The 2016 Democratic Candidates

[Donald_Rump]

NY Post reporting that Mayor De Blasio is interested in running.

De Blasio in secret bid to be Dems’ 2016 pick

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Not. Gonna. Happen.

[Simplicio]

@furt

It’s meaningful when the candidate does not have a clearly-articulated vision for what she wants to accomplish as president. GHW Bush was dinged for not having “the vison thing,” and so was Bob Dole. Heck, so was Romney.

Go to Rand Paul’s website, and there’s a section explaining where he stands on various issues. Go to Ted Cruz’s and there’s a section explaining his campaign themes … light on specifics, but you can clearly get the gist of what he’s for and against. Go to Hillary’s website, and there’s a place to give money, a place to volunteer, and a bio that talks about her life and has grandmother pictures. Not a word about what policies she advocates, what her priorities are … apparently, you should just give/volunteer/vote for her because she’s Hillary.
.

FWIW. according to the Waybackmachine, Hillary’s campaign website is literally a week old. I’m sure it will have a page with her political positions when the primaries get closer. Cruz et. al. have more developed websites since they’re already in elected office.

(Jeb, who I think is the only perspective candidate in a similar position, doesn’t have a website at all, presumably because he hasn’t announced his campaign yet, and thus can’t spend other campaign money on developing one).

[adaher]

@Donald_Rump

NY Post reporting that Mayor De Blasio is interested in running.

Exclusive | De Blasio in secret bid to be Dems’ 2016 pick

I did find it odd that he was in Iowa, as reported by a more mainstram outlet.

[ElvisL1ves]

@Elendil_s_Heir

Several interviews with O’Malley today on NPR.org. IMHO he’s a little too cagey about Hillary and why he’s a better candidate.

Sounds just like he’s running for Running Mate, doesn’t he?

[Simplicio]

@Donald_Rump

NY Post reporting that Mayor De Blasio is interested in running.

Exclusive | De Blasio in secret bid to be Dems’ 2016 pick

Musing publicly about running for Prez is a pretty time-tested way to get some flattering press and raise your national profile without actually doing anything. I seriously doubt de Blasio is going to actually run.

[Donald_Rump]

@Simplicio

Musing publicly about running for Prez is a pretty time-tested way to get some flattering press and raise your national profile without actually doing anything. I seriously doubt de Blasio is going to actually run.

I’m skeptical too. What would be the end-game, fizzle out spectacularly and then return to NYC to run for re-election as a spectacularly fizzled-out presidential also-ran? It doesn’t make sense. Probably just another slow news day at the New York Post.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@ElvisL1ves

Sounds just like he’s running for Running Mate, doesn’t he?

Yes, and I think it’s a mistake. MJO’s making a few friends in Iowa, though: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/politics/election-2016-martin-omalley-iowa/index.html

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Responding to Baltimore riots, MJO returns from Ireland trip: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/27/politics/freddie-gray-martin-omalley-baltimore/index.html

[ElvisL1ves]

He *has *to, whether crassly for the sake of appearance or out of love for the city that still remembers his mayoralty warmly. Maybe he can help, who knows.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Agreed.

[adaher]

Entirely appropriate for him to go there. Still don’t agree with many of his views, but as a man and a potential executive he impresses me more every day.

[BrainGlutton]

Martin O’Malley heckled in Baltimore.

BALTIMORE —Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley was heckled on a packed street corner in West Baltimore on Tuesday, after he cut short a trip to Europe to return to the city he led as mayor for seven years.

O’Malley (D), who is preparing to launch a White House bid, waded into a crowd near the burned-out shell of a CVS pharmacy that was destroyed and looted Monday night. He was confronted by two men on motorcycles who shouted expletives and blamed the recent violence in the city on O’Malley’s tough-on-crime policies from 1999 to 2007.

[adaher]

Democrats are in a tough spot on the crime issue. Democrats were fully on board with the tough on crime tactics in the 90s and 00s but are now starting to reconsider. I think they should be taking libertarians’ lead on this issue rather than following their own instincts. Crime still cannot be solved by less enforcement and more social workers. What we can do is stop putting people in jail for offenses that are not worthy of jail, such as drug use, minor vandalism, turnstile hopping, etc. But that doesn’t mean the police should be ignoring these crimes. THe police shouldn’t ignore ANY crimes. If you think they should, then these things simply shouldn’t be crimes. Otherwise you replace one form of unfairness with another. The laws will apply to the law abiding but the non law abiding would be allowed to break them with impunity.

[adaher]

There are four tenets to criminal justice reform, IMO:

1. Address sentencing disparities. If the average white guy doesn’t need to go to jail for a crime, then the average black guy shouldn’t be going to jail for it either.

2. Reducing the number of laws on the books. Every law creates a lawbreaker. If the enforcement of the law is unbearable, repeal the law.

3. Alternative punishment, or simply arresting and holding people without charge for 24 hours. Why not use existing police power to still enforce the law, but not ruin people’s lives over it? In many cases of simple disorderly conduct, the cops will just put you on ice for 24 hours and let you go. For very minor crimes, it seems an appropriate punishment to me.

4. Prison reform. Enough of the chortling over some guy about to get beaten and raped. That’s not an official punishment, in fact its cruel and unusual punishment. It’s not any more acceptable that we allow it to happen and even sometimes want it to happen. We need more prison guards and more protections for inmates who complain about abuse, either from other inmates or prison authorities. We need prison to be a place to cool your heels and think about your life, not a place where you become a scared animal and leave a scared animal, set loose on the world.

[CaptMurdock]

@adaher

There are four tenets to criminal justice reform, IMO:

1. Address sentencing disparities. If the average white guy doesn’t need to go to jail for a crime, then the average black guy shouldn’t be going to jail for it either.

2. Reducing the number of laws on the books. Every law creates a lawbreaker. If the enforcement of the law is unbearable, repeal the law.

Other than rather draconian anti-marijuana laws, you got anything specific in mind?

4. Prison reform. Enough of the chortling over some guy about to get beaten and raped. That’s not an official punishment, in fact its cruel and unusual punishment. It’s not any more acceptable that we allow it to happen and even sometimes want it to happen. We need more prison guards and more protections for inmates who complain about abuse, either from other inmates or prison authorities. We need prison to be a place to cool your heels and think about your life, not a place where you become a scared animal and leave a scared animal, set loose on the world.

And whose taxes are you going to raise for THAT? Prison reform is one of those soundbites that everybody approves of, but no one over a 25% tax bracket wants his money going towards. Those are the “stick 'em in a hole and let 'em kill each other” crowd.

[adaher]

@CaptMurdock

Other than rather draconian anti-marijuana laws, you got anything specific in mind?

I’d put all drug use and possession of small amounts in that category, no matter the drug. I’d also apply it to all victimless crimes. Crimes against the state should not be punishable by jailing. There could be alternative methods for dealing with the offense, such as seizure of assets(as in tax fraud), but as a general principle I don’t think the public is served by putting tax cheats in jail. The IRS’ other enforcement measures are more than adequate without making it a criminal case.

And whose taxes are you going to raise for THAT? Prison reform is one of those soundbites that everybody approves of, but no one over a 25% tax bracket wants his money going towards. Those are the “stick 'em in a hole and let 'em kill each other” crowd.

When we take people into custody we are responsible for them. The best way to pay for it is to have fewer people behind bars. Non-violent people should not be in jail, period. Take Bernie Madoff and put him to work at a Wal-mart greeting people for minimum wage until the day he dies.

[adaher]

Lest we hjack this thread with a criminal justice reform debate, I just want to go back to my original point:

Democrats’ instincts on this issue are bad. We will eat them alive if they go soft on crime and historically it’s always been a big loser for them. If they want ideas on how to reform criminal justice without paying a huge political price, they need to follow libertarians’ lead, where there are actually some good ideas. Stay away from the bleeding heart stuff. Especially since getting tough actually did make our neighborhoods much safer. Running away from that legacy is mindbogglingly stupid.

[CaptMurdock]

@adaher

I’d put all drug use and possession of small amounts in that category, no matter the drug. I’d also apply it to all victimless crimes. Crimes against the state should not be punishable by jailing. There could be alternative methods for dealing with the offense, such as seizure of assets(as in tax fraud), but as a general principle I don’t think the public is served by putting tax cheats in jail. The IRS’ other enforcement measures are more than adequate without making it a criminal case.

I don’t do well with generalities. More specific, please. As for tax cheats, please see below.

When we take people into custody we are responsible for them. The best way to pay for it is to have fewer people behind bars. Non-violent people should not be in jail, period. Take Bernie Madoff and put him to work at a Wal-mart greeting people for minimum wage until the day he dies.

You think Bernie Madoff or Ivan Boesky or Michael Milken did time in any kind of “jail” that most people usually associate with convicted criminals? These guys serve their sentences in minimal-security “Club Fed” facilities, where “punitive measures” mean “no seconds on dessert.” Their idea of a “hard case” is the guy who made counterfeit Treasury bills on a color Xerox. Not exactly Alcrataz, we’re talking here.

So please, you want to talk seriously about prison reform, leave Bernie Madoff out of the discussion.

[BrainGlutton]

@adaher

I’d put all drug use and possession of small amounts in that category, no matter the drug. I’d also apply it to all victimless crimes. Crimes against the state should not be punishable by jailing.

The phrase “crimes against the state” is not generally understood to mean the kind of “victimless crimes” you are talking about, it means treason, insurrection and sedition. Of course a free society should tolerate sedition, the Smith Act Trials were a national disgrace, but no government can tolerate treason or insurrection.