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“I don’t like Trump but I like his policies”

You are just comparing him against the most impragmatic President in history. Maybe people would see it that way after four years of this drama.

But, liberals don't seem to get the message. You lost because of who you ran, not because Trump was better this time than in 2020. Booker is clearly a far-left liberal (in the same part of the graph as Liz Warren). If you think that is what is going to win, I don't know how to help you.

Just run a moderate, sensible candidate. Of course, I could say the same about the GOP. Both parties have let down this country and deserve to be broken up.

And Obama was the most liberal voting senator.

It's more the messenger, not so much the message.
 
He’s tried it once. And it wasn’t very successful.

Seems obvious that both parties would want to nominate candidates who will be competitive in the battleground states.

That’s why I thought the Dems would’ve been money ahead to cut bait with Harris and pave the way for either Shapiro or Whitmer to get the nomination.
Biden dropped out of the race just 100 or so days prior to the election. There was only one person who could legally access his campaign war chest and organizational infrastructure - - Harris. It was too late for any other potential candidate to make a serious run.
 
I think that's true, but it's hard to say who will be in the Democratic primaries, let alone win them. 120 or so days into Obama's second term no one would have thought the '16 Republican primaries would have gone they way they did.

My hunch is that timing is everything here. Let's see what happens around or after the midterms.
Spot on. Three years is an eternity in politics. It’s impossible now to have any kind of a clear read on who the Dem nominee will be in 2028.
 
He’s tried it once. And it wasn’t very successful.

Seems obvious that both parties would want to nominate candidates who will be competitive in the battleground states.

That’s why I thought the Dems would’ve been money ahead to cut bait with Harris and pave the way for either Shapiro or Whitmer to get the nomination.
I think the problem was how do you pass over a sitting VP when the current president decides not to run? There wasn't really time to ramrod a Whitmer, Shapiro or Beshear through primaries. Ultimately maybe they should have tried it, given how things turned out, but I sort of get their rationale.

I'd guess one of the Democratic governors whose names we all toss around here will be on the Democratic ticket in some order.
 
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Biden dropped out of the race just 100 or so days prior to the election. There was only one person who could legally access his campaign war chest and organizational infrastructure - - Harris. It was too late for any other potential candidate to make a serious run.
That's a good point. The campaign war chest was definitely a big concern/issue.
 
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I'd guess one of the Democratic governors whose names we all toss around here will be on the Democratic ticket in some order.

Shapiro and Whitmer would be the clear leaders today, with Beshear close behind. Of course, this far out that means nothing. Plenty of time for others to emerge.
 
Yeah, Harris was a fait accompli once Biden gave it up.

Pragmatic left center Democrats rejected Bernie in 2016 and Bernie/Warren/Harris et. al in 2020. Biden screwed the pooch when he embraced the progressive left identity politics in the name of party unity.
Yep
 
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That's a good point. The campaign war chest was definitely a big concern/issue.
Makes no difference. Biden already went woke. It was a continuation of his policies. The centrist don’t have a shot in the Dem party. That’s why the only names we hear are Newsom Harris AOC walz stay at home Pete
 
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How is that rationale looking now? I don’t know which is worse in Washington politics right now: Greed or ineptness. This is what happens when both parties back presidential candidates with dementia.
It looks just fine or his approval would be in the 20's not 48-52 % The water cooler is not the real world. Now I am sure on the water cooler you could get him a 20% approval if you wanted.
 
Shapiro and Whitmer would be the clear leaders today, with Beshear close behind. Of course, this far out that means nothing. Plenty of time for others to emerge.
Clear leaders? Says who? Your wishes?. They dont represent the Dem party. They better go woke fast if they want any juice
 
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Shapiro and Whitmer would be the clear leaders today, with Beshear close behind. Of course, this far out that means nothing. Plenty of time for others to emerge.
Beshear is slowly starting to emerge on the national stage. An interview here, a podcast appearance there. He's not quiet center stage, prime time yet, but I think that could change in another year or two. From what I know of him, I like him. I like the idea that he's a popular Democratic governor in a far-right state.
 
Dennis Kucinich was always out front and one of the first people to announce a run for the presidency. He was fairly popular with stops on MSNBC shows and Bill Maher. Once things shook out, he very rarely had a legitimate chance at being the Democratic nominee. AOC is getting bigger crowds than Kucinich could have ever dreamed about, but I think their fate in terms of presidential politics is mostly the same.

She'll be a voice in the Democratic party - and that's not insignificant - but she's not a leader of the party. I'm honestly not even sure she actually wants to be. I think she'd be happy playing the role she is now for the next couple of decades.

And Harris was never the consensus pick and isn't really a leader in Democratic politics. She was the Mike Davis of Democratic Presidential hopefuls. When it was clear Biden wouldn't be able to run, Democrats shrugged, looked around and said, welp, she's here...might as go with her.
Didn't you call her one of the most accomplished people to run for President over the summer? Now she "was the Mike Davis of Democratic Presidential hopefuls?" What changed?
 
@Ohio Guy


AOC Wallops Schumer in Potential 2028 NY Senate Primary, Poll Finds​


if it walks like a duck
Walloping Schumer doesn't' mean anything at this point. Democrats want someone who will push back on Trump and Schumer just doesn't cut it. Just because AOC is filling that void now doesn't mean she's driving the bus. She'll be A voice in Democratic politics for a long time, but she'll never be THE voice long term.

This conversation will look very different after the midterms.
 
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Didn't you call her one of the most accomplished people to run for President over the summer? Now she "was the Mike Davis of Democratic Presidential hopefuls?" What changed?
I think on paper she has an impressive resume in terms of state and federal government roles. Davis had been a player at Alabama, had pro playing experience, and was an assistant at Alabama and Indiana when he was named IU head coach. On paper, that had a lot of people convinced too.
 
Walloping Schumer doesn't' mean anything at this point. Democrats want someone who will push back on Trump and Schumer just doesn't cut it. Just because AOC is filling that void now doesn't mean she's driving the bus. She'll be A voice in Democratic politics for a long time, but she'll never be THE voice long term.

This conversation will look very different after the midterms.
again. it doesn't have to be her. her voice is REPRESENTATIVE of where hte party is today and has been. it's why biden went left. it's why harris was chosen. it's why walz was chosen. it's why the only names we hear are aoc, harris, walz, newsom etc. at some point when is the left going to come out of its slumber and realize this is your party. you sound like a mccain cheney bush republican re maga. oblivious.
 
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I think the problem was how do you pass over a sitting VP when the current president decides not to run? There wasn't really time to ramrod a Whitmer, Shapiro or Beshear through primaries.

These are two different arguments. Related, but different.

As for the former, I think you just do it. Instead of navel-gazing about how you can't do it, or why you can't, you just recognize that she's not a very strong presidential candidate...as she had already proven.

And the "you" in this instance is the party standard bearers: Obama x2, Clinton x2, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, etal.

But one of the things that distinguishes the parties is that Dems are basically a coalition party. A party of parties, almost. And both race and gender are among the constituent identity groups. Many people with audible voices would've said that passing her over (especially for Shapiro) would be crapping on blacks and/or women. And then they worry about turnout among those voting blocs.

As for the second, it's pretty well-known that Obama wanted a "mini-primary" -- involving delegates, I assume. He knew that Harris would be a hard sell. I think this is a better argument than the first one. The transition is easier, given the time constraints. In this sense, Biden kinda screwed the party by being so stubborn.

But he had help. It was almost verboten for any Democrat, c. 2023 or early 2024 to suggest tossing Biden overboard. Dean Phillips got a lot of crap for running against the incumbent. He wasn't the right guy to do it, of course. But he had the right idea.
 
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again. it doesn't have to be her. her voice is REPRESENTATIVE of where hte party is today and has been. it's why biden went left. it's why harris was chosen. it's why walz was chosen. it's why the only names we hear are aoc, harris, walz, newsom etc. at some point when is the left going to come out of its slumber and realize this is your party. you sound like a mccain cheney bush republican re maga. oblivious.

Why do you suppose that Harris made such an effort to distance herself from some of her past statements and positions?

I don't think her doing this dampened her standing with the left. They may not have liked her appearing with Liz Cheney or touting Dick Cheney's endorsement. But I think most of them understood that this wasn't her embracing any of their views, it was her hoping to reach out to disaffected Republicans wary of Trump.

I never thought that was well-supported by any empirical argument. Trump had already run twice and held just as much on to self-identified Republicans as Clinton and Biden held on to self-identified Democrats. I think Harris was making a plea to a batch of voters who were either already in her camp or were otherwise not gettable.
 
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Why do you suppose that Harris made such an effort to distance herself from some of her past statements and positions?

I don't think her doing this dampened her standing with the left. They may not have liked her appearing with Liz Cheney or touting Dick Cheney's endorsement. But I think most of them understood that this wasn't her embracing any of their views, it was her hoping to reach out to disaffected Republicans wary of Trump.

I never thought that was well-supported by any empirical argument. Trump had already run twice and held just as much on to self-identified Republicans as Clinton and Biden held on to self-identified Democrats. I think Harris was making a plea to a batch of voters who were either already in her camp or were otherwise not gettable.
Yes. I think she new there was no way progressives would vote for trump so she had that vote baked in no matter what so could make a plea for the middle. Her history and voting record belied that effort with the middle
 
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I think on paper she has an impressive resume in terms of state and federal government roles. Davis had been a player at Alabama, had pro playing experience, and was an assistant at Alabama and Indiana when he was named IU head coach. On paper, that had a lot of people convinced too.
You're the first person I ever heard say Mike Davis had an impressive resume at the time he took the IU job.
 
Yes. I think she new there was no way progressives would vote for trump so she had that vote baked in no matter what so could make a plea for the middle. Her history and voting record belied that effort with the middle

People vote for people they like and think like them. Clinton and Harris didn't fill either bill.
 
People vote for people they like and think like them. Clinton and Harris didn't fill either bill.
Disagree. I think it was woke and a repudiation of same. That Dems think they didn’t lean in enough is telling.

As for Clinton. What a pivotal election that turned out to be in retrospect. We likely would have avoided progressive insanity, trump, trump again.
 
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These are two different arguments. Related, but different.

As for the former, I think you just do it. Instead of navel-gazing about how you can't do it, or why you can't, you just recognize that she's not a very strong presidential candidate...as she had already proven.

And the "you" in this instance is the party standard bearers: Obama x2, Clinton x2, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, etal.

But one of the things that distinguishes the parties is that Dems are basically a coalition party. A party of parties, almost. And both race and gender are among the constituent identity groups. Many people with audible voices would've said that passing her over (especially for Shapiro) would be crapping on blacks and/or women. And then they worry about turnout among those voting blocs.

As for the second, it's pretty well-known that Obama wanted a "mini-primary" -- involving delegates, I assume. He knew that Harris would be a hard sell. I think this is a better argument than the first one. The transition is easier, given the time constraints. In this sense, Biden kinda screwed the party by being so stubborn.

But he had help. It was almost verboten for any Democrat, c. 2023 or early 2024 to suggest tossing Biden overboard. Dean Phillips got a lot of crap for running against the incumbent. He wasn't the right guy to do it, of course. But he had the right idea.
The Biden inner circle and those who knew about Biden's mental decline also screwed the Dems over. Two recent books covering this have come out recently, revealing what the non-tribalist Dems all could see with our own eyes at that first Presidential debate and before.
 
You're the first person I ever heard say Mike Davis had an impressive resume at the time he took the IU job.
You’re the first (and only) person to say that Musk wouldn’t dare do anything illegal as DOGE leader because, if he did, he would be prosecuted and go to jail for a long time.
 
The Biden inner circle and those who knew about Biden's mental decline also screwed the Dems over. Two recent books covering this have come out recently, revealing what the non-tribalist Dems all could see with our own eyes at that first Presidential debate and before.

I would include the mainstream media in that list. Most (not all) of them worked pretty hard to stanch the narrative about Biden having declined. But they're so insistent that they are objective, neutral, impartial, etc. I can't imagine that too many people are buying that anymore.

One thing that I picked up on was that they spoke more about his age (as in, a number) and less about his condition. And I would guess that part of that was the fact that Trump wasn't much younger. But that's BS. Some people are as (mentally) spry as ever at 85 or 90. Warren Buffett comes to mind. And others have started to have declines well before 80.

When they'd discuss his condition, it was very common to hear how alert he was in private, how much he grasped all the nuances of complex issues, etc.

All the people who took part in this bear at least some responsibility for getting the Democratic Party to the no-win position it was in on June 28th, 2024. They were earnestly trying to do him and the party a favor -- and it backfired in a huge way.
 
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All the people who took part in this bear at least some responsibility for getting the Democratic Party to the no-win position it was in on June 28th, 2024. They were earnestly trying to do him and the party a favor -- and it backfired in a huge way.

He may have never said it, but the assumption from the beginning was (at least for me) that he'd be a one term President -- that he'd beat Trump, clean up the Trump mess, and then pass the baton. At some point that changed. It shouldn't have.
 
I assumed that the SNL skit "Girl you wish you had never started a conversation with"

Is based on AOC. Does the skit precede her?
 
Democrats want someone who will push back on Trump
I think you are correct. This is why Democrats poll in the 30% approval range.

Democrats need to find an issue and advance solutions. Pushing men in women’s sports, favoring China goods in the U.S., or defending violent illegal immigrants wont cut it.
 
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