2020, contd. (VII)

Biden Has Suddenly Started Claiming He Was Arrested While Visiting Nelson Mandela – But His Story Doesn’t Add Up
Ashe Schow | Feb 22, 2020
https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-has-suddenly-started-claiming-he-was-arrest...

Joe has always told stories, but this one...
Do we really want an 80YO president, if acceptable alternative(s)?
Having suffered Trump, we need full disclosures on physical, mental, financial status--even if only cleared by bipartisan, discreet commission.

More from Nevada entrance poll (early vote wave)

Over 45 years old
Biden 20%
Sanders 20%
Buttigieg 16%
Klobuchar 15%
Warren 13%
Steyer 11%

45 and under
Sanders 60%
Buttigieg 13%
Warren 11%
Biden 5%
Klobuchar 3%

From the entrance poll, among the 34% of NV Dem caucus participants who call themselves moderate or conservative:

Sanders 23%
Biden 22%
Buttigieg 20%
Klobuchar 14%
Steyer 10%

The Obama amulet is giving out for Biden:

Bernie Sanders enjoys a similar level of support among black Democratic primary voters as Joe Biden does, with 29 percent backing the Vermont senator while 31 percent are behind the former vice president, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

For those who consider themselves left--not really even democrats because the democratic party is not a left party--Bernie Sanders is not really that left--he's an FDR style democrat. I know MSNBC and CNN and the NYTimes and Washington Post say he is but he isn't---not really. Those media entities are all center right pro-corporate organs of a status quo that works for the wealthy and for the war machine. In Latin America in Europe Sanders may be kind of center left. He probably wouldn't stand out all that much. But he is a default for people on the left---a compromise to be made with the democratic party. Bloomberg is no compromise. I look at him as a fascist and he certainly has racist tendencies. He'll depress the vote if he's the nominee.

All that said I have a lot of hope that Sanders could easily turn out to be the best POTUS in my lifetime. That said almost all of them have been pretty bad to downright awful. This nutjob we have now is really in uncharted territory though.

#2--Sanders kept his ground game intact from 2016. His campaign has also made a huge effort to the Latin community all around the country and it is the fastest growing voter dynamic. Some democratic candidates have hardly put any effort into reaching out to them. Bernie aims to take the Southwest including Texas not only in the primaries and caucuses but in the general. If he can take Texas Trump is dead--that's his biggest state. I think Bernie will work that state hard if he's the nominee.

As Bernie Sanders’s momentum builds, down-ballot Democrats move to distance themselves
Mike DeBonis and Michael Scherer | Feb. 22, 2020

...As Sanders builds what could eventually be an insurmountable delegate lead, many Democratic House and Senate candidates are approaching a dramatic shift in their campaigns, as they recalibrate to include praise of capitalism and distance themselves from the national party. Top campaign strategists from both parties view Sanders’s success as a potentially tectonic event, which could narrow the party’s already slim hopes of retaking the Senate majority and fuel GOP dreams of reclaiming the House, which it lost amid a Democratic romp in 2018.

...A Washington Post-ABC News Poll this week found that Sanders had the worst standing against Trump among college-educated white women, the group most responsible for powering Democrats to their 2018 House majority. Sanders had a statistically insignificant two percentage-point edge over Trump among white women voters with college degrees in the poll, compared with Buttigieg, Biden, Bloomberg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who all beat Trump by 10 points or more among that the same group...

...Down-ballot candidates will not be able to simply spurn Sanders if he is the nominee, prominent Democrats warn, lest they risk the ire of his base. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who presided over efforts to win the Senate back for Democrats in 2006 and expanded that majority to a filibuster-proof margin two years later, said in an interview Thursday that as the nominee, Sanders would have to personally assure Senate candidates like Arizona’s Kelly and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper that they have a free hand to run their campaigns on their own terms — and distance themselves without fearing blowback.

“He cannot be a distant leader of the party,” Reid said, discussing the possibility of a Sanders nomination. “He’s going to have to be personally involved with it, so they feel comfortable. If not, there’s going to be a problem.”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-bernie-sanderss-momentum-builds-down-...

Not one sentence of President Sanders legislation can pass without the votes of every Democratic senator who he's decided to taunt as "the Democratic establishment." Currently 14 senators support Medicare For All. Does he plan to insult the rest into voting for it? https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1231021453270769664
- Lawrence O'Donnell (CNN) @Lawrence · 20h

He's been a mayor, congressman, or senator for 39 years. He's the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and former Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee. And he is now the frontrunner of the Dem party for president. How is he not the establishment?
- Paul Begala @PaulBegala | 6:01 PM · Feb 22, 202

>7 margd:

Just stop it.

>8 LolaWalser: Block me.

Too much at stake to not carefully vet candidates in upcoming primaries, including vulnerabilities that R (Republicans and Russians) will exploit.
For my vote at least.

Stand up to Bernie or You – and We – All Lose
Jonathan Cowan, Matt Bennett | Feb 22, 2020

... recent polling from Gallup shows, 53% of voters, including 51% of Independents, say they would not vote for “an otherwise well-qualified candidate for president” if that candidate is a socialist.

...In this campaign – and in his 50 years in public life – Bernie Sanders somehow has skated past any serious, sustained scrutiny of his ideas and his record. Yet those are so extreme – so far outside the mainstream – that they simply must not be ignored during the remaining fight for the 2020 nomination. Either you will air and debate them now, and deny Sanders the nomination, or they will come roaring out of the Trump machine in the fall, when they will prove fatal.

His Stunningly Radical Political History

His Outrageous Support for our Enemies

His Hopelessly Out of Touch Views on Taxes

His Preposterous Spending Plans

His Party is Himself

https://www.thirdway.org/memo/stand-up-to-bernie-or-you-and-we-all-lose

>9 margd:

I might yet. But come on--this sort of shit: "And he is now the frontrunner of the Dem party for president. How is he not the establishment?" is SHIT.

That's Trumpoidal quality of "argument", and I'm sure you know it.

'I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic'---later he finished that statement this way 'capitalism has outlived its usefulness'--that was Martin Luther King Jr. in a letter to then girlfriend Coretta Scott. Fact is democratic socialists claim him and fact is he often spoke glowingly about democratic socialism. IMO he is arguably the greatest American of the 20th century.

But there are lots of things that are said to be impossible--battles over voting and civil rights took a long time but this country would be so much worse if they hadn't happened. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort to get there but if the goals are worthwhile finally getting there is what makes a society great. King was a movement person--Sanders is too and Sanders might well be dead before this goal of his attained--I might be too. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

But another thing the Latino community has never been fully brought into our political process and it needs to flex its muscle. It has been under attack for the entirety of the Trump administration. The kids separated from their parents at the border--caged and/or dying in custody--Hispanics being demonized as 'illegal', 'job stealers', 'rapists', 'murderers', 'coming in caravans' and all the wall nonsense, all the detentions or harassment of Hispanic United States citizens on suspicion that they're not United States citizens, the DACA children born and brought up in this country afraid they'll be deported. That's a big issue and if the Biden, Buttigieg, Warren and Klobuchar campaigns aren't doing a good job of reaching out to the Latino community that's on them--they're doing a shit job. Michael Bloomberg as far as I can tell is doing a version of shock and awe bombarding the airwaves with ads but the closest he's come to ground level is the one debate and he didn't do very well. You win the vote on the ground reaching out to people and you can't be afraid to reach those who are brown or black or poor or gay or trans or whatever. We're all linked to each other however good or bad we are--even the worst like Trump himself. The Sanders campaign is doing the best job of reaching out to everyone so far---that's why he's doing well.

5 p Feb 23, 2020 press release from U Wisconsin-Madison Elections Research Center
on primary and general election match-ups in swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin:

...“Sanders is well positioned to pick up the lion’s share ofdelegates in these states unless another Democrats breaks away fromthe pack to challenge him...All three states are up for grabs in 2020...Trump is in a more difficult position in Michigan than the other two states, but each of the Midwest battlegrounds could be won by either party, almost regardless of who becomes the Democratic nominee.” ( Barry Burden political science professor and director of the ERC )

... leading Democratic candidates are competitive with Trump in all three battleground states. Among registered voters, hypothetical head-to-head matchups show Democrats with a slight advantage on average, but not one that comfortably exceeds the survey’s margin of error. None of these states will be easily won by either party...

https://elections.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/483/2020/02/ERC-press-releas...
https://elections.wisc.edu/first-2020-election-survey/

>12 margd: >7 margd: >6 margd:

My old state of Wisconsin has some of the dirtiest Republicans operating in the US, and have recently disenfranchised a good chunk of likely Democrat voters.

I'm interested in your thinking regarding the environment. I think it's inseparable from my main issue, which has always been egalitarianism, if it can be put that way. It's made it impossible for me to vote in presidential elections, as the US is an oligarchy and neither party has made any effective moves in that direction in my lifetime. Sanders is obviously different. But if your main concern is the environment, I don't know how you can choose from among those running. All the Democrats, I would think, would re-enter the Paris accords, but I can't imagine that's enough. How would Bloomberg handle pipeline protestors? How would Sanders? Is the perceived difficulty of Sanders obtaining enough support in his own party enough reason to vote against him?
I'm pretty cynical regarding the future, but the one thing that's happened lately that has given me hope is the emergence of AOC and her pals. If that signals a change in youth voting and motivation, maybe the planet stands some chance of surviving.

What do you think, Margd?

>13 RickHarsch: I don't think we have time for niceties, so need to choose a president who makes climate a priority and is in a position to make it happen--or to delegate to good people to make it happen. All else is secondary.

Some can be done by executive order or emergency declaration (as Sanders suggested, and as Trump has done with wall) but to be really successful legislation will be required, and so our dream candidate needs down-ballot coat-tails--especially in those handful of swing-states Trump won last time. Michigan was a real squeaker.

Pipelines... I think Klobuchar is right to call gas and oil "transitional", so any decisions should be made on that basis. And environment / property considerations, of course.

IMO, at this point,

Sanders has good plan and says the right things. I think initially that he'd spend more political capital on M4A, though...

Bloomberg financed coal plant closure work (+ gun control, mayor cooperation, 2018 election) during Trump era, is civil engineer by training. Surprised he has no climate "plan".

Warren borrowed Jay Inslee's work--nothing wrong with that--so I bet she'd tap him.

Thoughts?

>14 margd: I suppose what I really think is that if the future of the environment is potentially decided by a US election, doom is inevitable.

If the first human-caused extinction of a species did not effect change that probably was the turning point.

A lot of thoughts that flit through my head have to do with the maritime industry because by chance I've done a lot of work with researchers on oil spills. That's also put me in contact with the logistics sciences and so I've edited a lot of papers on both. What I've learned is that at this point profit still dictates all major decisions in shipping. The word 'sustainable' is widely used and means nothing. In logistics, no human or environment centered concept is possible without it being an accessory to profit. (Efficient modern logistics thinking generally is divorced even from labor--jobs are at best necessities; reducing them is not considered a negative cost in any way at the academic level or in the practices I've seen.)

Scary headlines about massive islands of plastic have not led to the elimination of plastic food containers or, to my eyes, even led to their reduced use. The number of examples, analogies, are compounding at a rapid pace.

BERNIE SANDERS BECOMES FIRST CANDIDATE, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, TO WIN POPULAR VOTE IN ALL 3 EARLY VOTING STATES

Bloomberg Is the Crisis, Not the Cure

NPR's attempted takedown of Bernie Sanders: Free of facts, high on "mainstream" spin

>14 margd:

If you'd only listen to yourself, there wouldn't be need to quarrel.

Bloomberg financed coal plant closure work (+ gun control, mayor cooperation, 2018 election) during Trump era, is civil engineer by training. Surprised he has no climate "plan".

Forget being surprised--how on earth do you go from "has no climate plan" to "THIS is the strongest candidate on climate"? Even if nothing else existed or mattered, this should be enough to alarm you, based on your own single-issue agenda.

All those things you're grasping at to build him up are straws and smoke. This "gun control" mayor of New York is also Mr. Stop-and-Frisk, a racist policy that routinely victimised black and Hispanic youth. It's hauling water in a sieve. Police states also have excellent gun control. It's not a firm indicator of social virtue, per se. Bloomberg's record is chaotic but one thing is sure--he only does good when it suits his own enrichment or position. It's not at all different to Trump donating to the Democrats back when that served his goals. The record of both men is out there to see and compare--both have zero real political principle, both are totally unscrupulous swingers.

And what on earth does being a "civil engineer" ("by training" no less--when was the last time he "engineered"?) have to do with anything?

Sanders has the nickel-and-dimed people on his side, it's as simple as that.

Culinary Workers Bucked Their Leadership by Backing Bernie Sanders in Nevada. Here’s What They Knew.

Found on r/SandersForPresident

I post it for the point it's making, not the celebrity--over and over again progressive people were pressed, scared, bullied into going with the "lesser evil" of Democrats, just to preserve the status quo. Well the status quo is over. There is no going back. The Republicans embraced Trumpist fascism. The centre didn't hold. It will never be established again because we're running out of planet. The 19th century-20th century capitalist movie about limitless exploitation based on cheap fuel is almost over. Extreme depletion of natural resources gives rise to extreme hardship and peril, such as is no longer even alleviated let alone removed by recourse to the imaginary "centre". There can be no truth "in the middle" when "the middle" doesn't even exist.

The future, as much of it as we have or may have, will be a battle for a co-operative global existence against "me & mine above all" isolationists and expansionists.

What Americans were taught to think of as "extremes" relative to their "common sense", "middle of the road" Republican-Democrat balanced seesaw, are rapidly becoming simply the main opposed worldviews.

I found this recent quote by AOC which I thought was interesting: 'Mass movements are beginning to transform our political landscape in a way we haven't seen in a long time. This kind of politics is an important shift away from saviorism. It's not about 'the one'--it's about the many'.

This is what Trump has tapped into on the right and what Sanders is tapping into on the left and they had their precedents in the Tea Party on the right and Occupy on the left. But immigration has also turned into a mass movement in its own right as there are refugees all over Africa, Europe, South America who are on the move because of war, economics and climate change. Climate change won't go away by ignoring it or offering half-hearted solutions--it will only get worse as will refugee problems as governments, corporations and the wealthy divvy up the diminishing resources that need to be shared by all.

Unlike Trump's tv defenders, Moscow understands the difference between pro-Putin Trump and his anti-Russian Administration.
Putin & team hope that Trump re-election will liberate Trump from his advisors & the deep state and allow him to deepen his friendship with Putin. 17/
- Michael McFaul @McFaul | 7:55 PM · Feb 23, 2020

Excerpted from
Michael McFaul @McFaul Professor. michaelmcfaul.com/ Feb. 24, 2020 3 min read
https://threader.app/thread/1231744445361487872

Trump has not pushed for passage of any of the pending legislation designed to reduce foreign interference in our 2020 elections.
Most of our four dozen recommendations for securing American elections have not been pursued. https://shar.es/a3LEUB 13/
- Michael McFaul @McFaul | 7:55 PM · Feb 23, 2020

Michael A. McFaul et al. June 6th, 2019. Securing American Elections: Prescriptions for Enhancing the Integrity and Independence of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and Beyond. Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute Cyber Policy Center. 108 p. https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/stanford_cyber_policy_ce...

Summary of Recommendations (for government and private sector. p. v)

Increase the Security of the U.S. Election Infrastructure
2.1. Require that all vote-counting systems provide a voter-verified paper audit trail.
2.2. Require risk-limiting auditing for all elections.
2.3. Assess the security of computerized election-related systems in an adversarial manner.
2.4. Establish basic norms regarding digital behavior for campaign officials.
2.5. Commit regular funding streams to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the election infrastructure.
2.6. Retain the designation of election infrastructure as critical infrastructure.
2.7. Allow political parties to provide cybersecurity assistance to state parties and to individuals running for federal office and their campaigns.

Regulate Online Political Advertising by Foreign Governments and Nationals
3.1. Explicitly prohibit foreign governments and individuals from purchasing online advertisements targeting the American electorate and aimed at influencing U.S. elections.
3.2. Support the passage of the Honest Ads Act with several key amendments.
3.3. Strengthen self-regulation mechanisms for the major internet platforms.

Confront Efforts at Election Manipulation from Foreign Media Organizations
4.1. Require greater disclosure measures for FARA-registered foreign media organizations.
4.2. Mandate additional disclosure measures during pre-election periods.
4.3. Support existing disclosure measures of specific social media platforms.

Combat State-Sponsored Disinformation Campaigns from State-aligned Actors
5.1. Create standardized guidelines for labeling content affiliated with disinformation campaign producers.
5.2. Create norms for the media’s handling of stolen information.
5.3. Limit the targeting capabilities for political advertising.
5.4. Expand transparency for paid and unpaid political content.
5.5. Improve the quality and scope of detection tools and reporting policies for social media platforms.
5.6. Build an industry-wide coalition to coordinate and encourage the spread of best practices.
5.7. Remove barriers to the sharing of information relating to disinformation, including changes to privacy and other laws as necessary.
5.8. Establish a Social Media ISAC/ISAO to improve communication between the U.S. government and social media companies about disinformation operations.
5.9. Increase overall transparency on social media platforms.
5.10. Carefully balance platform responsibility with individual freedoms.
5.11. Establish a norm among candidates to not use stolen data or manipulated content.
5.12. Emphasize digital literacy in educational curricula and focus public education on the knowledge that makes democracy more resilient to disinformation campaigns.

Enhance Transparency about Foreign Involvement in U.S. Elections
6.1. Mandate transparency in the use of foreign consultants and foreign companies in U.S. political campaigns.
6.2. Increase transparency about foreign business interests.
6.3. Disclose contacts with foreign nationals and governments.
6.4. Strengthen the norm of one government at a time.

Establish International Norms and Agreements to Prevent Election Interference
7.1. Fortify U.S. and international commitment to human rights.
7.2. Strengthen international norms protecting election infrastructures.
7.3. Create norms to deter the use of disinformation and hacked materials.
7.4. Lead international advocacy against foreign interference through disinformation.
7.5. Distinguish legitimate cross-border assistance from illicit or unlawful interventions.
7.6. Hold congressional hearings about policies to support free and fair elections internationally.
7.7. Promote cooperation among democracies focused on election protection.
7.8. Appoint a senior U.S. government representative on election interference.
7.9. Develop guidelines about platform cooperation with foreign governments.

Deter Foreign Governments from Election Interference
8.1. Recalibrate risk tolerances for actions in cyberspace.
8.2. Signal a clear and credible commitment to respond to election interference.
8.3. Maintain a visible position of U.S. capabilities, intentions, and responses.
8.4. Enact country-specific and timely responses that impose real, effective costs.
8.5. Promote collective engagement with international partners.
8.6. Conduct a continuous strategic disruption campaign against adversaries that seek to interfere with U.S. elections.
8.7. Pursue common interests in cyberspace where possible.

Why Exactly Does Putin Love Bernie?
Julia Ioffe | February 23, 2020

“Our candidate is chaos,” says a former Putin advisor.

... Sanders’s foreign policy positions, like his commitment to non-interventionism

...Ro Khanna’s (said) at the recent Munich Security Forum...that a President Sanders would keep Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics, from joining NATO. (Khanna later walked those comments back.)

...Sanders voted against the 2012 Magnitsky Act

...a way of supporting Trump. “If Sanders wins the Democratic nomination, then Trump wins the White House,” predicts Igor Yurgens, president of the Institute of Contemporary Development, and a former advisor to erstwhile Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. “America won’t vote for such a leftie candidate. If you’re sitting in the FSB headquarters at Lubyanka and watching this race, you see that helping Sanders helps Trump. At least, that’s what I would do...

Yurgens, who once told me that the Kremlin sees Trump as “our wrecking ball,” believes that the Putin regime is hoping for a second Trump term...“Our favorite is Trump,” Yurgens says of how both the Russian elite and mainstream society view the American president. “He shares our ideology and has shown as much sympathy to Russia as was humanly possible. The mainstream and the media support him and will do anything that helps Trump win, including supporting Sanders.”

...“Russian active measures thrive on chaos, and this is what a second Trump term delivers,” says (Marc Polymeropoulos, a recently retired CIA agent who, after the 2016 election, was tasked with pushing back on Russian covert operations around the world). “America is at war with itself politically for another four years. Advantage: Russia. Second, while it’s true that the Trump administration has at times been very tough on Russia with respect to sanctions, strategically, under the Trump administration, Russians have regained a foothold in the Middle East, NATO is weakened by a more disengaged America, and Trump’s disdain for Ukraine is a huge boon for Russia.”...

https://www.gq.com/story/why-does-putin-love-bernie

Mike Bloomberg @MikeBloomberg | 9:22 AM · Feb 24, 2020:

The NRA paved the road to Washington for Bernie Sanders.
He spent the next three decades making sure they got a return on their investment.
We deserve a president who is not beholden to the gun lobby.
#NotMeNRA

1:31 ( https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/1231947570529947651 )

Sanders & Socialism: Debate Between Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman & Socialist Economist Richard Wolff (Democracy Now)

How will Trumpian Rs, Faux News, and their Russian sponsors & ilk spin some of Sander's history?
Explainable, innocent, even, but the time is now to anticipate R ads and whisper campaigns for each of candidates--
from stop-and-frisk to Pocohantas to plagiarism to NRA & Sandinistas.
People evolve, and that's fine, but we also accumulate baggage as Lola has pointed out with Bloomberg. Rs and Rs will not overlook a single piece of it.
Enough perhaps to lose swing states like FL, MI, PA, and WI.
(Speaking of FL, sure hope Ds are registering Puerto Rican refugees!)

Why not Warren rather than Sanders? Similar policies, has produced in consumer protection, less baggage, except--gasp--she's a woman! :0

Twenty Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Bernie Sanders
Jim Geraghty | December 31, 2018
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/12/bernie-sanders-twenty-things-you-didnt-kn...

We need a third party
Bernie Sanders 1989
https://twitter.com/Schneider_CM/status/1231734380692942853/photo/2

Will Bernie Sanders' long-ago praise of Socialist regimes hurt Democrats in November?
If Sanders is the nominee, some Democrats worry Trump will hammer him on his long-buried words in defense of governments in Nicaragua, Cuba and the USSR.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/will-sanders-long-ago-praise-soci...

Lordy, there are tapes!
https://twitter.com/CalebJHull/status/1231742393277468672

Florida Southern College Poll (Conducted Feb 17-21):
Bloomberg 23%
Biden 22%
Sanders 18%
Warren 12%
Buttigieg 9%
Klobuchar 5%

Poll of Florida’s Democratic Presidential Primary – 2.24.20
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/320403-poll-of-floridas-democratic-presiden...

- Political Polls @PpollingNumbers | 9:31 AM · Feb 24, 2020
______________________________________________

Sanders favorability among New York Jewish voters: 32-61

Trump favorability among New York Jewish voters: 50-49.

(Siena poll)
https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SNY0220-Crosstabs-1.pdf

- Josh Kraushaar @HotlineJosh11:38 AM · Feb 24, 2020

(N = 72, which is small sample size.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIENA RESEARCH INSTITUTE SIENA COLLEGE, LOUDONVILLE,
Press Release (7 p) | February 24, 2020

‘Blue’ NY Supports 6 Leading Democrats Over Trump By 14-25 Points;
By 62-29%, Voters Say Trump Will be Re-elected & Dems Say so 48-41%
Sanders Leads Bloomberg by 4 Points in Primary Race for Democrats
Dems Say Bloomberg Has Best Chance to Win;
Want Candidate they Agree with More than Candidate with Best Chance to Beat Trump, 51-45%...

https://scri.siena.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SNY-February-2020-Poll-Release...

>21 lriley:

This is what Trump has tapped into on the right and what Sanders is tapping into on the left

Not exactly--not even nearly. Trump never stops talking about himself and he's totally presenting himself as the saviour and he HAS encouraged a personality cult around him. We don't need to read tea leaves and parse subtext to see this--it's shouted from the rooftops every bloody day since he was nominated. He has literally threatened not to leave the presidency and he has been defended on the floor of your Senate with the argument that he can even break the law as long as he believes it's in the "country's" interest. "Saviours" don't come more savioury than that.

Sanders is popular because his view of social good has finally come into focus for the majority of Americans. His personality is secondary to this.

Trump's personality is of primary importance because it expresses inseparably the policies he's pushing: self-interest, self-aggrandizement, arbitrary exceptionalism, aggression, ruthlessness.

I think AOC was talking about the spontaneous mass movements we're seeing, mass uprisings one might say, where people get out in the street because they can't breathe any more, not because they have found a Great Leader to march behind.

Antidote to garbage:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/

#29--well to be clear on Sanders I said a couple days ago he is an avenue for people who are really on the left to still engage in major party politics. There are certainly critiques that can be made about him--he is not perfect. Really no one is. So I don't see him as a great leader per se but as a conduit for a more towards the left movement to happen. I think that was what AOC was getting at. But I definitely do think that Sanders is tapped into left movements. Maybe a better way to talk about Trump is he hijacked a right wing one or the people in it let themselves be hijacked.

If Bernie fails this time it's going to be a disaster---but AOC might be next up in 2024. She will have reached the age limit and she has a lot of popularity. I also think if Sanders fails this time it will drive more people leftward if only because Trump being Trump and the Republican party being the Republican party. Omar for instance could not do it because she was born and spent the first several years of her life (I believe) in Somalia which disqualifies her by law---apart from that are other hurdles--1. being black 2. being a woman 3. being a Muslim. I can definitely see AOC going for it some day though. She connects with people.

Whoa! Wonder if we'll see a Bentsen:Quayle moment in Tuesday's debate? Would Klobuchar pass up opportunity to squish Buttigieg?

Maxwell Nunes @nunesmaxwell | 11:12 AM · Feb 24, 2020:
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."
From Kennedy to Obama, our party wins when we offer a candidate that is new to national politics and from a new generation.
Check out our new ad launching today.
0:08 ( 30 sec https://twitter.com/nunesmaxwell/status/1231975181595414531 )
___________________________________________

Iconic "You're no Jack Kennedy" debate moment (4:04)
CBS News • Oct 2, 2016

Senator Lloyd Bentsen famously told Senator Dan Quayle that he was "no Jack Kennedy," in a 1988 debate. Director of Virginia Center for Politics Dr. Larry Sabato, author of "Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of New America" Jonathan Darman and presidential historian Doug Wead join CBSN to discuss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYAZkczhdMs

>27 margd: "Why not Warren rather than Sanders? Similar policies, has produced in consumer protection, less baggage, except--gasp--she's a woman!"

I'm afraid that may be precisely her 'problem'. I can't see any other reason for her to have fallen so quickly once the voting actually began. A few months ago I would have bet on her.

#33--I think what has hurt Warren more than anything else is she's not run an effective campaign. To me her strongest way to go was her consumer advocacy message. She was like a one woman consumer protection agency in the Senate (which is why Bernie wanted her to run in 2016) and though she started out strong with a number of very good policy proposals she's not really hammered that home. In the last debate she kind of re-found herself but it's looking kind of too late. It makes me think that the experience of having been through a presidential campaign before helps a lot--you don't make the same mistakes the second time around. Anyone who has seen her grill banker and Wall St. execs knows she has the goods as far as everything economic--that message kind of went missing for a while. There's a bit of scorched earth you have to do if you're going to win and you do that on your strengths. In a way she was too nice particularly with the likes of Biden and Buttigieg. When Bloomberg showed up you could see the fire in her eyes again.

One other thing----incumbents are hard to beat because they almost always have a strong ground game in place from the last time--those structures from having been out there are still alive. Bernie kept his alive--the others more than less are starting from scratch with somewhat of an exception with Biden who have people advocating for him particularly in the Southern states. You need people on the ground everywhere and people you can trust with the ability to organize on a national scale. Buttigieg as an example spent loads of money and time in Iowa and New Hampshire to get the results he got to raise more money to continue on but he never spent time anywhere else--didn't haven't anything organized anywhere else. It's chaos theory for him on March 3 when 14 states primary all at once. Black and brown people don't like him---he's fucked.

Actually, the Sanders campaign of 2020 is not the Sanders campaign of 2016, although of course one grew out of
the other. In 2016 his support was mostly (a slight majority but a majority) of white men, now that's women and PoC. The worst of the BernieBros defected to Trump and haven't come back (you can find examples even in this group, btw.)

Beside the Killarian exodus, three important demographic factors further contribute to this make-up of his support: millions of young Hispanic and black voters, among others, coming of age between then and now; Trumpism majorly pissing off women across the board; young white women being orders of magnitude more likely to vote left than young white men. That's how you get what we see behind Sanders now: women, working class, people of colour.

As for Warren, I don't understand what happened with her support. It's a damn shame to see her so low in the polls; she deserves better, up to and including a presidential run. Maybe people feel there's no room for two progressive options with so many "centrist" Democrats having conniptions about "socialism"? I think Sanders siphoned off her support; the "centrists" have multiple options so no need for them to turn to her.

#35--I love your first paragraph--that's pretty much it in a nutshell--it was way too white. But everything else in the post is on the mark too. One of the things I've gotten out of presidential campaigns is that it's a learning experience for whoever sticks their toe in the water. In that respect though I didn't like his presidency Obama was just like natural born to campaign. He has a gift that draws people in. Warren is a very good candidate--I would happily vote for her (maybe not as happily as with Sanders though) if she were the nominee. Everyone makes mistakes along the way and it's not always fair how some pay more for their mistakes than others.

The Bloomberg campaign has been spamming my Youtube experience with campaign ads for some time. Interestingly, though, all of a sudden, they're in Spanish. (And no, I haven't read or watched anything in Spanish recently...)

Meanwhile, looks like Chas. Freeman has taken the gloves off. I've read part of the transcript. Looking forward to the whole thing when I get a chance.

https://chasfreeman.net/america-in-distress-the-challenges-of-disadvantageous-ch...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvILLCbOFo4

>38 davidgn: Thanks for primer that I'll need to read again, e.g., the possibility we'll lose dollar primacy due to MAGA and tariffs, etc.:

"...An erosion of dollar primacy would have profound effects on American hegemony. The U.S. ability to print money and exchange it for foreign goods and services would be reduced, if not ended. Dollar notes held overseas represent interest-free loans to the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Lessened demand for dollars overseas would lower the dollar’s value in relation to other currencies, reduce its credibility as a vehicle for storing value, and negate the rationale for its continued dominant role in foreign exchange reserves. The emergence of digital alternatives to the dollar in the global economy would lead to less liquid capital markets in the United States and increased costs to participants in them.

In these circumstances, America could no longer run persistent balance of trade and payments deficits. The overvaluation of the dollar that its primacy has sustained would end. The American standard of living would plunge. Degradation of the dollar’s status would greatly erode U.S. global influence. In short, the confluence of foreign resistance to U.S. bullying and the emergence of new fintech has created the possibility of a devastating monetary earthquake...."

David Frum @davidfrum | 7:20 AM · Feb 25, 2020:

Could a Sanders nomination really cost Democrats their House majority? I go district by district, and ... YES.

Goodbye Georgia 6, goodbye Texas 7, goodbye New Mexico 2.

19 districts will flip the House back to Trump-enabling - and it's very easy to count losses that high with a Sanders nomination.

As real as the worry "vote Sanders, elect Trump" is the worry "vote Sanders, restore Devin Nunes as House Intell chair."

Bernie Could Cost Democrats the House
David Frum | Feb 25, 2020

Nancy Pelosi’s majority is new, fragile, and dependent on voters who are more conservative than the median Democrat....

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/state-democratic-race/607024/

___________________________________________________

Replying to @davidfrum
Senator Bernard Sanders is the ONLY candidate filling stadiums with thousands in the overflow crowds.
He is the ONLY one that will beat trump. Accept it or accept 8+ more years of a trump administration.
- Dan Whitfield For US Senate 2020 | Arkansas @DanWhitCongress · 8m

Is he filling stadiums in rural New Mexico? Minnesota farm belt? Utica NY? The richest neighborhood in Houston? McLean, Virginia? Suburban Atlanta? Oklahoma City?
That's where the at-risk seats are.
- David Frum @davidfrum | 7:41 AM · Feb 25, 2020

Cardiology director says there's one heart measure Sanders could disclose but hasn't
Heidi Przyby | Feb. 24, 2020

Exclusive: By releasing one simple indicator of his heart health, Sanders could address lingering questions, the president of the American College of Cardiology says.

The indicator, called the left ventricular ejection fraction, is provided to any patient after a heart attack, ( Richard Kovacs, president of the American College of Cardiology ) said. It's a measure of how much blood volume the heart pushes out with an individual heartbeat, and it correlates with the risk for future cardiac events and mortality rate.

"Normally the heart will push out 60 percent," Kovacs said. "If you go down to 40 or 50 percent, we regard that as mild impairment of the left ventricle. Thirty to 40 percent would be moderate. If you get to 30 percent, that would be severe."

Sanders hasn't revealed what the number was at the time of his heart attack nor what it is today. Campaign spokesman Mike Casca, responding to questions from NBC News, declined to provide the ejection fraction number to NBC. The doctors' letters "are pretty comprehensive," he said.

The letters, Kovacs said, "imply with the heart attack that he had diminished heart muscle strength" or a lowered fraction. Still, the letters provided by his doctors also suggest that he has improved since then.

"Full transparency would be to release his ejection fraction," said Dr. Hadley Wilson, an ACC board trustee and a cardiologist at the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/cardiology-director-says-there-s-...

#40--that seems to be a worry for a lot of people. I hate people like Frum though--he's really a GW Bush guy and a fearmonger.

One thing that nobody seems to be talking much about regarding the House of Representatives is how many Republican incumbents are retiring as compared to Democratic incumbents. It's almost always a sign when retiring incumbents from one party vastly exceeds that of the other that things aren't going well for the party losing the higher number. It is harder to beat an incumbent than a not incumbent. Republicans have over 30 retirements (I think it was 32 last I looked) out of approx 200 members or over 15%. Democrats last I knew had 8 out of about 230+--that's about 3%. There are a slew of republican house members from Texas like 5 or 6 and two or three didn't believe they were going to win their seats again---it's changing voter dynamics in certain districts besides in the Southwest all the Trump hatred towards Hispanics is coming back to bite them. There is also redistricting done in Pennsylvania and North Carolina that should shift more seats towards Democrats. Democrats are probably going to lose some of those suburban seats they won but I think they're going to win other seats from Republicans (and retiring incumbents is a sign of that)--how that is going to sort out in the end I don't know but I don't think they're going to lose the House. Trump is the most divisive by far politician in this country. That's always going to play in some way against Republicans.

Hope you're right, but now is the time to consider such things. We need Dems in WH, Senate, and House to begin to undo Trumpian norms. Frum's worth listening to, if not always right. He has principles at least, and is among the conservatives who are counting on Dems to oust Trump.

This is exactly what I meant two weeks ago:

Dems, Want to Defeat Trump? Form a Team of Rivals

Veteran political analyst E.J. Dionne, in his valuable new book, “Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country,” got this exactly right: We have no responsible Republican Party anymore. It is a deformed Trump personality cult. If the country is going to be governed responsibly, that leadership can come only from Democrats and disaffected Republicans courageous enough to stand up to Trump. It is crucial, therefore, argues Dionne, that moderate and progressive Democrats find a way to build a governing coalition together.

Neither can defeat the other. Neither can win without the other. Neither can govern without the other.

If they don’t join together — if the Democrats opt for a circular firing squad — you can kiss the America you grew up in goodbye.

It was all "unity! unity! vote for ANYONE against Trump!" when they thought Biden would make it, but they ripped into Warren the second she frowned in the moneybags' direction, and now they are ripping into Sanders like deranged animals. Anything goes to paint his success as failure.

This is an excellent observation from Seth Meyers--who is not a "radical", not a "socialist", not a politician, and not a journalist, but still managed to be fair and truthful:

Bernie Sanders’ Rise Prompts Media Meltdown, Establishment Panic: A Closer Look

Phil Scott is the Republican governor of Vermont---he's on record for removing Trump from office and has endorsed Bill Weld who is running against Trump on the Republican side for president.

Charlie Baker is the Republican governor of Massachusetts--he's also kind of an anti-Trumper and has made a point of declaring he's not going to vote for him.

If Elizabeth Warren were to become the Democratic nominee and leave her Senate position Charlie Baker names a temporary Senator and he/she is in office until a new election can take place which by law happens 145 to 160 days after Warren leaves her Senate seat.

If Bernie Sanders becomes the nominee Phil Scott names a replacement and the time period for a new election in Vermont is 6 months.

That's another potential problem for reclaiming the Senate because Baker and Scott might be anti-Trump Republicans but that doesn't mean the replacement either would name would be a Democrat so there is the potential for a temporary period of 6 months where Republicans maintain control of the Senate while those new elections play out. It also makes it problematic for Warren to name Sanders as her VP running mate or vice versa Sanders naming Warren which would happen almost probably before the convention and long before the election. They might need the other holding down their Senate seats. That might also impact the naming of either to the cabinet of the other.

#45--the Seth Meyers video clip was really good. I liked that and he's right about when Warren was leading too. Wall St. hates her---the big corporations and banks hate her. They've locked up things to be their way and Sanders and Warren's campaigns are a threat to that. The idea of raising money from small donors is a threat to them too. If they can't buy or bribe politicians then they lose their power. We all should know that industries write legislation for lawmakers all the time now---they're behind everything from trade bills to pollution standards to health care or the lack thereof.

Chuck Todd--I don't know---a lot of people like him but he is such a tool. Matthews is like an old guy that's lost it but I am glad he apologized about likening the Nevada win to the Nazi's invading France in WWII.

>48 lriley:

Yeah, Meyers is the only one of those late night show types who likes Sanders. He defended him again tonight against Bloomberg's tweets. Although I think Sam Bee too will come out for Sanders in a big way if he gets nominated--her show does the best original political programmes I've seen anywhere and it's all for progressive causes right along Sanders' line.

Bloomberg is a shit looking to protect his precious dough and nothing else:

Bloomberg called Warren 'scary' and vowed to 'defend the banks' in closed-door 2016 event

That's a CNN item (note: page opens with a video playing).

#49--There is a lot of Senate footage of Warren grilling major corporate execs and Wall St. bankers. Some of it is quite funny to watch because she is all over them. The head of Wells-Fargo is pretty memorable. They hate her and her right next to Bloomberg at the debates when she started in on him about non-disclosure agreements is kind of an example of all that.

Sanders was getting attacked about comments on Castro yesterday and being equated to Stalin and Daniel Ortega. We are guiltless when it comes to anything that happened in Cuba or Nicaragua (and by extension Iran or Iraq etc.) and comparing Ortega and Castro to Stalin?--really? Sanders comments not in context of everything he said either. He's made to be fawning over Castro when he talks about a literacy program. That was Morning Joe the former republican congressman from Tallahassee Florida but it went on all day.

So this just in--Nancy Pelosi when asked if she would support Bernard were he to become the democratic party nominee said she would enthusiastically embrace whoever the democratic nominee was.

In Trump's home state, home of the hanging chad, FL " forced all 67 elections supervisors to sign nondisclosure agreements before they could receive federal funding for elections security, be briefed about vulnerabilities found by cybersecurity experts or even hook up to the state’s voter registration system"
Important to not let bad guys know defenses, but the public's distrust of elections is objective of Trump and and his Russian supporters.

Will your vote count? Veil of secrecy makes it impossible for Florida voters to know
Jeffrey Schweers | Feb. 25, 2020

Florida’s March 17 presidential primary will be a referendum on state and county elections officials’ efforts to build a wall to stop hacking attempts that are constantly bombarding the system.

At a time when 59 percent of the public doesn't trust the election process, state elections officials have thrown a veil of secrecy over that work, refusing to disclose details about the weaknesses detected in their systems and whether they’ve been fixed.

Florida has doubled down on secrecy since federal officials reported at least four counties were hacked in 2016. The state forced all 67 elections supervisors to sign nondisclosure agreements before they could receive federal funding for elections security, be briefed about vulnerabilities found by cybersecurity experts or even hook up to the state’s voter registration system.

...The far-reaching confidentiality pacts, including a nondisclosure agreement that public records experts call bizarre and unenforceable, threaten to make a casualty out of transparency in the Sunshine State.

Because of the bureaucratic shroud the state has pulled over its voting systems, Florida residents still don’t know:

Which four counties were hacked in 2016 by Russian intelligence operatives
What vulnerabilities the state discovered through a risk assessment and whether they've been fixed
Where $18 million in federal and state taxpayer dollars went that were intended to address those weaknesses
Which vendors got that money.

...The NDA outlines a list of election-related records, documents, data and other material that might be deemed confidential under state and federal statutes, including:

Identifying and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in “critical election infrastructure and information systems”
Cyber threat indicators and defensive measures
Cybersecurity risk assessments
Security threats to the data, information and information technology of the state’s election system
Any other information that should be “reasonably recognized as confidential or exempt.”...

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/02/25/voting-access-f...

Three Dem candidates are headed into their 81st decades...Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders.
Bernie bros and birds have a perfectly fine alternative in Elizabeth Warren.
Then there's Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Steyer.

Joe Biden tells South Carolina crowd that he is running for the SENATE as fears for his health begin to grow
James Mills | 25 February 2020

...The former vice president, 77, sparked fresh concerns over his mental capacity as he addressed a crowd in South Carolina and appeared to forget which campaign he was running in.

He said: 'My name's Joe Biden and I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see help out, if not, vote for the other Biden.'...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8041875/Joe-Biden-tells-South-Carolina-...

_______________________________________________________________

Joe Biden Gets Boost With Endorsement Of Influential South Carolina Democrat
Susan Davis | February 26, 2020

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/26/808856350/clyburn-endorses-biden-ahead-of-south-c...

_______________________________________________________________

Ann Coulter @AnnCoulter | 8:30 PM · Feb 25, 2020
Sen. Warren has convinced me that Bernie isn't that worrisome. He'll never get anything done.
SHE'S the freak who will show up with 17 idiotic plans every day and keep everyone up until it gets done.

Biden connects with reverend whose wife was killed in Charleston shooting (4:55)
Dan Merica | Feb 26, 2020

Joe Biden emotionally reflected on the loss of his son Beau on Wednesday, connecting the death of his oldest son to brain cancer to the loss that Anthony Thompson experienced when his wife was killed in the 2015 Charleston church shooting. The answer showcased Biden’s ability to connect with voters emotionally and the depth that he feels the loss of his son...

...Biden recalled how he came back to Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the shooting that killed nine people in 2015, the Sunday after the shooting “because I had just lost my son and I wanted some hope.”

“What you all did was astounding,” Biden said. “All of those who died, were killed by this white supremacist, they forgave him. They forgave him. The ultimate act of Christian charity. They forgave him"...

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2020-democratic-town-hall-south-carolina-...

____________________________________________________________________

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2020-democratic-town-hall-south-carolina-...

Mike Memoli @mikememoli | 7:59 PM · Feb 25, 2020:
Well - I just saw an ad on local CBS affiliate in Charleston that used an Obama impersonator to criticize Joe Biden. Unclear who paid for it
Here's that ad that just ran in South Carolina just before the debate. It's -- something else.

Paid for by "The Committee to Defend the President"
https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/1232471131141001216

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See ad at https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/1232471131141001216 (0:30)

Ugly pro-Trump ad weaponizes audio of Obama, showing what’s coming
Greg Sargent | Feb. 26, 2020

...a pro-Trump super PAC is currently running a TV ad in South Carolina targeting Biden....weaponizes audio of former president Barack Obama against Biden, in what is clearly an effort to turn African American voters against him.

Obama himself is now denouncing the ad. Katie Hill, a spokesperson for Obama, told us his office is calling on TV stations to stop airing the spot, denouncing it as an effort to “sow division and confusion” and “suppress turnout among minority voters in South Carolina.”

The ad is pure disinformation of the ugliest sort.

“Joe Biden promised to help our community,” the ad’s narrator intones. “It was a lie — here’s Barack Obama.”

The ad then features audio of Obama that sounds as if he’s denouncing Democratic politicians for selling out black people. At the same time, the screen flashes references in white letters to what appears to be the controversy last spring about Biden’s comments about segregationist senators, and his support for the 1994 crime bill.

The ad makes it sound as if Obama is referring to those episodes while denouncing Biden as someone who betrayed the African American community. But it turns out the audio is actually of Obama reading a passage from his 1995 memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” which features a character in the book talking about what Chicago politics was like for African Americans long ago.

In other words, the ad features Obama reading from his own 25-year-old book, mimicking the words of a separate character, to make it sound as if Obama is denouncing Biden (who you may recall was Obama’s vice president) for selling out African Americans.

This comes after the same pro-Trump super PAC aired another horribly misleading ad in the run-up to the Nevada caucuses ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvl-Ej7JKIA&feature=youtu.be (0:30) ), where Sanders won handily and Biden placed second.

That ad features a Spanish-speaking narrator claiming Obama and Biden walked away from immigration reform and separated families. In reality, during the Obama years, comprehensive immigration reform passed the Senate by a wide bipartisan margin, and died only because the GOP-controlled House refused to act on it...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/26/ugly-pro-trump-ad-weaponizes-...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m a Republican & Trump supporter... we have an operation chaos going on &
all over the state (SC) we’re encouraging Republicans to vote for Bernie because we believe
Bernie is the best worst candidate in contrasting his socialism against Trump and his capitalism.” #RidinWithBiden
0:19 ( https://twitter.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1232729591405588483 )
- Bryan Dawson @BryanDawsonUSA | 1:10 PM · Feb 26, 2020

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Trump-Sanders smoking gun.
South Carolina Trump activists in a much-promoted Facebook video:
"We're asking South Carolina Republicans to show their support for President Trump by
crossing over and voting in the Democratic primary for Senator Bernie Sanders."
1:08 ( https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1232731739467976704 )
- Bill Kristol @BillKristol | 1:18 PM · Feb 26, 2020

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXCLUSIVE: NeverTrump-Funded Phone Calls Push GOP-Leaning Independents to Vote in NH Dems Primary
Michael Graham | February 09, 2020 by

GOP-leaning independent voters in New Hampshire are receiving phone calls and texts from anti-Trump Republicans urging them to cross the aisle and vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, NHJournal has learned. The message is for these unaffiliated voters, who can vote in either party’s primary, to vote for a “responsible and electable” Democratic alternative to Donald Trump.

National #NeverTrump leader Bill Kristol, founder of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, confirmed to NHJournal that he is part of the effort, which involves tens of thousands of New Hampshire voter contacts and a six-figure budget.

https://www.insidesources.com/nevertrump-funded-phone-calls-push-gop-leaning-ind...

Florida Dem WH poll (St. Pete Polls, 2/24-25)

Biden 34%
Bloomberg 25%
Sanders 13%
Buttigieg 8%
Warren 5%
Klobuchar 4%

Latest poll: Joe Biden surging, Mike Bloomberg fading in Florida primary
Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg trail badly
A.G. Gancarski | February 27, 2020
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/320832-latest-poll-joe-biden-surging-mike-b...

- Steve Kornacki (NBC, MSNBC) @SteveKornacki9:08 AM · Feb 27, 2020

Last item in today’s Jolt:
Bernie Sanders is spending Friday and Saturday in Massachusetts, not South Carolina.
Clearly, he thinks he’s got a shot of knocking out Elizabeth Warren on Super Tuesday.

This System of Debates Is Failing Everyone
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/this-system-of-debates-is-failin...
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/this-system-of-debates-is-failin...

- Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty | 10:41 AM · Feb 26, 2020

Electing an older candidate carries risks. Just ask the life insurance industry.
Hilary Hurd and Benjamin Wittes | Feb. 27, 2020

...Of the major Democratic candidates, only Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) have released comprehensive medical reports.

...we priced life insurance for the leading Democrats. We examined the monthly cost of a term life insurance policy for 10 years — enough to cover the entirety of a two-term presidency — that would pay out the president’s annual salary of $400,000.

The price differences between the candidates were illuminating. The annual monthly fees for the Democratic candidates varied immensely — with Buttigieg and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) costing less than $20 per month to insure and Biden, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg and Sanders costing thousands per month. It’s not all about age: Warren, who is 70 but remarkably healthy, would cost dramatically less than her septuagenarian male counterparts.

...(for $400,000 of coverage for 10 years)
...Buttigieg ($18 monthly) and Gabbard ($16), both 38-years-old
...Klobuchar, 59 ($71)
...Warren, 70 ($131) and
...Steyer, 62 ($201)...

But once you get into men in their later 70s with prior health issues, the costs skyrocket.
The expected monthly payments for Biden, 77, Bloomberg, 78, and Sanders ranged from $1,060 to $1,269, more than 65 times the rate that Buttigieg and Gabbard would pay. The price of a policy for Trump when he was 69 in 2016 — when he, too, would have needed a 10-year policy to cover eight potential years in office — would have run $283 per month, somewhat higher than the comparably aged Warren but significantly less than the older Democratic men.

...heart stents replaced — Bloomberg in 2000 and Sanders last year after his heart attack...Sanders and Bloomberg would probably not qualify for life insurance at all. But if they could get an insurer to sell them a policy, they should expect to pay a whopping $2,766 per month — almost 13 times as much as AIG Direct suggested Warren would pay and more than 160 times what Gabbard and Buttigieg would need to pay.

Biden fared even worse. Having suffered both an aneurysm and an intracranial hemorrhage in the late 1980s, a person like Biden could expect to pay an estimated $3,978 per month if he was insurable at all, according to Barrett....

...electing a 78-year-old man with prior health complications is not just a little bit riskier than electing a healthy 70-year-old woman. It is dramatically more so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/27/electing-an-older-candidate-ca...

>51 lriley:

Good!

Here's a small indication, if anyone still needs it, of Sanders' incomparable popularity among the young-ish/left-ish crowd--this is a snip of my YT feed, with the numbers such as when I opened the page:



Petey the second placed gets barely a third of Sanders' views. Oh and--ZERO case for Scumberg.

Less Than Half in U.S. Would Vote for a Socialist for President
Justin McCarthy | May 9, 2019

...Less than half of Americans (47%) say they would vote for a qualified presidential candidate who is a socialist -- the same percentage Gallup found in 2015. A socialist candidate is the only one among a dozen hypothetical candidates about whom a minority of Americans say they are willing to give their vote.

...Among religious identities, more than nine in 10 Americans say they are willing to vote for a qualified Catholic or Jewish candidate, while smaller majorities say they are willing to vote for an evangelical Christian (80%), a Muslim (66%) or an atheist (60%).

Meanwhile, Americans are nearly universally willing to vote for a black (96%) or Hispanic (95%) candidate -- and the same is true for their willingness to vote for a woman (92%). More than three in four say they would vote for a gay or lesbian candidate.

With a wide range of ages in the current field of candidates for president, Gallup finds that most Americans are willing to vote for a candidate over the age of 70 (63%), and an even larger majority would vote for a candidate under the age of 40 (71%)...

https://news.gallup.com/poll/254120/less-half-vote-socialist-president.aspx

#58--back to the theme of 51--Schumer and Obama are also signaling they're going to steer clear of endorsing anyone which works to Sanders benefit. Al Sharpton is telling people in South Carolina not to fall for the red baiting crap. He brought up Martin Luther King in that context. Pelosi, Schumer, Obama and Sharpton are not really Sanders fans but they're giving themselves space and not jumping on the anti-Sanders bandwagon and IMO it's much to do with they see the way the wind is blowing.

margd is right though that Sanders is not doing well in Florida. He has a chance in South Carolina but Biden has the best chance. All that said Tuesday is the big day and it looks like Sanders is going to win California easily and has a very good chance of winning Texas + a bunch of other states. California is the most important state--it has by far the most delegates. Texas comes after that and then New York and right now Sanders is leading in New York though that is a ways down the line. If Sanders wins big in California and also wins Texas I don't see anyone getting more delegates than he does. Sanders weakest area is the South so if he can break close to even there he's going to win.

Florida can go fuck itself until Americans start paying half as much attention to the poor Cubans as to the rich pigs weeping for good old Batista days. I knew a bunch of Cubans in New Orleans; they weren't Castro stans but they cared even less for the Miami fascists and the screws the US put on Cuba.

Cuba's hardship is due to American swinishness above all else, before and after the revolution, before and after Castro.

I hope SOMEONE in FL is registering the Puerto Ricans who fled there after hurricanes. Sanders people worked with Latinos in NV, but if he gives up on FL, hope someone else is doing it.

Florida has its own peculiar dynamic and it's not just Cubans. They have tons of elderly people as well. The Cubans think they're still fighting this war with Castro. Obama wanted to open relations back up with Cuba and a lot of those in the US pitched a bitch and then Trump closed the door again. A lot of Hispanic/Latino voters tend towards conservatism aided and abetted by religious beliefs but even many of those in the Southwest don't seem to have a big issue with Sanders. Much of this is the self inflicted wounds that the republicans led by Trump have given to themselves. It is the fastest growing voter dynamic in the United States and the most demonized. The Cubans have pretty much set themselves apart from other Hispanics (and let's keep in mind that there are a lot of black Cubans living in Cuba but when Americans think of Cubans they're thinking of white guys because it was the rich and more connected to the powers that be whether big business or gangster led governments that found themselves in the United States after Castro. Just saying). I would point out we get along just fine with the Vietnamese these days and that one of the best things Obama did was open up dialogue with the Cuban govt.---that we don't need to carry these animosities into the 22nd century like with Cuba like with Iran. Anyone who knows anything about Cuba knows that it was a playground of corruption before the revolution. Our gangsters were all over the place---Batista was a major ass crook--that the general population bore the brunt of a lot of evil which gave rise to Castro and the Cubans living in Florida now almost 60 years later are still carrying resentments for that to me is like fuck off---it's really equivalent to those Southerners who would re-fight our Civil War. Just go away with that shit.

But anyway if Sanders turns out the Latino vote in the Southwest then Florida IMO is not going to matter much. Arizona is going bluer. I expect McSally to go down and if that happens Arizona has two democratic Senators. Texas is now in the minority/majority category--more black and brown people than white people. Things are changing there too. Cruz held on to his Senate seat last time around by the skin of his teeth when challenged by Beto. IMO Trump is going to have to throw a lot of time, energy and money into keeping that state because if he does lose it--it would be like the democrat losing New York state--he's screwed.

FL's do-able, IMHO, if courts let those (1 million?) felons vote and Dems register the Puerto Ricans.
A chimera, FL is...

Here's what a Sanders-Trump map could look like
Chris Cillizza | February 28, 2020

...Center for Politics at the University of Virginia have released their first take on what the electoral map might look like in a matchup between the senator from Vermont and President Donald Trump.

The map allots 260 electoral votes to Trump, 248 to Sanders and puts 30 in the pure toss-up category...

...This is -- obviously -- a very early look at a general election fight that could go in one of a thousand ways, particularly with the coronavirus outbreak already disrupting the world economy and threatening to spread across the globe.

And of course, a first-look map at a general election matchup between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 would almost certainly have shown a strong advantage to the former secretary of state. We know how that turned out.

The Point: What the electoral map would look like for Democrats isn't just a theoretical conversation. Sanders' rivals for the party's nomination have repeatedly suggested -- as recently as Tuesday's debate -- that nominating the Vermont democratic socialist would be a major risk for the party to take. This map will provide fodder for that argument.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/politics/sanders-trump-2020-general/index.html

#64--there are only two states that let inmates vote (at least last I knew) and they are Vermont and Maine. IMO inmates should be allowed to vote in every state but for the Republican Party it's just another way they can suppress the vote. They even make it hard (sometimes extremely hard--as in Florida) for ex-convicts to regain their right to vote. Which is wrongheaded--if a person is convicted and serves his/her time then they've taken their punishment---there is no need to punish or target them any further. Unfortunately that is not the general view of almost all in the Republican Party and I'd hazard to guess not a general view of the majority in the Democratic Party either. They would punish them beyond their prison terms--make it harder for them to survive outside that system. We have turned the Prison Industrial Complex into a thing--into an industry of profit and those profits come before people.

The Republican Case for Elizabeth Warren
Sheila Bair | Jan. 30, 2020

She has independence and integrity and is no socialist. She just wants the market to work for everyone...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-republican-case-for-elizabeth-warren-1158042854...

Biden killing it in South Carolina tonight. Sanders a very distant second. Steyer much further back and the rest hardly anything. Makes you wonder if anyone is going to hang it up tonight. Three days away from super Tuesday--maybe not but I think after that there will be some getting out.

>68 lriley: Good showing for Biden for once.

To raise a question mark, though-- have to wonder what the hell happened here:

South Carolina Closing Poll Stations Without Notice
The biggest county in the state, Greenville, will close 52 precincts.
https://prospect.org/politics/south-carolina-closing-poll-stations-without-notic...

How were these precincts chosen? Why no notice? In short, WTAF?

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The “First in the South” Democratic primary will not have all of its precinct voting locations open on February 29. Despite the fact that South Carolina has an open primary and any registered voter can participate, the biggest county in the state has closed one-third of its polling locations.

Greenville County closed down 52 precincts; most of those precincts will be consolidated and some will be shifted into temporary locations, but instead of 151 polling locations, Greenville County will have only 118. Across the state, 131 precinct polling places will be relocated.

Consolidating polling stations is a regular occurrence in South Carolina, and Greenville has already planned to do it for the first four elections of this year....This precinct consolidation for the highest-profile 2020 election in South Carolina has not been publicized, however. Instead, the new voting location for residents is updated on the South Carolina Election Commission website. “They don’t tell people what’s been closed. They’ll tell you where to go,” said Brett Bursey, executive director of the South Carolina Progressive Network. Regular registered voters are unlikely to go online to confirm their polling location before every election.

Belangia told the Prospect that the change was made because the 52 original locations were in schools, and they couldn’t host voters while the school year was in session.

The Greenville County Democratic Party chair told the Progressive Network that the county kept the high number of relocated stations in place for the primary, so they wouldn’t confuse people who adjusted to the changes for the first two elections this year.

Such decisions add to voter confusion in a state that already has many nuanced voter laws. The sudden changes can be undertaken because changes to the election system no longer have to be pre-approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. In the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Section 5 of the legislation prevented states with histories of voter suppression and intimidation from making any logistical changes with elections before DOJ could review them for possible discrimination or unnecessary impediment.

In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the “pre-clearance” requirement, saying it was no longer necessary, because the discrimination that used to occur in voting laws no longer occurred. Organizers and activists in South Carolina say otherwise.

#69--shit happens a lot in our elections. Biden was crushing it all night though. Ends up with a 28.5% victory. Pretty much half of the votes in the state. The South is where he's going to be strongest IMO. That region and the Northwest (not the Pacific Northwest) The Dakota's, Montana, Wyoming, Utah (Sanders polling in Utah is very good) and Idaho are the most conservative in the country.

If there's one thing that Biden can do that would please me is stop lying about his civil rights record. Every once in a while he goes back to all the civil rights marches in the 60's he claims to have marched in but didn't and his other one is as a US Senator in Bill Clinton's time getting arrested with UN Ambassador Andrew Young in South Africa for trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison. That would have made huge headlines and Andrew Young (who's been asked several times) says he doesn't know what Biden is talking about. It didn't happen but there is a clip of him telling that story (again) just a few days ago. The other democratic candidates have not called him out on this--if the Trump team is aware they probably will put up a TV ad. Just saying.

The things to watch for before now and Tuesday are if any candidates drop out. My guess is maybe Steyer. Another thing is whether Biden is able to cash in at all over this victory because he desperately needs cash and he's got to find a way to capitalize on it almost right away. He campaigned in North Carolina yesterday but he's not been in California or Texas at all and most of the other states coming up on Tuesday. That could hurt him really badly. Sanders is expected to win in California--depending on the margins there and whether he can pull off another victory in Texas he could hurt Biden badly on Tuesday. Bloomberg showing up on the ballot is also going to hurt Biden.

I'll note here the army of small donors that Sanders depends on--as opposed to the corporate friendly mindsets of the likes of Biden and Buttigieg but particularly Biden. I don't think a lot of Biden's voters think it necessary to send him $'s. They're expecting the wealthy, corporations and Wall St. to fund him--but when you're running the kind of iffy campaign that he has those wealthy entities pull back and with Bloomberg who can self fund the issue becomes even grimmer for him. Biden doesn't have an army of donors and it takes work to build that up--it's not going to happen overnight so I expect he's going to be plagued by these concerns unless he can somehow manage to take a substantial delegate lead. At the same time he's still going to be beholden to all the corporate interests he's always been beholden too.

Still it was a great night for Biden.

>67 margd:

"markets" in this sense and context are, by design, money-driven. They "work" with, by and for values which are strictly monetarily-defined. This isn't a "flaw", it's the intended point.

So markets as just described don't, cannot and never shall "work for everyone"--and anyone who pretends otherwise is a charlatan or hopelessly ignorant about the most basic (but also most important) aspects of economics.

My guess about Warren is that she is self-deluded about this stuff because it helps her keep her otherwise utterly false and ridiculous notions about economics in tact and that, in turn, greases everything else about her pathetic and useless self-serving political career. Thus, she's an amazing combination--but not that unusual as a politician: she's part dishonest, cynical political-climber and part fucking idiot.

I much prefer to have to face straight-forward, out and out charlatans who know exactly who they are and what they are up to. Warren is just too stupid to manage that.

Wisconsin appeals court overturns ruling ordering voter purge
Kelly Mena and Omar Jimenez | February 28, 2020

The Wisconsin Appeals Court has ruled that more than 200,000 voters who were set to be purged from the state's voter rolls will officially stay registered, court documents show.

...In a state viewed as a battleground in 2020, the removal of 200,000 voters could have profound implications. In 2016, President Donald Trump won Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes through defeating Hillary Clinton by less than 23,000 votes...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/wi-appeals-court-voter-purge/index.html

#72--the Republican Party in Wisconsin has controlled both the state assembly and the state senate--the two state legislative bodies---since 2011. They'll expand the powers of the governor if there is a Republican in office and they'll take away powers from the governor if he or she is a Democrat. That seems to be the plan there and they've got everything gerrymandered so that it's almost impossible to take away their majorities at the state level. This is the work of the Koch brothers, Scott Walker and Robin Vos and a bunch of other shitbirds. Currently Tony Evers a democrat is the governor but his power has been very much curtailed by the legislative branch backed up by a judicial branch that owes its fealty to the Republican Party. It's crooked and a sham. We've also seen an example of how simple voter majorities of one candidate over another can be turned on it's head in the very recent Iowa caucus. But it's also worked against Democrats twice in Presidential elections in 2000 and in 2016 where both Gore and Clinton had more total voters than Bush or Trump. This is also why it's important for Democrats to reject outcomes (even if they're not convenient) that don't come down on the side of the plurality of voters. Getting rid of the electoral college is one thing that needs to be done--but also in other forms like the SDE system in the Iowa caucus or even the Super or Automatic Delegate that would happen in case of a brokered convention. Straight ahead voting numbers is really the only way to have a democratic result--other ways are going to lead to some well founded resentment.

Can you feel it welling up inside? That deep concern about corruption in Ukraine?
- Maggie Wittlin @maggiewittlin | 18h

Yup.
Countdown to widespread expression of concern about Burisma: 5...4...3...
- Benjamin Wittes @benjaminwittes | 8:45 PM · Feb 29, 2020

lol

Only in America.

DNC SUPERDELEGATE PROMOTING BROKERED CONVENTION IS A SIGNIFICANT GOP DONOR, HEALTH CARE LOBBYIST

#75--that is a pretty disgusting read. To add--we see this Owen ready to sell himself to all sides. No problem coordinating support for Mitch McConnell's reelection while at the same time being a super delegate for the democratic party. That's pretty fucking sad. He thinks it's all just business--has not a care in the world for the lives of ordinary people. When we talk about establishment D.C. people that's what we're talking about and this guy is a scumbag plain and simple.

So anyway Buttigieg has dropped out. In one sense it was good to have a gay candidate but as far as I was concerned that's where the good ended. He is another willing to sell his soul whether to the corporate world of McKinsey or to west coast billionaires. His record as a Mayor in South Bend was not good. Very glib and also loose in his beliefs.

Buttigieg Campaign Announcement
March 1, 2020

3:50 Chasten's introduction

7:30 Mayor Pete...Thank you for inviting me into your homes, sharing your stories, and putting your trust in me. We launched our campaign because Americans are hungry for a new kind of politics that brings us together. And together we'll beat this president and build the era that must come next.

https://peteforamerica.com/live/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

suspended campaign

Federal law does not define or officially recognize the act of a presidential candidate “suspending” their campaign instead of formally ending it.

CNN: “Practically speaking, if a candidate removes him- or herself from the race without the intent of re-entering at a later date, then there is not a big difference between ‘suspending’ a campaign vs. dropping out entirely. The end result is usually the same: the candidate is no longer seeking that particular office… That said, there are two main differences between ‘suspending’ and ending a presidential campaign: delegates and money.”

Candidates who suspend their campaigns usually get to keep any delegates they’ve won and can continue to raise money beyond what’s needed to retire their campaign debts. In contrast, candidates who actually drop out of a race, usually have to forfeit certain delegates and are limited in how they can raise future funds.

Slate: “The phrase has been employed at least as far back as the 1970s and continues to serve as the most popular way for candidates to end their primary bids without closing down their campaign committees.”

https://politicaldictionary.com/words/suspended-campaign/

Selma churchgoers turn their backs to Bloomberg
Sarah Mucha, Chandelis Duster and Caroline Kenny | March 1, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/01/politics/michael-bloomberg-selma-church/index.htm...
____________________________________________________

Klobuchar cancels Minnesota rally after protesters storm event, outraged over her prosecutorial record
Allyson Chiu | March 2, 2020

The protesters, critical of Klobuchar's history as a prosecutor in Hennepin County, successfully shut down the event.

...“The campaign offered a meeting with the senator if they would leave the stage after being onstage for more than an hour,” the spokesperson said. “After the group initially agreed, they backed out of the agreement and we are canceling the event.”

...Myon Burrell, who was sentenced to life in prison following the 2002 shooting death of an 11-year-old girl...Burrell was 16 years old when he was first convicted in the death of Tyesha Edwards, who was hit by a stray bullet while doing homework at her dining room table...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/02/minnesota-klobuchar-rally-cance...

Joe Biden is now the youngest man vying for the Democratic presidential nomination
March 1, 2020

With former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire Tom Steyer dropping out of the Democratic presidential race on Sunday, the youngest male candidate standing is ... 77-year-old Joe Biden...

https://theweek.com/speedreads/899286/joe-biden-now-youngest-man-vying-democrati...

>74 margd: contd.

It took less than 48 hours for Hunter Biden to re-appear in the news after Biden's South Carolina win.
A letter from GOP Sen. Ron Johnson dated March 1st on investigating Bursima.
- andrew kaczynski @KFILE | 11:48 AM · Mar 2, 2020

SCOOP: Chairman Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee @RonJohnsonWI
wants to subpoena witness tied to US firm and Burisma where the former Vice President’s son sat on the board.
Letter obtained @CBSNews says government records indicate concerns warranted
Image ( https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1234486902226661378/photo/1 )
Image ( https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1234486902226661378/photo/2 )
Image ( https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1234486902226661378/photo/3 )
- Catherine Herridge @CBS_Herridge · 3h

Amy Klobuchar drops out of presidential race, will endorse Biden
Amanda Golden and Dareh Gregorian | March 2, 2020

Amy Klobuchar is dropping out of the presidential race, a campaign official confirmed on Monday.

The Minnesota senator, who campaigned as a moderate Democrat who would “get things done,” surprised early with a third-place finish in New Hampshire, but her campaign had sputtered in the weeks since.

She will fly to Dallas later on Monday to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden at a rally...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/amy-klobuchar-drops-out-president...

#81--as long as Biden is in the race the Republicans are not going to let that go. Trump will ride that as hard as he can and people like Johnson, Graham, Cruz and McConnell will be with him every step of the way. It should be clear at this point that when Biden says there are people he can work with on the other side that's really nothing but bull. In a debate Trump will be more than happy to spend as much time as possible yakking about things like that and is little time as possible on policy. He'll tout his 'economy is great' B.S. too. Could Biden effectively counter that? That's a question.

#82--Klobuchar really doesn't have a path ahead. 19% in New Hampshire was the best she could do. She hardly registered in Nevada and South Carolina. This controversy over a prison life sentence to a black man that she had a part in as a prosecutor has derailed whatever momentum she had coming out of New Hampshire. A question of whether or not she'll carry her own state of Minnesota tomorrow. A question for Warren whether she can carry Massachusetts as well. Both states are trending towards Sanders.

The democratic establishment wants to coalesce around Biden. They clearly don't want Sanders--that's been apparent for a long while. Klobuchar and Buttigieg (someone said today he had a knack for failing upwards that I thought apt) dropping out should help Biden though Bloomberg's official entrance as a voting option in the primaries might very well complicate that. Warren apparently raised a lot of cash in February----some of that is maybe PAC money? Her best result was a 3rd in Iowa--the other states so far pretty dismal and like Buttigieg and Klobuchar not connecting with people of color. If she doesn't win her own state I don't see her winning any. She has vowed to stay in the race to the convention anyway. That leaves Gabbard who is hardly a blip on the radar.

So it looks more to me to be shaping into the battle between the two old white centrist males against the one old white progressive male. Eventually I think it comes down to Biden or Sanders and if it ends up in a brokered convention with Sanders with more voters and state won delegates but denied the nomination---I think that ends up with Donald Trump in the White House for 4 more years. I think a lot of people stay home and those suburban districts the Dems won in 2018 are going to suffer down ballot for that too.

I've been seeing this nutty idea paraded around of 'friends' stepping in and making someone like a Kamala Harris or a Chris Coons the nominee. Or in other words the party deciding for the voters who they're going to vote for and disregarding the primaries and caucus results entirely. Really? People like Thomas Friedman and media pundits like Chris Cuomo think that's an idea.

If the Democratic Party hadn't been willing to have a Democratic Socialist as a presidential candidate, they should have been clear about it from the beginning. Biden and Bloomberg both turn my stomach. Sanders will have lots of mud thrown at him. Warren is my ideal candidate. She's smart, articulate and can fight on her feet.

#84--everyone will have mud thrown at them if only because Trump is a mud flinging machine. For a lot of people who vote to the right this is part of the show or comedy routine that Trump does and of those democratic candidates still left Biden and Bloomberg are the two worst debaters or the perfect foils for Trump's comic routine. I would suggest to either if they were the nominee not to debate Trump at all. I think both would be continually upstaged--Bloomberg is a stiff on stage and being Mr. Wall St. exec ain't going to help and Biden has moments where he appears frail and lost. Really almost the best thing that Biden could do in a debate with Donald is the first time Trump mentions his son Hunter---go over and pop him one in the head. Get the Secret Service running around on stage. Would Joe do that? I feel pretty safe in saying he wouldn't. Some things call for thinking and acting outside the box.

#86---I really think the democrats don't really know how to raise money without the support of Wall St. fat cats and multi-national corporations and Super Pacs. They're disconnected from but take their own voters for granted. I definitely think (like the example of Mr. Owen above in #75) that there are a number of democratic party apparatchiks who would rather have Trump than Sanders if for no other reason than it wouldn't personally rock their financial prospects.

Warren has been moving towards the middle for a while now. When you reach their end zone you accept it all--the banks and billionaires, Wall St.--the band aids to the climate crisis--the never fixing health care, the neverending regime change foreign policy, the racism of the prison industrial system--the frackers. I hope she thinks twice about this because a lot of Bernie voters won't hold their noses and settle for her if they think she's been underhanded. She won't win if the best she can average is 15% of the primary and caucus vote and it doesn't even look like she's going to win her own state. What that says is she's not popular enough with her own party's base.

This isn't what Democracy looks like. Most votes should always win---that's what Democracy is about. It's not hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhN6E_WFJO8

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/03/lets-crush-the-woke-plutonomy-an-intervi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_(news_show)

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPWXiRWZ29zrxPFIQT7eHSA

Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary?
UPDATED Mar. 3, 2020, at 8:07 AM

How each candidate’s chances of winning...have changed over time

FiveThirtyEight’s model simulates the primary season thousands of times to find the most likely outcome for each candidate. The chart shows how many delegates, on average, each candidate is projected to have pledged to them at each point in the primary season, along with a range of possible delegate counts...

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/

AOC turns 35 in 2024...

David Frum @davidfrum | 8:44 AM · Mar 3, 2020
The below is a true and public-spirited point.
Get Trump out of power first.
THEN have the argument over the future direction of the country.
That's how Never Trump Republicans think.
We're sinking our policy preferences for the common cause - it's fair to ask others to do so too
Image ( https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1234837126426038272/photo/1 )

It's a good time to talk about coronavirus. The United States could be the most woefully unprepared nation in the western world to deal with a pandemic like this if it ever gets a real grip here. We have over 80 million uninsured and many millions more under insured--these are people who cannot afford to see a doctor or pay for a medical emergency---a lot of the same people working two or three low wage jobs--they could be your Uber or Lyft driver, your kids substitute teacher, a grocery store clerk, a hotel maid, a cook at a McDonald's or a Burger King. They'll pass by or interact with you or people you know--perhaps family and loved ones every day. There is no way of defending against this altogether but if we had a health care system that covered everybody and didn't drive people into debt we'd be a lot more prepared to handle this--right now it's all about face masks and washing your hands 40 times a day. Shit like that might help a bit but it's going to be woefully inadequate if push comes to shove with dealing with a major pandemic.

So just saying this--and things like medicare for all who want it does not work either--it leaves an entire system of exploitation in place and there will still be millions and millions of uninsured and underinsured and will we need to bury hundreds of thousands or millions of people (Spanish Flu pandemic killed approx. 50 million people in 1918/19) to finally get it through our heads that health care should be a right of everyone in the strongest economy in the world? We're not just single individuals--we're a society of people of genders, races, religions and whatnot and we all have some responsibility to each other. We can't afford it?--we can't not afford it. The choice is right here to be made in this election and the virus is right outside our door. Don't be sorry later for the choices you make now.

Yep.

Older voters will be hit especially hard by Covid-2019.
Means our jackboots of Social Security, Medicare will be lighter on the necks of the young?
2024 might be too late for climate change, though...

I can't believe that contenders are all septuagenarians!

>92 margd: I too am a septuagenarians, though a non "USA'er".

Is this the best that the USA (a nation I once really looked up to) can do?

Guido.

I think Warren is hale enough, but of the guys we've got two with heart disease, one with aneurysm history, and Trump is degenerating before our eyes. Hope whoever wins picks a strong running mate and includes him/her extensively from the very beginning, maybe providing a signed resignation letter for use at VP' s discretion. There are some amazing septuagenarians out there, but geez!!!

Donna Brazile just told the RNC Chair to go to hell, and I am so here for it!
1:42 ( https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1234880011590606866 )

- Amy Siskind @Amy_Siskind11:35 AM · Mar 3, 2020

>95 margd: Amen.

In (Massachusetts) exit polls, Warren was leading among women but trailing both Bernie and Biden among men.
Sexism is a thing that exists.
- The Hoarse Whisperer @HoarseWisperer | 8:16 PM · Mar 3, 2020

Quote Tweet
Dave Wasserman @Redistrict · 5h
More bad news for Sanders: Massachusetts is too early to call between Sanders and *Biden.*

ETA____________________________________________________________

...Though she has potential to do well with women, one of Warren’s consistent problems in her past Senate races in Massachusetts is winning over male voters. While she has high favorability ratings among women, it’s much lower among men — especially independent men in her home state. Warren underperformed with independent men in her 2012 and 2018 Senate races, and the demographic is continuing to be problematic for her.

“Warren would win the Massachusetts primary on Tuesday if only women were voting,” Paleologos said ahead of the primary. “She was tied for fourth place in her home state among men. The problem is Sanders really has demographics in Massachusetts that are strong and uncontested.”..

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/3/21161869/elizabeth-warren-super...

LOL!!!

Come Novermber, if Biden is the nominee, voters, in the privacy of their voting-booths or, before November, at home, marking their early-voting ballots, are going to tell Donna Brazile and her party's candidates to go to Hell.

Hey, Donna?---- fuck you and your fucking party*, dear.

_____________________

(* Tulsi Gabbard & her supporters excepted.)

Wish climate was a little higher on MI Dems' priorities...

Democratic presidential candidates have spent months debating
their health care plans, free college tuition, climate plans, plans to narrow the income inequality gap.
But likely Michigan Dem voters just want a candidate who can beat @realDonaldTrump
- Chad Livengood (Crain's Business News) @ChadLivengood | 7:26 AM · Mar 4, 2020

New Detroit News/WDIV poll:
Image ( https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/status/1235179741033967616/photo/1 )
The Detroit News and 4 others

With protesters rushing stages, emotions running high, and Poutine capable of anything:

It’s a real question why the Democratic presidential candidates don’t have secret service protection right now.
Bernie Sanders got secret service protection after the Iowa caucuses in 2016.
- Abby D. Phillip (CNN) @abbydphillip | 7:56 AM · Mar 4, 2020
https://twitter.com/abbydphillip/status/1235187447799087104

Why doesn't Joe Biden have secret service protection already as former VP?
- aem7 @aem7312 · 46m

Law change. Former VPs get SS protection for only 6 mos after they leave office.
- Erica Bohn @ericajbohn · 45m

______________________________________________________

ETA: This run on stage was SO fast! Candidates really need Secret Service protection.

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe | 10:59 PM · Mar 3, 2020:
Omaha’s Symone Sanders: Excellent pursuit speed. Quick off the edge. Definitely gonna sack your anti-dairy protester quarterback.

Quote Tweet
Meena Harris @meenaharris · 10h
SYMONE THEE SANDERS @SymoneDSanders (sr advisor to Biden, wearing striped jacket)
0:09 ( https://twitter.com/redcloud_scribe/status/1235052335082201088 )

______________________________________________________

Which presidential candidate gets Secret Service protection comes down to a few factors: ANALYSIS
Laws changed after Robert Kennedy was killed.
Donald J. Mihalek | April 20, 2019

... After Democratic nominee Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles following his winning the California primary in 1968, Congress changed the law to authorize Secret Service protection for major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of the general presidential election.

The term "major presidential and vice presidential candidates" means those identified as such by the secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee consisting of the speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee.

A candidate has to hit several markers to show they are a "major presidential candidate." According to the Congressional Research Service, that includes:

They are a publicly declared candidates.

They are actively campaigning nationally and are contesting at least 10 state primaries.

Are pursuing the nomination of a qualified party, one whose presidential candidate received at least 10% of the popular vote in the prior election.

Are qualified for public matching funds of at least $100,000, and have raised at least $10 million in additional contributions.

Have received by April 1 of the election year an average of 5 percent in individual candidate preferences in the most recent national opinion polls by ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, or have received at least 10 percent of the votes cast for all candidates in two same-day or consecutive primaries or caucuses.

Additionally, like with Obama, threats can play a determining factor as to whether a candidate should be eligible for protection. While the threat dynamic is not a stipulated point, it is reviewed and weighed as a supporting factor.

Typically, though, the threat dynamic follows candidates who are "out there" the most -- and the candidates "out there" the most are usually major candidates.

Once they hit those markers, the secretary of Homeland Security consults with the advisory committee and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee (usually from the Secret Service) and determines if a candidate is eligible for Secret Service protection.

If the candidate is eligible, they are notified of the committee's decision and asked if they would like protection...

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/presidential-candidate-secret-service-protection...

Black v young voters:

This Texas Voter Had to Wait Seven Hours to Cast His Ballot, Then Went to His Night Shift
Jamie Ross | Mar. 04, 2020

The indefatigable Hervis Rogers reportedly said: “I wasn't going to let anything stop me, so I waited it out.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hervis-rogers-had-to-wait-seven-hours-to-cast-his-...

______________________________________________________________________

Many young voters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses
Ledyard King | March 4, 2020
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/04/super-tuesday-...

This is among the problems I have with Biden--the Dem establishment coalescing around him have to do everything for him. They had to get Buttigieg and Klobuchar to drop out---maybe or maybe not keep Warren in to siphon votes from Sanders (that's not entirely clear at the moment), they had to get some of their most prestigious 'names' to all of a sudden endorse him, and they've got to build a ground game for Joe (because he doesn't have one nor does he have a lot of ground level enthusiasm), they have to get their fat cat Wall St. donors to open their wallets and checkbooks because he doesn't know how to raise money. He's run a completely inept campaign but he has to be saved because someone has to stop Sanders. So others have to do almost all his work for him because he's fucking incapable of doing it himself or hiring the right people to do it for him. There is one thing though he will have to do now and again on his very own and that is talk. That's not so difficult for a politician or shouldn't be anyway. So after Obama and Co. help him finish off Sanders then he's going to have to share the stage with the Donald for 3 hour debates. He says he's going to beat on Donald like a drum. Let's say I'm pessimistic that that is going to happen.

I'm 62 years old which is like having one foot in the grave and I've done the rounds of the assisted living and old folks homes and I can tell you for a fact that there are plenty of people in places like that that are sharper cognitively than Biden is. For those who have not been paying attention to this guy he not only stutters, stammers and gaffes all the time he is getting to the point where his mind is lapsing quite frequently and he can't speak coherently in full sentences and gropes around for words and this is who the Democratic Party is going to go to lengths to give us because they are afraid to look the fucking future in the face and would rather instead take us back down memory lane to the 1980's/90's. If this guy were to somehow get elected I would bet that his VP would finish out his term for him.

LOL!!! A predicament so, so, deserved!

Democrats--(today) the party of hopeless morons. "We're keeping Bernie Sanders away from the nomination--whatever it takes."

"I'm Donald Trump and, though it doesn't really matter what my Democrat opponents do, I approve this message."

"I'm Joe Biden and I think I may have soiled my pants."

"I'm Elizabeth Warren and I haven't won a single state primary race. I'm throwing in the multi-colored American-Indian-beaded towel left me by my ancestors."

COMING SOON--today, tomorrow, but soon :

Warren shall announce she's suspending (in effect, quitting) her race for primary and caucus delegates.

The sheer bloody cannibalistic swinishness of it all:

Dow surges 850 points as UnitedHealth heads for best day in more than a decade

Oh joy--profiting literally off people's sickness, torment and death is safe for the foreseeable future! Long live the American Way!!!

>102 lriley:

There's little to add. The Democrats, American liberals in general, are really more comfortable with fascism than with anything even vaguely reminiscent of socialism.

I am deeply sorry for the young Americans.

#104--it seems like a couple days ago that the first person in the United States died from Coronavirus. I just read somewhere that we're up to 11. We have some 80 + million uninsured people and millions more underinsured. These are people not likely to go to hospitals, clinics or doctors until they're absolutely on death's door and maybe not even then. Medicare for all would make it very much more likely that people would go. Last night the more liberal part of our population decided in greater numbers that M4A isn't necessary. I don't know what's going to happen but if that pandemic hits our country hard we will be the most woefully unprepared country at least in the Western World. Yeah just have to keep on telling ourselves that we're so much better than everybody else.

Younger Americans are bearing the brunt of their elder's greed. I hear all the time how lazy and ungrateful they are. It's mind numbing and pathetic sanctimony.

Why Did Biden Suddenly Sweep Virginia? Credit Trump, These Voters Say
Reid J. Epstein and Stephanie Saul | March 4, 2020

Men and women, white people and black people, college graduates and non-graduates alike — all came together to propel Joe Biden to a resounding victory over Bernie Sanders.

...In Virginia on Tuesday, it was no contest. Mr. Biden won with 53 percent of the vote, 30 percentage points more than Mr. Sanders. Voter turnout broke a state record for a presidential primary, and was especially high in suburban areas near Washington and near Richmond and Norfolk, as well as in regions with large African-American populations. Petersburg, a mostly-black city south of Richmond, went 75 percent for the former vice president.

The range of support suggested Mr. Biden had the potential to put together a broad coalition across categories of race, gender and age that could be a potent weapon in a race against President Trump.

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia attributed Democratic turnout in the state to deep disgust with the Trump presidency among Democrats and moderate Republicans...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/politics/super-tuesday-virginia-voter-turn...

A Not-So-Super Tuesday
Connie Schultz | March 5, 2020

...You can tell me and you can tell me and you can tell me — but let me tell you: There's not a lie I haven't heard about what a woman can and cannot do. At my age, every act of sexism and misogyny is an encore production.

Jessica Valenti, a brilliant feminist writer two decades younger than me, wrote this after Super Tuesday, for Medium:

"Even just supporting Warren has come with an unbearable amount of misogynist condescension. I'm tired of being told that I'm a single-issue voter because I care about a candidate's gender, even if it's not the only thing I care about. I'm over being made to feel as if representation for half the population isn't a necessary and radical political position. I don't appreciate being told that I'm either anti-revolution because I didn't support Bernie Sanders or unrealistic because I won't vote for Joe Biden. I especially resent the theory being bandied about that Warren somehow 'stole' votes from Sanders; it's nonsense."

If you had told me 20 years ago that we'd still be having this conversation about the limitations of women, the only thing I would have allowed you was a running start to get out of my way. Our daughters aren't much younger than Valenti, which might be why these words of hers took my breath away:

"Whoever the nominee is, their campaign is going to have to come to terms with the intense misogyny so many female voters have dealt with — and understand that it's an issue we care deeply about. And their supporters are going to have to let us be sad — depressed, even — that once again we're going to watch a race to leadership between old white men."

Will we vote for that nominee? Of course, we will, in droves. We love our country...

https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/03/20/a-not-so-super-tuesday

Cue resident misogynist...

>102 lriley: Or, Dems double down on dementia.

Warren has one chance to escape being totally disappointing, and that's to endorse Sanders.

We'll see. She didn't in 2016 and Bernie and the Bros have given her more reason not to since. She got her financial bureau thru Obama. Old guys may have heart attacks before November.

The office of president of the United States is not a consolation prize, an award for good, long and loyal service to a cause, or something to glow about in misplaced "pride" just because one's bigotries--sexist, racist or otherwise--were (arguably) thought to have been "validated" in the election of one's favored candidate--- when favored, that is, purely and solely by reason of one's fierce attachment to those bigoted veiws, avowed, recognized, or not.

Elzabeth Warren's ultimate failure to capture the imagination of sufficient numbers of American voters to propel her to the Democratic party's nomination no more says something about her being a female candidate than Pete Buttigieg's failure to do the same says something about him being a male candidate, or a gay candidate--in neither case are or were these kinds of considerations materially determinative factors. That doesn't and certainly shall not stop any number of disappointed people from saying, "See?! I (we) told you people of ___"X"___ characteristic couldn't be nominated/elected to the office of president! Wahhhhhhhhhh! This is so unfair!"

Someone recently asked me if I thought that American voters were somehow constitutionally disposed to refuse to support or vote for--that is, eventually to actually elect ---a woman, any woman, to the office of president of the United States and, it was clearly to be understood, for no other reason than that she is a woman.

My reply was instantaneous and unequivocal: "Of course not. It is a virtual certainty that a woman is going to be elected presidnet of the United States." It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when." When the right woman stands for this office, she's going to be elected and, in the process, defeat all of her male opponents who want to be elected just as much as she wants to be.

It is a stupid, infantile and, not to say, sexist public which moans that Elizabeth Warren was the victim of anti-female sentiment among American voters.

That's disgraceful bullshit.

Mike Bloomberg plans new group to support Democratic nominee
Michael Scherer | March 5, 2020 at 2:51 p.m. EST

Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg has decided to form an independent expenditure campaign that will absorb hundreds of his presidential campaign staffers in six swing states ( Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and North Carolina ) to work to elect the Democratic nominee this fall.

...would also be a vehicle for Bloomberg to spend money on advertising to attack President Trump and support the Democratic nominee...

...The new group, operating with the same potentially limitless bankroll that funded Bloomberg’s campaign, could play a major role in shaping the race this fall. Bloomberg, who is worth more than $50 billion, also has not ruled out using the group to spend money to support former vice president Joe Biden during his primary fight against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

...The promise of help has been welcomed by Biden, but advisers to Sanders have said they do not want any general election assistance from Bloomberg if the Vermont senator wins the nomination.

...The new group could also serve as a vehicle for Bloomberg to support Democratic candidates for the House and Senate.

...The Bloomberg operation could provide a major backstop to efforts by the Democratic National Committee and the remaining presidential campaigns, which have dramatically trailed the Republican National Committee and the Trump reelection campaign in both fundraising and preparation for a general election. The Trump campaign reported $93 million in cash on hand at the end of January, compared to $7 million reported by Biden and $17 million reported by Sanders.

...“Today I am clear-eyed about our ultimate objective and that is victory in November,” Bloomberg said Wednesday, during a speech in New York City. “I will not be our party’s nominee, but I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-bloomberg-plans-new-group-to-suppor...

We better flip the fucking Senate, because the only thing that will redeem this is
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER WARREN
SAY IT
- Elizabeth C. McLaughlin @ECMcLaughlin | 11:00 AM · Mar 5, 2020

Let's get this out of the way now:
Elizabeth Warren and her team don't owe either remaining campaign a damn thing.
They put out an extraordinary, comprehensive platform, brilliantly articulated a deeper vision, and took out Bloomberg.
They deserve space. You're on their time.
- Charlotte Clymer | @cmclymer12:46 PM · Mar 5, 2020

Worthy commentary by Robert Reich:

Super Tuesday Surprises and Progressives' Path Forward | The Common Good with Robert Reich

"flip the Senate"?!

You're going to have to try hard to hold on to the House.

Democrats distinguished themselves as insufferable assoles in the Senate. The idea that voters aren't impatient to kick their fucking asses out of the Senate-majority is more feminist idiotic bullshit.

Biden has senior moments. Trump has senior minutes and has
lied and/or made misstatements every single day of his deplorable
presidency. He and his MAGA voters are clueless 80+% of the time.

"He and his MAGA voters are clueless 80+% of the time"

________________________

That would be cogent if it weren't coming from partisanship which is a constant flabergasting fuck-up compared to Trump himself.

Does it even occur to you people how absurd you make yourselves out to be when you describe Trump in such terms while, at the same time, your partisan incompetence is flagrantly obvious and is actually consistently making Trump look good compared to Democrat-assholery?

So, then, even if your ridiculous claims were true, then Trump & Co. and his supporters need only the remaining 20% of their "time" in effectiveness to consistently kick moron-Democrats asses up and down the block, country, etc.

Warren calls out Sanders for ‘organized nastiness’ and ‘bullying’ by his supporters
Warren’s interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, annotated
Fred Barbash | March 6, 2020

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/06/warren-sanders-maddow-bullying/

(Cue ilk, minions, bots, bros. Those who want chaos and those who can be goaded.)

________________________________________________________________

ETA
John Aravosis @aravosis | 12:32 PM · Mar 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/1235981492419006465

1) One of the most vile attacks on @ewarren
this week came from the men at Bernie Sanders’ favorite socialist podcast, Chapo Trap House. On March 2, 2020, they devoted much of their SF live show to “Lyin’ loser Liz Warren,” repeatedly hissing at her like a snake.
0:10

2) Chapo mockingly tells Elizabeth Warren, "You're doing amazing sweetie," and then make fun of her being
"2% Cherokee."
0:41

3) Chapo's guest mocks Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign staff.
0:08

4) "These people keep forgetting, when they talk about how Elizabeth Warren and her plans and she's so smart, what they're forgetting is the most important fact which is that Liz Warren f*cking sucks. She f*cking sucks! She just comprehensively sucks ass!"
0:18

5) "If Bloomberg drops out of the race, she'll be richer than all the other candidates combined... She is richer in one specific way... wampum."
0:31

6) "Persist Pac, the Super PAC backing Warren's candidacy... Again, sounds like Ovarian Cyst Pac."
0:08

7) "I think that if people do enough digging I would not be surprised to find out that Bloomberg's money is right in Persist PAC." (There is no evidence of this.)
0:10

8) “Humiliating Elizabeth Warren is the only thing Elizabeth Warren does better than Bernie.”
0:25

9) “I'd like to dive in to, courtesy of the New York Times, Michelle Goldberg’s ‘The Case for Elizabeth Warren,’ and I know it may look grim because of, you know, polling and her general, I don't know, personality… (interjection) The fact that she sucks!”
0:19

10) Falsely claiming that Elizabeth Warren voted for Reagan twice (she didn't), mocking 9/11 and joking that Warren would have joined the terrorists on Flight 93, and then claiming Warren hated people with AIDS. (Warren did vote for Ford in 1996, that's it.)
1:04

12) Falsely claiming that Elizabeth Warren is a "neoliberal."
0:34

13) Mocking Elizabeth Warren's dog, then one of the Chapo guys closes the half-hour attack on Warren with the crude comment: "I regret having sex with her every f*ucking day!"
0:35

14) Bernie Sanders recently appeared on Chapo's podcast, as did two of his top staffers, David Sirota & Briahna Joy Gray. Sirota also claimed a few years back that he was a paid subscriber to Chapo. It is unknown if Sirota, or other Sanders staff, still financially support Chapo.

15) If you'd like to support my work, you can help out here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ablogtipjar
Thanks, JOHN

ETA_______________________________________________________________________________

John Aravosis @aravosis | 3:40 PM · Mar 6, 2020
Democratic congressman, and Bernie Sanders campaign cochair, Ro Khanna, is attacked by Sanders supporters
for criticizing Chapo Trap House podcast’s sexist comments about @ewarren.
See the replies to his admirable tweet. Snakes and all.*

Quote Tweet
Ro Khanna @RoKhanna US House candidate, CA-17 · 2h
Replying to @aravosis and @ewarren
Thanks for raising this.
I went on MSNBC earlier today to condemn these kind of sexist, vile attacks as I have before.
It has no place in our politics.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=DK1O3FglRpU

* (Read replies, snakes and all at) https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1236002880349523970

#118--putting all the personal stuff aside. Sometimes it seems like you have to decide what it is you want and how you're going to go about and get there. More often than not with politicians their own ambitions come first and sometime afterwards they might get to what their actual constituents might hope for or want maybe or maybe not sidestepping around some special interest friend(s) of theirs or not. There are reasons why people in general detest those in congress who can be 'bou(ght)' that unfinished word that Michael Bloomberg almost said and then quickly substituted for a better one which makes one wonder just how many of those who were bought are actually thinking in terms of their constituents first.

I don't think Bernie Sanders was Warren's biggest problem. If we delve into the numbers of the caucuses and primaries she did not have broad based appeal and it's not just one group---it's several--blacks, hispanics, working class, the young just for examples. She came in third in her own state and that's telling. She underperformed everywhere. Somewhere along the line IMO she lost the thread--she made her name being a consumer advocate but there was very little of that in her campaign and in the end she ended up running back towards the center of her party. She's as smart on economics as anyone in the Senate but overall her political instincts aren't that great IMO. She has no problem going after bank CEO's with fire and fury but she's too cautious and careful with those established members of her own party. Sanders is a foil for establishment democrats and an easy target for her now. That's the way I see it anyway and I do agree she'll wait until it's almost official before she endorses the candidate who by that time will be the sure bet nominee. Considering her past loathing for Biden if that ends up the case it won't be a good look. For me she's kind of going from someone who I looked up to to just another hack politician.

AOC by the way will be eligible to run for POTUS in 2024--millennials will be a greater part of the electorate by then and there will be less boomers. She has a broad appeal especially to 40's and under that people like Buttigieg can't even begin to touch and she has a vision. This doesn't end with a Sanders defeat for people like me--he simply will pass the torch to a younger generation.

"If you can't stand the heat, stay (the fuck) out of the (goddamned) kitchen."

The presidency is not for "pussies", whiners, snow-flakes, or push-overs. Anyone who needs or thinks he (or she) needs Warren's endorsement --any such candidate--isn't fit for the office of president of the United States. Warren is a fucking embarrassment.

Seth Meyers talks with AOC about Sanders, heartwarming stuff:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Talks Bernie Sanders, the 2020 Census and Her New Puppy

>119 lriley:

Warren ended up taking corporate money after umpteenth declarations she won't do so. That's the absolute worst she could have done if she really wanted to champion democracy. She ruined her progressive cred with it--something worth much more, btw, than Bloomberg's $500 million.

Now she's good and lost, belonging nowhere.

>119 lriley: I think Bernie made a big mistake going after Warren in Massachusetts since he just split the progressive vote allowing Biden to win the state antagonizing Warren in the process. He would have been better off putting his effort somewhere else and letting Warren have her home state.

Bernie Sanders Might Have a Michigan Problem
Nate Cohn | March 6, 2020

An analysis of how states have voted so far, particularly white voters, shows he’s vulnerable to a reversal of his striking victory there in 2016.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/upshot/bernie-sanders-michigan-problem.html

#122--for Warren to be any use to Sanders at this point she really has to endorse him right now because tuesday there are 6 more primaries. If Biden wins big it might be all but over. I don't think she will but now is her time to choose her team if she's going to have a positive impact at all.

#123--it's a point worth taking but it's not like you can't show up at all either. There are activists all over Massachusetts organizing for him and you owe something to them too. The other thing to keep in mind that Biden's win in South Carolina along with Buttigieg and Klobuchar getting out along with a shit load of establishment figures jumping on board Biden's train was precisely to create a surge that was going to benefit Biden and he was going to grab voters that he wouldn't have gotten two days before. Biden all of a sudden looked like a winner again to a lot of people and I'm thinking a lot more of Warren's voters went to Biden than Sanders voters.

Dump Trump (ad)
Michael Bloomberg | March 5, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9KQGQe6vVk&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=...

Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups
Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman | March 7, 2020, 12:41 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/erik-prince-project-veritas.html

Why America Must Lead Again
Rescuing U.S. Foreign Policy After Trump
By Joseph R. Biden, Jr. March/April 2020

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-01-23/why-america-mus...

American foreign policy has always been shit but particularly post WWII and though some POTUS's may be worse than others they've all been awful on foreign policy. We have over 1000 overseas military bases. We're involved in these idiotic wars and minor wars meanwhile we can't find the money to fix the water problem in Flint Mich. How many years has that been going on? Or student debt--how long since young people started the Occupy movement over that very issue? Still haven't done a thing about that either except make it even worse. Can't have medicare for all because we're wasting billions to trillions showing off how powerful are military is. We've got bombs--the rest of the western world has health care. Mr. Biden is another one of these clowns who think foreign policy trumps domestic programs. It's moronic.

If Biden gets the nomination you'll have two Republicans running in November--come to think of it, just like the Ugly-Americans like it best.

I really don't want to get angry over this but the United States is an imperialistic minded country. It didn't start with Joseph Biden for sure but he is a card carrying member of our imperialistic foreign policy club. This is one of the reasons why he was so aghast that his good friend Lindsey Graham would throw him under the bus. Say what you like about Trump he was never really in that club (so Lindsey shouldn't be so quick to side with him)--though it could be argued Donald became an honorary member when he stole the 2016 election. Fellow members of this club though are supposed to be nice to each other. Lindsey broke a rule.

Why doesn't Biden talk about what he's going to do to help people who actually live in the United States? That's really what I'd like to know. I don't want to hear him go on and on all day about what a shitbird Donald is--a few minutes should suffice. What Biden's actually going to do if he becomes POTUS for us the people is kind of important too. Mainly he's so detached from the reality of people's lives here that he doesn't really know.

What good is to be gained from the United States being 'the leader' on the world stage again? Is it a prestige thing?---something for us to brag about with the neighbors? We throw all kinds of billions and trillions into the military industrial complex--our arms dealers sell weapons all over the world and aren't too choosy about who to. It's all wink and nod stuff. Why don't we have medicare for all or student debt relief or free college?--is it because this other shit of making the world a more dangerous place is more important?

I was looking over Biden's record and it's amazing just how right-wing it is--way more than either Bill Clinton's or Gore's, for example. (I was testing for a quick impression of how true or not might be the idea that the Democratic party has shifted to the left since 2016.)

Never saw a war he didn't like. Or a Republican he wouldn't cosy up to. Repellent from head to toe.

But the worst is that he's so obviously mentally incapacitated the "very stable genius" currently wiping his ass on Old Glory is more than likely to trounce him.

What a demented Punch & Judy show in the making...

There's only one avenue to enthusiastic support that I can see for Biden--if he makes a truly progressive VP choice. It can't be another Repugnant-lite; and it can't be another white man; and it better not be another dinosaur losing his marbles visibly to the naked eye.

Someone like Stacey Abrams ideally.

That's his one chance to energise massively Sanders' supporters on his behalf if he gets the nomination. Because, really, can anyone sincerely believe this guy could pull through the whole four years of presidency? His mind is going faster than Trumpo's.

PBS Washington Week speculated on VP choices for Sanders or Biden. Highly speculative (fun). For Biden, Val Demings, an impeachment manager, mentioned. She was really well spoken as I recall. African American, female, younger, FL. No nonsense. Dignified. A law enforcement background. For both candidates, emphasis was on how VP candidates rounded out candidate, so a western Hispanic might better help Biden--some unfamiliar state players. A Demings would round out Sanders, but probably incompatible. A unity ticket of Biden-Sanders or vv suggested to much merriment as doubling down on male, whiteness, age.

#133--Abrams was linked to Biden many months ago so that indeed could happen. I don't really have a good idea of how progressive she is or isn't and it's pretty much because when you're running for state office you're pretty much talking about that state's issues--there's not really much about national politics in it but also in midterms it's hard to focus on one particular race when there are so many others going on as well. She ran for Governor of Georgia in 2018 and was narrowly defeated by the Republican candidate who pretty much voter suppressed his way to victory. Both Georgia Senate seats are up for election in 2020--one was scheduled (Perdue) and the other (Cochran) was a forced retirement from illness. If Abrams had gone after either I think she would win but she didn't and the speculation over that has been she's waiting for someone to offer her the VP slot or she was going to run herself for POTUS in 2024 or 2028.

The bits and pieces I remember hearing from her back in 2018 left a good impression with me. She's impassioned and very well spoken. As far as policy on a national---not a state level I'm not sure where she is on a lot of things. If Biden were to pick her though I do know this---he could do much much worse.

#134---as far as Demings I have a more positive impression of her than most other House Democrats. Again though not sure where she's at on a lot of things. I like that she was a small town police officer/chief. Not that I like police because I really don't but it speaks that she's rooted back in a reality that most people share. I do think I'd rather see Abrams though.

As far as a western state Latino---it depends on which one. I mean in a way Biden himself is not far removed from Henry Cuellar the pro life conservative democrat who was lending support to a republican congressman last time around or to Bill Richardson the former New Mexico congressman and governor--a neo-liberal with links to Jeffrey Epstein. Those might be comfortable choices for him but if he chooses somebody like either of those two it's not going to go well.

As far as Sanders--Nina Turner always comes up and Warren might still be a possibility. I don't think Bernie really carries grudges. There's the tricky thing though with the Massachusetts republican governor naming a temporary replacement for her Senate position though. I don't think he's going to pick a male but some of the more compatible Senators would be Jeff Merkley-Oregon who endorsed him in 2016, Sherrod Brown--Ohio Senator who has a very pro working class career as a congressman and Senator but curiously has backed away from M4A in recent times. He's a guy who wins Ohio with a fairly leftward stance than pretty much any other democrat from that state and easily won his seat again in 2018. And then there's Russ Finegold--the retired Wisconsin Senator who was always towards the left and independent enough that he'd several times bucked almost his entire party. Very much into stopping the influence of corporations and billionaires in our elections. I could see Finegold potentially in a Sanders administration but not as a VP. I could see Robert Reich too.

Here's another name for Sanders though--Pramila Jayapal the two term congresswoman from Seattle. I like her a lot. Very smart and very articulate.

Off on a tangent--I'm seeing online advertising about joining Pete Buttigieg in getting the electoral college abolished. I would like to see the electoral college abolished but here's Mayor Pete having no problem claiming victory in Iowa and then later on claiming he was somehow cheated out of the bump he was supposed to get for that victory and yet he didn't win the popular vote which is pretty much the problem with the electoral college. He's a hypocrite and he's got a lot of fucking gall. He's a piece of shit. Just saying.

But back to the VP---I've pretty much avoided talking about 2016 because I don't see the good in bringing up a lot of divisive shit. I hate Mike Pence pretty much with a passion but that choice by Trump was astute--Pence brings in almost the entire voting block of hard core right wing white christian voters. That's maybe the major portion of Trump's base and it's not going anywhere rock solid. Hillary on the other hand would blame Bernie and his supporters and sometimes others like Comey but her choice of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was a disaster. Keep in mind Trump (and Sanders) was running against TPP that the Obama administration was pushing hard in 2016 while all but ignoring the DAPL Native American protests in North Dakota. Hillary Clinton was for TPP but changed her mind midway through her campaign because the voting public hated the idea of this new trade deal--what was being described as 'Nafta on steroids'---and after all the resentment and bickering and disrespect felt on both sides of the Sanders/Clinton battle coming out of the convention with the uncharismatic Tim Kaine an avid supporter of TPP was a signal that she would do like her husband who pushed Nafta through and was the last straw for a lot of people. She won a plurality of votes still in November but she probably lost at least another 2 or 3 million voters with her Tim Kaine pick whether or not those voters voted for Trump or just stayed home. It's not always the voters who fuck up. IMO Hillary should own up to some of this too.

Biden should keep this in mind because he's basically an uninspiring politician and he can hardly talk coherently at length anymore. That's another reason why Abrams might be good for him because she's got some real fire.

I was invited into a Bernie group on facebook on Wednesday night and was amazed at the rancor regarding Warren, who had yet to make any kind of announcement. I made the mistake of defending her with 'If Sanders weren't running everyone here would be supporting her', which I think is true enough (as Reich has recently said they were the only two candidates with grass roots support and some intention of fighting on a systemic level); it's not entirely true: Sanders was more progressive, and Sanders is male (it seems clear to me that as is indicated above here and there, misogyny has played a role in Warren's defeat and though it's likely that fewer men are misogynist now than in the 1970s, for instance, my impression is that there has been an intensification of misogyny where it does remain.

>136 lriley:

Well, first, let's not stop hoping while the math still allows it--the nomination isn't out of Sanders' reach yet.

That said, yeah, best to avoid the attitudes of 2016. Clinton lost for more than one reason but it boils down to not enough people voting for her--including the 10-12% Sanders supporters who voted for Trump!

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/24/16194086/bernie-trump-voters-s...

"I just didn't feel Tom Kaine" doesn't excuse this. Nothing excuses this. That is--for anyone who identifies with the progressive causes. One just doesn't claim to be a progressive and then vote FOR Trump.

Those people cost her at least three states. That too counted, and how.

I don't want to picture Biden as the nominee but let's be clear on one thing--November is only about kicking Trumpo out.

I happen to think Sanders can lick him far more certainly than Biden. But in the end... Americans are drowning. If they can't have the Sanders lifeboat, they better grab the Biden wormy plank.

>138 LolaWalser:


"Americans are drowning."

Bullshit. Most Americans are fine. They can swim.

Some Americans--the followers of the Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, Pelosis, Schumers--- they're drowning?

Good! Let them drown. To Hell with them. 'Reap the whirlwind,' baby!

Let's hope they both avoid this new virus--and all the others going round.
On Sunday news shows, Sanders had watery eyes and gravelly voice.

He has four rallies in Michigan. The one tonight is outdoors, I think.
Michigan has a healthy share of nutballs--hope good security...

Sanders sounded good this morning btw--more nuanced and careful in reaching out to people he needs.
Complex sentences and thoughts, and he quickly corrected a very minor lapse in grammar.
Haircut!

Remember when Reagan was too old to run? Turns out it was true enough.

The Disinformation Campaign Being Launched Against Biden
Nancy LeTourneau | March 6, 2020

...In the January/February issue of The Atlantic, John Hendrickson writes that “Biden’s verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they knew he’s still fighting a stutter.”

A stutter does not get worse as a person ages, but trying to keep it at bay can take immense physical and mental energy. Biden talks all day to audiences both small and large. In addition to periodically stuttering or blocking on certain sounds, he appears to intentionally not stutter by switching to an alternative word—a technique called “circumlocution”—­which can yield mangled syntax. I’ve been following practically everything he’s said for months now, and sometimes what is quickly characterized as a memory lapse is indeed a stutter. As Eric Jackson, the speech pathologist, pointed out to me, during a town hall in August Biden briefly blocked on Obama, before quickly subbing in my boss. The headlines after the event? “Biden Forgets Obama’s Name.” Other times when Biden fudges a detail or loses his train of thought, it seems unrelated to stuttering, like he’s just making a mistake. The kind of mistake other candidates make too, though less frequently than he does.

As a stutterer himself, Hendrickson critiques Biden for suggesting that he overcame his stutter.

Emma Alpern is a 32-year-old copy editor who co-leads the Brooklyn chapter of the National Stuttering Association and co-founded NYC Stutters, which puts on a day-long conference for stuttering de­stigmatization. Alpern told me that she’s on a group text with other stutterers who regularly discuss Biden, and that it’s been “frustrating” to watch the media portray Biden’s speech impediment as a sign of mental decline or dishonesty. “Biden allows that to happen by not naming it for what it is,” she said, though she’s not sure that his presidential candidacy would benefit if he were more forthcoming. “I think he’s dug himself into a hole of not saying that he still stutters for so long that it would strike people as a little weird.”

Biden has presented the same life story for decades. He’s that familiar face—Uncle Joe…He’s the dependable guy, the tenacious guy, the aviators-and-crossed-arms guy. That guy doesn’t stutter; that guy used to stutter.

That is the data we have available about Joe Biden’s cognitive capabilities. What it all comes down to is that there is an alternative explanation for his verbal stumbles and his medical records did not indicate a cognitive impairment...

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/03/06/the-disinformation-campaign-being-launc...

#138--there are a lot of things to be factored but if I were to point out the biggest issue it's our anti-democratic electoral college system that takes victory away from someone who got almost 3 million more votes.

As far as what November is going to be like it's anyone's guess. Sanders still has a shot but at this moment in time it's not looking great for him. 6 states up this tuesday. A problem for Biden though might be the next debate. He gets to do half of the talking and if he stammers and says a lot of stupid shit it's possible that he could self implode. Fact is I think any given debate whether it's with Sanders or later on if Biden does get the nomination with Trump I think there's always that danger of self implosion.

Several months out though there is also the unknown of what this coronavirus is going to turn out to be. If we're in the middle of a full blown pandemic things could factor in a lot of ways. Who knows if things were to really get out of control and our health care system is blowing up we could see Joe arguing for M4A for instance and the public absolutely turned against Trump for being such an incompetent idiot. I don't know--I'm trying to keep an open mind. There is a lot of uncertainty.

>142 margd:

"In the January/February issue of The Atlantic, John Hendrickson writes that 'Biden’s verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness.' "

What bullshit!

"Stuttering" cannot account for Biden misstating that he's running for state senator rather than president of the United States; stuttering doesn't account for his inability to keep straight the town, city or state in which he is addressing a crowd of supporters.

Why 'worried"? The guy's a candidate for office at this stage, not the president-elect. This is not the time to "worry" over Biden's cognitive fitness, his mental and emotional health--it's the time to calmly and clear-headedly evaluate it and come to a decision about his fitness for office.

You only worry about what cannot be fixed, repaired, made right. You worry about what is likely to go wrong where you are not in any position to prevent its going wrong.

This "we're worried about Biden" stuff is ridiculous. Stack up, review, and judge the evidence for what it is. Leave "worrying" about things when there are clear and obvious alternative courses to remaining on a poor or, worse, a disastrous one--save that for idiots who cannot get out of their own goddamned way.

We're electors, not fatalists. Our responsibility is to open our goddamned eyes, be honest with ourselves and each other and simply do what our good sense tells us makes sense.

Is that too much to ask or to expect from Americans? Apparently, when it comes to self-deluding Democrats who have long lived in damnable denial about so many things, uhm, hell, yes, it's expecting a lot.

So, get practising; there are several months over which quit "worrying" like frightened little girls and to "Man up," FFS!

>143 lriley:

Indeed. I can't see how Biden could survive a debate with eight-year-olds. Not only does he blather and forget and mangle like a champ of Senility Olympics, there's a viciously ugly side to him lurking underneath ready to break out when he feels attacked, as we saw with that "dog-faced pony soldier" insane bullshit. That's way beyond "gaffe".

On the upside, Trumpo got there first, with vengeance. I don't agree with it, but I can see why the Dems might not care--you got living proof that a dirty idiot asshole scumbag who can't string two consecutive thoughts together or spend a day without some sleazy action can make it into the White House. So I can see where they look at Twittler, then at "Shambles" Biden, and think "you'll do".

I keep on mixing up Grand Rapids Michigan with Grand Rapids Minnesota. Why is that important?--it's really a minor matter if you're not from the Midwest anyway but today in Grand Rapids Michigan Amy Klobuchar signaled at a rally that she was Mr. Biden's choice to be Vice President telling the crowd that she was part of the 'tick**' (ticket) before realizing what she was saying and quickly substituting being on Biden's team. The people at that rally went home with the idea Biden/Kloubuchar 2020. I guess we'll see. I wonder what Buttigieg got?

MN must be sure bet to vote in a Dem Senator if Klobuchar to get VP nod?

Grand Rapids, MI is big deal in R circles...

#145--Biden's been carefully stage managed. You don't really see big rallies--more like small crowds, friendly journalists and he doesn't talk for long. His big days have been the debates and he's shared the two/three hours of that with 6/7/8 people and when they've pointed the finger at him it's about some past shit he's been involved in. So there is almost no talk from him or people in his quarter about the road ahead. Policy wise he has no substance. His platform seems to me to be 'Vote for Joe. He's not Donald Trump'. Maybe it works--I don't know but Joe has no charisma--his campaign in about as low energy as it gets. Everything that happens in his campaign is done by others except when they push him out on stage.

Even with all this managing as you rightly point out he's had a bunch of episodes that range from attacking individual voters asking him questions to moments of mental confusion, mistatments to flat out lies or easily googled big fib storytelling to marbles in my mouth fucking up words and to top it all off his past as a Senator absolutely sucks. The Democratic establishment seems intent on putting up a nominee who can't fucking talk and if he's going to be on a debate stage all alone with Donald Trump for two or three hours at a time

#147--I think Minnesota went to Clinton last time but it might have been close.

Three handfuls of mud Rs will throw at Biden: Hunter/Burisma (below), "dementia" (#142), women's personal space.
He apologized for the latter, but video clips will be played and replayed in effort to carve away suburban woman vote...

WATCH: Bloomberg adviser previews ‘scorched-earth’ campaign to be aimed at Trump’s ‘grifter’ family (8:40)
Matthew Chapman | March 7, 2020

“The Trump family are epic grifters, and this goes back generations,” said (former Michael Bloomberg adviser Tim O’Brien). “Fred Trump made his money by intersecting with both the federal government and state governments in New York. Donald Came up through New York, intersecting with local government and Atlantic City. Now they are in the White House and all of them are dipping their faces into the till. And if the Republicans really want to make an issue out of Hunter Biden, which is very low-hanging fruit that I don’t think most Democratic voters care about anyway, there is going to be a scorched-earth response aimed at all of the Trump children that is unlike anything they have experienced in the media.”

“Could it be from your former candidate?” asked (MSNBC) host Joy Reid. “Because Mike Bloomberg has a lot of money to spend and there’s a lot of ads you could make on something like this.”

“I think it’s an important moment for the American people to be woke about how rampant the financial conflicts of interest are among Trump’s children, the president himself, their failure to distance themselves from the Trump Organization, the deals they’ve continued to pursue while in the White House, the Trump Hotel, which has a history between Jared and the Russian government and his family’s struggling finances at the time,” said O’Brien. “All of this will become food for thought for everyone.”...

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/watch-bloomberg-adviser-previews-scorched-earth...

#150--as for the dementia bit Joe has signs of it IMO. That doesn't seem a reach. But if we're getting all the way in with cognitive decline there are signs of that with Trump himself.

To go on to women's personal space--both Trump and Biden are weirdos. Go and youtube Biden's Corn Pop story--find the one with the black kids surrounding him. He likes when little kids play with the hairs on his legs. Who says shit like that to an audience?......and yeah he does take unasked for liberties with women. Is he one of Jeffrey Epstein's old pals?--no evidence of that anyway but Donald is and Donald has a whole lot of shit in his past too and just look at his hair and the glowing orange makeup.

......and yeah they're going to go hard on the Burisma thing. Do I think Joe and Hunter committed a crime? No. But I don't think it was at all ethical either and Joe's status as VP had a lot to do with Hunter getting that plum position on that company's board. There's no other way of parsing it. Who is Hunter Biden? He's a somebody because he is Joe Biden's son. What about Trump's kids and Kushner? Got their fingers in a lot of pies too. Whether there are go to prison crimes or not it's all corrupt.

But basically the article is about the envisioned mud slinging ad war. Nice to know they're thinking about us.

Don't forget the plagiarism.

>146 lriley:

Amy Klobuchar signaled at a rally that she was Mr. Biden's choice to be Vice President telling the crowd that she was part of the 'tick**' (ticket) before realizing what she was saying and quickly substituting being on Biden's team. The people at that rally went home with the idea Biden/Kloubuchar 2020.

If that's his choice, it's not the best. Could be worse, of course, but this is just treading (centrist sewage) water. I don't see the Sandernistas or even Warren supporters feeling hopeful for Klobuchar.

I guess we'll see. I wonder what Buttigieg got?

A billionnaire to love him and nurture him for the future? Petey means to travel far.

#154--I don't like much about Klobuchar's positions on issues at all (a classic center right democrat) but she's a rational and intelligent person and at least competent which we already know Trump isn't and I have doubts about Biden's competency as well. So I agree she's not the worst choice. That said at least one person on the ticket needs to kick up the energy level. I'm not sure she does that. There's a bit of dirt on her but not all that much--certainly compared to some others.

I absolutely detest Bloomberg and Buttigieg.

Hopefully Sanders makes something of a comeback tomorrow.

>150 margd: Bloomberg adviser previews ‘scorched-earth’ campaign to be aimed at Trump’s ‘grifter’ family (8:40)
Lincoln Republicans fored the first shot

We all know Trump’s a scammer.
But the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Edit: NEW VIDEO:
0:13 ( https://secure.anedot.com/the-lincoln-project/cc90c5a7c634342487576 )

https://secure.anedot.com/the-lincoln-project/cc90c5a7c634342487576
- The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln | 6:00 AM · Mar 13, 2020