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PostPosted: 02/11/19 9:57 am • # 1 
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From my Facebook feed ~ yes, it's early ... but not by much ~ not all of the people pictured below have declared their intentions, but Robert Reich offers solid advice ~ personally, tho I need to learn more, I currently like Corey Booker, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar ~ Sooz

Robert Reich wrote:
Robert Reich
14 hrs ·

Democrats are fielding the most diverse and accomplished list of presidential aspirants in history. Kudos to all of you who are running. I hope you follow these four rules:

1. Do not criticize each other. Trump and the Republicans would like nothing better than for the Democratic primaries to disintegrate into a brawl. It doesn't have to be. Criticize Trump and the Republicans, and lay out a powerful alternative vision.

2. Stay focused on the nation’s biggest problems – climate change, racism, inequality. You'll be tempted to get into the weeds on every possible issue and come up with long lists of policy proposals. Fight the urge.

3. Inspire young people. They want to be involved. I've taught college students for 40 years. The current generation is the most idealistic, dedicated, and determined to make America better of any generation I've had the privilege of teaching. Inspire them, and they'll work like hell.

4. Don’t take big money. It's a trap. Big money wants to stop you from talking about the abuses of power by big money. It's hard to bite the hands that feed you. Rely on small funders. They're out there.

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PostPosted: 02/11/19 10:01 am • # 2 
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5. Keep it simple. Long, convoluted explanations turn people off. They have short attention spans.


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PostPosted: 02/11/19 10:15 am • # 3 
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good advice.


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PostPosted: 02/11/19 10:26 am • # 4 
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oskar576 wrote:
5. Keep it simple. Long, convoluted explanations turn people off. They have short attention spans.



That's the nice way of saying some Americans are too ignorant to understand the details of an issue.


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PostPosted: 02/11/19 2:06 pm • # 5 
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Not really John, its true of people everywhere.


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PostPosted: 02/11/19 3:54 pm • # 6 
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John59 wrote:
oskar576 wrote:
5. Keep it simple. Long, convoluted explanations turn people off. They have short attention spans.



That's the nice way of saying some Americans are too ignorant to understand the details of an issue.


Human nature, like it or not... and you brought up Americans, not me.


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PostPosted: 02/11/19 3:55 pm • # 7 
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Hopefully it won't end up being similar to the Repugnant shitshow or the Hillary/Bernie backstabbing that, arguably, cost the Dems the election in 2016.


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PostPosted: 02/12/19 12:22 pm • # 8 
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oskar576 wrote:
Hopefully it won't end up being similar to the Repugnant shitshow or the Hillary/Bernie backstabbing that, arguably, cost the Dems the election in 2016.


That's a very real concern. There is a real left/right schism among the Democrats right now. If anybody plays big league politics during he primaries the hair ball could skate in again.


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 8:57 am • # 9 
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Personally, I'm sorry to read this ~ I voted for Bernie in the primary, but I still resent his personal behavior when he didn't win over Hillary ~ and I believe it's time for "new blood" now ~ :ey ~ Sooz

Bernie Sanders announces 2020 run for president
Reuters / 19 Feb 2019 at 06:40 ET

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, the progressive populist who mounted a fierce challenge to front-runner Hillary Clinton in the 2016 White House campaign, said on Tuesday he would again seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020.

Sanders, 77, announced his candidacy in a lengthy early morning email to supporters, pledging to build a vast grassroots movement to confront the special interests that he said dominate government and politics.

“Our campaign is about creating a government and economy that works for the many, not just the few,” Sanders said in the email, asking for 1 million people to sign up to start the effort.

The senator from Vermont launched his insurgent 2016 candidacy against Clinton as a long shot, but ended up capturing 23 state nominating contests and pushing the party to the left, generating tension between its establishment and liberal wings that has not entirely abated.

This time around, Sanders has been among the leaders in opinion polls of prospective 2020 candidates, but he faces a field more heavily populated with other liberal progressives touting many of the same ideas he brought into the party mainstream. That could make it harder to generate the same level of fervent support as four years ago.

He also is likely to face questions about his age and relevance in a party that is increasingly advancing more diverse and fresh voices, including those of women and minorities – groups that Sanders struggled to win over in 2016.

The primaries and caucuses that determine the party’s nominee begin in February 2020 in Iowa, and the Democratic winner is likely to face President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the general election in November.

Sanders has been an unsparing critic of Trump, and in his email he called him “the most dangerous president in modern American history.”

“We are running against a president who is a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and someone who is undermining American democracy as he leads us in an authoritarian direction,” Sanders said.

‘COMPLETING THE REVOLUTION’
Among those already in the Democratic race are fellow Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

“Together, you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for,” Sanders said in his email to supporters.

Sanders, a political independent and democratic socialist who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, said he would push in his campaign for many of the same issues that powered his 2016 bid and resonated with younger voters, including universal healthcare, raising the minimum wage, and free public college tuition.

“Three years have come and gone. And, as a result of millions of Americans standing up and fighting back, all of these policies and more are now supported by a majority of Americans,” he said.

A former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders won a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 1990, making him the first independent elected to the House in 40 years. In 2006, he won a U.S. Senate seat and in 2018 was voted in for a third six-year term.

His push against Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, was notable because few Democrats seemed inclined to challenge her claim on the nomination. Sanders’ candidacy swiftly became a phenomenon, as he spoke to swelling crowds and garnered passionate support on social media.

Unlike Clinton, he refused to take money from corporate political action committees, or PACs, relying on a flood of small-dollar donations.

When he ultimately conceded and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in support of Clinton, some of his supporters booed. At the time, Sanders said his populist platform would endure.

Reporting by John Whitesides and James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/bernie ... -campaign/


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 9:37 am • # 10 
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Surely the establishment Dems have gotten the message that a progressive nominee has the best chance of winning. If they haven't, they're as deaf, blind and dumb as the Republicans.


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 1:01 pm • # 11 
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Yep. What's the point of voting for a "Republican Lite" Democrat?

That was one of Clinton's problems.


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 6:24 pm • # 12 
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that having been said, if the best Democratic nominee is a moderate, run him/her.

I will vote for quality in 2020.


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 8:54 pm • # 13 
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macroscopic wrote:
that having been said, if the best Democratic nominee is a moderate, run him/her.

I will vote for quality in 2020.



Considering the current field I would suggest that means your vote would go to Vermin Love Supreme should he chose to run again.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermin_Supreme


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 9:55 pm • # 14 
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jimwilliam wrote:
macroscopic wrote:
that having been said, if the best Democratic nominee is a moderate, run him/her.

I will vote for quality in 2020.



Considering the current field I would suggest that means your vote would go to Vermin Love Supreme should he chose to run again.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermin_Supreme


That one hurt.


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PostPosted: 02/19/19 10:13 pm • # 15 
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jimwilliam wrote:
macroscopic wrote:
that having been said, if the best Democratic nominee is a moderate, run him/her.

I will vote for quality in 2020.



Considering the current field I would suggest that means your vote would go to Vermin Love Supreme should he chose to run again.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermin_Supreme


right now, I like Klobuschar. there are other people I like too, just not as much. and some I am not familiar with.

I know Vermin Supreme. I looked at him in the last election. no thanks.


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 10:24 am • # 16 
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I know Vermin Supreme. I looked at him in the last election. no thanks.

What! The boot he wears for a hat gives you pause?


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 10:27 am • # 17 
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The Bernie-bots are raring to go ~ I read somewhere that Bernie was the beneficiary of jaw-dropping contributions totaling $6million in the 24 hours after announcing his candidacy ~ :eek ~ but the game field has changed ~ I'm still very skeptical he can win over some of the [for now] lesser-known and younger candidates ~ here are 3 of the problems he faces ~ Sooz

Three Reasons Bernie Sanders Faces A Tougher Path In 2020 Than In 2016
By Cameron Joseph / February 19, 2019 10:27 am

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced he’ll run for president Tuesday morning. While he brings some huge advantages to his second stab at the White House that he didn’t have last time around, including a strong brand and the loyal following he built in the 2016 campaign, he faces some significant new challenges he didn’t have last time around

Here are three reasons why Sanders faces an even tougher path to the nomination than he did four years ago:

He Isn’t The Only True Progressive

In 2016, Sanders was the only candidate prodding the tiny 2020 Democratic presidential field to the left on fiscal issues. In doing so, Sanders was able to coalesce the progressive wing of the party and come within a few hundred delegates of winning the Democratic nomination.

This time, that’s going to be much harder.

Sanders has usually placed in second place in national polls, as well as in Iowa and New Hampshire surveys of Democratic voters, trailing only former Vice President Joe Biden. But Sanders’ support has been in the teens in most of these polls, after he fell just short of victory in the 2016 Iowa caucuses and won more than 60 percent of the vote in New Hampshire. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-CA) are pulling significant percentages in early polling as well, siphoning off some of Sanders’ former supporters.

Polls show Democrats support a lot of Sanders’ policy proposals, but many of his 2020 rivals have joined him as they look to compete with him for progressive voters.

A good chunk of the 2020 field has embraced some versions of Sanders’ calls for Medicare for all — Warren, Harris and Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are all co-sponsors of Sanders’s Senate bill. Support for a national $15 minimum wage is close to party orthodoxy at this point. And Warren, Harris and Booker have all signed on to bills for universal free college tuition.

Sanders is not the only candidate proposing major new programs. Warren, arguably Sanders’ main rival at this point for populist left-wing voters, unveiled her plan for a universal childcare program paid for by a new tax on families earlier this week.

Social Issues Are Ascendant

While there’s plenty of populist economic fury left in the Democratic Party, social issues from immigration to gun control have come to the fore in the age of President Trump. That doesn’t play to the strengths of a man who has spent his career with a laser-like focus on economic inequality and has a less consistently progressive track record on many social issues.

Sanders struggled to win Hispanic and African American voters in 2016 and generally lost women — Hillary Clinton’s primary coalition and a strong majority of Democratic primary voters in 2020. He’ll have to make some major inroads with these groups if he stands a chance in 2020, and has yet to prove he has the skill set needed to do so.

Sanders in the past opposed some immigration reform measures favored by many in his party — including the 2007 efforts to craft comprehensive immigration reform, which he opposed over concerns that new temporary worker visas would drive down wages for poorer workers (many in organized labor agreed with him).

Gun control is another issue on which Sanders hasn’t been consistent with the Democratic party. The senator voted five times against the 1993 Brady Bill that mandated background checks on gun purchases, and he backed a bill supported by the National Rifle Association that would have made it hard to sue gun manufacturers whose weapons were used in violent crimes.

Sanders has since shifted dramatically on both issues. He’s recently called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons, has backed more recent efforts at comprehensive immigration reform, and has been a vocal critic of President Trump’s immigration policies. But as Hillary Clinton did in 2016, 2020 Democrats will likely take aim at his past positions on these key issues.

Sanders has also faced criticism in recent years for minimizing racial issues in favor of economic ones. He recently faced some damaging articles about cases of sexual harassment in his 2016 campaign, and he faced criticism back then for a failure to hire enough women and minorities on his campaign. He also struggled for a time in 2016 with how to handle the Black Lives Matter movement.

Sanders does have history with the civil rights movement from his student days. He has also worked hard to adopt gun control and immigration reform as his own issues and emphasizes them more — he talked about all of them in his Tuesday morning campaign announcement. But he’s much less comfortable on these topics than he is with his longtime criticisms of millionaires and billionaires.

Hillary Clinton Isn’t Running

A good part of why Sanders was able to coalesce more liberal voters behind him in 2016 was because he was the strongest voice in the primary for progressive economic policy. But his opponent made a big difference.

Fairly or not, Hillary Clinton proved to be a deeply polarizing figure even among Democratic primary voters. And Sanders’ strength came not just because he did so well with younger and more liberal white voters — it’s because he cleaned up with blue-collar white voters across the Rust Belt and Appalachia. That helped fuel his wins in Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and West Virginia — not exactly bastions of liberalism.

This time around, candidates with appeal to downscale white Democratic voters including Biden, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are running or thinking of running as well. And without Clinton as a foil, it will be much harder for Sanders to galvanize the same coalition.

And while Sanders easily won younger voters in the last primary, he faces a glut of much younger opponents this time including Booker, Harris, Gillibrand and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who will compete for young adults in a way Clinton never could.

These issues don’t mean Sanders can’t win the nomination. But he faces some significant challenges that weren’t there in 2016.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/three-reasons-bernie-sanders-faces-a-tougher-path-in-2020-than-in-2016


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 10:49 am • # 18 
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It concerns me also, because I am not sure he can win as easily as I thought he could last time around. That is the thing - he has been espousing the same things for so long he may come over as a broken record; even I do not click on his posts as I once did. Someone new saying the same things may be taken more seriously at this point. Although I am not sure, just going by my reactions as I am not at work with many different ages and party affiliations to gauge his candidacy anymore.


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 2:37 pm • # 19 
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Bruce yet again states my own thoughts better than I can ~ :st ~ Sooz

Bruce Lindner wrote:
I read an article a few days ago, I think by Nate Silver. It showed that Trump’s base wasn’t big enough now to get him re-elected. Let me repeat that: He CAN’T win on his base alone.
.
The only way he can win, is if the Democrats enter 2020 in a disarray, and he knows it. Hence, this tweet. It’s only February 20th, and he’s already playing divide & conquer.
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I’m going to say this, then forever hold my peace:
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• Resistors, know thine enemy. His name is TRUMP.
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• Democrats, don’t let Sanders’ presence cloud your judgement.
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• Bernie supporters, pledge to support the Democratic candidate, whoever he/she is.
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If we have a redux of 2016, it’ll be our political undoing and an international catastrophe. The whole world is looking to the Democrats for salvation from this monster. NATO is on the chopping block. The future of the Earth’s climate is contingent on us being unified on November 3rd, 2020. Progressives who hate their fellow progressives are a gift to McConnell and Trump. And think about the balance of the Supreme Court. Remember that during the upcoming primaries.
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The Democrats are offering a wide field of great candidates.

The Republicans are offering four more years of Trump.
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The Democratic challengers are women, black, Hispanic, and energized.

The Republican field is Trump.
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DON’T BLOW THIS WITH INTERNECINE BICKERING!!!
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Myself, I’m going to wait and see who tickles my fancy after the debates. I’ve already zeroed in on 2 or 3 who interest me, none of whom are Bernie Sanders. But if Bernie Sanders SHOULD happen to secure the nomination, I’d crawl through 100 yards of broken glass to vote for him.
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Because the alternative is Donald John Trump. The worst, most foul, corrupt, crooked, despicable creature to ever slime his way into our discourse.
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And if he should be re-elected next year, it’ll be because just enough Democrats lost sight of who the REAL enemy was, and tipped the balance towards him.
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Don’t be an idiot. Work together. We won’t survive four more years of Republican rule.

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PostPosted: 02/20/19 3:34 pm • # 20 
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Sanders is not good for the Democrat party anymore. He was a spoiler in 2016, waiting far too long to step back and then not fully supporting the platform and candidate. His supporters held back as well. I believe this little temper tantrum helped Trump more than Clinton. I do not trust him to not repeat this prank. He's too old and carries a lot of baggage including the fact that is not a member of the Democrat party and carries the term Socialist in his affiliation.


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 4:22 pm • # 21 
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Quote:
Bernie supporters, pledge to support the Democratic candidate, whoever he/she is.


And if the Dems do another Wasserman-Schultz the Great Pumpkin gets re-elected.


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PostPosted: 02/20/19 9:47 pm • # 22 
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oh come on. DWS had nothing to do with Trump getting elected. or very little.

y'all can be as cynical as you like, but Democrats have a big advantage in 2020, so long as they don't lose it.


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PostPosted: 02/21/19 6:50 am • # 23 
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macroscopic wrote:
oh come on. DWS had nothing to do with Trump getting elected. or very little.

y'all can be as cynical as you like, but Democrats have a big advantage in 2020, so long as they don't lose it.


Dems are well known for squandering their advantage. So why was Wasserman-Shultz pushed out immediately after Sanders got hamstrung?


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PostPosted: 02/24/19 2:14 pm • # 24 
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oskar576 wrote:
macroscopic wrote:
oh come on. DWS had nothing to do with Trump getting elected. or very little.

y'all can be as cynical as you like, but Democrats have a big advantage in 2020, so long as they don't lose it.


Dems are well known for squandering their advantage. So why was Wasserman-Shultz pushed out immediately after Sanders got hamstrung?


in a "face saving" effort. I personally think it was a bad idea. but I don't want to discuss 2016 any more. it was a different time, in many ways. I would rather focus on now and 2020, if you don't mind.


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PostPosted: 02/24/19 2:58 pm • # 25 
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Focus on whatever you want. I don't mind a bit.


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