# Hee-haw, y'all. The 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415 "2018-11-12T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 150
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2981 "2020-01-02T17:19:04Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Biden told out of work coal miners that anybody who can shovel coal can write software for a living. Gee, I never thought of that. Perhaps unlikely for most coal miners, but more realistic than saying Big Coal is ever going to be more than a shadow of its former self. Market forces are killing coal, nothing that politicians can turn around. Coal miners have to accept this and move on rather than clinging stubbornly to an industry well past its prime. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2982 "2020-01-02T17:41:51Z")
many people write code without formal training in software, including me. You don’t have to be a genius but you need to be smart which I am sure many of these guys are. But do they want a job coding? That’s the key. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2983 "2020-01-02T17:54:40Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Biden told out of work coal miners that anybody who can shovel coal can write software for a living. Gee, I never thought of that. > **[Biden to Coal Miners: Learn to Code](https://gizmodo.com/biden-to-coal-miners-learn-to-code-1840735758)** > > Democratic presidential contender and Joe Biden has some advice for the recently disrupted: learn to program. Well, everyone is missing the point. It’s not just coal miners can learn to _program_, it’s that coal miners,\* "anybody who can go down 3000 feet in a mine "\* can learn to do many many things, not just mine coal. Out of work factory workers can also do a whole host of positions, given training. trump promised them their factory jobs and coal mining jobs back, Joe is saying we can _train you for better jobs._… jobs that dont kill you like coal mining does. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2984 "2020-01-02T18:45:49Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Biden told out of work coal miners that anybody who can shovel coal can write software for a living. Gee, I never thought of that. They can just shovel the code into the computers! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2985 "2020-01-02T22:17:50Z")
Williamson laid off all her campaign stuff. Both of her supporters are in tears. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2986 "2020-01-04T02:19:57Z")
On the unexpected side, [Mike Bloomberg has just hit 11% is a nationwide poll](https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/476689-bloomberg-rises-to-third-place-alongside-warren-in-national-poll), putting him in a tie with Elizabeth Warren for third place. Pete Buttigieg is not looking so good at just 6%. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2987 "2020-01-04T09:29:51Z")
The Economist/YouGov poll around the same time still has Bloomberg at 3%. Anyway we should be getting a whole bunch of January polls soon enough which will give us a clear picture of the race in the final weeks before Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2988 "2020-01-04T13:00:05Z")
Who is the Bloomberg voter? Biden is on the ascending curve again in the last two months after a poor autumn. Pete is on the descending curve now after a great autumn. Klobuchar has almost trebled her Q3 fundraising number for Q4. Shows that she is at least gaining some respect to have her voice on the debate stage even if she is only people’s second or third choice still. They’re the three moderates, and it goes without saying Biden is a runaway front-runner for that group, as he is the front-runner overall. I would like to see Bloomberg on that debate stage so I can actually hear the distinctions in person, and more importantly I have an idea of what he is like these days. And by that I mean that the last time I paid attention to Michael Bloomberg was about six years ago. My impression of him is out of date. He’s pumping a hundred million of his own money into ads which is his right, but I can’t vote for someone whose campaign presence is solely through carefully scripted and edited promotion. Tom Steyer could do that but he’s also making the pitch in person — by being in debates, doing town halls and attending the ceremonial events all candidates are invited to participate in. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2989 "2020-01-04T13:28:43Z")
the biggest fans of Steyer and Bloomberg are TV stations who get the cash from their ads. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2990 "2020-01-04T14:11:58Z")
So here are the Q4 fundraising totals: Bernie 34.5 mil Mayor Pete 24.7 mil Biden 22.7 mil Warren 21.2 mil Yang 16.5 mil Klobuchar 11.4 mil Booker 6.6 mil Gabbard 3.4 mil Takeaways? - Like it or not, Bernie’s here to stay. - Like it or not, Mayor Pete is a serious candidate. - Biden is strong he’s not really inspiring anyone - and that’s not likely to change. - Yang has a cult following. - Klobuchar and Booker need to drop out. Gabbard needs to as well, but we know she won’t. Another broader takeaway is that Joe Biden has a real problem on his hands. The fact that Bernie, Pete, and all of the other alternatives indicate that there’s still a strong desire for someone different, someone out of the mainstream. As mentioned, Biden is not really setting hearts on fire. Even if he somehow wins the nomination, he will have an enthusiasm problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2991 "2020-01-04T17:20:34Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Who is the Bloomberg voter? The guy who’s too drunk to read the names on the ballot? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2992 "2020-01-04T18:31:06Z")
[“The Democratic coalition is too big” ( :smack: )](https://theweek.com/articles/877658/democratic-coalition-big) repeats the same (disconcerting) message often repeated here and elsewhere, but it is a short crisp summary. > [@](#): > > It sounds like a joke — a political version of the old Yogi Berra one-liner about a local restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” Yet however paradoxical, the statement about the Democrats may nonetheless be true. The party could well be too capacious to coalesce around any single candidate with sufficient intensity to take down President Trump. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2993 "2020-01-04T23:31:14Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [“The Democratic coalition is too big” ( :smack: )](https://theweek.com/articles/877658/democratic-coalition-big) repeats the same (disconcerting) message often repeated here and elsewhere, but it is a short crisp summary. I wonder if Mike Bloomberg just might be that candidate. Yes, the odds are long, but he has a political track record in a major office (unlike Mayor Pete). He has moderate credentials like Biden, but he has a track record of taking very controversial positions and sticking to them (remember the soda pop restrictions? Gun control?). He doesn’t have the baggage of someone with a long career in Washington. He’s got his baggage but he’s been effective in responding to concerns about it. He’s media savvy. He’s old, but he comes off as sharper than both Biden and Bernie. And oh yeah, he’s loaded, and he - more than anyone - can call out Trump on his being a fake billionaire. Bloomberg might be Trump’s kryptonite. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2994 "2020-01-04T23:59:10Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > … Joe Biden has a real problem on his hands. The fact that Bernie, Pete, and all of the other alternatives indicate that there’s still a strong desire for someone different, someone out of the mainstream. As mentioned, Biden is not really setting hearts on fire. Even if he somehow wins the nomination, he will have an enthusiasm problem. The VP pick could take care of some of that. IF an enthusiasm-generating person is willing to take that slot, of course. But there are possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2995 "2020-01-05T01:43:35Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > … > Another broader takeaway is that Joe Biden has a real problem on his hands. The fact that Bernie, Pete, and all of the other alternatives indicate that there’s still a strong desire for someone different, someone out of the mainstream. As mentioned, Biden is not really setting hearts on fire. Even if he somehow wins the nomination, he will have an enthusiasm problem. Pretty much Joe has a awful lot of people that like him, and apparently Blacks trust him. But a lot of that is pols trying to distance themselves from Biden, the frontrunner, in order to attract attention. Pretty much, with the exception of Sanders, I will bet that the Dem party platform will be about the same no matter who gets the nod. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2996 "2020-01-06T16:09:26Z")
BREAKING: JUDGE JUDY ENDORSES MICHAEL BLOOMBERG [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-bITEVXwHtI/maxresdefault.jpg "Judge Him | Mike Bloomberg 2020") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bITEVXwHtI) oh and julian castro endorses elizabeth warren ! > ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2997 "2020-01-07T22:37:20Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Who is the Bloomberg voter? I’m guessing moderate conservatives who were Republicans until about three years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2998 "2020-01-07T23:06:34Z")
Average margin of victory vs. Trump for major Democratic candidates in all polls in the last month by pollsters with at least a B rating from 538: Biden +5 Sanders +4 Warren +1 Bloomberg +1 Buttigieg even This is consistent with what we’ve been seeing the last few months. Warren had a little bump in the fall but it seems to have subsided. Basically, we have 2 fairly safe choices and a bunch of riskier ones. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/2999 "2020-01-07T23:12:12Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Average margin of victory vs. Trump for major Democratic candidates in all polls in the last month by pollsters with at least a B rating from 538: > > Biden +5 > Sanders +4 > Warren +1 > Bloomberg +1 > Buttigieg even > > This is consistent with what we’ve been seeing the last few months. Warren had a little bump in the fall but it seems to have subsided. Basically, we have 2 fairly safe choices and a bunch of riskier ones. I am thinking that when the kremlin and the GOP unleash their dirty tricks and lies propaganda vs Sanders, he will no long be “safe”. He will be swiftboated so bad they will call it "Bernie-ized’ and “swiftboating” will go out of use. They will produce a Communist party card- and it will be a convincing fake. Pictures of him (maybe some real) at Communist party rallies, and much more. Sanders will lose worse than Kerry. At least with Biden, they have already unleashed all they can. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3000 "2020-01-07T23:24:49Z")
1. Yes, we all know you think that. 2. Kerry’s loss was actually pretty close. 3. You are delusional if you think that their propaganda machine has EVER “unleashed all they can” against anybody. That reminds me of the Hillary people saying “But her negatives are already baked in!”. Whoever is the nominee will be smeared relentlessly, and nobody has a crystal ball that can predict which candidate might be more or less vulnerable to such smears. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=149) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=151)