Another Democratic Debate Tonight

I decided to watch last night while waiting for the Rockets game to start and I have now come to the conclusion that we're in for 4 more years of Trump.

Hard to fathom that the Democrats can't even come up with a candidate capable of beating the worst President in the history of the country. (no hyperbole)

 

kind of funny how trump can’t win in 2016 turns to trump can’t lose in 2020

 

collection of Norm Macdonald tweets from last night's debate. some of them are pretty good.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/2...rm-macdonald-tweets-from-the-democrat-debate/

 

Dude gets impeached by the House.....and it basically a shoe-in for re-election. It's like the perfect storm of stupidity for our country.

 

Damn he roasted the fock out of bernie, lmao

 

Sure, but he also has an incumbency advantage and a strong economy advantage. If he wasn't also the worst president in the history of the country, we wouldn't be wasting our time talking about the prospects of nominees from the other party. The DNC would draw straws to see who would suffer the ignominy of challenging him.

 

Kobluchar is polling where she is for a reason, she doesn’t really stand out. Moderate is boring by itself unfortunately, she needs an edge or better narrative.

 

We have over 6 months until the convention. Right now it looks bleak, but as the field narrows you will start to see the dumbassery be minimized.

Mathematically the Democrats have a couple of candidates who simply cannot win. As long as they avoid those, the odds will be with the Democrats.

 

The biggest problem that they have is not sticking with the talking points.. They are trying to use stupid attack tactics and it makes them all look bad..

Trump is good at what he does, he's an entertainer and he's using that to his advantage. The only person who was actually given direct answers was Yang and he should stick with that.

T_Man

 

Except, you know... he's not.

I don't know how people look at these facts:

He lost by 3 million votes in 2016 to one of the least liked candidates in Dem history
He got steamrolled in 2018 by a highly engaged electorate that came out specifically to repudiate him
Almost any of the candidates in 2020 will be better liked than Hillary

And people get to "no one can beat him". Unless Dems screw up, they will win. If they nominate a moderate, they will be expanding the election to compete in reddish/purple states like Arizona and Georgia. If they nominate a progressive, they likely win with a traditional blue map. If they nominate a socialist, who knows what happens.

 

Oh I’m well aware of that situation lol. I remember it coming out when she announced her candidacy. Each time someone announced their bid I watched past speeches from their political career. I’ll support whoever gets the nomination because they’re all better than Trump. I’m not even exaggerating when I say my 10 year old niece would do a better job because she’s at least bright and is eager to research something or ask questions if she doesn’t know the answer; whereas trump pulls s*** out of his a** constantly.

Amy puts on a front of being likable at the very least, even if she’s mean to her staff. She gets along with republicans and that’s paramount. More than anything, I want my lawmakers to be able to get along and have productive conversations instead of continue with the “liberal” “conservative” bulls***. Those two words are poisonous

 

I'm Asian and I agree with you. People want to point out the lack of speaking time by Yang after all of these debates and while it's technically true it's more because of how Yang speaks with higher efficiency than anything else. He doesn't waste time with pauses or measured responses or put too much emotional spin on his answers--he gives you his logical response and let's you, the viewer/voter, accept it at face value. That will never go well with the common voter/American because we all need some emotional connection to the person we want running our country...essentially being relatable. Being methodical only works when everyone you're speaking to has above-average intelligence. I follow him on Instagram and he needs to blend in some of that personal touch from his social media into these debates. That's how he can start gaining more support.

 

It really boils down to who can carry the 8-9 battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.

There are both moderate and non-moderate candidates who can accomplish this... and some who can't.

 

The NY Times hit piece on Klobuchar has been refuted by 50+ current and former staffers. Plus, it’s an old story.

If you’re using that as a basis to dismiss her candidacy, more power to you.

 

I would narrow it even further. If Dems win Florida or Ohio, it's game over. If the GOP wins Virginia or Minnesota, it's game over. I think your battlegrounds are:

Penn/Wis/Michigan - these are the big 3
New Hampshire/Nevada - Likely blue, but Dems have underperformed there recently
Arizona - trending Dem, and hopefully past the turning point with a moderate
Iowa & North Carolina - reaches for Dems but doable with moderates
Georgia - trending Dem, but probably not there yet. Maybe Abrams as VP gets it over the hump.

I'd agree with this. I think Biden, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg expand the map. Warren wins with a traditional blue map. Pete is a big mystery to me - I suspect he's more the traditional blue map simply due to being gay, but he could both win big (Obama energy) or lose big. Sanders/Yang basically throw everything up in the air - they could win in places that no other Dem would win, and they could lose in places no other Dem would lose. Very much like Trump jumbled the map in 2016 where no other Republican could have won the midwest states.

 

Good Post!!!!!!



T_Man

 

I like klobuchar

But I really like Yang

I’d love yang as the nominee with either warren or klobuchar as the vp

I think the lack of speaking time by yang at this point is somewhat by design . He can say “despite the least amount of time we have people saying I won the debate” . Also it trends some hashtags like letyangspeak or yangmedia blackout

Part of it does stem from his directness when answering a question

Also you get time to respond to attacks and rebuts , so his lack of going after other candidates limits his time .

An extra 1-2 mins isn’t gonna do anything

It’s the post debate coverage that has a larger impact and if yang can evoke curiosity he can drive voters to YouTube or his website where they can read or see him in a long-form interview... which is exactly what he wants

 

I think Arizona and Georgia are by-gone conclusions unless something drastic happens vis-a-vis Trump which would make the election a moot point anyway. Your big 3 are correct, if you win those, you basically win unless something screwy happens.

I see no path to the White House for Buttigieg. I see a very treacherous path for Warren. Both of them would struggle with turnout in the Midwest and lack the working class credibility that someone like Biden and Sanders have in those key states. Further, both of them take places like Iowa, NC, and Florida completely off the table and that's a big handicap.

I think Biden, Sanders, and Yang could all carry the day. I think Bloomberg and Klobuchar are still in the "to be determined" category.

 

I agree with you that part of Yang's speaking time issue is self-inflicted, but there is no denying that he was essentially made invisible by the gatekeepers at several of the previous debates. It's one thing if you're succinct and don't butt in (which is NOT something that should be encouraged or rewarded), but it's another thing entire if you are ignored and simply not asked any questions (or asked really dumb questions...).

As for Yang's ability to relate -- I take big issue with that. One consistent narrative that has followed Yang is that he is actually the only person who does seem relatable. He is genuine in a way that stands in stark contrast to the field of rigid, stilted career politicians. He doesn't bullshit or treat people like idiots. He respects the American voter in a way that no one else does, and they appreciate that. He manages to do this all the while "having fun" and coloring outside the lines of a traditional campaign.

 

I only watched it for a few minutes, and I couldn't believe my ears listening to him. It was embarrassing. I was questioning whether or not he was fully aware of where he was or what he was doing there.