Trump bragged about donating to Democrats in 2016. It was part of his performance on how he knows the swamp so he’s the perfect guy to drain it.
I feel like Cassandra, or hopefully the kid in the “Emperor’s New Clothes” story, when it comes to Elizabeth Warren. Scolding the crowd is SUCH bad politics, unless they are doing something really beyond the pale (like “Send Her Back”). :smack:
A social media friend doesn’t see Warren’s manner nearly as negatively as I do, but still had some very incisive commentary about her other downsides: https://twitter.com/slackerinc/status/1157042748006064141?s=21
I also cannot believe everyone in the media is ignoring Biden’s struggles. Yes, in most responses he was not as weak last night as he was the previous time. But he still had multiple occasions where he awkwardly stopped midsentence the first time the moderators even looked at him funny, and there was a response early in the debate when he seriously seemed like he might be having a stroke for a moment there. It was so messed up. I wish I could find video of it. You know how Porky Pig struggles to spit things out? It was sort of like that, but without ever actually getting it out, and accompanied by really weird facial contortions. Not good.
And the almost conspiracy against Beto, Jesus: https://twitter.com/marlencha1992/status/1156465431449763841?s=21
I am still pretty high on Harris, though, even as I wish she didn’t have a couple of those skeletons in her closet.
Your tweets are ridiculous. There are a number of people in the de ates thread talking about Beto not being that great in the debates, n media conspiracy against straight white people require. Why can’t you see he kinda sucks and you are for some reason blinded by his passing resemblance to Bobby Kennedy.
His responses were substantive and well articulated. And you can’t deny that his Texas poll is not getting the kind of attention such a result would logically expect to garner.
Several candidates last night fluffed their lines. Biden naturally has all eyes on him as the elder statesman and frontrunner (and 77 year old man) but he was far from alone.
Andrew Yang’s remarks at the end were perfect in illustrating how debates are becoming too much about style and like a sporting match and less about actual things that matter to the public.
MSNBC’s hands up questions were poor but CNN’s moderation even worse. You could tell the debate last night was going to be about flinging mud when the opening five or six minutes was entirely Biden vs Harris: The Rematch.
Why should anyone really care about that one poll? First of all, I don’t buy it. Texas ain’t going Dem next year. Second of all, the same poll had all the top runners ahead of Trump. You’ve been super keen on Beto since day one and that’s the only reason you’re imagining conspiracy against your golden boy.
Eta: oops, Biden tied Trump in the poll.
False.
Beto O’Rourke would be a fantastic nominee IMO and that he has little traction in the polls is reflective of the media u-turn that has occurred since Betomania in the senate race of 2018. Fact of the matter is they built him up to celebrity politician then have knocked him back for the same reason. I don’t think debates are overly important in voters choosing a side, but they are important in the media narrative and he could not reshape it in his favour. His ground game however is impressive and if he can get a breakthrough in September that could be the kick start to propel him up.
Too slow, I already edited.
Tell me, do you honestly think the Dems would win Texas if Bero was the candidate? Or I guess any of the top runners besides Biden, according to this poll. Are you excited and relieved that even Sanders and Warren are ahead?
Because me, my bullshit detector is blaring away.
Getting back to the candidates themselves, as much as I hate to say this, I am increasingly worried about Joe Biden. He has not looked good at all in his debate performances. As another poster put it, he looks like he’s aged in the time since he left the public spotlight, and he hasn’t aged all that well. I think he’s going to get hammered when the debate field narrows and the candidates have more time to attack each other.
Matt Yglesias joked that Cory Booker should marry his girlfriend, actress Rosario Dawson (for real! I didn’t know they were together), at the Milwaukee convention, which would lead to a rom-com electoral landslide.
Booker is not my #1 candidate at this point, but I think he is the most naturally talented communicator of the bunch. As a TV-political moment, a wedding to a beautiful and popular actress would be genius. And Trump would almost certainly say something profoundly stupid and offensive about them.
Wild and wacky, but I’ve heard much dumber ideas about how to win a general election. Like, say, nominating a know-nothing weirdo from Alaska as VP.
Booker impresses me a lot. I would 100x rather have him the nominee than Biden. For those who say he talks too much about black issues, I think he’s doing that for the primary. In which it matters a good deal. During the election I think he could connect with white voters just as Obama did.
From your lips to…well, I am an atheist but you get the idea. It’s really frustrating but you are giving me hope! Thanks.
I don’t hate this idea.
They are not. No one is ahead outside the MOE except Beto. He got more votes last fall than any Democrat ever has in Texas, and you are skeptical that he could win the state…why, exactly?
Because he just lost on Texas during a blue wave and head to head polls this far out don’t mean much. You know this, so I can’t see what confuses you about my skepticism.
Booker is noticeably lighter-skinned than Obama, too. Yes, that matters to some people.
Yeah, I honestly think he’s as light skinned as your average white person.
Midterm year, against a popular and deeply religious fellow native son. Vs. a presidential year, against a vulgar nonreligious asshole from Noo Yawk City who dragged the popular native son through the mud.
It was a midterm for Cruz too, with as you say record turnout for Dems. No Dem could possibly have raised more money or campaigned harder than Beto did, he is to be applauded for that, but he still lost.
A midterm year for Cruz, yes. The Republican candidate. From the party that consistently does better in midterms than in presidential election years. :dubious:
Am I to assume that you are conceding the other points about the differences between Cruz and Trump? Seems like those might be able to overcome a 2.6 point gap even if we set aside the midterm issue. But only by running a popular native son like Beto.
I know Marianne Williamson is a total wacka-a-doodle in many ways but I did find her closing statement to be spot on the other night. David Brooks in the NYT appears to have noticed it as well and lays it out in this column.
Reading that helped me zero in on what has been bothering me about all of these candidates and why I don’t have much optimism about the Democrats chances. All the policy wonkishness of Sanders and Warren seems to totally miss this. Getting red in the face about what a shit Trump is also misses the point. I honestly believe if one of the candidates convincingly built their campaign around the following ideas Brooks puts forth in this article the Democrats would win in a walk: