Democratic Primary Push for White House

It really is hard to find those small points of agreement. I didn't look into any of it, so I will happily agree and move on.

I am far more interested to see how the Democratic Party resolves the moderate vs socialist split. Seems like a 3 way race at this point, Socialist Bernie vs Pete the Moderate vs Bloomberg the rich. I think Pete has the best chance to win the general election, but will the whole party back him.

As a moderate (doesnt everyone consider themselves a moderate? lol) .. it worries me to see the Democratic party move left. But are we?

AOC only represents a small pocket of NYC yet it seems she is "speaking for all liberals and democrats", when in fact she is not. She is an extreme brand. I do think AOC would vote for open borders and that idea is completely nuts to me. But I think that idea is completely nuts to 80% of the democratic party.I wish someone, Biden or Warren or Bloomberg would come out and say "open borders is not a realistic option".
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Bernie Sanders from his website:

Guarantee tuition and debt-free public colleges, universities, HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions and trade-schools to all.
Cancel all student loan debt for the some 45 million Americans who owe about $1.6 trillion and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at 1.88 percent.
Invest $1.3 billion every year in private, non-profit historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions
End equity gaps in higher education attainment. And ensure students are able to cover non-tuition costs of attending school by: expanding Pell Grants to cover non-tuition and fee costs, tripling funding for the Work-Study Program, and more.

^^ does this mean free college? Would students have to do well in school and placement tests first? Our taxes would certainly go up. The idea that a kid who didnt give a crap about school, just barely graduated would then be offered free college is crazy to me.

^^ 1.3B a year to HBCUs ... I think we can steer some money through grants or other programs but to give free money to schools seems non-productive.

End the housing crisis by investing $2.5 trillion to build nearly 10 million permanently affordable housing units.
Protect tenants by implementing a national rent control standard, a “just-cause” requirement for evictions, and ensuring the right to counsel in housing disputes.
Make rent affordable by making Section 8 vouchers available to all eligible families without a waitlist and strengthening the Fair Housing Act.
Combat gentrification, exclusionary zoning, segregation, and speculation.
End homelessness and ensure fair housing for all
Revitalize public housing by investing $70 billion to repair, decarbonize, and build new public housing.

^^ the waitlist in MD is 8 years or so, they arent even letting people on the list to my understanding ... if you make section 8 avail for all, immediately ... that number sounds astronomical to me.

Institute a moratorium on deportations until a thorough audit of past practices and policies is complete.
Reinstate and expand DACA and develop a humane policy for those seeking asylum.
Completely reshape and reform our immigration enforcement system, including breaking up ICE and CBP and redistributing their functions to their proper authorities.
Dismantle cruel and inhumane deportation programs and detention centers and reunite families who have been separated.
Live up to our ideals as a nation and welcome refugees and those seeking asylum, including those displaced by climate change.

^^ this is basically open borders to me. Anyone can walk in, say "asylum" and we accept them? Break up ICE? Suspend all deportations?



Create a Medicare for All, single-payer, national health insurance program to provide everyone in America with comprehensive health care coverage, free at the point of service.
No networks, no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, no surprise bills.
Medicare coverage will be expanded and improved to include: include dental, hearing, vision, and home- and community-based long-term care, in-patient and out-patient services, mental health and substance abuse treatment, reproductive and maternity care, prescription drugs, and more.
Stop the pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the American people by making sure that no one in America pays over $200 a year for the medicine they need by capping what Americans pay for prescription drugs under Medicare for All.

^^healthcare is still crazy expensive. I have a 4k deductible so basically I am paying my health ins costs every year. I guess if I have surgery and it is not deemed elective, ins will kick in ... one day.

I dont know what to do about health ins. I work hard, went through college and grad school and make good money ... so now my kid will get the same treatment, sitting in the same waiting room as a kid whose parents dont work and just sit around smoking cigarettes?

I imagine the wait to get out-patient appointments will be months and people will just walk into hospitals making them inpatient centers.
https://berniesanders.com/issues/
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Benrie is crazy to me and id not vote vs voting for him. The other Dems Id vote for.

To hell with Bernie and Biden, I'd go Bloomberg

To hell with Bernie and Biden, I'd go Bloomberg

I can't see Bernie supporters voting for Bloomberg. Basically he is trying to buy the Democratic nomination (in the eyes of Bernie supporters)

I think Biden is the only Democrat that stands a chance of beating Trump. If he wins the nomination I will probably vote for him and I vote Republican 99% of the time. If anyone else wins the Democratic nomination I will write in Will Seemore again. I have always thought 3rd party candidates were freaking insane.

So I’m a big JAMES Carville fan (saw him speak, met him, etc)....his positions, ability to see the issues and read the voter are all Jedi-like. I disagree with him on things, but he’s awesome.

So he gave an interview to Vox (certified garbage site) and nailed it once again. It’s a must read for anyone following politics, right or left. Carville is brilliant and 1000% right.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/7/21123518/trump-2020-election-democratic-party-james-carville

We’re losing our damn minds”: James Carville unloads on the Democratic Party

Favorite parts:

Can I say one more thing about the cultural disconnect?

Sean Illing
Sure.

James Carville
I want to give you an example of the problem here. A few weeks ago, Binyamin Appelbaum, an economics writer for the New York Times, posted a snarky tweet about how LSU canceled classes for the National Championship game. And then he said, do the “Warren/Sanders free public college proposals include LSU, or would it only apply to actual schools?”

You know how fucking patronizing that is to people in the South or in the middle of the country? First, LSU has an unusually high graduation rate, but that’s not the point. It’s the goddamn smugness. This is from a guy who lives in New York and serves on the Times editorial board and there’s not a single person he knows that doesn’t pat him on the back for that kind of tweet. He’s so fucking smart.

Appelbaum doesn’t speak for the Democratic Party, but he does represent the urbanist mindset. We can’t win the Senate by looking down at people. The Democratic Party has to drive a narrative that doesn’t give off vapors that we’re smarter than everyone or culturally arrogant.


This ^ is brilliant. this is where the Democratic Party lost a lot of folks, including me

I can't see Bernie supporters voting for Bloomberg. Basically he is trying to buy the Democratic nomination (in the eyes of Bernie supporters)

.........it worked for trump,............well that and putin.

I think Biden is the only Democrat that stands a chance of beating Trump. If he wins the nomination I will probably vote for him and I vote Republican 99% of the time. If anyone else wins the Democratic nomination I will write in Will Seemore again. I have always thought 3rd party candidates were freaking insane.

Bidens toast.Warren and Bloomburg can both beat trump .Now if they were smart they would team up.

I don't see Trump losing to any of these candidates. But I never thought that Obama or Trump would ever be president either, so I'm no Vegas oddsmaker.

I can't see Bernie supporters voting for Bloomberg. Basically he is trying to buy the Democratic nomination (in the eyes of Bernie supporters)

Is he not? What is his mission statement other than "I am a successful businessman ala Trump, but I'm not Trump." He's just throwing money at it that he can afford to lose, what solutions is he presenting to any of the problems facing real Americans today?

Also Sunny, I think you're doing a good job trying to reach across the aisle and bridge the gap between us and Chico/Cred, but Chico has a real hard-on for just pointing out media hypocrisy and inaccuracy instead of realizing both sides do that nowadays, both sides are going to keep churning out content anywhere from factual (Reuters/AP in my book) to cherry-picking/media spin (Breitbart/HuffPo). As long as people keep clicking, that's the goal. There's always going to be someone trying to pin blame or use a situation to promote a theory without evidence, and it's never going to change if you keep clicking/posting/sharing.

For the most part I find your positions reasonable, and I agree with most of them. I think we could do a way better job of healthcare in this country, in its' current form it places profit for the medical insurance/tech/supplier industries over human life. I think considering we have seen systems implemented in other first world countries it's reasonable to think we could implement a similar system here, one that doesn't bankrupt people who need major life-saving surgeries or raise the price of insulin/meds 5000% out of pure greed. But it would require winners and losers. Winners would be American citizens (note I didn't say illegals) for not paying $100 for a bag of saline solution (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html) in a hospital, or 140 grand for a snakebite needing anti-venom (https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-hlth-illinois-snakebite-venom-treatment-20190502-story.html). Losers will be medical insurance for not making profits off healthy Americans who never visit the hospital, or pharma companies not jacking up the price of a life-saving medication 5000%.

I disagree with anyone who wants open borders. But I think families and parents who want to come to America to work hard to provide for their families shouldn't have to wait 10 years to get in. I'm fine taking that wall money and spending it on border agents or technology that makes their jobs easier, but implying it's going to do anything other than make it harder for illegal immigrants to cross is insane. It's not going to slow down Americans' insane appetite for illegal drugs. It's just going to make people pay more money to ride in the trunk of a car at a border crossing, or cross on a boat on the coast at the middle of the night, or pay extra to use a cartel tunnel underneath the border. It will do literally nothing to stop people from overstaying their visa/etc. which is approximately 25% of all illegal immigrants. And unless they build a wall of solid concrete there's a good chance people in Mexico are just going to try and cut through it anyways. If Trump didn't insist on making this a political thing, and instead said "I want to increase funding to the Border Patrol so they can decide the most important areas to build a wall" it would be a lot easier to support.

The housing thing I'm not smart enough to understand a solution to, but I feel like as long as real estate is prioritized as a fantastic money-making opportunity instead of "low-income people need a place to live too" it will always be a problem.

I like Bernie because I think even though solving healthcare is a difficult problem, it's one that needs to be addressed with major changes. I don't care about free public colleges, and I disagree with open borders. The difference is with Trump he will stop at nothing to enact his policies, whether it means pulling money out of anything to build a border wall, or doing it solely via Executive Order instead of doing the proper method through Congress. If Bernie said his main goal is abolishing ICE/CBP but the rest of the Dems totally disagreed with it (obv. you have your AOC's who would support it) it would never happen.

Anyways I think it's a moot point as the mainstream Dems don't support Bernie, and there isn't a single conservative (moderate or extreme) that supports his ideas either. I think the DNC will do anything to make sure he doesn't win the nomination too. And I don't necessarily disagree with that either, our best chance at winning is supporting a candidate that will appeal to moderates who voted for Trump in 2016. And that's not Bernie.

Biden I don't like because he seems out of touch with young people when he talks shit about weed and video games. He needs to realize alienating young people is not the best way to mobilize them to vote for you.

Buttigieg I know nothing about his policy ideas, only that he's gay and was the former mayor of South Bend. He's never going to convince your average straight white male conservative to vote for him though. I think if he won the nomination anti-LGBTQ sentiment would rise from the religious majority on the right.

Warren I don't think is strong enough to stand up to the Trump attacks. We need a candidate who is not going to let the Trump attacks distract from trying to win over swing voters.

I'm not sure who's going to win the nomination, but I feel like it's Biden as he represents the biggest name and the DNC likes him. If he prioritizes responding to Trump attacks over trying to win swing voters he's gonna lose though. One of the key mistakes Hill-dawg made was not campaigning enough (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-out-campaigned-clinton-50-percent-key-battlegrounds-final-100-n683116) in swing states in 2016.

Buttigieg I know nothing about his policy ideas, only that he's gay and was the former mayor of South Bend. He's never going to convince your average straight white male conservative to vote for him though.

I love how liberals single out white people and rip on them. Isn't that being racist? I had supervisory and training roles in some pretty large companies before becoming self employed in very diverse work forces. As a whole the minority males spewed a lot more venomous thoughts toward gay men than the white guys did. The biggest offenders were from our southern neighbors. I would love to see an honest poll taken on this subject. I would bet my right arm your average straight white male conservative doesn't discriminate against gay men anymore than Democrat voting males that migrated from Mexico.

My aunt is one of the few liberals I can discuss politics with. I always have fun when I ask her what Uncle Jorge (Mexican born) thinks of jotos (Spanish term for gay men) she always tells me she has learned to tune him out when he talks about them. She said straight alpha type males from Mexico will never accept gay men and nothing will change that.