2020 Democratic Candidates Tracker

[Ziggurat]

Believe it or not I'm not going out and searching for these things.

Um... yes you are. You just told us you are:

The fact that you think I make stuff up is telling that you keep to some safe places and don't dive deep into the comments left all over the place on the web but especially on social media.

That's a bad habit, Travis. Stop it already.

 

[Mumbles]

In 2008, Obama ran as a "far left" progressive, tho. He said he was a fan of single payer, and even said "when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Eh, not really. The quote about how he preferred single payer was from 2003-4, not his presidential campaign - the ACA ended up being fairly close to his and Hillary's campaign proposals, apart from the public option which was blocked by Joe Lieberman. And pretty much everything economic went out the window after Lehman Brothers collapsed and nearly took the entire economy with it in late 2008. And despite what people asserted as an excuse to not vote in 2010, Obama had always wanted to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan - I know, you didn't say anything about that, but it's worth pointing out.

I had always taken him as more or less center-left, and overall pretty close to where Hillary Clinton was overall.

 

[dudalb]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

 

[Venom]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

Capturing voters outside of the Democrats' usual sphere of influence is peripheral to getting that progressive frontrunner in the spotlight, at least to me. By and large the liberal public's stance on the issues aligns well with that of someone like Bernie Sanders. It's just that many of them (at the risk of sounding like Travis here), from what I've seen on social media, seem to think a more fiscally conservative candidate like Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, or even Corey Booker are good young and fresh alternatives because they "break down barriers" socially.

 

[dudalb]

And I think that defeating Donald Trump is the absolute highest priority in 2016.The man is a clear and present danger to American Democracy, If nominating a centrist Democrat is what will take down Trump, then that is what the party should do. I don't see the point of nominating somebody so far to the left that he will scare off voters.

 

[varwoche]

And I think that defeating Donald Trump is the absolute highest priority in 2016.The man is a clear and present danger to American Democracy, If nominating a centrist Democrat is what will take down Trump, then that is what the party should do. I don't see the point of nominating somebody so far to the left that he will scare off voters.

I couldn't agree more. Trump is a real and present danger and people need to recognize that voting him out is by far the highest priority. Policy details are so far down the list that they barely matter. All that matters is winnability. We can resume infighting in 2022 and 2024, once this existential threat is in the past.

 

[acbytesla]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

I'm not sure exactly what that means.

I also don't believe there is some fixed 'center' of the political spectrum. It's absolutely amazing to me to see how what we would have described as centrists in the 50s, 60s, and 70s being portrayed as the radical left. Take AOC's positions for the most part. Republicans are saying she is some kind of radical commie. Never mind that her suggestion of 70+ percent top marginal tax rate was what we had for 30 plus years.

 

[Brainster]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

There might be a half-vast hidden progressive vote.

 

[kellyb]

Eh, not really. The quote about how he preferred single payer was from 2003-4, not his presidential campaign - the ACA ended up being fairly close to his and Hillary's campaign proposals, apart from the public option which was blocked by Joe Lieberman.

It was Obama himself who bailed on the public option. Reid was ready to go using reconciliation to pass it (and reconciliation had to be used to pass the ACA sans public option in the end.)

 

[kellyb]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

Among declared candidates:

https://www.emerson.edu/communication-studies/emerson-college-polling-society/latest-polls

 

[Foolmewunz]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

I mentioned this the other day in this or another thread. Oh, did we laugh at Karl and his "Lost Tribe of Angry White Voters". I mean, the demographics have caught up to 'em, man. Those people are a fantasy and they're dying off.

And then the 2016 GE happened. If that wasn't millions of members of said tribe, I don't know what is. Rove, as it happened was right. It needed the perfect storm of just the wrong Dem candidate, eight years of right wing propaganda and a demagogue willing to keep them riled up.

So I'd temper that thought with those variables. The '18 elections certainly identified a whole lot of disaffected moderate-to-liberal voters who just were prompted by Trump and his GOP enablers. I wouldn't put it down to a lost tribe of progressives so much as a lost tribe (those who don't vote) of moderate-liberal-progressive citizens.

 

[angrysoba]

I think a couple of people here have the "Lost Tribe" fallacy; that there is a vast hidden vote for the far left or far right that will come into the open as long as the right canididate comes forth.
There is no vast hidden "progressive" (as opposed to more mainstream liberal) vote.

Why not respond to particular posts rather than just make some sweeping comment?

Which posts show a belief in a “vast hidden vote”?

 

[kellyb]

I don't see the point of nominating somebody so far to the left that he will scare off voters.

Umm...back in 2016:
https://www.phillyvoice.com/poll-pennsylvania-sanders-does-better-clinton-against-trump/

The Quinnipiac University survey, released Tuesday, shows Clinton in a dead heat with Trump, leading him by just one point (43-42 percent) in the state. Sanders, meanwhile, holds a six-point lead over Trump (47-41).

 

[PhantomWolf]

Umm...back in 2016:
https://www.phillyvoice.com/poll-pennsylvania-sanders-does-better-clinton-against-trump/

It doesn't show that there was a large group that was so far left that they wouldn't vote Clinton, rather that there was a group that were "anti-establishment" and voted to "shake up things up" meaning that they were willing to switch their vote from Sanders to Trump.

 

[Belz...]

And I think that defeating Donald Trump is the absolute highest priority in 2016.

Was.

 

[Belz...]

Never mind that her suggestion of 70+ percent top marginal tax rate was what we had for 30 plus years.

...under Republicans, even.

 

[Belz...]

I mentioned this the other day in this or another thread. Oh, did we laugh at Karl and his "Lost Tribe of Angry White Voters". I mean, the demographics have caught up to 'em, man. Those people are a fantasy and they're dying off.

And then the 2016 GE happened. If that wasn't millions of members of said tribe, I don't know what is. Rove, as it happened was right.

I don't think so. Trump got fewer votes than Romney. The problem isn't that Trump got a huge surge of support, it's that Hillary didn't motivate voters.

The idea that Trump somehow energised the right-wing voter base is a myth.

 

[Firestone]

A new day, a new (expected) candidate:

"I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. http://corybooker.com "

https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/1091308916879884288

 

[The Big Dog]

A new day, a new (expected) candidate:

"I’m running for president. Join me on this journey. http://corybooker.com "

https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/1091308916879884288

He, is, SPARTACUS!!!!!!

 

[Delvo]

If anything is a "Lost Tribe" theory for Democrats, it's the "centrist" or "moderate" voter base that will surely someday come through for them... after years & years of chasing exactly that group and consistently losing.