For some peculiar reason, the political commentariat this week are bending their bulging brains towards the question of which one of the progressive Democrats currently angling for a presidential bid next year will catch the brass ring. We have a year and a few days to go until Election Day, 2020, and nine months until the Democrat Party convention when the final decision on a candidate will be made; I speculate that the fierce urgency of defeating Orange Man Bad has a lot to do with so many hopefuls running early and often, and the overwhelming media interest in their assorted prospects.
I can’t claim ownership of a finely-tuned predictive crystal ball, or have any informants within the inner party, but I have been following the political scene as reflected in the crazy-house mirror of the internet since about 2002, and before that through a variety of print publications, and over time one does develop a sense of how things may develop with regard to next years’ presidential campaign.
First – I don’t see Joe Biden going anywhere save a semi-dignified retirement. It’s not just that he displays a degree of mild senility, an almost complete lack of any concrete positive achievement as a career legislator, a documented record of getting uncomfortably handsy with women and kids in public spaces, and a jaw-dropping degree of corruption tied to his substance-addled son; it’s that the national establishment news media appear to be declining to park a veil of discretion over all of the above. It’s almost as if someone has put out the word through the successor to JournoList that it’s OK now to rake ol’ Slow Joe over the coals.
One might suspect that the national establishment news media is still hoping for the Dowager Duchess of Chappaqua, Felonia von Pantsuit, AKA Hillary Clinton herself to take to the hustings once more. She certainly has been making all the appropriate noises of late about her eagerness to take on Orange Man Bad, but I don’t think she has a hope in hell, even if the establishment national news media (and the entertainment media, too) have a dispiriting tendency to look at her unlovely corpus with worship in their eyes. She is old, sick, drunken, fat, not charismatic, and busted. Resentful as all get-out, as her presidential apotheosis was snatched from her twice already. All she managed in her long career was to remain married to another superficially charming and charismatically skilled political actor and get four of her State Department functionaries or contractors killed in Benghazi during her tenure as Sec State. Pity that none of that charm and skill managed to rub off on her. (I could make a very crude comment here regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage and the intimacies involved, but then I would prefer to be tasteful. And also refrain from nauseating readers.) So; not Hillary, although the Old Guard among the establishment and entertainment media might have a go at supporting her. Just for old times’ sake.
I honestly don’t see the Democrat Party operatives being sufficiently insane/intent on self-immolation to nominate Bernie Sanders, the die-hard old Commie, and all-around useless old fart – especially not after his recent health problems.
In no particular order of appearance – next on my list of possibles is the pretend-Hispanic Robert Francis O’Rourke, who for political purposes, goes by the fond diminutive of “Beto”, although one can frankly wonder WTF? He’s about as Hispanic as I am (being of provably Anglo-English-Distantly German descent). I assume that lifetime proximity confers a degree of knowledge of another culture (it certainly has with mine) but all that Robert Francis has going for him is a Kennedyesque physical appearance, and a gift for channeling the nastier attitudes and ambitions of the prog characters in this dystopic novel series. Maybe the Dems will go for him – but he has been so far out on the fringe that I can’t help thinking that those few in the inner circles are regretfully chalking a ‘no’ and moving on.
Kamala Harris. She does have the “female person of color” privilege going for her, but it is bad enough to be appealed to vote for a woman just because she was the spouse of a formidable politician: Now we are supposed to vote for a woman just because she got her start as the mistress of a formidable politician?
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, besides a risible surname and a morsel of gay privilege (as well as having served in the military) is just Beto Light. And South Bend appears to be a crime-ridden pit of civic despair. If Mayor Buttigieg had been able to do anything positive about that, then he might have been qualified for a higher office, not that this ever stopped the ambitious before. Otherwise, a truckload of fail.
Cory Booker, formerly a mayor of Newark, New Jersey (another crime-ridden pit of civic despair); a fiercely heterosexual person of color, and as far left as a summer day is long. Pete Buttigieg with a dark tan.
There is persistent speculation in some quarters that Michelle Obama might be a last-minute surprise addition to the Democrat Party slate, but I honestly can’t see this. She already has the celebrity, and the more than generous bennies of a former First Lady and has never struck me as being a really nose-to-the-grindstone individual. Oh, sure, as long as it was parties and exotic trips to distant places, rubbing elbows with the Beautiful People, and flaunting awful and unflattering clothes, but actual dull, draining work, which campaigning and being chief executive would entail … no.
Tulsi Gabbard is a distant outside shot: attractive, well-spoken, and speaks her mind. She is also a military veteran, as lefty as they come, but curiously does not seem to despise conservatives and those residents of flyover country, which is probably why she is a very distant possibility, after Elizabeth Warren … who is the one I believe will be nominated. (With a VP who is whoever comes in second after her, at the convention.)
Finally; Mrs. Warren, sometime Cherokee, long-time law prof, and a prevaricator of some distinction, not that she is unusual in that regard as a politician. A moderately-rabid leftist like all the above, she has female privilege, is attractive and energetic for her age, and in better health that Bernie, Biden and the Dowager Duchess. She also appears to be well-focused and accustomed to working towards a goal. In spite of her embarrassing series of missteps, gaffes and outright untruths, should she be anointed as the One, the national establishment media will obediently hitch themselves to her campaign, and pull it, juggernaut-like, through the streets of the cities, tactfully veiling over her claims of being Cherokee, and fired for being pregnant. The national establishment media is all about mole-hilling the misdeeds of the Democratic Party leadership, while making a mountain of anything about a conservative that they don’t like. That and massive levels of ballot-box stuffing, fraudulent voters, and precincts which turn in more ballots than are people known to live there. Your thought and speculations?
Mrs. Warren is a divider, not a uniter. There are those who think she should be called Fauxahontas, and those who see the truth that she is Liawatha.
Perhaps more to the point, she may be dividing the Democrat Party from the super-wealthy Social Justice preeners who fund the Party under the understanding that it is ok for Democrat politicians to talk about taxing the rich as long as they provide complex tax loopholes which allow them to continue to live their pampered lives. She also has the problem (for a Leftie) of being White. The lack of any record of success in creating jobs for ordinary people would also make her a bit of a punching bag for an opponent such as Trump.
It is strange that the Democrat Party which has such a stranglehold on the US lacks any significant bench strength. This is reminiscent of the late-stage Soviet Union, where the leadership consisted of faceless incompetents and total suck-ups. People with sense and ability have been sidelined in the modern Democrat Party.
Ultimately, the Democrat candidate will effectively be known as “Not Trump”, and the media will mostly ignore her existence while concentrating full time on attacking the Bad Orange Man. Since the key votes will be gathered from those Never-Give-Up dead Democrats and illegal aliens, it really does not matter who the Democrat candidate is.
Our universal suffrage democracy is failing. But there is no appetite for making the necessary changes.
White as she is, a fraud as she is, Gavin – I think she is the best of a bad electable lot. They’re either to sick and old, or too young and incompetent. Tulsi’s the outlier.
Interesting times, eh?
Hillary?
I could make a very crude comment here regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage and the intimacies involved, but then I would prefer to be tasteful.
A friend of mine from residency had five daughters. The mother spent an afternoon teaching the youngest about the birds and bees, as we used to say. That evening, at the dinner table, the details of the afternoon lecture finally sank in and the daughter piped up at the table and said, “Do you mean you did that five times ”
Hillary and Bill probably did it at least once although Chelsea does resemble Webb Hubble quite a bit.
Booker is so “flagrantly heterosexual” that he requires a “beard” as we said in the bad old Rock Hudson days.
The next life ring the Democrats will grab at is Mike Bloomberg if he forgets the rule about the taller man always wins the election. Bloomberg is slightly above midget category.
Yeah, I was being sarcastic about Cory Booker … Bloomberg maybe? A last-minute surprise nominee. Could happen, I guess.
And dear Chels does rather resemble Web H. Poor kid – can’t pick your parents!
Harris is this year’s Rubio. Looks like what consultants and talking heads think a president should look like, but can’t connect with voters at all (not that surprising–she barely eked out her first statewide election in the last year the CA GOP was competitive)
The fact that the mayor of South Bend is treated as a serious candidate for president shows how absurdly broken our politics is.
Robert Francis is surely a GOP operative in disguise, no? (Being a bit serious, I think his plan is to stake out the positions the Dems will run on in 2032, when he’ll still be young enough to run.)
I doubt Slow Joe is capable of running a campaign. He looks terrible.
Lizzie barely beat Scott Brown. She’s perfect for the old white liberal base of the Dems, but her appeal to anyone else is going to be disastrously bad.
Tulsi is the only electable one of the bunch and boy have they been busy torpedoing her candidacy. Cant have any non estsblishment folks in the mix, eh? Hoping Schultz runs third party and snags her. She could bring some serious revenge in a third party candidacy.
It is early, as you noted. And the Democrat Party is akin to the CPSU in the old Soviet Union in the end stage. Just as the Supreme Soviet ratified whoever was chosen by the Politburo to lead the Soviet Union as their only real function, the “elected” delegates [who meet whatever quotas are in fashion in the Party at the moment] plus the unelected Super Delegates ratify whoever has been chosen to be the candidate.
This ongoing Caucasian Cluster Copulation [with apologies to the Fiercely Heterosexual, the Cherokee, the Tamil-Jamaican lady of negotiable virtue, and any other quotas that may be declared filled by the current lot] is Maskirova. No majority at the Convention, and a Deus ex Machina being inserted at the convention having been untouched by the almost 2 years of media and multi-pronged “candidate” attacks on President and country. The enemies of the country rally around he/she/or it and are backed by the threat of Leftist violence.
Subotai Bahadur
For years I’ve yelled at clouds because the GOPe kept putting forth milquetoast presidential candidates (Dole, Romney, McCain, etc.). Nice to see the shoe on the other foot for a change.
The Democrats were so sure that Hillary would win, that for eight years they kneecapped anyone else who might be even a modest threat to her coronation. Thus the current weak bench.
I’ve long held that the current set of Democrat candidates is notably weak. None has a clear majority, all are uninspiring. Which sets them up for a Black Swan or White Night yet to be seen, around which they unify. I thought for a while it might be someone like Tom Steyer, who indeed has thrown his hat in the ring. Someone like Steyer, from the business world, might be better able to articulate a vision that appeals to the Democratic base. Most businessmen know how to produce something and write paychecks.
Maybe the Democrats will realize that Trump can’t be beaten, and they’ll accept his reelection. So whoever the Democrat candidate is, will simply be forced to lose gracefully. If they go that route, they may start planning now for 2024 and begin growing some better candidates. BTW, that’s what I think Tulsi Gabbard is doing: positioning herself for the future.
The field is the weakest I’ve ever seen. Al Gore, John Kerry, or even Howard Dean would run away with it. If Obama was on stage the crowd would assume that the rest of them up there were aides or secretaries. The age difference between the leadership in the two parties was pretty glaring in 2016, and it was easy to attribute it to the Democrat party’s seniority rules for committee seats and other offices. But that doesn’t explain the lack of dynamic governors.
I think the problem runs deeper, and might be due to taking positions that only idiots and academics would support. That weeds out people who aren’t good at defending stupid positions or who get tripped up on things like logical consistency. They’re selling Brawndo, and the only people good at that are the ones dumb enough to think it’s good for plants. I’m sure there are good, competent, well-reasoned Democrats in the House and Senate, and I think nobody hears from them because they keep their mouth shut and vote the party line, counting the days till retirement or a good revolving-door contract. It’s kind of like asking who would still be communist party members in the US in the 21st century. The answer is people who are either naive, stupid, ignorant, or so ideologically blinded that they can’t tell up from down. The Democrats seem to be reaching an end-stage much like that.
I predict they will crash onto the rocks in 2020, and in the ensuing years may have to ditch much of the accumulated madness and get back to the Democrat party that folks remembers from the decades that preceded the Clinton grifting operation and the dumbing down of everything. If nothing else, they should go outside the political ranks and run people like Ellen, Tom Hanks, or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Of the possibles and the likely impossibles, the only one who could trounce Trump is Oprah.
Black, female, made her own damn billion without a small loan from Dad. Bigger name recognition that Trump had on the escalator. Much more successful on network TV than the Donald ever was.
Not actually insane.
The speculation about Michelle Obama jumping into the race is not based on any wide sense of industriousness or ambition on her part. It is the idea that Barack still possesses enough malice and disruption in him to front her candidacy as a Lurleen Wallace for the 21st century. Vote for her and get me!
Gabbard would have the best shot against Trump, but her party won’t have a “Russian asset”, as its nominee, now that Hillary and others of influence have spoken.
Liawatha is the safe bet to get the party nomination. I don’t know where ppl get away with saying she’s persuasive. She’s got zero charisma, and sounds like a scold 24×7.
The Democrats are in a bad way. The last time things looked this unpromising for them, they nominated Adlai Stevenson to run against President Eisenhower a second time. If they refrain from drafting Hillary Clinton, then Sgt. Mom’s analysis is very likely correct. A Warren candidacy would at least mollify the hard left and the gender-war feminists, somewhat shoring up the Democrats’ ever more rickety coalition. But I doubt they believe Warren can defeat the most successful president in a century.
I can’t believe anyone wants Hillary to enter the race, but I think she’ll do it if she thinks it gives her some sort of a “no investigating opposing candidates” shield against what’s about to come raining down from Barr and Durham.
Yeah, looks like the best odds favor Warren. I thought that Harris’ POC and lady cred would pull her through, but she’s getting no traction.
@Born Free – “She’s got zero charisma, and sounds like a scold 24×7.” I’m a middle aged white guy, and when I am sitting around with my friends, this is exactly what is said. I need a grandma
figure yelling at me for 4 years like a hole in the head.
It’ll be Hillary. She’s been campaigning for this since Nov 10, 2016. When your bucket list had one single item, you don’t give up. She has enough dirt on the various candidates to ensure a divided convention. Except Tulsi. Ergo the “Russian Asset” assertion.
There is also, in the heart of every Democrat, a desire to correct the wrong that was 2016. That can only be corrected by having Hillary defeat President Trump. No other candidate will end the psychological hell that is the current Democrat voter’s mind.
The superdelegates vote on the second and following ballots. She owns most of the superdelegates through loyalty or fear. It will be a reprise of the 1880 Republican Convention that nominated Garfield, who had not spent a single minute of campaigning prior to his nomination.
Trust me, the Dems running the convention already have Fleetwood Macs’ “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” cued up.
The problem again for Dem’s next year will be those Dark Web videos that only Hillary can see.
Oh, this will be fun, huh?
It is difficult to imagine how the MSM and Dems are going to react when Barr and Durham start dropping indictments based on the testimony of those who were involved in the 2016/17 spying abuses–Pientka? Page? Mifsud? (Probably not Rogers, though he knows all.) They haven’t done anything to prepare the public for what is about to come.
Which of these Dem losers gets crushed by Trump next year pales in importance compared to that.
I agree that this is a sorry slate of candidates, but check out Trump’s poll numbers. His approval rating has been in a nosedive since the Democrats sprung the impeachment trap. He’s been here before, but he’s going to have to come up with something better than the Kurdish retreat in order to reverse the slide.
The whole Ukraine thing was obviously devised to protect Biden. Now that Warren is the front runner I wonder how long they will pursue it.
I also wonder if Schiff will be tainted by the sleazathon they put into office in the neighboring district. I thought Kamala Harris was trash, but the Democrats ratcheted it up to a new level in the last election.
What we will see for the next few months is a race between Schiff and his secret star chamber and reality in the form of Durham and Barr’s indictments of the players in the coup.
Sydney Powell, whose book I have, is busy turning over rocks in the attack on Flynn which began the coup.
Page and Strzok edited the 302 that was based on the Flynn interview to add material that was not in the notes of the interview. Such as the assertion (the basis of the “lie”) that Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, had discussed sanctions with Flynn. That was the thing that contradicted Pence on TV and led to Flynn’s resignation. In the notes, it is written that Flynn did not recall even talking to Kislyak as he had spoken to so many people in the previous month. He did NOT say anything about sanctions.
The Democrats’ rush to impeachment is to beat Barr and Durham to the courthouse. They have to get a House majority and that is the big hurdle. The Senate is populated by weasels like Romney and Sasse who might vote to convict. The margin is small.
If Trump is impeached and removed, it will mean Civil War. Of course, another feature would be discrediting Barr’s indictments. We will learn in the next year if we have lost that Republic Ben Franklin mentioned.
Michelle Obama wouldn’t be anymore a hands-on president than Barrack was and I disagree that she’s happy with the perks of a former first lady. Read her original Princeton senior thesis for a clue. Note: It’s the one that wouldn’t pass a 6th grade English exam, not the cleaned up, well worded and professionally typed one.
They haven’t done anything to prepare the public for what is about to come.
Hence, the impeachment “inquiry.”
Nancy dare not schedule a vote else she’ll lose her job in Nov. The desperate Dem’s only hope is to create enough bad press for the Bad Orange Man such that indie’s become disgusted and don’t vote. Her “inquiry” will having the opposite effect, as Newt Gingrich found out too late.
“What we will see for the next few months is a race between Schiff and his secret star chamber and reality”
OrangeManBad vs. documentary proof of CIA/FBI spying on domestic political opponents
“Trump didn’t listen to me” vs. “Here’s what I did and who told me to do it”
“Giuliani secret something or other” vs. “Here are texts, emails, etc., showing the whole scheme”
I don’t think it’s unfortunately going to proceed as far as “If that f@#!ing bastard wins we all hang from nooses” but they’re in for a world of hurt. It’s all so bizarre to me that the main Democrat party decided to go all in with these people, instead of cutting them loose in horror. But that’s the Chicago Way, I guess. In the end it won’t be a match for a dude from Queens.
Craig beat me to it about the comparison of Michelle Obama with Lurleen Wallace. As Michelle Obama has a very comfortable life without being President, the only way she would run would be if Barack could persuade her to do so. As she is a rather strong-willed person, I doubt that even Barack could persuade her to run.
I hadn’t been aware of the comparing of Chelsea Clinton with Webb Hubbell. The search engines are quite aware of that comparison, as an image search of Webb Hubble turns up a lot of photos of Chelsea. Their eyes and especially their brows seem similar to me. Webb Hubble is a pretty bright guy, as he played football at Arkansas while getting an electrical engineering degree. Not many could juggle those time demands. I couldn’t.
I would agree that it looks like Liawatha or some dark horse. Having cousins in Oklahoma and California who actually have Indian/Native American descent without ever having taken advantage of it, I don’t look kindly on Native American Law Professor Liawatha. Harding won the Republican nomination in 1920 on the fifth ballot, after beginning near the bottom of the polling.
I wonder if this is the election where the Democrat coalition falls apart.
Not all Dems are insane, just the most vocal ones. I used to think that Warren would pull ahead and win the nomination because of Biden’s clear and obvious advancing senility, corruption and girl-groping tendencies, but Biden just might hang on because of the silent majority of non-insane Dems looking for somebody who presents as not an extremist (anti-meat, trans supremacist, reparations loving, gun grabbing, tax raising, open borders, anti free speech, post-birth abortion zealot). Why they can’t see that their party has lost its collective mind and left them and get with the guy who is actually getting results for the country in the economy and foreign policy is a real testament to the strength that the MSM propaganda machine has among those who inexplicably still view its biased products uncritically. Marinate in that toxic soup long enough and you become a zombie chanting “orang man bad”.
I believe that there was a scenario under which Warren (as a late-entry replacement for a compromised Hillary) could have beat Trump in 2016. But now that Trump is an incumbent, and Warren has four years of damage to her image that she didn’t have then, I’m pretty sure Trump beats her (barring egregious voting irregularities).
It is true that Trump will have to run against a fully-mobilized activist media complex; but that same MSM seems oblivious to the fact that no matter how much of the country’s information infrastructure they control, they still cannot silence Trump.
There is a whole new subject of Biden corruption opening up.
In the final year of the Obama administration, an American lawyer traveled to Romania to meet with a businessman accused of orchestrating a corrupt land deal.
The businessman was Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, a wealthy Romanian real estate tycoon. The lawyer brought in to advise him was Hunter Biden, the son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Hunter Biden’s work for Popoviciu in 2016 went unreported at the time, but Joe Biden’s involvement in Romania was very much public. The vice president was among the leading voices pushing the government to crack down on corruption.
There’s no evidence that Hunter or his father acted improperly or violated any laws. But the arrangement, government ethics experts say, raises concerns that Hunter Biden was used as a prop in Popoviciu’s effort to dodge criminal prosecution.
“We don’t know what [Hunter Biden] was paid or what he was paid for but it does raise questions of whether this Romanian individual facing criminal charges was actually paying for a connection to the American vice president,” said Kathleen Clark, a Washington University law professor who specializes in government ethics.
This is like a candy store of crime. Hard to choose which is the most delicious.
Warren will get the nomination and lose to Trump. Liz had a rally here in San Diego, and the crowd was mainly the local gay/trans lobby. No blacks were visible (there aren’t many in San Diego), but also no hispanic groups (nearly 40% of the population). In a city right on the border, she stayed away from border issues, but it’s probably too late anyway – democrats have lost the hispanic vote. Trump will destroy her on taxes to pay for her “plans”, and no amount of Hollywood accounting will save her.
When did Michelle Williamson drop out?
C’mon, if Tulsi can, Micky-Will.
By the way I am prepared to believe the very late breaking “correction” that Hillary was referring, not to Russians, but Republicans, being the conspirators grooming Tulsi for a third-party run. Were I a moderately independent zillionare with delusions of getting a better grade of sled dog in the lead harness, I’d be doing just that. Mush, Tulsi, Mush. That all said, I believe while Hillary plausibly meant to attack her fellow citizens, who are Republicans, and NOT to attack her bitter enemies, who are Russians … oh. Well, when you have so MANY bitter enemies it is easy to get confused and speak of one and the other interchangeably.
I have to hope Booker never gets elected President because I coined the “fiercely heterosexual” characterization on Ace of Spades HQ, and am amused to see it catch on in the dextrosphere.
I’ve got another: Elizabeth Warren as the archetypal HOA Nazi.
Feel free to use as appropriate!
Another quick drop-in before World Series game 3: I think the nominee is a good bet to be Biden, health permitting. I fully subscribe to all the knocks on him others have delivered, but recall that having an anti-American minister and an admitted terrorist buddy did not impede Obama. I think he is the Democrats’ only chance to snag white working class voters in the key states they lost last time, a loss that I suspect stung them badly.
If Biden should be the nominee, the MSM will shovel all his problems under the bulging carpet and portray him as the confluence of Gandhi, Churchill, and Richard Feynmann.
If Biden’s health rules him out, I would not be surprised if the convention turns to Hillary. Again, I fully subscribe to all the knocks on her above, but given the slanging between candidates already, all of the current hopefuls may be sufficiently bloodied that a compromise candidate will be required. Also, I further suspect that the DNC will find that Warren polls about as well as herpes among the white working class.
The others are non-starters. If I had to be, whoever the eventual nominee is, he/she will choose the … you know … Cory Booker as running mate.
Sorry, intended to be quick, but got the bit between my teeth.
Now back to the game …
If the Barr/Durham roll out continues, 2020 might be a repeat of 2010 at the local, state AND national levels. The Dems could be in the wilderness for at least 10 years.
anon Says:
October 25th, 2019 at 11:52 am
Not all Dems are insane, just the most vocal ones.
To be honest, I’m not sure that I agree with that. It is not the vocal ones, it is the fact that you absolutely never hear a Democrat openly disagreeing with whatever craziness is current, ever. And if any Democrat says anything that while not immediately counter to the Party Line, edges on heresy; he, she, or whatever pronoun is attacked and threatened until there is a recantation. And once again, not one Democrat at whatever level defends their right to speak or have a less than controlled opinion.
They are either Chiroptera feces crazy, or they are literally of a different nation than we are and do not think like we, or the Founding Fathers, do. TWANLOC
Subotai Bahadur
And if any Democrat says anything that while not immediately counter to the Party Line, edges on heresy; he, she, or whatever pronoun is attacked and threatened
They used to call them “Reagan Democrats” and there are a lot of them quietly planning to vote for Trump.
The problem is that Schiff and Pelosi know 2020 is lost so they are racing to impeach before the election. Even crazy Al Green admitted it.
Well, it looks like Tulsi out, now – a long shot anyway. And I know that Marianne Williamson is still officially in … but too much of a flake to take seriously, which is why I didn’t even look at her on my list.
I still think that Biden is too tainted with corruption and Hillary too sick to make a serious run … but we will see.
“…not one Democrat at whatever level defends their right to speak or have a less than controlled opinion.”
We also saw this during Trump’s first two years, when the Dems in the Republican-slim-majority Senate would vote in lockstep (the only divergence permitted was when it didn’t matter to the end results, i.e., WVa’s Manchin.) While the Repubs had to try to satisfy the minimum requirements of Rand Paul-ites on the one hand, and McCain and the Maine lady-ites on the other — an impossible task.
You never, ever, get that kind of intransigence from the Dem side.
After teeing off on Hillary, I see Tulsi then criticized the Dems for their secret impeachment inquiry – and she did it on Fox News.
Her life insurance underwriter is probably drinking heavily right now, and with good reason.
Tulsi Gabbard is gone for good and will not return to the national stage. She announced last week that she would not be seeking re-election to the house. That’s a great way to disappear from the national conversation. Why would she do that? My bet is that someone (Hildebeast) has the dirt on her and used it to chase her off. Tulsi was young and could have remained in the public arena for a couple decades. Somebody didn’t want to happen.Remember that the Clintonistas don’t do anything without a shovel in their hands – either to dig up dirt or bury their opponents.
I don’t support any of the lefty candidates, but the Gabbard story was just too much fun not to watch (like looking away from an imminent train wreck).
Maybe she intends to run for the Senate. Maizie Hirohito, as Ace calls her, should be a fat target.
In saner times, both Bernie and Biden would be labeled “Too Old” and kicked off the stage. But in addition:
1) Previous runner-ups, like Bernie, only got nominated for two reasons: They’re everyone’s 2nd Choice (Stevenson 1956, Nixon 1968) or “its their turn” (Reagan 1980, Dole 1996). Bernie fits neither category. If Biden falls, is anyone going to Bernie? he’s a known quantity, and people aren’t buying him.
2) Booker = space alien. He’s a black man in an empty space suit.
3) Harris had her chance and has been rejected.
4) Buttigig – even the D’s aren’t stupid enough to nominate a Gay Mayor from Indiana, who’d be the First combination First Lady (he’s the wife in the marriage) and President.
IMO, its down to Warren and Biden. Unless Hillary or Michelle swoops in. Would the D’s be nuts enough to go for Hillary a 2nd time? Yeah, they’re crazy. I could see them doing it but even more…
I could see the D’s rallying around Michelle. The only problem is I don’t see Michelle wanting to be POTUS. Unlike Hillary – who tossed and turned every night, angry and upset that BIll was POTUS and not her – I don’t think Michelle really wants back in the White House.
Slightly off topic. One of Trump’s benefits has been his ripping the masks off our Establishment figures and showing them for what they truly are.
In October 2016:
1) Did anyone think Hillary was the nut-burger she’s reveled herself to be? Now, even Tulsi G. is a “Russian traitor”.
2) Did anyone, even those who disliked him, imagine Mittens was “Pierre Delecto” and such a complete liberal fraud and wimp?
3) Did anyone realize what a globalist, establishment figure Bush-II was? I thought his 8 years of silence under Obama, was gentlemanly restraint, but his behavior under Trump has proven otherwise.
Tulsi Gabbard. I like her more than most D’s. Hope you defeats Brad shciek or whatever the guys name is and goes to the Senate. But…
the obvious lonely conservative guy love for her is a little embarrassing. And these are the same dudes complaining that chicks had “a crush” on Obama! Yeah, Tulsi’s better than Hillary or Warren, but she’s only better in the sense that Goering was better than Hitler, or Khrushchev was better than Stalin. (And no, i’m not saying she’s a commie or a Nazi. Dummy.)
Hawaii is sui generis. Ethnicity is very, very important there. And it is probably easily the most culturally conservative state (other than Utah) outside of the South. Gabbard’s father (despite the name) is Samoan and rose to fame leading the anti-same-sex-marriage movement in the late 90s. From there he went into the state legislature (as a Republican!) before switching to the Dems after a while (the GOP barely exists in Hawaii at the moment). The Dems are going to run a Hawaiian against Tulsi, so I think she figured it’s better to “retire” for now than to lose.
I doubt she’d run against Hirono, who would have the Japanese community behind her. Mazie is notoriously stupid. She managed to lose her race for Governor in the early 2000s, which is almost impossible to do, but she managed it somehow. That put her into the wilderness for a long time, before she managed to come back.
It’s probably more likely Tulsi would go after the white guy holding the other Senate seat.
“It is not the vocal ones, it is the fact that you absolutely never hear a Democrat openly disagreeing with whatever craziness is current, ever.”
My mom. My mom is the exception. Other than voting for Eisenhower in ’56 because of the GI housing bill she’s been a die hard D her whole life and even she doesn’t think that Democrats have a chance against Trump. She’s bought into the whole Russian collusion thing and I blame cable TV for that, but still she thinks the current crop of Dem’s are insane.