2020 Democratic Candidates

Sanders may be the anti-Trump, his polar opposite. I still don't think we need another old white man in the White House, but if the nation's going to heal from "our long national nightmare," Sanders might be just the breath of polar-opposite air needed.

A Sanders-Warren ticket would be a progressives dream, but might be too progressive for some sections of the country -- it all depends on the level of revulsion to Trump out there.

Sanders is unlikely to implode from a sex scandal.

Having a woman VP might be a necessary first step before the top post.

Universal healthcare would be a top priority. There'd be enough Republicans in Congress to prevent a total progressive agenda from being enacted, but we still should be able to get a lot done. Common-sense gun legislation. Immigration reform. If Warren is on the ticket, financial reform and correction of tax law. Criminal justice reform. Codifying Roe v. Wade. Overturning Citizens United.

I wish public campaign spending and term limits, but that's probably too much to ask since the people who have to vote to enact it are also the beneficiaries of the current system.

Bloomberg seems to have gained some traction. The initial response to him was not positive, but in the "we need an old white guy" crowd, I think he is gaining on Biden.

I don't think Bernie has a chance.

I'll tell you one thing right now.

I don't trust a single poll I've heard. After 2016, the pollsters can all go fuck themselves. Please.

Tom Steyers is out.

Now Bloomberg needs to get out and throw his support behind whomever wins Super Tuesday. Gabbard needs to get out. Klobuchar needs to get out. That would leave Biden, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg.

After Tuesday It'll be clear who the nominee is.

Mayor Pete is out, apparently.

Wow, did not see that coming.  He's still viable, so far as I could tell.

Maybe he plans to throw his support to Sanders, and get a VP slot in return.  That'd be a smart move on both their parts.

Amy Klobuchar is out. I’ll bet all the Californians who voted early are sorry.

She said she plans to endorse Biden. I wonder if that’ll be enough to make him competitive?

Mike Bloomberg is out. He's throwing his endorsement -- and considerable resources -- behind Joe Biden.

Mrs NoCo has been checking real estate prices in New Zealand. Four more years of Trump will destroy the USA.

I told you Bernie had no chance. He has as many issues as Biden, maybe more. And most of Biden's "issues" are Republican bullshit.

Bernie didn't win in 2016 mostly because he gained no support from minorities. You can't bring out the full power of the Democrat base unless you get Black support and at least some other minority support. Hillary did, Bernie didn't.

Even without the superdelegates, Hillary beat Bernie. Plurality isn't majority. If Bernie was such a great politician, why wasn't he persuading the other candidates that dropped out to pledge their delegates to him? He probably was trying - and failing. That's politics, and he failed at it. And the system has been in place many years, they didn't invent it just for Bernie.

“The system” is exactly what it is — and why they can’t allow a grassroots organization to win.

Bernie (and his supporters) were maybe naive to think we could.

richard09 wrote:

I told you Bernie had no chance. He has as many issues as Biden, maybe more.

Such as?  I mean, this is water under the bridge at this point, but I see Bernie as 100% consistent throughout his long career, always voting on the correct side of issues.  The "socialism" tag is his only liability, and it's mostly misunderstood (with a lot of Republican help).

I mean, it's true he wants to nationalize one-sixth of the US economy, and some (most?) of the rest of his platform is wildly optimistic.  That's why I would've advised him to go heavier on "changing politics" and lighter on "changing the economy."  But nationalized healthcare still makes sense, would be cheaper for everybody, and will have to be done some day.

But fighting Big Pharma, the insurance companies, an army of well-heeled lobbyists and Republican misdirection about it was always going to be an uphill battle.

Richard09 wrote:

And most of Biden's "issues" are Republican bullshit.

I don't think so.  I've listed elsewhere links to his various past scandals and wrong votes, and this thing with Hunter is going to end up with Devin Nunez and Ron Johnson dragging him before Congress to slut-shame him.  Sure it's "Republican bullshit" but there's enough APPEARANCE of impropriety to hurt Joe pretty substantially in the general.

Richard09 wrote:

Bernie didn't win in 2016 mostly because he gained no support from minorities. You can't bring out the full power of the Democrat base unless you get Black support and at least some other minority support. Hillary did, Bernie didn't.

All unfortunately true.  And I don't understand it.  African-Americans, as much as they constitute a block (which I think is not much) stand to gain very little from party politics as usual.

Richard09 wrote:

Even without the superdelegates, Hillary beat Bernie.

That's true, but just barely.  In 2016, Hillary had 591 superdelegates (of the 714 total) already pledged to her before the convention, and they voted on the first ballot.  That put her over the 2,383 threshold.  If the superdelegates had voted according to the popular vote leading up to the convention, Bernie would've gotten 314 of them -- instead of only 48.  Hillary still would have won -- but with 2620 delegates instead of 2811.

In 2020 the rules were changed so they don't vote until the second ballot, if the first ballot doesn't declare a clear winner.  This is more fair, but still anti-democratic.  Biden needs 59.86% of the delegates to win on the first ballot, which I doubt he'll get. Right now he has 46.4% (Bernie has 41.3%).



Substitute "Biden" for "Hillary" in 2020.  The election will play out EXACTLY the same.

Sanders would be smart to drop out, right now.

It's a lead pipe cinch he'll lose on the second ballot.

Warren's out. I'm. Not. Happy. About. It.

Biden promised last night to put a woman in the VP slot.

I wonder who?

• Warren (the leading woman) is way too progressive for him
  
• Tulsi Gabbard is too unpopular
  
• Marianne Williamson is too wacko even for Joe
  
• Kirsten Gillibrand is pro-NRA like Joe, but never polled very high
  
• Amy Klobuchar or Kamala Harris would be my bet.
  

Either one would be a pretty good match for the ticket.  There may be some possibilities outside the candidates race -- Val Demings for instance -- we'll have to see who he favors.  Joe already polls pretty high with African-Americans, so he may be okay with a white running mate.

Previously I said Joe Biden was sure to lose to Trump in the general.

Now, with the gob-smacking mismanagement of this crisis, and the likelihood of a million or more deaths before November, I can’t imagine Trump winning re-election.

A bag of snails could beat Trump.

Tulsi Gabbard is out. Way late, but whatever.

Sanders is out.  Way late, but whatever.

I still think a new candidate could emerge before the convention (Cuomo?  Newsom?) and steal it away from the weakest candidate ever put forward by a major party.  We'll see.

I'm not the only one, apparently.

Quote :

A majority of Democrats want to nominate New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for president instead of Joe Biden, according to poll results shared exclusively with The Post.

The national poll found 56 percent of Democrats prefer Cuomo, with 44 percent wanting to stick with presumptive nominee Biden — a 12-point margin well outside the 4.8 percent margin of error for the Democratic sample.

Hispanic voters, young people, women and self-identified liberals are most likely to favor dumping the former vice president for Cuomo.

Cuz people are desperate for anyone but Biden now. Only his VP pick can save him.

Michelle Obama?

Cripes, that would be a nakedly pandering move.  They say the choice for VP is the first big test for a presidential candidate.  If he really DOES choose Michelle, it would not bode well.  As much as I love Michelle, and I do.

NoCoPilot wrote:

NoCoPilot wrote:

NoCoPilot wrote:

NoCoPilot wrote:

In addition to Anita Hill, in addition to the NRA, Joe Biden has a Burisma Holdings problem.

And a Paradigm Global Advisors problem.  Can we please just get past Joe Biden now?  Democrats don't need this distraction.

And a impeachment lynching problem.  Take your football and go home Joe.

And a Super PAC problem.  Seriously, Joe's gotta go.

And a Larry Sanders problem. 

And a Tara Reade problem.  Biden's going to get his ass whupped, big time, if this election goes forward.