Mega-Thread: Democratic 2020 Primaries

[Gestopft]

There's a very good chance that when Biden loses due to not attracting the youth vote, which he needs, that the media will turn around and just blame it on agism. Instead of blaming it on him being far too conservative to be running on a left wing ticket.

Biden and Trump are about the same age. I think they'll probably blame young people 'not caring enough'

[Wyrt]

Biden and Trump are about the same age. I think they'll probably blame young people 'not caring enough'

They're on an agism kick right now because of the "Ok, Boomer" meme. Though entirely possible that will leave the news cycle by the time the election rolls around.

[Fugus]

Biden and Trump are about the same age. I think they'll probably blame young people 'not caring enough'

I had a few people try and use that excuse. My response was "What did he give them to care about? Because they need to give them something to vote FOR and not just a bigger bad to vote against".

No real response on that one, just deflection.

[NED funded]

The internet is wonderful

https://streamable.com/leib8

[Flarelaine]

So the point of a Sanders presidency is to purge anyone from the party that doesnt agree with him

Very cool and noble -_-

It has already happened with Trump and the GOP.

That there are people openly supporting the same path for the supposedly non-authoritarian party scares me.

[Deianeira]

They're on an agism kick right now because of the "Ok, Boomer" meme. Though entirely possible that will leave the news cycle by the time the election rolls around.

Well the "ageism" angle dont fly so well considering that Bernie have a huge portion of the yong vote.

[Wyrt]

Well the "ageism" angle dont fly so well considering that Bernie have a huge portion of the yong vote.

Well, if Biden gets nominated and the young vote doesn't show up, which is likely, then the media will find some reason to blame them for it rather than looking at why Biden does not get young people excited. Hint: It's his policies.

The status quo has overwhelmingly failed for millennials and Gen Z. There's absolutely no getting around that in politics. You can't win the young vote by catering to the same status quo that failed them.

Now young people aren't likely to vote for Trump either. They're likely to sit out entirely if their options are status quo and Trump.

[I Push Buttons]

Well, if Biden gets nominated and the young vote doesn't show up, which is likely, then the media will find some reason to blame them for it rather than looking at why Biden does not get young people excited. Hint: It's his policies.

The status quo has overwhelmingly failed for millennials and Gen Z. There's absolutely no getting around that in politics. You can't win the young vote by catering to the same status quo that failed them.

Now young people aren't likely to vote for Trump either. They're likely to sit out entirely if their options are status quo and Trump.

But let me guess... If a fringe leftist gets nominated and moderates are put off by that and they either don't vote or vote the other way, it is definitely their fault the fringe leftist lost!

[Ghostpanther]

Biden and Trump are about the same age. I think they'll probably blame young people 'not caring enough'

When you reach your early 70's you will understand there is a lot of differences in 5 years. When you are in your 20's,30's, not so much.

[Themius]

There's a very good chance that when Biden loses due to not attracting the youth vote, which he needs, that the media will turn around and just blame it on agism. Instead of blaming it on him being far too conservative to be running on a left wing ticket.

Biden has my youth vote.

And warren.

And Bloomberg

And buttigiege

Frankly any democrat.

Even Bernie. And I’m not a fan of Bernie.

[rogueMatthias]

The age debate is specifically a Biden age debate. People haven't really ever brought question on Sanders or Trumps ages being a factor to young voters.

Biden has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth or doing/saying weird things or overlong rambling stories. He also has his touchyfeely/sniffing habits which people excuse as him being of a different generation. A lot of these things combined make it come across that he's really not as sharp as he used to be and that age is taking its toll.

[cubby]

The age debate is specifically a Biden age debate. People haven't really ever brought question on Sanders or Trumps ages being a factor to young voters.

Biden has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth or doing/saying weird things or overlong rambling stories. He also has his touchyfeely/sniffing habits which people excuse as him being of a different generation. A lot of these things combined make it come across that he's really not as sharp as he used to be and that age is taking its toll.

I'm sure that's all you Trumpkins want to believe. Are those the updated talking points approved by the GOP? At least they weren't sent to the Democrats this time....

I also love that you think age wasn't a factor with Bernie, both now and in 2016. It's adorable the levels of delusion you Trumpkins aspire.

[eschatological]

I actually think it's been kind of different. Age has been an issue for Trump, Biden, and Bernie....but not Liz Warren, who is pretty much the same age.

It's more of a perception of energy. Trump and Biden occasionally sound like they're losing the thread of the conversation, their speech wanders and is unfocused. Bernie occasionally comes off as a crazy old man. Liz Warren usually comes off as energetic and peppy, it genuinely surprised me that she was in her 70s the first time I heard it.

If y'all remember, Trump used the "low energy" argument about Hillary when she had to leave an event because she was feeling faint. He, being older, didn't come into that argument arguing age, but energy.

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Man, this interview with Hillary in the Hollywood Reporter is really good. The Bernie supporters will be up in arms over the headline, but it doesn't strike me as anything factually untrue:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fe...bernie-1271551

The main contentious stuff in question:

In the doc, you're brutally honest on Sanders: "He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it." That assessment still hold?

Yes, it does.

If he gets the nomination, will you endorse and campaign for him?

I'm not going to go there yet. We're still in a very vigorous primary season. I will say, however, that it's not only him, it's the culture around him. It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters. It's his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women. And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture — not only permitted, [he] seems to really be very much supporting it. And I don't think we want to go down that road again where you campaign by insult and attack and maybe you try to get some distance from it, but you either don't know what your campaign and supporters are doing or you're just giving them a wink and you want them to go after Kamala [Harris] or after Elizabeth [Warren]. I think that that's a pattern that people should take into account when they make their decisions.

Speaking of, he allegedly told Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018 that he didn't think a woman could win, a statement he vigorously denies. How did you digest that?

Well, number one, I think [that sentiment] is untrue, which we should all say loudly. I mean, I did get more votes both in the primary, by about 4 million, and in the general election, by about 3 million. I think that both the press and the public have to really hold everybody running accountable for what they say and what their campaign says and does. That's particularly true with what's going on right now with the Bernie campaign having gone after Elizabeth with a very personal attack on her. Then this argument about whether or not or when he did or didn't say that a woman couldn't be elected, it's part of a pattern. If it were a one-off, you might say, "OK, fine." But he said I was unqualified. I had a lot more experience than he did, and got a lot more done than he had, but that was his attack on me. I just think people need to pay attention because we want, hopefully, to elect a president who's going to try to bring us together, and not either turn a blind eye, or actually reward the kind of insulting, attacking, demeaning, degrading behavior that we've seen from this current administration.

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Of course, everyone is taking the "Nobody likes him" out of context, to mean at large, when she was clearly talking politically, specifically in the Senate.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

hey hillary, go fuck yourself and go hang with your pedophile friends like jeffrey epstain

[Edge-]

"He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it."

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/...-record-220508 (2016)

http://addictinginfo.com/2016/02/19/...ith-citations/ (2019)

Honestly...she's kinda right by the looks of things. And she's only talking about how he's liked/disliked in Congress, not nationally. His "achievements" generally seem to trend more towards "First openly socialist member of the House" which...isn't really any sort of legislative achievement.

[Machismo]

hey hillary, go fuck yourself and go hang with your pedophile friends like jeffrey epstain

Trump was also friends with Epstein... what does that have to do with the conversation at hand?

[Wyrt]

But let me guess... If a fringe leftist gets nominated and moderates are put off by that and they either don't vote or vote the other way, it is definitely their fault the fringe leftist lost!

There is not a single fringe leftist running for the Democrat nomination, so you're just talking nonsense.

[Benggaul]

hey hillary, go fuck yourself and go hang with your pedophile friends like jeffrey epstain

What did she say in that quote that wasn't true? I don't dislike Bernie and supported him over her in the 2016 primaries, but the "Bernie Bro" culture she's talking about is absolutely one of the reasons he's not my top candidate this time around. And he does seem to revel in it-though I'd shy at saying he fully condones it.

[JohnBrown1917]

What did she say in that quote that wasn't true? I don't dislike Bernie and supported him over her in the 2016 primaries, but the "Bernie Bro" culture she's talking about is absolutely one of the reasons he's not my top candidate this time around. And he does seem to revel in it-though I'd shy at saying he fully condones it.

Bernie bro culture is not a thing, for one.

He did rally for her, blaming her loss on him just makes her sound like a sore loser. Maybe she should have taken a look at her own policies and how hated she was. But what happend to vote blue no matter what? Only counts when its a liberal?

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https://www.politico.com/story/2016/...-record-220508 (2016)

http://addictinginfo.com/2016/02/19/...ith-citations/ (2019)

Honestly...she's kinda right by the looks of things. And she's only talking about how he's liked/disliked in Congress, not nationally. His "achievements" generally seem to trend more towards "First openly socialist member of the House" which...isn't really any sort of legislative achievement.

He got way more done than she did. Or are we including all the wars she was involved it? Libya ring a bell?

[Edge-]

He got way more done than she did. Or are we including all the wars she was involved it? Libya ring a bell?

He's been in Congress longer than she was, so I'd fucking hope so.

But is she wrong? His actual legislative achievements, from what I can tell from a quick review, are pretty thin. He has a lot of ideas, but he hasn't been able to see them through to fruition.

So, again, is she wrong? No substantive legislative history, and even thinking back to 2016 there was hardly an outpouring of support from any liberal colleagues. He's got more Congressional support this election, and that comes in-part from the younger progressive wing of the House, who haven't/don't work with him.

She got plenty done, and screwed up plenty too. But she's not running this election, so her screwups are irrelevant.