Democrat 2020

[Hooahguy]

Amusing poll reflecting the information level of voters:

Is there a version of this from the past few weeks or a month? A lot has happened since then.

lol that was in my first post. The major caveat is that Obama drew record turnout among black voters; a tall order for anyone to replicate.

Certainly would be hard for Sanders.

What in your opinion are Sanders' recent egregious transgressions? When I see his statements they're attacking Republicans and corporations.

Well he recently went off on the Dems for being too focused on diversity so theres that.

The quote itself: "“My main belief is that we need to bring together a coalition of people—of black and white and Latino and Asian-American and Native-American—around a progressive agenda which is prepared to take on an extraordinarily powerful ruling class in this country. That is my view. Many of my opponents do not hold that view, and they think that all that we need is people who are candidates who are black or white, who are black or Latino or woman or gay, regardless of what they stand for, that the end result is diversity.”

Sure at first it might not sound as bad. But taking it into context of Sanders' previous statements? Like this one from 2017:

"Yes. I mean, I think we’ve got to work in two ways,” Sanders answered. “No. 1, we have got to take on Trump’s attacks against the environment, against women, against Latinos and blacks and people in the gay community, we’ve got to fight back every day on those issues. But equally important, or more important: We have got to focus on bread-and-butter issues that mean so much to ordinary Americans.”

By juxtapositioning minority issues with "ordinary Americans" I think you would understand why a lot of minority voters do not like him very much as they correctly believe that he doesnt truly understand issues relating to their communities and views them not being as important compared to "ordinary Americans."

Anyways, Bernie took a shot an unnamed 'opponents,' literally none of whom believe what he's accusing them of.

It's important to push progressive policies. It's also important to have diverse viewpoints and have elected officials that reflect what America looks like. Other things can be important at once. Bernie is acting like it's one of the other.

Don't get bothered over "unity", it's healthy competition. Animosity is understandable when organizational power is at stake, but that doesn't mean we should take it seriously in those terms.

Our process is exceedingly simple:
0. Don't hold grudges.
1. Vote your best candidate (whatever that means) in the primaries.
2. Vote Democratic in the general election. Anyone who refuses to vote Biden/Sanders/whomstever in the general because they're "not a real Democrat[/leftist/whatever]" needs to stop being such a purity pony. Unless you hate Trump but want to see him re-elected as part of an overarching process to "accelerate" civilizational collapse or "heighten the contradictions" - in which case, you do you I guess.

Yeah but Sanders didnt do nearly as much as he could have to get his followers to vote for Hillary in 2016. The whole "Bernie Bro" thing wasnt just made up, there was a large and active faction within his supporters that ended up doing a lot of harm. To me it feels like Sanders sees the Democrat party more an opponent than an ally. I understand why of course considering how the last primary went. But I already I see calls on Twitter for "Bernie or bust" again. Are they bots trying to sow conflict? Who knows. Point is he was used as a cudgel to attack Clinton. The GOP even had a page called "The Top 15 Sanders Attacks On Clinton." The 2020 primary should aim to avoid things like that. And I simply do not have faith that he will.

Then again, Lincoln, FDR and Johnson were all... those people. Biden is not. Sanders' advantage is his openness to a variety of fundamental societal reforms, which is ultimately why I see him as the best option.

I would be somewhat surprised if Biden runs. We need new blood. Sanders is 77 years old right now which would make him almost 80 when he was sworn in. And he isnt exactly the picture of elderly health, lets be honest.

Warren-Harris-Gillibrand are ~ as candidates. It's a matter of competing niches.

Warren: Taxation and finance reform with an aperitif of class warfare
Harris: Criminal justice reform
Gillibrand: Gender issues (family leave, workplace equality, sex crime)

By "niche" I mean marginal emphasis. Of course all of them are offering something on each issue. Gillibrand appears to support slightly stronger bail reform than Harris, Harris proposes large money transfers through tax credits in a way Warren hasn't, etc. They all support Medicare for All at least. Otherwise Warren is pretty center-left on issues like the others are. After all, she does admire capitalism and exited the Republican Party in the '90s because they weren't correctly supporting the market.

The whole field can be expected to move left as the season advances. So, wait and see.

One could argue that Sanders fills his own niche too, could you not? Considering that a bunch of candidates have been doing things like disavowing corporate PAC spending I think there is a definite shift to the left. Which is a good thing.

I dont think Sanders is a horrible person. I think he has been a very important voice for progressives. But I think that he should not run in 2020. I think he can have much more of an impact helping rally progressives and not being a potential focus for conflict like he was in 2016.