All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[AnakinFlair]

I think it is hard not to answer “both”. I think the whole “establishment doesn’t care about you; but I do” message worked better against Hillary Clinton because there had been decades of coverage surrounding her as heartless. This isn’t true with Joe Biden, who managed to make gains back with working class voters, who I do think were legitimately taken by Sanders’ ideas, even if it was against a weaker candidate (in their eyes). But the support that Sanders had in 2016 with moderates and “somewhat liberal” folks has entirely dissipated, not from insignificant levels either (40% among self-described moderates in 2016 which has fallen to very low double-digits).

I think we may have learned the wrong lesson from 2016 in assuming that the party was yearning for change from the establishment, but Clinton had more name recognition and a reputation of working with black folks. No, it just turns out that the party’s base, us, the people, were not as taken with Clinton as the presumption was. And that lack of enthusiasm was also carried over to the general election, where not only did Democrats have lukewarm reactions, but so did everyone else. So, it turns out Hillary Clinton, herself, just ended up being a weak candidate. Say what you will about Biden, but his coalition is bigger in both size and diversity. Maybe the results would be different against a generic Republican candidate, but it seems that, for right now, the “revolution” isn’t coming.

Given we seem to have given the green light to those with no experience to run for President, maybe AOC, who will have a lot more legislative experience than many of the people who ran for office this time, picks up the baton in 2024 to be the youngest person to take office should she win. She has been more inclusive than Sanders in her rhetoric as an endorser of Sanders than he was. Maybe she can expand the coalition necessary to secure the nomination and her youth is something that has been shown to appeal to Democratic voters. Not only that, but Democrats might be willing to take more of a “risk” in 2024 with no Trump either way than they were this time.

Well here's a question for you- it's widely surmised that Biden will pick a female running mate. Do you think he'd pick AOC, who could check a lot of boxes- young, female, intelligent, and holds many of the same positions that Bernie does? Or would the risk of picking someone in the Senate- which could possibly allow the Republicans to maintain control- be too great?

[Tendrin]

Well here's a question for you- it's widely surmised that Biden will pick a female running mate. Do you think he'd pick AOC, who could check a lot of boxes- young, female, intelligent, and holds many of the same positions that Bernie does? Or would the risk of picking someone in the Senate- which could possibly allow the Republicans to maintain control- be too great?

No. While AOC is obviously vastly more intelligent and spot on, there's a large section of the electorate that would compare picking her to picking Sarah Palin. The right-wing has already invested a considerable amount of time in HRCing her. She doesn't have the backing in the party, either, for her to be seriously put forward. No, it's more likely gonna be someone like Kamala Harris. You just need to take one look at her twitter mentions to see why this would be a bad idea. The only purpose it would serve would be a long shot effort to galvanize the youth vote and, frankly, we've seen the error in trying to rely on it.

[Tami]

No. While AOC is obviously vastly more intelligent and spot on, there's a large section of the electorate that would compare picking her to picking Sarah Palin. The right-wing has already invested a considerable amount of time in HRCing her. She doesn't have the backing in the party, either, for her to be seriously put forward. No, it's more likely gonna be someone like Kamala Harris. You just need to take one look at her twitter mentions to see why this would be a bad idea. The only purpose it would serve would be a long shot effort to galvanize the youth vote and, frankly, we've seen the error in trying to rely on it.

I think the real issue is her age.

To serve as president, one must: be a natural-born U.S. citizen of the United States; be at least 35 years old; be a resident in the United States for at least 14 years.

AOC is only 30, even after 4 years she'd still be too young to take over as President should something happen to Biden.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

No. While AOC is obviously vastly more intelligent and spot on, there's a large section of the electorate that would compare picking her to picking Sarah Palin. The right-wing has already invested a considerable amount of time in HRCing her. She doesn't have the backing in the party, either, for her to be seriously put forward. No, it's more likely gonna be someone like Kamala Harris. You just need to take one look at her twitter mentions to see why this would be a bad idea. The only purpose it would serve would be a long shot effort to galvanize the youth vote and, frankly, we've seen the error in trying to rely on it.

Or rather, Bernie Sanders saw that error.

I think the real issue is her age.



AOC is only 30, even after 4 years she'd still be too young to take over as President should something happen to Biden.

Agreed, AOC is way too young to shoulder that sort of responsibility.

[Mister Mets]

Well here's a question for you- it's widely surmised that Biden will pick a female running mate. Do you think he'd pick AOC, who could check a lot of boxes- young, female, intelligent, and holds many of the same positions that Bernie does? Or would the risk of picking someone in the Senate- which could possibly allow the Republicans to maintain control- be too great?

She would be conditionally ineligible to serve as President until October 2024, which removes her as an option for Veep according to the 12th amendment.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Got an alert that WHO (World Health Organization) officially declared coronavirus to be a pandemic. How long before Trump tweets and his henchmen hit the airwaves on Faux News to tag team bleat that it's fake news?

[TheDarman]

Well here's a question for you- it's widely surmised that Biden will pick a female running mate. Do you think he'd pick AOC, who could check a lot of boxes- young, female, intelligent, and holds many of the same positions that Bernie does? Or would the risk of picking someone in the Senate- which could possibly allow the Republicans to maintain control- be too great?

I think it is difficult to imagine it, primarily because of her youth (being below 35 makes it impossible to assume the role as president) and inexperience.

I think they do need to be calculated about leaving a seat for Republicans to fill—either through a special election or temporary appointment. Ideally, you want someone from a “safe blue” state like California. Kamala Harris was a critical endorsement ahead of this last set of primaries too. She’s younger, has a better communique than Biden, and represents what we would imagine the future of the party would demographically look like. She was also an early endorser of Sanders’ plan for Medicare For All and has a lot of progressive policies she has advocated for. It’s an open question as to whether or not folks in Sanders camp see it that way, but it also is a relative olive branch to progressives.

[Robotman]

No. While AOC is obviously vastly more intelligent and spot on, there's a large section of the electorate that would compare picking her to picking Sarah Palin. The right-wing has already invested a considerable amount of time in HRCing her. She doesn't have the backing in the party, either, for her to be seriously put forward. No, it's more likely gonna be someone like Kamala Harris. You just need to take one look at her twitter mentions to see why this would be a bad idea. The only purpose it would serve would be a long shot effort to galvanize the youth vote and, frankly, we've seen the error in trying to rely on it.

I’m hoping he picks Harris. She has name recognition, she’s a minority (having a woman who is black and Indian one step away from the presidency would be very exciting), she’s for universal healthcare which could help bring in more left leaning voters, and her time as District Attorney could help sway more right leaning voters. As she’s a former prosecutor I would LOVE to see her dismantle Trump and Pence.

[TheDarman]

Sanders promises to push on despite a virtual mathematic elimination from being able to get the nomination.

Especially given how poor Georgia and Florida already look, Sanders might be looking to rebound a bit and snag Ohio and other midwestern states this next Tuesday. But I don’t see that as particularly likely either—he lost Michigan by almost twenty points. It would have to be an absolute annihilative performance by Sanders to even close the gap in states demographically similar. And that might not even be enough.

I think it is probably time to wrap this up. I don’t mean by forcing out Sanders. I mean by having him come to the realization that this is really over. But I don’t trust him to come to that decision himself. We’ll end with a wounded nominee heading into November if he isn’t careful.

[worstblogever]

I saw analysts that said Bernie would need to dominate in Washington state to get back in the race, at all.

It's a dead heat with 67% of the vote counted, and Sanders and Biden only separated by .2% of the vote. Bernie does well in early voting, but same day has gone to Biden... he might not even win that state when they've finished counting.

It's looking like Smokin' Joe Biden's got the nomination on lockdown.

[Jack Dracula]

‘It’s Just Everywhere Already’: How Delays in Testing Set Back the U.S. Coronavirus Response

Two positives resulting from the Corona situation:
The people in charge of emergency response mechanisms now have a better real-world idea of what to expect should another highly communicable, deadlier virus appear.
Hopefully, Trumps public now understands that a President who can't be trusted to tell the truth or take responsability is exactly what you don't want in the face of a national crisis. I've no doubt that most will never admit to it, but hopefully enough have had their faith shaken to make a difference going into November.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Sanders promises to push on despite a virtual mathematic elimination from being able to get the nomination.

Especially given how poor Georgia and Florida already look, Sanders might be looking to rebound a bit and snag Ohio and other midwestern states this next Tuesday. But I don’t see that as particularly likely either—he lost Michigan by almost twenty points. It would have to be an absolute annihilative performance by Sanders to even close the gap in states demographically similar. And that might not even be enough.

I think it is probably time to wrap this up. I don’t mean by forcing out Sanders. I mean by having him come to the realization that this is really over. But I don’t trust him to come to that decision himself. We’ll end with a wounded nominee heading into November if he isn’t careful.

And if Sanders lost Michigan, he'll almost certainly lose Pennsylvania as well. Will Sanders bow out early? Nope, don't expect him to, at 78, this is his last shot at the presidency, so he'll stick it out to the bitter end, not for the sake of his supporters or the progressive moment, but for himself and his ego. At this point, I suspect he's got nothing else going for him.

[kidfresh512]

This Is Not the Moment for Progressives to Despair

"But if the goal is to move America to the left — to craft and pass policies that help ordinary people — then a Biden candidacy isn’t the end of the game. He represents an opportunity. You can see what this might look like in Virginia, where the Democratic majority in the General Assembly just finished its legislative session.



In 2017, Virginia Democrats faced a difficult choice about the future of the party.



Would they nominate a forceful, dynamic left-wing politician who stood against “establishment” politics and called for structural political change? Or would they fall behind a party stalwart with conservative instincts and an unremarkable record in office?"



"As governor, Northam has been unexpectedly controversial. And true to form, he hasn’t challenged the overall status quo of Virginia politics, where powerful business interests hold huge sway over lawmakers in Richmond. But the anti-Trump wave that put Northam into office also energized progressives, who seized the opportunity presented by a Democratic governor to advance their interests and build power ahead of the next election cycle. When that cycle came, in 2019, progressives spearheaded the charge that broke the Republican Party’s hold on the state Legislature. Years of careful, difficult work — of building relationships and investing in marginalized communities — paid off in a statewide sweep that put Democrats in the driver’s seat of Virginia politics.



Northam is still governor and most of the caucus is either moderate or conservative. But for the first time, progressives have a major say in policy, and they have used it to push an unabashedly liberal agenda through the Legislature, raising the minimum wage, legalizing collective bargaining for public employees and expanding the right to vote. Just last week, Virginia lawmakers — led by Lee Carter of Manassas, a member of Democratic Socialists of America — passed one of the nation’s lowest caps on the price of insulin.

Pretty good opinion piece I think and relevant to the topic here of what should progressives do to get their movement supported. I have been impressed by what Virginia has done so far after taking over from the GOP. They didn't get as far with gun reform as they reached for but they got farther than we will nationally while the GOP is in charge. And he makes a really good point about progressive policies getting some action there even when the more progressive candidate didn't get in.

There is something there to getting rid of the GOP first then having the policy arguments of how far "left" once that is accomplished. But, if all progressives just said my way or the highway. And didn't try to work with the moderates they need its self defeating. The national electorate has shown they are open to progressive initiatives. They just need to be moved left and shown the benefit.

Right now its the baby steps. And that's not sexy to some Sanders supporters who want big changes NOW. But, making sure that the courts aren't stacked to agree with voter suppression tactics in red states, and gerrymandering so we can get easier access to voters you would want for progressive policy in the long run only helps us all.

[TheDarman]

And if Sanders lost Michigan, he'll almost certainly lose Pennsylvania as well. Will Sanders bow out early? Nope, don't expect him to, at 78, this is his last shot at the presidency, so he'll stick it out to the bitter end, not for the sake of his supporters or the progressive moment, but for himself and his ego. At this point, I suspect he's got nothing else going for him.

Sadly, I don’t expect him to either. But voters are wary of the primary and want to focus on the general. I doubt too many still care to get in the front runner’s way. Bernie can fight, but I suspect that no more than his more passionate supporters are gonna show up for him. Biden will carry states with “let’s cross our Ts and dot our Is and move on”. It’s fundamentally improbable, neigh on impossible, for Sanders to come back from this.

[ed2962]

No. While AOC is obviously vastly more intelligent and spot on, there's a large section of the electorate that would compare picking her to picking Sarah Palin. The right-wing has already invested a considerable amount of time in HRCing her. She doesn't have the backing in the party, either, for her to be seriously put forward. No, it's more likely gonna be someone like Kamala Harris. You just need to take one look at her twitter mentions to see why this would be a bad idea. The only purpose it would serve would be a long shot effort to galvanize the youth vote and, frankly, we've seen the error in trying to rely on it.

It won't be Harris. The exact same black people who like Biden don't like Harris.