you actually read the article?

Nobody's suggesting giving up on truancy, but arresting parents isn't the answer, especially in a case like the one highlighted. Harris is responsible for setting a very bad piece of legislation that gave the cops another reason to arrest people.

Being cops, of course they're going to take it. Arrests beget money and more cops, who need more laws to arrest people for breaking. Supporting that is socially irresponsible.

I'm sorry but if a kid is missing 60-80 school days a year I'm glad a prosecutor is threatening them with jail. This is a point in her favor for me.

 

[acbytesla]

Interesting. All those other things I agree are trivial. I wonder if some of us are simply more creeped out than others, as in women vs men?

It is a paternalistic condescending kind of creepy. I can see where some men might not see it that way. I wonder if any other females in the thread would weigh in.

I think not liking someone invading one's personal space isn't trivial to the person. They have every right feeling uncomfortable about it and requesting that it not be done. I'm not dismissing that at all.

But in terms of choosing a leader, i really believe it to be trivial. Biden has to my knowledge always supported women's rights and checks all those boxes.

But I'd like other women to weigh in. Is this really enough for you to run him out of town like Al Franken?

 

[theprestige]

I'm sorry but if a kid is missing 60-80 school days a year I'm glad a prosecutor is threatening them with jail. This is a point in her favor for me.

If a kid is missing 60-80 school days a year, I kinda feel like the problem is the parents and the school, not the kid.

 

[Matthew Best]

If a kid is missing 60-80 school days a year, I kinda feel like the problem is the parents and the school, not the kid.

If the kid has sickle cell anemia and misses school because she's in hospital, then the problem is indeed with the kid, and not the parents.

 

[theprestige]

If the kid has sickle cell anemia and misses school because she's in hospital, then the problem is indeed with the kid, and not the parents.

That's a good point. Those kids should definitely be in jail.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

As the Midterms demonstrated, there is no point in trying to find candidates a former Trump supporter could get behind.
The road to victory is to mobilize the young, minorities and those Trump has left behind (see healthcare).

 

[Dr. Keith]

Interesting. All those other things I agree are trivial. I wonder if some of us are simply more creeped out than others, as in women vs men?

It is a paternalistic condescending kind of creepy. I can see where some men might not see it that way. I wonder if any other females in the thread would weigh in.

I see it that way. My wife sees it that way. She really doesn't want to have to vote for Biden. I'd rather not. But we both would if it came down to that.

I think TA brings up a good point, too: Dads of daughters likely see it as exceptionally troubling.

As you mentioned up-thread, this isn't a recent change in norms. It is a recent change in women feeling comfortable saying "stop that" to powerful men. It was always creepy, but he was always powerful.

 

[Dr. Keith]

As the Midterms demonstrated, there is no point in trying to find candidates a former Trump supporter could get behind.
The road to victory is to mobilize the young, minorities and those Trump has left behind (see healthcare).

I agree generally, but I think there are some former Trump supporters in those groups. Especially the young and those left behind by his policies. Not just healthcare, but generally.

“I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” Minton told Mazzei. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I think not liking someone invading one's personal space isn't trivial to the person. They have every right feeling uncomfortable about it and requesting that it not be done. I'm not dismissing that at all.

But in terms of choosing a leader, i really believe it to be trivial. Biden has to my knowledge always supported women's rights and checks all those boxes.

But I'd like other women to weigh in. Is this really enough for you to run him out of town like Al Franken?

For reasons I discussed at length in the Franken thread, I did not find joking about breasts when you are a comedian and the selfie hugs in anyway creepy like the Biden creepy. The 'kiss me in the skit practice' I'm not sure about, but I didn't find the concept of kissing in the skit to be devious. It was a USO tour for cripe's sake.

I didn't mean you didn't see Biden as creepy. I meant exactly what I said, it was more disqualifying to me because it was likely more creepy to me than it was to you.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...
As you mentioned up-thread, this isn't a recent change in norms. It is a recent change in women feeling comfortable saying "stop that" to powerful men. It was always creepy, but he was always powerful.

And according to his response he still doesn't think his touchy-feely thing was creepy. He seems to think it's viewed differently now rather than it was always creepy.

Does the man still not notice no one else does that?

 

[Dr. Keith]

And according to his response he still doesn't think his touchy-feely thing was creepy. He seems to think it's viewed differently now rather than it was always creepy.

Does the man still not notice no one else does that?

And while describing his touchy-feely approach to campaigning he never mentions the things that people are actually complaining about. It is better than most apologies, but for me ti really just highlighted how out of touch he is.

Digging into his voting record and actions in DC is unlikely to make me like him more. He peaked as Obama's VP, for me.

 

[Brainster]

Boy, I sure hope no one in your immediate family ever did anything wrong.

My grandfather ran for alderman of Syracuse, NY on the socialist ticket with Eugene Debs.

 

[dudalb]

Katherine Harris stumbeled with her missing a vote on a aid package for California in order to campaign. That is the kind of crap that make people cynical about politicians.

 

[theprestige]

Why does California need an aid package?

 

[acbytesla]

For reasons I discussed at length in the Franken thread, I did not find joking about breasts when you are a comedian and the selfie hugs in anyway creepy like the Biden creepy. The 'kiss me in the skit practice' I'm not sure about, but I didn't find the concept of kissing in the skit to be devious. It was a USO tour for cripe's sake.

I didn't mean you didn't see Biden as creepy. I meant exactly what I said, it was more disqualifying to me because it was likely more creepy to me than it was to you.

What I'm probably most concerned about is Democrats cutting off their noses to spite their own faces. To eliminate someone who can run Trump out of office over the inconsequential.

It's one thing to say you'd rather support someone else because you think they are more electable or you like their policy positions. I respect that. I support that. But if we're going to destroy every one of our candidates over irrelevancies like this, we'll have no chance next year.

 

[theprestige]

And while describing his touchy-feely approach to campaigning he never mentions the things that people are actually complaining about. It is better than most apologies, but for me ti really just highlighted how out of touch he is.

Digging into his voting record and actions in DC is unlikely to make me like him more. He peaked as Obama's VP, for me.

I can see someone's crotchety grandpa, sitting on the porch in some unreconstructed backwater, with nobody but his old VFW buddies to talk to. The kind of guy who can't even hear his grandchildren anymore, let alone listen to them when they try to explain he's being sexist.

But Biden? He's hale and hearty, and he's been in the mainstream of US politics for decades. "I didn't know; that's just the way I am" isn't really a plausible excuse coming from him.

 

[Armitage72]

Why does California need an aid package?

To buy rakes.
Actually, it was a disaster aid package to help rebuild after the wildfires.

 

[theprestige]

To buy rakes.
Actually, it was a disaster aid package to help rebuild after the wildfires.

That makes no sense. California's one of the ten largest economies in the world. By any measure, it's pretty much a first-world country in its own right. It's also rich in natural resources, and filled with a diverse people. It even has a huge immigrant population, and immigrants are what make a country strong. Wildfires be damned; California should be sending aid packages, not receiving them.

Though, it turns out that throughout history most famines have been due to corruption or mismanagement, not lack of funds or resources. Maybe wildfires are the same way. Still not sure why an aid package would be needed. Maybe the rest of the Union needs to stage an intervention, and talk to California about pulling its own weight.