All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[aja_christopher]

I donÂ’t know if that is necessarily true. I think Sanders has often said similar things about racial disparities. But I think that that statement in your post is fairly light on substance and big in pluralities.

My statement was relatively accurate -- it's Sanders support for African-American issues that is fairly light on substance and big in pluralities.

Marching half century ago and the occasional acknowledgment of the obvious isn't impressive -- actions will always speak louder than words.

He finally changed his words in this most recent election but -- again -- that's because he finally accepted that he can't win without said votes.

[TheDarman]

I know national polls are hardly relevant in a general election that is disseminated into 50, mostly winner-take-all, states, but Biden leads Trump by 10 points in national survey.

Obviously, it is still early. But once things start opening up after this pandemic, we aren’t expected to have a full and immediate recovery and Trump’s response can be pointed to as a big reason why. In the middle of a crisis is when a president is at their strongest. This likely doesn’t bode particularly well for Trump.

[aja_christopher]

I don't think either Biden or Sanders can beat trump. I don't see that much passion from Americans into supporting either.

The fact that it's even close speaks volumes about this country as a whole.

[PaulBullion]

Really, a lot aren't.

A lot are genuinely good people and I'm friends with them. I think Bernie's campaign was badly, badly run and a lot of these people did him a disservice.

The fact that he clearly does not hire people who know how to run a campaign makes the whole "Bernie would have won in 2016" meme so damn funny.

[MiddleMan]

The fact that he clearly does not hire people who know how to run a campaign makes the whole "Bernie would have won in 2016" meme so damn funny.

those people are a joke

right along with the ones openly blaming black voters for not buying what Sanders was selling

[PwrdOn]

Well thankfully for Joe Biden, now that the primary is officially over he and the rest of the party can go back to not giving a **** about black people again. Who knows though, maybe this time it'll be different and the Democratic candidate will start prioritizing black issues over appealing to Midwestern swing voters...

[PaulBullion]

Well thankfully for Joe Biden, now that the primary is officially over he and the rest of the party can go back to not giving a **** about black people again. Who knows though, maybe this time it'll be different and the Democratic candidate will start prioritizing black issues over appealing to Midwestern swing voters...

[Malvolio]

The fact that he clearly does not hire people who know how to run a campaign makes the whole "Bernie would have won in 2016" meme so damn funny.

Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager in 2016, called me a Hillary-bot on Facebook, when I admitted that while I voted for Bernie in my state's primary, I would vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election if she won the nomination. That was Bernie's campaign manager, who still had a position in Bernie's campaign this year, calling me a Hillary-bot. Shouldn't the campaign manager have a little more discipline than trolls on Twitter?

[TheDarman]

Well thankfully for Joe Biden, now that the primary is officially over he and the rest of the party can go back to not giving a **** about black people again. Who knows though, maybe this time it'll be different and the Democratic candidate will start prioritizing black issues over appealing to Midwestern swing voters...

Just as Bernie Sanders wanted.

In all seriousness, though, do you really think they no longer care? Do you really think that Biden’s Administration wouldn’t be dedicated to restoring the Voting Rights Act, fighting police brutality, or any of the other dozens of priorities the Obama Administration put in practice that this president eviscerated? You can be cynical about it if you want (only doing it for political gain with a demographic they need), but I wouldn’t say they no longer care.

[TheDarman]

Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager in 2016, called me a Hillary-bot, when I admitted that while I voted for Bernie in my state's primary, I would vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election if she won the nomination. That was Bernie's campaign manager, who still had a position in Bernie's campaign this year, calling me a Hillary-bot. Shouldn't the campaign manager have a little more discipline than trolls on Twitter?

I wonder how much this kind of behavior is what makes people gravitate towards both Trump and Sanders. Both teams are full of people who are “tired” of being “politically correct” and demand action on the issues they view as problems without being “polite”. I wonder if it ends up being more a feature than a bug to get those who are apathetic involved. I don’t necessarily think it is the right move, but it seems like it worked well for Trump.

(This isn’t to say Bernie is a “left-Trump”. For one thing, there is no “left” Trump who only cares about himself and wants to decimate unfriendly populations and “own the libs” himself. For another, Bernie is a lot more disciplined with his message than his staff is. But he really needs to demonstrate better judgment, unless that is what he is going for—have firebrands that speak their mind in his campaign while allowing himself to also be individually “above” the fight.)

[Jack Dracula]

Well thankfully for Joe Biden, now that the primary is officially over he and the rest of the party can go back to not giving a **** about black people again. Who knows though, maybe this time it'll be different and the Democratic candidate will start prioritizing black issues over appealing to Midwestern swing voters...

Well, thankfully for Trump there seems to be a sizable group of pessimists ready and willing to help ensure a Democratic candidate doesn't become our President.
Something which will also ensure none of those "black issues" are prioritized.

[PwrdOn]

Just as Bernie Sanders wanted.

In all seriousness, though, do you really think they no longer care? Do you really think that Biden’s Administration wouldn’t be dedicated to restoring the Voting Rights Act, fighting police brutality, or any of the other dozens of priorities the Obama Administration put in practice that this president eviscerated? You can be cynical about it if you want (only doing it for political gain with a demographic they need), but I wouldn’t say they no longer care.

The Democratic party has never really cared about black people, or Latinos, or even the white working class for that matter. All they care about are the interests of that tiny minority of educated, urban upper middle class folks who maybe spend a few minutes a day thinking about how awful life must be for those poor minorities in between going to their artisanal cafes and craft breweries. This concern may be genuine but at the end of the day their socioeconomic interests dictate that nothing must fundamentally change if they are to continue living the lifestyles they feel entitled to have.

[TheDarman]

Queue the “Biden was different” back then responses...to go along with criticisms of his voting record both taking place then and earlier...

[TheDarman]

The Democratic party has never really cared about black people, or Latinos, or even the white working class for that matter. All they care about are the interests of that tiny minority of educated, urban upper middle class folks who maybe spend a few minutes a day thinking about how awful life must be for those poor minorities in between going to their artisanal cafes and craft breweries. This concern may be genuine but at the end of the day their socioeconomic interests dictate that nothing must fundamentally change if they are to continue living the lifestyles they feel entitled to have.

That’s so cynical that is doesn’t even match the reality of the situation, including that the Democratic Party is rapidly becoming a majority-minority party. It’s so unbelievable that someone could think that without applying some massive blinders.

[Tami]

Here is some subtle satire I found
No matter how many Americans die from coronavirus, I’m still voting for Donald Trump

No matter what happens with the coronavirus pandemic, I’ll be one of the roughly 60 million patriots voting for Donald Trump in November. Will 50,000 American coronavirus deaths change my mind? No. One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? More? Nope, nope, nope.

Don’t try to convince me otherwise. I’ve heard all of the arguments. Don’t email me. Don’t tweet angry at me. Don’t send me links to videos of syrupy (and sleepy) Joe Biden, now the Democrats’ presumed nominee, showing compassion during the coronavirus crisis

Compassion is for loooosers.

As a former member of The Star-Ledger editorial board, I know all about Trump’s shortcomings. I’ve seen the crazy coronavirus briefings. I’m not blind. But I want you to see my reasoning, so let’s go point by point. I’m a pretty rational guy. I’m not a Trump supporter who will simply fire off an email to a journalist that says, “Your a idiot.” I spend a lot of time thinking.

This is an important moment in history, and I’m willing to overlook a hundred thousand or so American deaths (but hopefully no one in my family) so that we can keep our way of life here. I’m willing to make those sacrifices …

So we can build that wall.