All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[aja_christopher]

The one candidate who seems to have the fewest Negative Background stories so far is Elizabeth Warren. I think there are a few, but not much that she is being attacked on.

Sanders' supporters no longer see her as a real threat, so they've moved on to Buttigieg and Bloomberg.

[Tami]

Sanders' supporters no longer see her as a real threat, so they've moved on to Buttigieg and Bloomberg.

Perhaps, but right now she is at or near the top of my list (still can't make up my mind). I suspect there will be states where she will do very well.

[aja_christopher]

Perhaps, but right now she is at or near the top of my list (still can't make up my mind). I suspect there will be states where she will do very well.

The obvious problem is that she has to differentiate herself from Sanders somehow while retaining said "liberal" base, but anything can happen between now and the end of the race -- it's way too early to start calling any candidate the clear winner or asking that any of the main contenders drop out.

She seems to be shifting to a theme of unification now, which is well needed.

[aja_christopher]

To his credit, Sanders does address issues such as sexism and divisiveness within his campaign -- it's just that his supporters don't always do the same.

It's also fair to admit that there are forces outside of his campaign that would like to influence the election by causing even more division than already exists.

The only real solution -- and the only way for Democrats to win the election -- is not to fall prey to divisiveness, whatever the source.

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"BERNIE SANDERS CALLS OUT SUPPORTERS FOR ONLINE ATTACKS, SAYS 'HARASSMENT OF ALL FORMS IS UNACCEPTABLE'

"Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders spoke out against online harassment Thursday in response to allegations that supporters of Sanders' campaign were lashing out at the Nevada Culinary Workers Union (NCWU) over a disagreement on health insurance.

Literature distributed by the NCWU said that if Sanders won the presidential election, his Medicare for All program would "end Culinary Healthcare." That plan is opposed by the NCWU which provides health insurance through a specially established trust fund. After the flyer was passed around, the NCWU said it was the victim of harassing emails, tweets and phone calls.

"It's disappointing that Senator Sanders' supporters have viciously attacked the Culinary Union and working families in Nevada simply because our union has provided facts on what certain healthcare proposals might do to take away the system of care we have built over 8 decades," said NCWU Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline in a Wednesday statement.

Sanders called for an end to the comments on Thursday, describing them as "unacceptable."

"Harassment of all forms is unacceptable to me, and we urge supporters of all campaigns not to engage in bullying or ugly personal attacks," Sanders said in a statement. "Our campaign is building a multi-generational, multi-racial movement of love, compassion, and justice. We can certainly disagree on issues, but we must do it in a respectful manner."

Sanders distanced his campaign from the harassment claims during a Thursday interview on PBS NewsHour.

"Anybody making personal attacks against anybody else in my name is not part of our movement," Sanders said. "We don't want them. And I'm not so sure, to be honest with you, that they are necessarily part of our movement."

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sand...ptable-1487286

[shooshoomanjoe]

I don't get the hate for unions. I was raised in CA and my parents always worked minimum wage jobs in the service industry. When they moved to Las Vegas, they both stayed in the service industry but with unions. They then made a livable wage plus benefits they didn't see working outside unions. Now retired, both earn a pension from their unions to supplement their Medicare income.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I don't get the hate for unions. I was raised in CA and my parents always worked minimum wage jobs in the service industry. When they moved to Las Vegas, they both stayed in the service industry but with unions. They then made a livable wage plus benefits they didn't see working outside unions. Now retired, both earn a pension from their unions to supplement their Medicare income.

People who aren't in unions put themselves in the position of the outsider who can't break in and then buy into propaganda

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

The one candidate who seems to have the fewest Negative Background stories so far is Elizabeth Warren. I think there are a few, but not much that she is being attacked on.

She's my first choice, but I no longer seea viable path anymore for her.

[SquirrelMan]

Not actively working to put the Senate into Republican hands is the positive thing that Sanders did.

That...

checks note

... is not a thing Sanders did, then.

[SquirrelMan]

Perhaps, but right now she is at or near the top of my list (still can't make up my mind). I suspect there will be states where she will do very well.

The ironic thing is that now Sanders substitutes like AOC are saying there will be intermediate steps to get to Medicare for all. Back when Liz said that, she was accused of wanting poor people to die. That really damaged her campaign, now the Sanders campaign admits she was right.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

The ironic thing is that now Sanders substitutes like AOC are saying there will be intermediate steps to get to Medicare for all. Back when Liz said that, she was accused of wanting poor people to die. That really damaged her campaign, now the Sanders campaign admits she was right.

What damaged her campaign was when she got attacked by the moderates for not admitting her plan would raise taxes. Then she released her plan that didn't raise taxes and moderates attacked her for having a convoluted plan that couldn't guarantee employers wouldn't pass the buck to the employees and that immigration was tied to it. Pretty much every pollling shows that she went from a surge to a downturn at this time.

Later on, some Sanders supporters got upset that she said she wouldn't even bring M4A to the table until year 3, that hurt her some more. However, by nearly every indication she was already damaged and following to to where she is now.

So really all the data shows the heaviest hits her campaign took came from moderates attacking her on taxing. Bernie Sanders just avoided it because he freely admitted his plan would raise taxes.

I also, once again, corrently predicted that Warren trying to avoid the tax question was going to be a serious issue for her because in the prior debates it was the one thing where she started dancing around it. I get the validity of not wanting a soundbite, but avoiding a direct question like that gave redmeat, and then when she surged the moderates drilled that point in and went on the defensive.

The only thing that truly damaged her with Hillary supporters was the reports that she was saying he didn't think a women could win. But again, well after she tanked.

I like Warren, I've campaigned for Warren in the past (probably the only person on here who can say that), she made several miscalculations. I'd argue the point isn't lost that she hired several Clinton advisors around the time of her downturn as well.

Right now Warren's issue is that she has one state she is polling strongly in. That is MA. It is a significant state, but it's a Super Tuesday state so it won't get the giant coverage one of the earlys states will. Furthermore, she is in 4th nationally (Bloomberg just jumped her). So we'll see how it plays out, but my bet is that after Super Tuesday the big story will be the rise of Bloomberg and it becomes Biden vs Bloomberg vs Sanders and anyone else hanging on is just in desperation mode.

[PaulBullion]

President Trump now admits he sent Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information on his political opponents, despite denying it during impeachment

clearly learned his lesson

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

President Trump now admits he sent Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information on his political opponents, despite denying it during impeachment

clearly learned his lesson

This is like the Astros getting caught cheating, not getting punished, and doubling down afterwards.

[Billy Batson]

She's my first choice, but I no longer seea viable path anymore for her.

Will you switch to Bernie?

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Will you switch to Bernie?

My goal is to win and I think Bernie is the best chance at beating Trump of the current remainers. Biden just has walk over written all over him, Bloomberg is basically Trump but less swears, and I don't see viable paths anymore for the others. I thought Warren could unite the moderates and progressives but it seems like she lost most people trying to please everyone and now it's just whoever you think can rally the troops the most.

If Warren is viable come the state I currently live in, I would be happy to support her. If she's not, probably Sanders unless I see a real viable path for someone like Buttigieg (which I don't)/.

[jetengine]

I don't get the hate for unions. I was raised in CA and my parents always worked minimum wage jobs in the service industry. When they moved to Las Vegas, they both stayed in the service industry but with unions. They then made a livable wage plus benefits they didn't see working outside unions. Now retired, both earn a pension from their unions to supplement their Medicare income.

Americans have an....interesting history with unions considering that in the late 19th/early 20th century Pinkertons were hired to bust unions uding violence, then unions ended up being used by organised crime