Someone Has To Do It: US Elections 2020

[San Bernardhinault]

The Bloomberg thing is so off the rails, it’s unreal. How has he managed to persuade himself that what is missing from the Democratic primary is a super-rich 77 year old white man, ex-Republican, unpopular, ex-mayor of New York, tacking to the center, and protecting the interests of Wall Street and billionaires? Which of those things has been missing from the Democratic primary so far, and which are the base absolutely clamouring for?

[San Bernardhinault]

(I already predict Ursus’s answer about billionaires not exactly being paragons of self-awareness)

[ursus arctos]

More importantly, everyone he hangs out with has been telling him that he has to do it lest Warren or Sanders take some of their money.

[San Bernardhinault]

But... surely those people are more aware of his mountainous limitations than he himself is? Is Jamie Dimon so monstrously stupid that he thinks Bloomberg could win? Because if so, his shareholders should sack him. You’d be a complete idiot to let him look after your money. People who think Bloomberg might win are the kind who’d invest in some of my finest tulip bulbs.

[ursus arctos]

This is where your original answer comes into play

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

What if you don't think he's going to win, but want him to drag the democrats back towards the billionaire friendly 'centre.'

[Flynnie]

What if you don't think he's going to win, but want him to drag the democrats back towards the billionaire friendly 'centre.'

I don’t think he’ll even do that.

[San Bernardhinault]

If the race was going to be brought back to the billionaire friendly center we already have (or had) candidates that offer anything Bloomberg has to offer. We have billionaire friendly candidates. We have superannuated white dudes. We had unpopular ex-NYC-mayors. We have ex-Republicans. We have vacuous centrists. We have obscenely rich people. None of them have moved the primary back to making life easier for the poor downtrodden Wells Fargo and Sheldon Adelson.

[Cal Alamein]

https://twitter.com/MuellerDad69/status/1193253554066219008

[anton pulisov]

The Bloomberg thing is so off the rails, it’s unreal. How has he managed to persuade himself that what is missing from the Democratic primary is a super-rich 77 year old white man, ex-Republican, unpopular, ex-mayor of New York, tacking to the center, and protecting the interests of Wall Street and billionaires? Which of those things has been missing from the Democratic primary so far, and which are the base absolutely clamouring for?

I hope he does it. He'll splinter the Biden Buttigieg vote

[Wouter D]

Trump is going to own the center? How on earth is that going to happen?

[anton pulisov]

JFK the Commie

"Progressive government is what has made this country great"

[ooh aah]

He narrowly defeated a centre right candidate.

[anton pulisov]

To use a South Parkian analogy: Trump, the ultimate douche, but beat turd sandwich Clinton. So the establishment Democrats have come to the logical conclusion that they need to match douche with douche.

[Wouter D]

He already narrowly defeated a center left candidate. One hypothesis is that he'd have an easier time against a "far" left candidate.

It's one of many hypotheses, though.

Trump narrowly beat a centrist candidate, in an election where turnout was markedly down from preceding elections. If the Democrats stop worrying about who might be 'electable' and 'able to beat Trump', and instead start focusing on selecting someone who will drive up their turnout, that seems to me much more of a winning factor then centrist voters. I think the latter are more likely to stay home than vote for Trump.

Look at your own voter base. Make sure they have someone to be enthusiastic about. Worry about the rude blockheaded crouton on the other side later.

[ursus arctos]

Peter King, the IRA's best friend in Congress and 45's strongest supporter in the New York delegation, is retiring after 14 terms in the House. The seat will be very much in play.

[anton pulisov]

It's one of many hypotheses, though.

Trump narrowly beat a centrist candidate, in an election where turnout was markedly down from preceding elections. If the Democrats stop worrying about who might be 'electable' and 'able to beat Trump', and instead start focusing on selecting someone who will drive up their turnout, that seems to me much more of a winning factor then centrist voters. I think the latter are more likely to stay home than vote for Trump.

Look at your own voter base. Make sure they have someone to be enthusiastic about. Worry about the rude blockheaded crouton on the other side later.

The problem is that in the US political process, the Democratic party has two bases: the voter base and the party donor base. Their interests don't align.

[ursus arctos]

The Republicans have the same issue, which was very apparent during the 2016 primaries.

Most of the donors fell in line behind the candidate then, and I would expect the same thing to happen to the Democrats in this cycle.

[San Bernardhinault]

I’m not sure that the Democrat activist base lines up that well with the voter base. And you need a candidate who works for both (you can ignore the donor base, for reasons Ursus says).

[Diable Rouge]

The difference between your center and ours might be reflected in the fact that you spell center the commie French way. I took it that people here would know what I meant in context.

Yes it's "one hypothesis" which I was just passing along. A lot of people who lean left (or claim to) are worried about it, therefore it's a thing. You don't have to like it.

But Clinton couldn't be described as "centre-left" by any stretch of the imagination - Warren, perhaps.

[Tactical Genius]

It's one of many hypotheses, though.

Trump narrowly beat a centrist candidate, in an election where turnout was markedly down from preceding elections. If the Democrats stop worrying about who might be 'electable' and 'able to beat Trump', and instead start focusing on selecting someone who will drive up their turnout, that seems to me much more of a winning factor then centrist voters. I think the latter are more likely to stay home than vote for Trump.

Look at your own voter base. Make sure they have someone to be enthusiastic about. Worry about the rude blockheaded crouton on the other side later.

You have nailed it there WouterD. The Democrats going after trump supporters seems a futile effort when it would be easier tyo go after their base support.
See this article.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...arHYKbCIyRAL1s

[Nefertiti2]

And? I suspect people who were enthusiastic about Obama were lukewarm about Clinton -( and goodness knows there’s plenty to be lukewarm about)

people who were lukewarm about McCain (was it) were keener on an out and out racist like Trump.

this is good by Bernie

[URL]https://twitter.com/therealbradbabs/status/1193893939427905536?s=21[/URL]

[San Bernardhinault]

You need to be careful about trying to “appeal to them”. Appealing to them doesn’t necessarily mean aping Trumpyness nor finding a non-offensive nothing position nor trying to find a triangulaty halfway position. It also, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean taking the lines that motivate the activist class in Brooklyn and Berkeley. It might just be well thought through, well explained positions, rather than reacting one way or another to the external winds.

[anton pulisov]

Sanders did well in Michigan in 2016. He was 24% behind Clinton in the polls a few days before the primary and ended up beating her.

[Nocturnal Submission]

You'll never guess what Hillary Clinton has just said.