# 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:** 195
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3881 "2020-03-04T16:06:52Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > And he’s apparently endorsing Biden. He’s out, but his checkbook is still in. The Democrats have their own Koch Bros. (Which is terrible, but it’d be stupid not to play by the same rules as the Republicans.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3882 "2020-03-04T16:16:22Z")
Yes, I certainly hope ol’ Mike will keep cutting big checks. He loathes Trump and rightly sees him as a threat to American democracy, so I think he will. Warren lost both her birth state of Oklahoma and her Senate state of Massachusetts, and I suspect she’ll be out within days if not hours: [Warren team turns grim after Super Tuesday wipeout - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/04/elizabeth-warren-super-tuesday-wipeout-120705) ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3883 "2020-03-04T16:55:34Z")
Biden’s nearly perfect run of events continues. I am struggling to see how Bernie comes back. His best shot is a spectacular performance in a one-on-one debate with Biden but even that might not be enough. So will Warren drop out? She certainly should but may still have a delusional belief in becoming the “unity candidate” in a brokered convention without winning a single state. I think a straight Bernie-Biden contest would be good for democracy and push Biden to raise his game which is certainly needed. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3884 "2020-03-04T17:20:31Z")
Warren should drop out, endorse Bernie, and then nominally campaign for him without bashing Biden. That would still allow her to become the “unity candidate” as Biden’s running mate. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3885 "2020-03-04T18:09:52Z")
I guess we have the answer to the “Bernie is the top second choice” and “there are no lanes” theories. I expected a much tougher battle for Biden. Clearing the field early should end this primary before the convention. Sanders has a ceiling, he’s not going to do well in a one vs one. He’s not running against Hillary anymore (and he couldn’t even beat her!) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3886 "2020-03-04T18:16:48Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t think getting ratfucked was really what hurt Biden as much as the fact that he sucks at presidential campaigns - he’s run three times and flamed out all three times. The only reason he made it this far this time is because of his name-brand recognition. > > I still go back to the fact that he had a huge advantage over the other candidates in Iowa and totally blew it. He had the advantages of name recognition, Obama nostalgia, and being straight over Pete Buttigieg - and Pete beat him. He had the advantages of actually being available to campaign while Warren, Klobuchar, and Sanders were tied up in the impeachment trial. Sanders thrashed Biden, Warren came out ahead of him, and Klobuchar surged. Biden just doesn’t get campaigning - that’s not a problem that moving the campaign to a friendlier part of the country can fix, either. > … You were saying? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3887 "2020-03-04T18:34:43Z")
What happens if Biden makes a big senior gaffe at the wrong moment now? He is aging fast, the race is heating up, and the media environment that we have been swimming in for 5 years now is much more “fascism curious” than “back to normalcy.” The media always get what it wants, much more so than any electoral bloc. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3888 "2020-03-04T19:09:38Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > What happens if Biden makes a big senior gaffe at the wrong moment now? > … Trump does those on a daily basis, if not hourly. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3889 "2020-03-04T19:15:11Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > What happens if Biden makes a big senior gaffe at the wrong moment now? The anti-Trump majority shrugs it off and votes against Trump. Gaffes don’t matter anymore. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3890 "2020-03-04T19:21:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Trump does those on a daily basis, if not hourly. How is it even relvant if the media is not telling that story? THe story is that turmp is a right wing populist political beast and they are fascinated by it above all other things, even their own survival as an industry. They don’t hold the gaffes against him if his public doesn’t. They report on it in a rapt fascination wtih chaos. They don’t care about Joe. He is just a little bit of fodder so they can tell their little storries about the end of democracy. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3891 "2020-03-04T19:24:36Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The anti-Trump majority shrugs it off and votes against Trump. Gaffes don’t matter anymore. In assymetrical warfare you can’t expect the same effects on both sides. The media will care about Joes gaffes because he isn’t turmp. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen this already. tumps gaffes are baked in to their love of him already. Joe is fodder though. He will take the bad press and it will depress Dem turnout. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3892 "2020-03-04T19:27:31Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > In assymetrical warfare you can’t expect the same effects on both sides. > > The media will care about Joes gaffes because he isn’t turmp. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen this already. tumps gaffes are baked in to their love of him already. Joe is fodder though. He will take the bad press and it will depress Dem turnout. I’m no expert, but I am guessing the hatred of Trump will fuel large Dem turnout, regardless of who the Democratic nominee is or how he or she does on the campaign trail. Last time some people mistakenly thought 1) Trump probably wouldn’t be so bad and/or 2) there is no way Hillary can lose so I don’t have to vote since she doesn’t excite me. This time, there will be nothing like that. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3893 "2020-03-04T20:06:46Z")
One of Biden’s underrated assets is people _like_ the guy. Hillary was a better campaigner, debater, more disciplined and very detailed. Yet for some reason there has been a distrust of her since she was First Lady. Biden would have been shown up by her as ticking fewer boxes yet he ticked the one box she was always chasing. Forget Trump, Obama in a 2008 primary debate famously responded to a question that Hillary was not seen as likeable by saying “you’re likeable _enough_” ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3894 "2020-03-04T20:37:52Z")
An announcement from the Warren campaign… > **[Next Steps](https://medium.com/@teamwarren/next-steps-bfa8482e2fbc)** > > By Roger Lau ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3895 "2020-03-05T02:21:26Z")
> [@Monocracy](#): > > I guess we have the answer to the “Bernie is the top second choice” and “there are no lanes” theories. Yeah, was that just bad polling, or what do we think was behind that? > [@Procrustus](#): > > The anti-Trump majority shrugs it off and votes against Trump. Gaffes don’t matter anymore. Exactly. I don’t think there’s a person in the country who is thinking “Trump needs to get out, Biden doesn’t look like he’s going to do anything too radical or scary…but wait, he just said something incoherent, so I’m back to Trump!” > [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m no expert, but I am guessing the hatred of Trump will fuel large Dem turnout, regardless of who the Democratic nominee is or how he or she does on the campaign trail. Last time some people mistakenly thought 1) Trump probably wouldn’t be so bad and/or 2) there is no way Hillary can lose so I don’t have to vote since she doesn’t excite me. This time, there will be nothing like that. This. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3896 "2020-03-05T03:08:52Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Yeah, was that just bad polling, or what do we think was behind that? > … _Second choice of those polled but not those who voted._ Buttigieg, for example, actually had fairly equal polling support in both the under and the over 45 groups. Those who were under 45 may have overwhelmingly had Sanders as a second choice and those over may have been a bit split between Biden and Klobuchar. Those under just stayed home, just like many Sanders polling supporters did. Those 45 and over came out and voted and went Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3897 "2020-03-05T05:15:12Z")
There is talk of a Bernie-Warren ticket and I think it could be an interesting play which could shake up the race. Certainly Biden would be worried about Warren pounding him week after week on the campaign trail and in TV studios. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3898 "2020-03-05T06:07:02Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > There is talk of a Bernie-Warren ticket and I think it could be an interesting play which could shake up the race. Certainly Biden would be worried about Warren pounding him week after week on the campaign trail and in TV studios. I don’t think this would shake up the race, but I guess we’ll see. A majority of voters seem to be choosing based on electability (thank god), and the ticket you are describing if anything looks \*less \*electable than Bernie on his own. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3899 "2020-03-05T14:26:35Z")
I like Warren far better than Sanders, but two old white liberals from New England does not seem like a winning ticket going into November. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415/3900 "2020-03-05T14:42:43Z")
In the California results if you add up Biden + those who have endorsed Biden, it comes to 51%. That may tell us where Bernie’s ceiling is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=194) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hee-haw-yall-the-2020-democratic-presidential-primary/824415.md?page=196)