ELECTION 2020

[cannongal]

If I had a dollar for every time creepy Joe pawed at a child, I'd be a billionaire.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, Joe Biden got the most votes and thus the most delegates in all of the states that held primaries today (Florida, Arizona, Illinois).

The turn-out was unsurprisingly low, due to coronavirus.

Bernie cleared the 15% threshold in the states and did earn delegates, but he's now about 300 delegates behind Biden.

So, it will be interesting to see if Bernie decides to stay in the race or to suspend his campaign and support Joe Biden's ticket (which will include a woman VP candidate, per Biden's statement at Sunday's debate).

[Rootilda]

I can't see Bernie graciously conceding, especially this early.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, Bernie Sanders is a fighter.   I don't get the impression that being gracious in tough competition is his top priority either.  

So, he may choose to keep campaigning for some time -- democracy at work.

In any case, Joe Biden isn't entitled to the nomination, any more than Hillary Clinton was.  And, there are still a lot of states and delegates at play.  

So, if Bernie decides to keep trying to win voters over for a good while longer, hopefully Biden will be working to attract more of the demographics that Bernie now wins while also contrasting himself with President Trump.  

Personally, I don't suspect that Bernie will keep going after the point that his chance of winning is slim to none and Joe Biden has at least recognized and addressed the important issues of concern to Bernie and his supporters.  But, I could easily be wrong.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bye bye Bill



Bill Weld, the sole remaining primary challenger to Donald Trump, has ended his campaign for the Republican nomination.  

Unlike the Democratic primaries whereby candidates are allocated delegates according to the percentage of the vote they receive, Republican primaries are winner-take-all.  

President Trump earned the majority of Republican delegates after winning Tuesday's Republican primaries in Illinois, Arizona and Florida -- thus earning the Republican nomination.  

Weld, the former two-term Massachusetts governor, pitched himself as an anti-Trump, pro-choice former prosecutor who supported cutting taxes and combating climate change. He backed Trump's impeachment, and was among a handful of Republicans who ran for the nomination and dropped out over the course of the election cycle.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/18...ign-135951

[Rootilda]

The Sanders Campaign Is a Menace to Public Health

Bernie Sanders can't beat Joe Biden. But he can force millions of people to risk being exposed to the coronavirus.

On Tuesday night Bernie Sanders lost three more states, all of them large. In Arizona he was on track to lose by double-digits. In Illinois he was defeated by more than 20 points. In Florida his deficit was double that. He received barely 20 percent and lost every single county.

Florida—you may have heard this before—is an electoral hinge in which every winning Democratic presidential campaign of the last 50 years has been at least competitive.

So Bernie’s campaign is over. It has been over since Super Tuesday. And yet, he persists.

A vanity campaign that continues onward despite having no path to victory aside from the other guy dropping dead is usually a nuisance. For example, Jerry Brown in 1992. Ron Paul in 2012. Sometimes, if the candidate and his supporters are particularly aggressive and unpleasant, it can be a hindrance that exacerbates intra-party divisions and does active harm to the party’s nominee. For example, Ted Kennedy in 1980.

But in continuing his campaign today, the Sanders 2020 campaign has become something entirely new in modern politics: A threat to public—and civic—health.

And if he does not suspend his campaign, immediately, then he and his supporters should be shamed and shunned.


https://thebulwark.com/the-sanders-campa...ic-health/

[HairOfTheDog]

I hope Bernie Sanders will be announcing a suspension of his campaign before the next scheduled primaries too.  

And, I hope that Biden and Bernie are in talks as we speak so that Bernie can drop out in a manner and with a message that helps attract as many Bernie's supporters as possible into the Biden camp.

But, I don't agree that Bernie's obligated to drop out right now or that he's personally risking the health of millions.  In-person voting should instead be prohibited and converted to vote-by-mail only if the race continues.  

This would show that elections can continue even if in-person voting is prohibited, which could help minimize the chance that the RNC and President Trump would attempt to cancel the November presidential/general election if there are still public health concerns at that time.

Alternatives for in-person voting in November should currently be under serious investigation and consideration even if Bernie drops out prior to the next primaries though, in my opinion.

[HairOfTheDog]

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Thursday that she would end her presidential campaign, formally winnowing the 2020 Democratic field to a two-man race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"Today, I'm suspending my presidential campaign and offering my full support to Vice President Joe Biden in his quest to bring our country together," Gabbard said in a video statement posted online.

In endorsing Biden, Gabbard said that "although I may not agree with the vice president on every issue, I know that he has a good heart, and he's motivated by his love for our country and the American people."

"I'm confident that he will lead our country guided by the spirit of aloha, respect and compassion, and thus help heal the divisiveness that has been tearing our country apart," she added.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/19...bid-137242

[Carsman]

I read today where Bernie is rethinking continuing his campaign bid!

[Rootilda]

It's urgent that they extend absentee voter/mail-in ballots to every state because you know Trump will try cancelling the election. Absolutely no doubt about that at all.

[HairOfTheDog]

I read today where Bernie is rethinking continuing his campaign bid!

Yeah, he stopped running Facebook ads, a pillar of his on-line campaign efforts, after Biden swept Arizona, Florida, and Illinois on Tuesday.

I really think the writing is on the wall for a strategic suspension of his campaign very soon.

He got pretty testy with a CNN reporter yesterday when asked about dropping out, because he said that he's currently working on a fucking global crisis; knee-deep and focused on senate efforts to get a robust coranavirus aid package done and ready to go. 

I'm glad he's in the senate and imagine even many Democrats and Independents who don't like him are too -- there's no doubt that he (along with Elizabeth Warren) is pushing the Republican-majority senate to direct the immediate financial aid towards the working class, the underserved, and the small business segments of the population as much (and probably more) than towards huge donor corporations/industries and extremely wealthy individuals.

[Maggot]

It's urgent that they extend absentee voter/mail-in ballots to every state because you know Trump will try cancelling the election. Absolutely no doubt about that at all.

I've heard that before someplace.......Hmmmmmmm. Cannot quite place where though.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's urgent that they extend absentee voter/mail-in ballots to every state because you know Trump will try cancelling the election. Absolutely no doubt about that at all.

I agree that extending absentee voter/mail-in ballots to every state is a very good idea to increase voter participation.

Also agree that it's urgent to get some extensions in place before November so the general election can proceed as scheduled, considering the possibility that coronavirus concerns/risks may hamper in-person voting at polling stations this November.

I know Senator Amy Klobuchar and some other congresspersons are advocating for it, but not sure how much traction it's getting.

Tonight the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice released an estimated cost analysis to make it happen nationwide this year ($982 million to $1.4 billion).  https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/r...y-measures

[cannongal]

Woah,   let's just keep printing that money,   it's not like we can back it up or anything.   Honestly,   I  believe the people that say the dollar bill is going to be useless,  and we'll strictly trade in goods.      There's no way that we're coming back from all this spending for a while.

[HairOfTheDog]

One of the most important aspects of our republic is free, fair, and timely elections.  It should be a governmental priority and I'm hoping improvements in that area can be made this year.  

I think some states may be able to extend voting options before November, out of drive and necessity.  But, I don't expect federal funding will be allocated.

The current government has increased the debt and deficit spending by a record-breaking amount over the last three years and decreased governmental revenue simultaneously, starting long before coronavirus hit.  Now, with the amount of money needed for coronavirus aid and recovery, other spending will very likely dry up.

But, even if the estimated cost was substantially lower than the posted estimate and there was no national emergency underway, I doubt federal funding to make absentee/mail-in voting available to all citizens in all states would get enough bi-partisan support to pass the current Congress anyway.  Unfortunately, some state and federal politicians have been actively working to minimize voter participation for years.

[Rootilda]

We could cut the spending on "Space Force", that would easily cover the cost.

[HairOfTheDog]

We could cut the spending on "Space Force", that would easily cover the cost.

Or...........hit up Bloomberg.  It seems like something that aligns with his stated goals and he has experience working with state activists to change laws and processes (in regards to gun safety).

[cannongal]

It doesn't really matter what they spend money on now.    It's all fake money. 

The stock markets are tanking. 
Businesses are going under left and right. 
People that live from pay check to pay check aren't getting paid,   I'm not sure about other states,  but NH unemployment is so overwhelmed that they put out a schedule of when you can try to apply. 
And this shit show isn't over by a long shot.

[Rootilda]

I worked for the military industrial complex for over 30 years and even I can see that this kind of spending is obscene.

[Duchess]

And yet there is no money for healthcare & education and he's trying to take food away from the poor.