ELECTION 2020

[MirahM]

Oy Vey
I mean Uff Da!

[HairOfTheDog]

Both Joe & Bernie are using Barack in their commercials, and Barack has not put a stop to that, so it seems he has to be OK with it appearing as he's backing them. If I was Barack, I would have put a stop to it.
But that's just me.

 
If he even wanted to.....Obama doesn’t have the ability to simply put a stop to it, Cars.   

During his 8 years in the White House....he made positive statements about former Vice President Biden, about senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, about senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, about former NYC mayor and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, and hundreds of other people with whom he worked.  

Since those statements were made publicly by an elected official, there is no restriction on them being used in political advertisements.  Freedom of speech and expression and all that good stuff.   

Obama did however halt a Republican ad which featured his public speech — he was motivated and able to put a stop to it because it was false advertising (the ad took negative comments he’d made about something unrelated and claimed they were about Joe Biden).  

Anyway, as Duchess said, Obama has not endorsed any Democratic candidate for president in the primaries and has clearly stated that he will not.  He said he’ll wait til after the Democratic nominee is elected/chosen and  then he’ll campaign for him or her in the general election.

[cannongal]

Cars,  I thought the same thing when I saw the Pocahontas commercials back in February.    In the commercial,  there was a clip from Obama stating Elizabeth Warren would make a fine president.    I thought it was an official endorsement,  but it turned out that the clip was from a speach Obama made in 2009.

[BigMark]

they all did that

[Maggot]

How the heck will there be a debate without the crowd cheering them on?

[Carsman]

Both those old men talk to themselves anyway, so they don't need an audience!

[Maggot]

I just watched Biden doing a podcast. He was reading off his phone, said the election was in a couple years then walked off as he started talking about the rainforest. Off he went stage left so they stuck a Biden for President sign up until he wandered back in front of the camera, He is the Manchurian candidate. It was funny as all hell. I get a kick out of the old buck.

[Carsman]

Both Joe & Bernie are using Barack in their commercials, and Barack has not put a stop to that, so it seems he has to be OK with it appearing as he's backing them. If I was Barack, I would have put a stop to it.
But that's just me.

 
If he even wanted to.....Obama doesn’t have the ability to simply put a stop to it, Cars.   

During his 8 years in the White House....he made positive statements about former Vice President Biden, about senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, about senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, about former NYC mayor and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, and hundreds of other people with whom he worked.  

Since those statements were made publicly by an elected official, there is no restriction on them being used in political advertisements.  Freedom of speech and expression and all that good stuff.   

Obama did however halt a Republican ad which featured his public speech — he was motivated and able to put a stop to it because it was false advertising (the ad took negative comments he’d made about something unrelated and claimed they were about Joe Biden).  

Anyway, as Duchess said, Obama has not endorsed any Democratic candidate for president in the primaries and has clearly stated that he will not.  He said he’ll wait til after the Democratic nominee is elected/chosen and  then he’ll campaign for him or her in the general election.

Being who he is, he can have "them" revise their commercials to display a "date" when he made those accolades!

I saw that a date of the accolades was added in the Bloomberg commercials. It should be on Joe's and Bernie's as well!

[HairOfTheDog]

I see where you’re coming from, Cars.

But, Obama’s whole point in not endorsing a candidate before the people decide who they want to go up against Trump is to avoid putting his thumb on the scale.

If he meant everything he said about the candidates who are using his praise in their campaign ads and stilll does, why would he ask some / all of them to adjust their ads?

That would be (attempted) interference with candidates’ ability to simply include truthful statements of public record to promote themselves, which is common practice.

I don’t need dates included in ads to know the difference between ‘praising’ and ‘endorsing’.

But, if some people see ads from multiple candidates featuring praising statements from Obama and still draw the conclusion that he must be endorsing them all or be wishy-washy...I don’t see that it matters since Obama’s not running and he has committed to getting behind whichever Democratic candidate wins the nomination in any case.

Anyway, I think it’s good that Obama is not attempting to use/abuse his power and popularity in attempt to dictate campaign terms to the Democratic candidates who are running. He would have no legal grounds to force the issue at any rate.

[Duchess]

Why does Cars want dates on commercials, so dumb people will know better? I've decided I don't give a shit about dumb people. If people don't have the wherewithal to use their goddamn common sense, fuck 'em, they deserve what they get and if that means getting played, so be it. I knew when I saw all the commercials what was done and I'm no fuckin' Mensa candidate.

[Carsman]

Why does Cars want dates on commercials, so dumb people will know better? I've decided I don't give a shit about dumb people. If people don't have the wherewithal to use their goddamn common sense, fuck 'em, they deserve what they get and if that means getting played, so be it. I knew when I saw all the commercials what was done and I'm no fuckin' Mensa candidate.

You're too smart for the room to comprehend!

[Duchess]

No, sometimes I'm just a cunt.

[HairOfTheDog]

I watched last night's Biden / Sanders debate.

I thought Biden was good -- strong and focused without any major gaffes.  He focused mostly on his experience with health emergencies and how he would address the myriad of corona-related health/social/economic challenges within the existing government systems.  

I also thought Bernie was good -- he addressed the same, with less experience and details (and he did mistakenly call coronavirus 'ebola' a couple of times, after Biden had spoken about his work addressing the 'ebola' outbreak).

Additionally, Bernie took Biden to task on his past voting record and he made his agenda for systemic government change/overhaul very clear, as usual.

I still prefer Bernie's agenda and record, but Biden was a calming force and I think most Americans are less concerned about future change than their immediate needs/concerns at this challenging place in time. 

I'll be surprised if Bernie doesn't get slaughtered in tomorrow's Mini Tuesday primaries, then suspend his campaign and endorse Biden shortly thereafter.

Anyway, I'm voting for Bernie in tomorrow's primary, but ready to vote for Biden in the November general election if he secures the Democratic nomination.

[Duchess]

Anyway, I'm voting for Bernie in tomorrow's primary, but ready to vote for Biden in the November general election if he secures the Democratic nomination.

You're a good American, HotD. Not all Bernie supporters feel as you do, it's Bernie or nothing.

[Rootilda]

People focusing on misspoken words, trying to use that as proof of senility, seriously piss me off. EVERYONE does it, it's not limited to Alzheimer's sufferers. Yeah, both Bernie and Biden are old as fuck but neither strikes me as senile.

[Maggot]

Primary's will be cancelled. EOM

[HairOfTheDog]

Anyway, I'm voting for Bernie in tomorrow's primary, but ready to vote for Biden in the November general election if he secures the Democratic nomination.

You're a good American, HotD. Not all Bernie supporters feel as you do, it's Bernie or nothing.

I think (hope) you'll probably be surprised about how many people who agree with Bernie's beefs and his concepts are open to Biden as well.

I've never encountered "Bernie Bros" or any "Bernie or Bust" folks.  I've just read and heard about them second-hand. 

In any case, I don't hold Bernie or any other candidate responsible for attracting some extreme dipshits  unless the candidate is spouting/driving the extremist vitriol.  I have never seen Bernie do that; I've only seen him condemn it repeatedly.

Anyhow, Bernie was the second choice for a lot of people who voted for other candidates in the early Democratic caucuses and primaries, and Biden was the second choice for a lot of Bernie supporters -- according to the exit polls. 

So, I think Biden has strong potential to bring in the vast majority of Bernie supporters (the ones who vote, anyway).  

Plus, Bernie's one of the most concise and frequent critics of Donald Trump -- he wants Trump dumped in a major way and doesn't appear to have any qualms with wholeheartedly getting behind Biden if the people choose Biden over him.  He endorsed and campaigned for Hillary Clinton and it's estimated that she got 87% of his voters.

I think Biden could get even more Bernie supporters than Hillary did, in part because, unlike 2016, it's the peoples' votes only (without the superdelegates) which will determine the 2020 Democratic nominee.  That, in my opinion, will make even Bernie's most die-hard supporters less resistant to the Democratic nominee and will result in Bernie endorsing and campaigning for Biden well ahead of the convention when/if it becomes mathematically clear that Bernie has no delegate path to victory.

[HairOfTheDog]

Primary's will be cancelled. EOM

Maybe.  But, as of 4 hours ago, Arizona's primary tomorrow is still on (with increased health precautions in place inside polling stations and drive-up absentee ballot hand-offs available outside).

I might have to travel a little further though.  Waiting for confirmation of nearest voting location. 

My original polling station was up the street at the Church of Latter Day Saints, but the Mormon church banned their members' attendance at public gatherings last week.

[cannongal]

People focusing on misspoken words, trying to use that as proof of senility, 

   y'all pick apart every deranged word that trump says,  and then get pissed off when the other side does the same thing to Biden. 

Hypocrisy!

[Rootilda]

If I picked apart every deranged word Trump says, I wouldn't have time to sleep.