They aren’t there to say things of substance. They are there to (pretend) to be angry, and forceful, and devoted to a cause, and convincing in the idea that they know how to get things done. They are there to be noticed and remembered, and they all know the way to do this is by “performing”. None of that shit means anything as to how well they may do the job of a president. The debates are a sham, and a massive waste of time when it comes to deciding whom to vote for.
Yeah, I was afraid that the Dem race would become a crab bucket, and this confirms it. Harris, by going there, was doing nothing but helping trump get elected. She wasnt helping herself.
I strongly disagree. I was “meh” about her before, but now I am very excited about her candidacy. And no one would confuse me for the denizen of a far left Twitter bubble.
I would add that Mike Murphy and David Axelrod, hosts of the “Hacks on Tap” podcast and two of the sharpest political minds around, were similarly very impressed.
You’re seriously suggesting she take a strong desegregation of schools platform lifted directly from forty years ago? She can defend that policy in its time and place and Biden can defend his opposition similarly without committing to the same strategy now.
And that was vastly more true of Biden in the 1970’s. If Harris believes in forced busing but doesn’t have the courage to propose it in 2019, she has little credibility attacking him
for his positions back then.
In case it’s not clear, I think forced busing is a bad policy both substantively and electorally. I am just confused at the rapturous reception this exchange has received, given that no one seems to be proposing to bring back the policies that Biden opposed.I think that Biden was right on this issue then and is right on it now.
Assume that Biden became the nominee, and Harris didn’t go after him as she did last night. Further, assume that no one going forward does on the question of race, before the convention. What do you think Trump would do at the first opportunity? You and I, and everyone else here, knows exactly what he would do. If Biden can’t withstand the rather tame “attack” from Harris last night, there is no way he would survive a Trumpian onslaught. If last night, or the like, is all it takes to bring down Biden, Harris will have done a great, big favor for the Dems. And this is most assuredly not a plus for Trump.
Fitting that Harris and Warren ended up fionalists in our own World Cup. Harris-Warren would be the ideal ticket! (Unfortunately, the double-woman ticket would risk rejection by misogyny.)
I see I’ve issued conflicting instructions to my delegates: [septimus;21642098]…
[/QUOTE]
[septimus;21381984]…
[/QUOTE]
[septimus;21325918]…
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[septimus;21331217] …
[/QUOTE]
[septimus;21272316]…/QUOTE]. All previous orders are rescinded. *Please vote Kamala Harris for President!
*
You do realize that the legislation he supported against mandated bussing failed and that the ability of the courts to mandate bussing HAS been the law of the land since then, at least not limited by legislature? It faded as a preferred court tool by the late '80s, partly as the result of a court ruling (Milliken v. Bradley) which limited it to within municipalities, effectively incentivizing flight to suburbia. More court ruling since, see for example Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, have further reduced the ability of the tool to be used.
So yes there are reasons why it is not a tool used by courts today despite the fact that the laws aimed at restricting it never passed. Court rulings have constrained its utility in subsequent decades.
Segregation, even if not as commonly motivated by overt conscious racism, still exists, often perpetuated by structural factors. The problem is not gone even if it has changed.
Wasn’t it Harris that said something like: “…and I made sure their body-cameras were always on”? A possible reference to the police-involved shooting in South Bend where the cop’s bodycam was off.
The message I got from the exchange is that Biden was/is in favor of defaulting to “state’s rights” when it comes to addressing difficult problems, whether it be racial discrimination or something else. But history has shown us that states are not to be trusted with difficult problems. That’s what the federal government is for.
The significance of the exchange is crystal clear to any serious progressive who is looking to be represented by another serious progressive. To a moderate, it’s not that big of a deal. But the candidates aren’t trying to appeal to moderates at this stage of the game.
Let’s also bear in mind that there is a lot of middle ground between enthusiastically supporting busing on the one hand, and on the other, working with staunch segregationists to thwart it, then bragging about that in 2019.
If it’s not Biden, then either the candidate will be someone who’s not straight, white, middle-aged and male; or someone who fits that description is going to come from <1% in the polls.
Neither of those is an encouraging thought for the general.
The thing is, everyone knows - Joe himself knows - he has a long and complicated senate record, but it’s mostly a good one. In a way, I accept that maybe my criticism of Harris’ assault might have some holes. There’s really no way anyone could argue that he shouldn’t have seen it coming. And that’s what flabbergasts me: he just sat there and got fucking owned. I can’t remember the last time I watched someone of Biden’s stature get so badly clobbered (someone who didn’t have a Rick Perry self-destruct moment, that is).
That’s what I keep going back to: it’s not really Biden’s record on race that was his problem last night; it’s that he didn’t look like the feisty, unadulterated, “I’m a lawyer but could have been a construction worker,” Scranton tough guy that we’re all used to seeing. He looked like he was walking around trying to find someone to play bridge with.
Right, I forgot about that. Maybe that was a jab at Pete.
I felt Pete got away unscathed last night but the next round could be tough. He needs to figure out a better way to respond. I thought he was honest and manned up, which I appreciate. But he also needs to be ready to give it back, and I suspect he’s going to get nailed by some of the former mayors, especially De Blasio and Castro, who will give no quarter.
I guess it’s hard to disagree with this. If there’s one upside to Harris’ assault on Biden, it’s that we may have gotten the first clue that we need to reevaluate Biden’s “electability.”
He had such a big lead in the polls that he looked dominant, but his campaign strategy of staying out of the spotlight and trying to go after Trump directly before he’s even started the fight for the nomination just seemed very Jeb Bush-esque.
I had forgotten that I had posted this just a few days before:
Just to be clear: Obama proved that a non-white guy can win. But he won because he wasn’t angry. Straight white males can get away with running an angry campaign; others cannot. I wish it weren’t that way but it is.
Call me naive, but what is even possibly remotely wrong with this statement?
We’ve got a mainstream black candidate for president
he’s articulate, bright, and clean (of course that means no scandal; why would it be doubted that a mainstream candidate showers or brushes his teeth?)
he’s a good looking guy.
Conclusion: How can he not win? It is perfect for the Democratic Party.
