Re: the "passion" argument. At the risk of coming off as a cynical old fart (well, I am sorta) I'll point out that passion helped Barry Goldwater get nominated in 1964. It got George McGovern nominated in 1972. I daresay it was passion that got Trump elected. It would be fair to say that I'm not passionate about the "passion" argument. My unenthusiastic vote is worth just as much as a passionate one.
Under Obama Dems lost more congressional and state legislative seats than under any other Dem in 80 years. Passion that can’t get anything done leads to burn out, cynicism and 2016. Republicans have only gotten wackier and more Do Nothing as the moderates have left under Trump. If the next President wants to get a second term then they need a realistic plan to turn passion into results. Waving a wand and saying ‘Revolution’ isn’t going to get legislation through a Republican Senate.
You can add to that the indisuptable fact that any Democratic candidate will benefit from a lot of passion: the passion to beat Trump, and hopefully restore some semblance of respect for the constitutional provision of separation of powers. On the other hand, a candidate who has a lot of personal passion on his side (like Sanders) might not have any more, come November, than someone like Biden who doesn't excite anyone but who has broader appeal. The "I'm voting Republican no matter what" people and the "I'm voting Democrat no matter what people" are all decided already. The vote in November will be decided by the middle, who don't really like Trump but who don't really like the idea of going too far in terms of broadened social programs either. Someone who "excites" people because he proposes a "revolution" will have less appeal to that middle band that will make all the difference. Personally, I will vote for Biden or Sanders, but if Sanders is the nominee and becomes president, I'll really be hoping the Republicans manage to hang on to the Senate. And others like me might not even vote or, worse yet, decide that Trump is the lesser of two evils after all. So the "people are passionate about Sanders but not about Biden" argument doesn't really have the weight it appears to have, at first glance, if you really look at it.
It does not appear to have gone as well as I had hoped. I suppose the intervention of the party to consolidate the establishment vote by persuading two of the candidates to drop out has worked. What does the big picture look like now? I haven't seen much good commentary.
The "big picture" is that it is still early enough that either of them could clinch the nomination outright before the convention (they have very similar numbers of delegates). Who knows what event could change the situation radically? Another heart attack for Sanders, anything for Biden (they are both getting real near to 80 years old, after all), a widespread coronavirus-epidemic, or who knows what else. At present, polls show that either of them would beat Trump, if the election were held today. But polls this early don't actually mean all that much. The V.P. pick could make a huge difference for either of them. I wouldn't be surprised to see one or both come up with at least a "short list" of prospects before the primary season is over. A bad pick could cause people to move to the other one, because of the high risk that that V.P. could actually become president before four years are out. So the bottom line right now is: no one knows. Biden, Sanders and Trump all have a real possibility of being elected in November. So it's one old white man or another, no matter what.
What a night!! Here’s the deal... Joe Biden was not my first choice. Far from it. But as this field consolidates, I am much more comfortable with him as the nominee than Sanders. And not for nothing, Sanders and his supporters seem to be much more interested in taking apart the Democratic Party than winning in November. Dems don’t trust them. They don’t trust that he can actually accomplish much of what he promises, they don’t trust that he can keep the House and they don’t trust that he can make progress in the Senate. Joe Biden is not the best candidate, IMHO, but I live in a red county and a lot of people are looking for an alternative to Trump and they don’t want someone who will upset the entire Apple cart to get him out. They want Biden.
There it is!! Moderate Republican and current Democratic candidate Mike Bloomberg drops out and endorses Joe Biden.... he pledges to use his billions to get rid of Trump!
at his peril! Trump takes everything personally. If he's not reelected because of Bloomberg's shenanigans he'll make it his mission to make Bloomberg's life a living hell. Trump will have a freed up schedule so he'll have plenty of time on his hands.
That's what I was thinking...not to mention Trump is already on Bezos' shit list. I don't care who you think you are, if you piss off enough of the world's richest people, you're doing so at your own peril.
Blomberg is a real billionaire, who's actually run a successful business. I really don't think he's afraid of Fearless Leader.
Well, this didn't age well. I think I'm right about the passion, but I clearly underestimated the number of people who think "Well, I guess it's Biden."
As passionate as Bernie's supporters are, there are some who are at least somewhat passionate against him.
That's true, and many of them have a lot of money riding on Bernie not having the ability to tax them, or weaken their hold on the working class. I mean, what's the motivation toaccept a shitty job if you'll have healthcare regardless? Why go into the military if you can just go to college without accruing the massive financial burden? That removes the incentives to keep you on your knees and begging from paycheck to paycheck. In capitalism, it is vastly important that the ownership class keeps the working class on its knees. You can't stand on the backs of people who stand up.
Look, I am grateful to Bernie for moving the Overton window to the left. We are now discussing issues like Medicare for All, marginal tax rates and wealth taxes. Without Bernie, we would never be here and I'm truly grateful and I like those ideas. That's why I supported Elizabeth Warren. But while we're being frank, it was Bernie himself who chose to do this as an outsider. He's the one that switches party after each election cycle. While Warren went to Obama and put forth the idea of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Bernie was threatening to primary Obama in 2012. We remember his tepid support of Hillary in 2016 after he stayed in the primary loooong after he was mathematically eliminated... and he then went on to try and manipulate the Super-delegates into supporting him despite having lost the popular vote after initially criticizing the fact that Dems had super-delegates that could usurp the will of the people... ... and still to this day, no mention from him about how the DNC did nothing to rig the 2016 primary against him.
Tepid support? Bernie campaigned harder for Hillary than Hillary campaigned for Hillary, and she made sure to thank him for it until enough time had passed where she decided to blame him for it. As for Elizabeth Warren, I'm sure you have the same concerns with her as you did for Bernie in 2016, correct? She has no mathematical chance to stay in this race, and hasn't for a while, and yet she's been pushing forward. By the way, Bernie's threat to primary Obama got him to back off of social security cuts, so be thankful he made that threat. I mean, Joe Biden has threatened to cut Social Security repeatedly, but for some reason older people who will face serious health emergencies if that happens are the ones voting for him. If I were Bernie, I'd be an outsider, because from here it looks like the Democratic Party no longer cares about the working class, just keeping their organization afloat. Trump bombed brown kids. Obama bombed brown kids. Biden will bomb brown kids. Sanders wants us to stop bombing brown kids (and Elizabeth does, too). So the status quo will be going back to pretending everything will be okay again (ah, civility in the White House!), go back to bombing brown kids, and give an awful lot of talk about how we need to do something about that climate change eventually. Oh, and don't get sick. As for rigging, it's only not rigging if your guy wins. Hillary had Superdelegates lined up well before she ran. The Clinton political machine is a powerful motherfucker, and part of the reason why Joe Biden is doing so well. Leading people by the nose is easy if you threaten their complacent comforts, and Joe promises to bring all of those back, as long as you're white, privileged, and affluent enough to ignore the other people who will suffer from his lack of policies. I don't care who's a Dem or a Republican, it's not a game. Red team / Blue team just gives people a way to euphemize the suffering of others and compartmentalize it so they can stop thinking about it when the elections are over. "Well, we tried." Yep.
He did say if he lost, no one would ever hear from him again. I for one would love to test this theory
Ask me again in June. Bernie took his campaign up to the convention almost. I hope Bernie decides to stick around in 2021. We could use his voice.
yes I know that! But Trump still has enough money (and a confrontational attitude) to run Mike ragged.
what Amaris said about Sanders not bombing brown kids: god forbid another 9/11 event happen. Sanders would be the first one with his thumb on the pickle button. He would have almost no choice in the matter. The nation would demand some type of military response and unless you know a way to remove every "brown" child from the sandbox before the shit hits the fan they will get bombed along with the bad actors. It sucks but that's the harsh reality of war.
