2020 Democratic Candidates Tracker - Part II

[Brainster]

The purges will continue until morale improves.

 

[kellyb]

The purges will continue until morale improves.

Purges? Can you describe the purges? I have no idea what you're referring to...

 

[theprestige]

I imagine that it's because he's been elected president twice and knows something about how to win elections.

My impression is that each election, each candidate, is unique. What works in one cycle may be completely irrelevant in the next. If the answer to how to get another term is "be Obama", then the Democrats are probably screwed. If it's not, I doubt Barack Obama has any more idea how to do it than anyone else.

It's easy for him to have opinions and look good and all the rest, since he's not actually running. On the other hand, he also doesn't have the campaign analysts and polling data and other tools for charting a course to the White House. Not that those things necessarily help, either. Look at Hillary Clinton.

Listen to Obama, sure. Just don't assume he knows what's up.

 

[dann]

He totally holds people with "left-leaning Twitter feeds" in contempt, I believe.

And yet, many people still prefer to dream about the wonderful things that Obama would have done if only the Republicans had let him.
The oldest trick in the book. One of the favourite excuses when European Social Democrats 'give in' to the demands of conservatives.

 

[Delvo]

Yes because the last thing any Democrat seeking to win the Presidential election is listen to the last Democrat to do it... twice.

Given how far off from how he did it himself his current advice is, one is better off observing how he actually did it, not falling for his advice to do something completely different from what he did.

 

[acbytesla]

I feel the same way about Warren, can she stand up against the socialism attacks. And I keep wavering. But if we can expose Trump for who he is, then whoever wins the Democratic Primary can defeat him.

Buttigieg can beat Trump, gay or not. But he doesn't have the experience to stand up to the Republicans just like Obama didn't. We got a good POTUS with Obama, so how did we end up with Trump? We missed something. Obama missed something. Buttigieg can become a great POTUS. But not as a mayor taking on the Congress. He needs to learn the ropes.

Warren can take on anyone. And they are going to attack her at every place she turns. We have to get rid of McConnell at all costs. But whether we can or cannot vote McConnell out, the Republicans need to lose.

So much needs to be done to clean up Trump's mess. Buttigieg will spend the first year just figuring out the ropes, precious lost time.

I wish someone else would rise to the top. But if they don't I think Warren is a stronger candidate because she has experience, even with her overly grand goals that have little chance of instant gratification.

I like Obama. But I was highly disappointed in his Presidency, particularly the first two years when the Dems held a majority in the Senate and the House. He should have nominated a hell of a lot more judges. Which became impossible the final 6 years. Who ever is elected must be ready to swing the power they have like a baseball bat.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I imagine that it's because he's been elected president twice and knows something about how to win elections.

Roseanne and Tim Allen won a lot of acclaim for their comedy years ago. Would you say they've seamlessly eased into modernity with the same appeal? Or are they out of touch hasbeens bitter that things have changed and the public has moved on?

 

[Craig4]

My impression is that each election, each candidate, is unique. What works in one cycle may be completely irrelevant in the next. If the answer to how to get another term is "be Obama", then the Democrats are probably screwed. If it's not, I doubt Barack Obama has any more idea how to do it than anyone else.

It's easy for him to have opinions and look good and all the rest, since he's not actually running. On the other hand, he also doesn't have the campaign analysts and polling data and other tools for charting a course to the White House. Not that those things necessarily help, either. Look at Hillary Clinton.

Listen to Obama, sure. Just don't assume he knows what's up.

He seems to have the pulse on at least the primary voters. A moderate M4Some cheaper college not free college Democrat just went up 16 points in Iowa.

 

[Craig4]

Roseanne and Tim Allen won a lot of acclaim for their comedy years ago. Would you say they've seamlessly eased into modernity with the same appeal? Or are they out of touch hasbeens bitter that things have changed and the public has moved on?

Seeing as neither kept apace of the changes and Obama seems to have, I'd say the analogy is a bit flat.

 

[Brainster]

Purges? Can you describe the purges? I have no idea what you're referring to...

You are trying to push people out of the Democratic party, suggesting that they form a centrist third party. You're proposing exactly the kind of purity test that Obama warned about.

 

[acbytesla]

Yes. He's polling a dead heat against Trump in Pennsylvania and Florida and he's within three points in Texas. That's all without campaigning in any of those states. His ground game in Iowa is turning out to be formidable. It doesn't look like he's going to make the mistakes Clinton did in 2016.

That's good. I have said multiple times that If he wasn't gay he'd run away with the election. He carries himself incredibly well. He's a war veteran. Ivy league education. He speaks a half a dozen languages where Trump barely speaks one.

I've been here before. I liked Obama as a candidate a lot but was concerned that the country wouldn't elect an African American to be President. I finally said the hell with it and went all in.

I like Warren a lot. She works hard and has some good ideas but I sometimes see her like I do Sanders. You can have all the great ideas in the world and they don't matter if you can't compromise and build coalitions or you can't sell your ideas to the public.

 

[acbytesla]

Roseanne and Tim Allen won a lot of acclaim for their comedy years ago. Would you say they've seamlessly eased into modernity with the same appeal? Or are they out of touch hasbeens bitter that things have changed and the public has moved on?

I think they both are still hilarious. But that has little to do with their politics.

 

[kellyb]

You can have all the great ideas in the world and they don't matter if you can't compromise and build coalitions or you can't sell your ideas to the public.

How do we know Pete knows how to build coalitions?


He's kind of just some rando, really. What's his relevant experience and track record?

Or is the idea that he'll just do everything the republicans ask, so that's a form of effective leadership getting things done?

 

[kellyb]

You are trying to push people out of the Democratic party, suggesting that they form a centrist third party. You're proposing exactly the kind of purity test that Obama warned about.

Oh. Well, a centrist third party wouldn't have the problem of the spoiler effect like the Greens do. You could actually make a centrist party work.

It's not a bad idea, unless I'm missing something.

eta: "Purge" implies forced exile. I'm just suggesting a voluntary non-zero-sum solution. Unless I just haven't thought about it hard enough and am missing something.

 

[acbytesla]

How do we know Pete knows how to build coalitions?


He's kind of just some rando, really. What's his relevant experience and track record?

Or is the idea that he'll just do everything the republicans ask, so that's a form of effective leadership getting things done?

We don't. But then I don't see him promising the moon like Sanders and Warren.

 

[kellyb]

We don't. But then I don't see him promising the moon like Sanders and Warren.

Sounds like he's going to just give the republicans everything they want, kinda. That's the plan. He's offering someone the moon and stars...

 

[TragicMonkey]

Seeing as neither kept apace of the changes and Obama seems to have, I'd say the analogy is a bit flat.

Shrug. Opinions differ. To me Obama is yesterday's jam.

 

[acbytesla]

Sounds like he's going to just give the republicans everything they want, kinda. That's the plan. He's offering someone the moon and stars...

No it doesn't. Tempering our wants with reality is not the same as not having goals.

 

[kellyb]

No it doesn't. Tempering our wants with reality is not the same as not having goals.

In negotiations, you're supposed to start out asking for more than you expect to necessarily get. Starting at a bandaid, fake version of UHC and negotiating from there, ends in negotiating the repeal of Obamacare subsidies.

 

[varwoche]

What's the difference between you and a centrist? Centrists are basically people who think Liz is too far left, and Trump too far right. They can be Democrats, but they can be independents, too. If you think Liz is too far left, and you're "not a fanboy for the Democratic Party", you're a centrist.

What does that make you when you wish that Warren would be the next POTUS (among the top tier) but think she's too high risk for the general? I'm whatever that is.