Lazarus Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 A record number of Democrats are lining up and declaring themselves as Democratic candidates for the 2020 Presidential Elections in the USA. Pete Buttigieg caught my eye the other day in a town hall meeting televised on CNN. I thought he was a well spoken young man, with ideas and values that I agreed with. He needs 65, 000 donors to be invited to the Democrats debate. I would like to see him there, so I donated to his campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano76 Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 As unpopular as Trump is, being the incumbent gives him a huge advantage. Not to mention the people who have stuck with him until now will ride the ship until it sinks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashibozuk Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) In a functioning Republic the citizens are expected to respect the laws and their elected representatives are expected to truly represent the voters. When someone wishes to be elected because (s)he wants to be the first (woman, homosexual, midget, Comanche or masochist,....) to be elected president, (s)he must be ipso facto be ignored. A few years back there was a candidate (senator Bernie Sanders) who was proposing specific changes in the country. The DNC had already decided that the country only needed to have a female president named Clinton and it managed to put Mr Trump in the white house. Like the French aristocracy, the Democrats have learned and forgotten nothing. Edited March 14, 2019 by Bashibozuk The site's software deleted most of my original text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omonoia9 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 If the Dems really want to bring Trump down, they get Biden into the race and take no chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Why are 65,000 donors even required ? “Capitalism” alive and well. I will program this into an AI program. if num_donors >= 65000 this.candidate = worthy else this.candidate = rejected 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Omonoia9 said: If the Dems really want to bring Trump down, they get Biden into the race and take no chances. Anyone with (a) a pulse and (b) sincerity should be able to win comfortably. Just don’t try and persuade Trump voters as that really is not possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 5 hours ago, Bananas said: Why are 65,000 donors even required ? I guess that's a threshold that they set to show that a particular candidate does have some kind of public support. According to the official Democratic National Committee, the threshold that 2020 presidential candidates will need to meet in order to qualify for its first two primary debates is: "A candidate will either need to register at least 1 percent in three different polls in 2019, 14 days prior to the debate or raise money from at least 65,000 unique donors, having a minimum of 200 contributors in each of at least 20 states." @Soprano76 - Let's talk about Democratic candidates, shall we? This is not a thread about Trump or the Republicans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 23 hours ago, Bashibozuk said: When someone wishes to be elected because (s)he wants to be the first (woman, homosexual, midget, Comanche or masochist,....) to be elected president, (s)he must be ipso facto be ignored. It appears to me that you disregard this candidate because you think he wants to be the first homosexual president. I have not heard you say anything about his ideas or policies he proposes. Sad. Even though I wouldn't call it outright discrimination, discarding a candidate because you think he's doing it just because he is homosexual and wants to be the first such President is pretty much tip-toeing on the fence. Talk to me about his ideas and his beliefs - let's debate those. His perceived ambitions should not be a factor - even though I know they are to some. I think the majority of Americans are so fed up with Republicans (and Trump) - as evident by the mid-term elections - that even Mr. Potato Head will come out a winner in 2020 (if he runs as a Democrat). Of course, one cannot discard outside interference or meddling like in 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Thanks for clarifying the criteria @Lazarus. That makes a bit more sense. At least a potential candidate isn’t thrown away just because of their lack of donors. End of the day money unfortunately plays a massive role. It is what it is. The amounts are mind boggling. Regardless, I’m sure whoever the candidate ends up being, money I would imagine, won’t be a problem. The important thing I believe, is for the Democrats to select a candidate who (a) doesn’t have baggage (I’m thinking Hillary here) and (b) is sincere. By sincere I mean someone like Obama. Not an exact like for like but in a similar vein. Obama didn’t have that image of being “establishment” and I feel he really did want to do a good job in the face of many obstacles. Hillary/Trump strike me as wanting the position for the sake of it. These are just my perceptions though and I’m not heavily into U.S. politics or policies. But (and this is important) whoever the candidate is, they need to bypass/ignore Trump as much as possible, by concentrating on policy. No one can win against Trump by trying to criticise him. The man is beyond criticism. Policy, policy, policy, policy, policy. It’s what thinking people are interested in. Those that aren’t, well there is no convincing them anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 42 minutes ago, Bananas said: Policy, policy, policy, policy, policy. It’s what thinking people are interested in. Those that aren’t, well there is no convincing them anyway. Couldn't agree with you more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano76 Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 This election cycle is shaping up to have a crowded field... though I can't say I agree with people like Beto, who have yet to hold major public office, running for President. Some things that I think the majority of Americans support: universal healthcare, climate action, tighter gun control, net neutrality, and pushing big money out of politics. But how will you get any of this to resonate in flyover country? The electoral college quite clearly complicates things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Soprano76 said: though I can't say I agree with people like Beto, who have yet to hold major public office, running for President. Just in case it helps you understand the dynamic a little better, here's the biography for Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. I wouldn't discard his service as a Congressman for six plus years as no 'major public office'. Plus local government: O'Rourke served on the El Paso City Council from 2005 to 2011. So, he's as qualified as they get. Personally, I'm not that familiar with his ideas and where he stands with things. I just know general stuff from CNN and his unsuccessful campaign in Texas for US Senate. I would like to know more about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 11 hours ago, Omonoia9 said: If the Dems really want to bring Trump down, they get Biden into the race and take no chances. Yeah, I think like that too, but then again Biden carries so much baggage and he's so ...yesterday. He's not the future of the party. If he picks a good partner for VP, somebody young that appeals to the young generation, then maybe he stands a chance with young people. Otherwise, I don't see them picking Biden as the leader of the Democratic party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashibozuk Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 It appears to me that you disregard this candidate because you think he wants to be the first homosexual president ..... I wonder if 1) my previous text (above in this thread) was badly written or 2) badly read or 3) both! The opening statement of this thread informed us, with Gigantic letters, that if elected, the gentleman would be “The first gay elected president". I thought (and think) that I wrote a text that said the policies of a politician matter, and the rest, if legal, does not matter. Finally, I regret that I do know how not and cannot write more politely what follows: 1) I am , like all of us, thankful to the creator of Phantis, and 2) I am of the opinion that we would all be better off if we stick to “criticizing statements", not the person who made them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 22 minutes ago, Bashibozuk said: I thought (and think) that I wrote a text that said the policies of a politician matter, and the rest, if legal, does not matter. My apologies for not understanding your post. Thank you for clarifying it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omonoia9 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 On 3/15/2019 at 5:35 AM, Bananas said: Anyone with (a) a pulse and (b) sincerity should be able to win comfortably. Just don’t try and persuade Trump voters as that really is not possible. Oh so sincerity was missing, I see. Yeah, I never liked Hillary. I bet you Bernie would have beaten Trump too. It was never about policy, it was about people, and Hillary was such a bad choice that a lot of neutrals actually voted for Trump. On 3/15/2019 at 2:31 PM, Lazarus said: Yeah, I think like that too, but then again Biden carries so much baggage and he's so ...yesterday. He's not the future of the party. If he picks a good partner for VP, somebody young that appeals to the young generation, then maybe he stands a chance with young people. Otherwise, I don't see them picking Biden as the leader of the Democratic party. People overestimate how much people care about that. At this point, people clamor for Obama. Can't bring him back, so what's the next best thing? His successful Vice President. I'm a neutral, and I'm a moderate. Personally, I don't know what annoys me more, Trump, or the media's coverage of Trump. Trump has a bizarre way of doing things, thankfully what he's done has yet to affect us too badly. I'd prefer a more stable White House, and I think Trump has to go for that to happen. Biden would provide that stability and would be the best man for the job. No more gimmicks, no more "future", play it safe. Let Trump beat himself 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano76 Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Apologies @Lazarus, I could have sworn that Beto was not a national rep (House or Senate) before his announcement for President. I misspoke and should have been more informed before commenting. Either way, I think it's a bad look for someone who loses an election to then have their next move be running for president. Beto did make it close in red-hot Texas though. The Dem field has so many question marks. I'm really interested to see how appealing Bernie is to the general electorate. His politics are also a little cagey to me. He claims to be a democratic socialist, yet many/most of his policies seem to be out of the social democrat playbook. And democratic socialism =/= social democracy. If he is a social democrat, I wouldn't be totally against him. If he is a democratic socialist, count me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted March 18, 2019 Author Share Posted March 18, 2019 Well, it seems that Beto does have some appeal to Democrats. The Guardian: Beto O'Rourke raises $6.1m in first 24 hours, smashing Bernie Sanders' record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashibozuk Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 I, for one, rank the candidates on as follows: What, if any, the candidate plans to improve, why, and how? If the candidate fails to pass criterion #1, I am done Does the candidate have a plausible plan for implementing the changes in #1? If not, I am done Do I believe that over some horizon the country will be better thanks to his/her plan? If not, I am done. In my opinion, the only candidate who almost passed this test two yeas ago was Sanders. Unfortunately two bozos (in my opinion), were running for the presidency. Note: Lady Donna Brazile passed to Mrs Clinton information about one(?) of the questions that would be asked during the Clinton-Trump debate. I do not recall if Madame Brazile was fired by CNN before she resigned or the reverse. Today we were told that she will be working for FOX. If Goebbels were with us, he would have applauded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitrosGournogalos Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 I don't want to see any old timers the likes of Biden, Berny or Warren running! Come on people! I want to see people in their 40s,50s or maximum 60s running for the Presidency! Enough with the career politicians who are corrupt and washed up! Bring NEW YOUNG BLOOD in the equation and you will see how quick you dispose trump! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athinaios Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 I think it's way to early to pick a favorite horse, though I think several will not make it past the end of this year, in realistic terms. The ability to fundraise is imperative, because in the field of dozens, money buys airtime (increasing name recognition) and ground organization. The number one priority of Dems is to see the current prez booted out, so a safer choice will prevail over an unknown. This doesn't mean the safer choice will be an old-timer. As the more successful candidates rise in the polls they'll eventually be compared against DT, and I think those with the best matching numbers (or beating DT) will get a lot of serious consideration by Dems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 On 3/21/2019 at 9:32 PM, MitrosGournogalos said: I don't want to see any old timers the likes of Biden, Berny or Warren running! Come on people! I want to see people in their 40s,50s or maximum 60s running for the Presidency! Enough with the career politicians who are corrupt and washed up! Bring NEW YOUNG BLOOD in the equation and you will see how quick you dispose trump! Looks like Biden will run for the nomination and the Dems will end up nominating old man Joe who in turn will get thumped by DT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepito Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Pretty soon there will be more gringos running for President than beans in my bean soup. But spoon by spoon we will manage to reach the bottom of this. Yummy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 It's nice to hear some reasonable talk from a Presidential candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzatziki Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 On 3/15/2019 at 2:07 PM, Soprano76 said: The electoral college quite clearly complicates things. The electoral college is a non issue, they just rubber stamp whoever wins pretty much, except for a stray vote here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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