Well I think that African Americans realized that getting rid of Trump was the number one priority, and may have been concerned that Booker and Williams were not the rock stars that Obama was, and so may fall victim to racism in the general election, so thought that Biden was probably the safest bet.
He should have had a real chance of winning the nomination. Any senator or governor should, I think, be taken seriously as running for President. Yes, I know it’s a crowded field, but the likes of Yang and Buttigieg should have been crowded out long before Booker or Inslee.
I agree. Booker seems to me to be far more serious than either Yang or Buttigieg. For that matter, so does Harris. We’ve still got some guys who don’t belong- Yang, Buttigieg, Bloomberg, Steyer.
And of course the ‘forgotten but not gone’ trio: Michael Bennet, John Delaney, and Deval Patrick.
Yes. This is a very strange year. In past primaries, someone like Inslee would be a top candidate. The lack of Governors running is a bit striking.
He was definitely crowded out in a large field. I also think focusing on poverty issues wasn’t a great strategy. I know I’m painting with a wide brush, but I don’t think those voters are watching 20 person debates in the middle of summer on cable news channels.
He was doomed with the ‘true progressives’ who would never accept him. Blah Blah Wall Street blah Big Pharma.
Pete probably took his lane by running a better campaign. And no one saw Biden absolutely nailing down and keeping black support all through 2019.
I like Booker and he’d be a great VP and should be a main contender in 2024 if the worst happens.
Oh, and FYI his book is excellent and I doubt it was all ghostwritten.
No wonder you’re a Buttigieg fan.
I liked Booker and I wish he did better. Along with Klobuchar, Warren, and Sanders, he’s one of the 4 candidates that I’d be very happy with as the nominee (all for very different reasons). So now I’m down to 3 that I’d be happy with.
I’m a Buttigieg supporter because he’s the best candidate in this race. Booker was my second choice after Harris dropped out.
That someone with such a pro-Wall Street, pro-Big Pharma attitude believes that Buttigieg is the best Democratic candidate is hardly a surprise.
She can’t sleep her way into that job.
That’s exactly enough of that. Anything more like that and it’ll be a warning.
I think Booker had no particular glaring weakness except that, in a field of dozens of contenders, there’s no way you’re going to stand out unless you’re some politician truly special or already highly popular to begin with. And he wasn’t.
If you think Kamala Harris wasn’t serious, you just weren’t paying attention. Harris was REALLY serious, and it’s easy to forget she was a frontrunner until her campaign derailed. It was mismanaged (in part because she trusted her sister too much) but an error is not the same as not being serious.
I don’t think Kamala Harris has ever been unserious about anything. She looks like she takes going to the movies seriously.
I think all of them are being hurt by their pledge to restrict which donations they’ll accept. At this point, with two billionaires in the race, there’s zero reason to continue it. They need money to survive.
Harris was dead serious about winning and came into 2019 on the winds of a wonderful performance and news coverage from the Kavanaugh hearings. I think she made a serious blunder by putting too much money and time into SC. I can’t judge an entire state by my ten days there but it seems that SC just isn’t a state that’s chomping at the bit for Democratic Party politics and trying to reach those voters in the summer of 2019 was the same as trying to sell them Christmas trees on the 4th of July.
Of all the candidates I think Booker had the best shot at uniting the different parts of the Democratic party so it’s a bit disappointing that he had to drop out so early. It’s difficult to identify the reasons for his failure since for the most part he ran a solid campaign. Possibly he edged too far to the left and focused too much on race but it’s hard to see those as decisive blunders. I think his failure just shows that political success in a tough primary is often a matter of chance; how the quirks of your personality mesh with a fleeting public mood.
one good thing for Booker is that he goes home to Rosario Dawson:)
OK, now John Delaney’s both forgotten and gone.
Now that monthly reporting is a thing. I think we will see the rest of the fringe drop.