Elections 2020 Democratic Primary Thread: The Announcements

[Sketch]

2020 is going to be a massive embarrassment for you people.

 

[Arashikage4Life]

2020 is going to be a massive embarrassment for you people.

That's what Democrats were saying about the GOP in 2016

 

[kpt018]

2020 is going to be a massive embarrassment for you people.

We know you don't like anyone left of center, so no one cares what you think is an embarrassment.

 

[Zankou]

Agreed on his answer about voting rights. He was wrong, but his answer was legit and, shockingly enough, an actual answer.
I don't think he'll pursue a progressive anything; nothing he has said so far has hinted that he is anything but another neoliberal.
Whats going to happen is he's going to reveal a basic, unambitious centrist platform and the MSM is going to deify him while throwing him softball questions to elevate him while throwing gotcha questions at Sanders.

100% true.

Btw I call Biden ‘Jeb 2.’ Classic candidate who nobody wants and nobody needs.

 

[Amerikuracana]

100% true.

Btw I call Biden ‘Jeb 2.’ Classic candidate who nobody wants and nobody needs.

..Who the establishment wants.

I think Biden might get "the push." I could tell when the media completely left out Joe's inappropriate touching of children while talking about complaints against him. It was intentional. I also knew the dems official stance would not be UHC from the way cnn was talking about it weeks before it became known. You can see what's coming by the slow creep of the obvious propaganda.

 

[Trotsky]

It's exactly the sort of issue the framers intended to be left to the states to decide. We've steered so far from federalism at this point that the "state's rights" aspect doesn't even come up in these town halls. Also, I don't think Buttigieg explained at all why being incarcerated should deprive one of the right to vote. He just sort of hand-waved that part away with "they lose other rights, so they can lose this one too."

For my state, I'm with Sanders on this. I also respect the right of other states to decide for themselves.

Whether this is accurate or not (I don't believe it is, as a state that disenfranchises a large part of its population that it then factors into its legislative and electoral representation gives blatantly outsized and undemocratic influence over the country to the non-disenfranchised voters of the state), the rhetorical and ideological fetishism of "this is what the founders intended" is vapid, lazy, and amateurish imo. And that's despite the fact that it's never been used remotely consistently or honestly: for instance, Antonin Scalia (who I think was a high-end conservative justice) was one of the court's most famous reactionaries - a guy who blatantly reasoned backwards from his desired political conclusion - yet he would cloak whatever decision he made in disingenuous historicity.

There's a lot that could be said about the contradictions in neo-federalists beliefs that (a) the founders were brilliant if not omnipotent enough to foresee the incredible technological, economic, and international issues, objects, and entities, and yet were also (b) obtuse and downright stupid enough to doom the country to bloat, failure, and eventually collapse on the basis of rigid faux-ideology. The founders weren't procedural fetishists. They didn't think that the mere procedures and policy prescriptions they laid out were holy. They were pragmatists who were invested in the liberal values of liberty and democracy.

 

[Trotsky]

This is a good list except I have no idea what to do with Yang and I’m no fan of Gabbard. I know that his main policy goal is basic universal income but otherwise I don’t know shit about him. Mine is something like this:

1. Buttigieg (my man needs to lay out his policy agenda soon though)
2. Warren
3. Bernie
4. Harris
5. Biden
6. Klobachar
7. Booker
8. Beto
9. Gabbard

Don’t care after that. Still bummed Sherrod Brown didn’t run, but I get it (fuck fighting through this field). But he would have very likely have been my top guy.

Related question for you. How do we expect regular, non-political junkies to decide from this field? Seems ridiculous to me.

Yeah, I like Sherrod a lot, but he realistically didn't have a chance with Bernie, Biden, Warren, and Klobuchar all running. He just wouldn't/couldn't have a place to carve out support.

And, yeah, it is ridiculous to expect casual voters to make an informed choice from this field. But, hey, it's ridiculous to expect casual voters to make an informed choice between two candidates like Clinton and Trump. So, we're just back where we started.

 

[andnowweknow]

100% true.

Btw I call Biden ‘Jeb 2.’ Classic candidate who nobody wants and nobody needs.

What a silly comparison. A long LONG time skilled politician Biden vs. Jeb who was a nerd with a name. They are literally nothing alike.

He's probably the wrong candidate but find another way to describe him.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Warren, Bernie, Gabbard>>>. The rest of the field is like choosing a new pair of khakis. Not very interesting, but still better than Trump shirtless overall's.

Pretty confident it's Bernie's year.

USA: Swerving guardrail to guardrail since 2000.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Your original claim would have been Joe vs. The Field, but we can do a Joe vs. Bernie as that might be more interesting. If one makes it to the general we have a winner, if neither then its a wash?

I will go Joe v the field if you want but for odds. Meaning if I win I get your av and SIG for 6 months vs my SIG for 3.

Otherwise Bernard v Joseph straight up for SIG rights of 3 months? You seem steadfast that Bernie will take it so that maybe more interesting

 

[Jack V Savage]

I know he's not a legitimate candidate at least yet, but I really do like Andrew Yang a lot. He's smart, versatile, self-scrutinizing, and bold. He's like Pete Buttigieg in terms of his intelligence and eloquence, but he takes questions head on consistently instead of talking around them.

In fact....you know what, that's it, boys, it's time to re-order Trotsky's official 2020 preferred candidates list:

1. Bernie Sanders
2. Elizabeth Warren
3. Andrew Yang
4. Tulsi Gabbard
5. Pete Buttigieg
6. Kamala Harris
7. Cory Booker
8. Jay Inslee
9. Amy Klobuchar
10. John Hickenlooper
11. Beto O'Rourke
12. Julian Castro
13. Joe Biden
14. Tim Ryan
15. Kirsten Gillibrand
16. Eric Swalwell

@Jack V Savage @Fawlty @BarryDillon @kpt018 @luckyshot @Kafir-kun
Please let the candidates know of their new positions and adjust the betting odds accordingly.

I wouldn't know enough to rank them, except that currently I have Warren and Buttigieg on top. Klobuchar's maybe taken a bit of a hit, but she's still way up there. Beto has been out-Beto'd by Buttigieg. Biden would be the lowest of the serious candidates for me (Gabbard, for example, is unacceptable so not really considered). Bernie's taken a big hit with the Sirota hiring. Borderline unacceptable for the primary, also.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Agreed on his answer about voting rights. He was wrong, but his answer was legit and, shockingly enough, an actual answer.
I don't think he'll pursue a progressive anything; nothing he has said so far has hinted that he is anything but another neoliberal.
Whats going to happen is he's going to reveal a basic, unambitious centrist platform and the MSM is going to deify him while throwing him softball questions to elevate him while throwing gotcha questions at Sanders.

The proliferation of stupid CTs about the media is one of the worst developments over the past few years.

 

[Sycho Sid]

I wouldn't know enough to rank them, except that currently I have Warren and Buttigieg on top. Klobuchar's maybe taken a bit of a hit, but she's still way up there. Beto has been out-Beto'd by Buttigieg. Biden would be the lowest of the serious candidates for me (Gabbard, for example, is unacceptable so not really considered). Bernie's taken a big hit with the Sirota hiring. Borderline unacceptable for the primary, also.

Out of curiosity, what about Mayor Pete's lack of experience? I know that is typically a big sticking point for you, and it is a red flag for me.

 

[J_C]

after collusion id be SHOCKED if trump lost.

dems best shot would be cannabis reform but trump could also play that card

 

[JonesBones]

Kamala Harris is already taking shots at old democrats who don't know when to quit and let the newer generation in. She didn't name names but we know who she was talking about. This is gonna be a major issue in the campaign. Biden is terribly positioned and handled his creepiness terribly. It has only just begun. Can't wait to see him torn to pieces.

He has no fuckin clue how other people see him.

 

[Zankou]

..Who the establishment wants.

I think Biden might get "the push." I could tell when the media completely left out Joe's inappropriate touching of children while talking about complaints against him. It was intentional. I also knew the dems official stance would not be UHC from the way cnn was talking about it weeks before it became known. You can see what's coming by the slow creep of the obvious propaganda.

Well he’s obviously the Hillary in this scenario, who the Dem machine ‘owes’ the nomination, so there is that push. But it puts a lot of Dem voters in a bind, particularly because they basically got fucked by the GOP going anti establishment last time, and Biden is the emblem of tepid establishment (hence Jeb 2). So they risk running a neuter candidate on the theory that anybody safe will beat Trump, but without enthusiasm, and with visions of populist humiliation dancing in their heads.

I’m not at all sure the media will push Biden like they did Hillary. They will look for ‘diversity,’ and Biden is obviously fucked on that ground.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Out of curiosity, what about Mayor Pete's lack of experience? I know that is typically a big sticking point for you, and it is a red flag for me.

It's a negative factor. But I think one that is outweighed by his positives.

 

[Jack V Savage]

I’m not at all sure the media will push Biden like they did Hillary.

It's just nuts that anyone believes this. No major-party candidate has been more hated by the MSM than Clinton in my lifetime. Gore's the only one who was close.

 

[Zankou]

Out of curiosity, what about Mayor Pete's lack of experience? I know that is typically a big sticking point for you, and it is a red flag for me.

Lack of experience is massively overrated for president IMO.

In many ways it’s more akin to being the king of England ... your job is symbolic engagement. Not to be policy master. There are 10 trillion policy masters for hire. Technical competence in policy is vastly overrated. It’s like speaking Spanish. Useful, yes, but there’s like 900 million people who can fill that need for you.

 

[Zankou]

It's just nuts that anyone believes this. No major-party candidate has been more hated by the MSM than Clinton in my lifetime. Gore's the only one who was close.

Laughable.

I remember seeing articles with fake statistics arguing that the media was more positive towards Trump than Gillary. People so desperate to believe that even trash tier pseudo science would be glommed onto.