2020 Presidential Candidates

[catherine]

Watching Tulsi Gabbard on CNN Town Hall, and I'm pretty impressed, actually. Not a bad Dem candidate (maybe Bernie can make her VP

[LDAHL]

Watching Tulsi Gabbard on CNN Town Hall, and I'm pretty impressed, actually. Not a bad Dem candidate (maybe Bernie can make her VP

I think that so far she’s probably the best of the blighted crop.

It was interesting watching Hickenlooper deal with the talking heads trying to get him to label himself as a capitalist. How times have changed. Only a few years ago, that would have been a strange question to ask of a candidate, but now it’s fraught with all kinds of implications. I would have liked him to answer with something like “Yes, i built myself a tidy fortune as a practicing capitalist. Deal with it, snowflake.”

[JaneV2.0]

Watching Tulsi Gabbard on CNN Town Hall, and I'm pretty impressed, actually. Not a bad Dem candidate (maybe Bernie can make her VP

She has her issues, notably being rabidly anti-gay in the aughts.

I think all the announced Democratic candidates so far are impressive--certainly in contrast to the venal and craven Republicans. (Save Hickenlooper and Schultz and any others of their ilk I haven't mentioned.) Maybe quietly competent Jay Inslee will move to a competitive spot.

[LDAHL]

She has her issues, notably being rabidly anti-gay in the aughts.

I think all the announced Democratic candidates so far are impressive--certainly in contrast to the venal and craven Republicans. (Save Hickenlooper and Schultz and any others of their ilk I haven't mentioned.) Maybe quietly competent Jay Inslee will move to a competitive spot.

What taint do Hickenlooper and Schultz carry? Profitable activity? A lack of enthusiasm for the great project to immanentize the eschaton by federal fiat? A certain pale male moneyed aroma?

[JaneV2.0]

What taint do Hickenlooper and Schultz carry? Profitable activity? A lack of enthusiasm for the great project to immanentize the eschaton by federal fiat? A certain pale male moneyed aroma?

All that and more...With Schultz, it's the arrogance that he has anything at all to offer.

[LDAHL]

All that and more...With Schultz, it's the arrogance that he has anything at all to offer.

He certainly isn’t offering the cornucopia of wonderful things that many of the declared contenders are; and he even has the temerity to question their cost.

[LDAHL]

I see that the Hamlet of the Democratic Party has finally overcome his indecision about running. He’s got the adoring Vanity Fair cover and everything. And flights of angels sing him to the Vice President spot on the ticket?

[catherine]

I just read that.. I wonder how this very crowded field impacts donations and war chests. There are going to be a lot of disappointed donors given that out of 13 at the starting line, only 1 will win. Even spiritual leader Marianne Williamson has thrown her hat in the ring! Personally, I think a Sanders/Williamson ticket would put the country right where it needs to be!

[Rogar]

There are several candidates I like and would vote for, but I am not seeing many that are electable and capable of beating Trump. They have platforms that may appeal to more liberal democrats and coastal elites but they are missing appeal to middle American. The last election may be debated for years, but middle America is where the dems failed in the last election and where I see them failing again. I don't think they get it, even after their last defeat. Things like restrictive gun issues, guaranteed incomes or jobs for all, Medicare for all, and race and LBGT rights may be fine in moderation, but the Bernie style approach and it's various shades among the different candidates will not hold up against Trumps economic nationalism.

One thing Trump is very good at doing is creating enemies where none exist. Everybody loves somebody to dislike. He created false enemies out of immigrants seeking asylum, created a fear of Muslims as potential terrorists, made a fairly prosperous country as failing and the promise to make things great again. He will create enemies of anything he can label socialism and I predict that will be a big part of his platform.

I think the dems need to come out of la la land. Four more years of Trump will be worse for the country and the environment than the weakest of Democrat moderates. I like Hickenlooper, but don't think he has the persona of a presidential candidate. It's early but I would like to see people with a more moderate agenda, not because I think the are the best of the bunch, but because they are electable. Maybe Biden falls into that category but he also carries the Obama/Hillary taint.

Of course some of that depends on Trump not being indicted for crimes and that he is still president by 2020.

[bae]

Things like ... race and LBGT rights may be fine in moderation...

LGBTQ and race rights are human rights. Considering the still-oppressed status of some of those communities, and the systemic structures arrayed against them, what does "moderation" look like?