# Why are Democratic presidential candidates so dull? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460 "2015-07-17T21:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/41 "2015-07-21T12:26:09Z")
While we’re telling John Edwards stories, here’s one of my favorites: “She speaks to you through me … And I have to tell you right now – I didn’t plan to talk about this – right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She’s inside me, and she’s talking to you.” That’s John, channeling the spirit of a handicapped fetus to con jurors in Tennessee into awarding him millions of dollars in a lawsuit against doctors who later turned out to be innocent. Unlike his lovechild, this was known at the time of the election. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/42 "2015-07-21T15:37:43Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > There was no “context” to your post; it was merely one of juvenile partisan sniping. Thank you very much for this kindness. I like that you are telling us that you can’t comprehend the meaning of context even when it is specifically laid out for you, implying that we should remember this in all future posts. Of course, we will now be able to read those posts differently because of this new context. Ironic, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/43 "2015-07-21T16:20:52Z")
This is true. Bernie Sanders has somehow managed to combine batshit insane with intensely boring. Hillary Clinton always seems to have just awoken from a nap. Martin Omalley could be replaced by the guy on the Men’s Room sign and few would notice, and less would care. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/44 "2015-07-21T18:43:43Z")
Hey, John Edwards may be a ridiculous Ken doll, but he’s _our_ ridiculous Ken doll. And considering that the GOP actually nominated Mitt Romney, well… You know, Bernie’s approach to hair is more like that of Boris Johnson. We could use a left-of-center Boris Johnson, I think. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/45 "2015-07-21T20:46:45Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Bernie Sanders has somehow managed to combine batshit insane with intensely boring. Can we define terms here? Bernie Sanders has an economic worldview that is left-of-center (for the US). His belief about the role of government differs from that of the Republican Party, so he differs in his policy prescriptions from all of the GOP candidates. His policy ideas are even a little more economically interventionist than the typical Democrat–I happen to think he’s wrong on free trade, for example. Is he intensely left-wing populist? Sure. But batshit? No way. I’ll agree that he’s kind of boring, but only because he is so relentlessly on message that he doesn’t say anything particularly surprising, and he hasn’t really changed his approach to policy or politics in decades. For the record, I don’t think most of the Republicans are crazy either. I think the policies they put forward are mostly wrong, but they aren’t delusional. Trump, for all his non-boring unpredictability, is also not crazy, per se, but he may lack the ability for self examination and self criticism to a spectacularly greater extent than the average politician. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/46 "2015-07-21T22:12:55Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > While we’re telling John Edwards stories, here’s one of my favorites: > > “She speaks to you through me … And I have to tell you right now – I didn’t plan to talk about this – right now I feel her. I feel her presence. She’s inside me, and she’s talking to you.” > > That’s John, channeling the spirit of a handicapped fetus to con jurors in Tennessee into awarding him millions of dollars in a lawsuit against doctors who later turned out to be innocent. > > Unlike his lovechild, this was known at the time of the election. You focus on style and ignore substance and John Edwards is the one who is not serious? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/47 "2015-07-21T23:33:48Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > That’s John, channeling the spirit of a handicapped fetus to con jurors in Tennessee into awarding him millions of dollars in a lawsuit against doctors who later turned out to be innocent. There’s conjurors in Tennessee?! Seriously, though, Edwards wasn’t a clown. He was a scumbag. Which is worse is debatable. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/48 "2015-07-22T00:05:37Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > This is true. Bernie Sanders has somehow managed to combine batshit insane with intensely boring. He _does_ seem an awful lot like Gabe Pressmen screaming about rush hour traffic while you’re stuck sitting next to him on a train… > [@wolfpup](#): > > Republicans entertain, Democrats govern. Quoted for Truth. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/49 "2015-07-22T14:11:32Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Hey, John Edwards may be a ridiculous Ken doll, but he’s _our_ ridiculous Ken doll. And considering that the GOP actually nominated Mitt Romney, well… The ridiculous Ken Doll of the right isn’t Mitt Romney, it’s Scott Brown. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/50 "2015-07-22T14:13:24Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > You focus on style and ignore substance and John Edwards is the one who is not serious? Hey, I haven’t even mentioned his hair! Pointing out that he’s an obvious snake oil salesman and con artist **is** a focus on substance, not style. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/51 "2015-07-23T13:33:48Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > The ridiculous Ken Doll of the right isn’t Mitt Romney, it’s Scott Brown. Yeah, as if there can’t have more than one. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [July 23, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/52 "2015-07-23T15:26:37Z")
O’Malley seemed to do pretty well in Cedar Rapids recently. [spoiler] **Martin O’Malley: Obscure but not implausible** By Steve Chapman _The Chicago Tribune_, July 22, 2015 CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - In a party that produced such talented speakers as Mario Cuomo, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, this year’s presidential race looks like a slog through an oratorical desert. Yet last week, the Iowa Democratic Party hosted a dinner so masochists could hear five White House aspirants deliver speeches. Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb read their remarks like dutiful students. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders brought to mind a punk band that knows only three chords and plays them all the same way: loud. Hillary Clinton uttered every sentence as though she were addressing third-graders. There was one respite, from Martin O’Malley. The former governor of Maryland apparently heard somewhere that fluent public speaking is a useful skill in politics. If you couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, don’t feel bad. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll gives him 2 percent of Democratic voters. He was lampooned in an April Twitter post with a photo of the gyrocopter that landed on the White House lawn and the caption: “MARTIN O’MALLEY WILL NOT BE IGNORED.” Clinton may have had the most supporters in the room, and Sanders’ populist fury stirred the most anticipation. But if there had been impartial judges giving scores, O’Malley would have been the clear winner — and a sound meter probably would have confirmed it. His lines about redeeming the American Dream and promoting a stronger middle class are standard fare. His selling point was: “I am the only candidate for president with 15 years of executive experience.” He stands out, he said, for turning “progressive values into action.” This was where his earnest speech became impassioned, his voice rising over building cheers: “In Baltimore, we took action to save lives by reducing record-high violence to record lows. We increased drug treatment to free thousands of our courageous neighbors from the scourge of drug addiction. … Driver’s licenses for new American immigrants, marriage equality and a ban on assault weapons: and we didn’t just talk about it, we actually got it done!” On his mayoral record, O’Malley can point to documented changes that, in the post-Ferguson, Mo., era, seem incompatible. Overall crime fell more in Baltimore than in any other big city. At the same time, shootings by police dropped sharply. But he is not above massaging the truth, as his comment on international trade revealed: “I am fundamentally opposed — as an American — to secret trade deals that our Congress is forced to vote on before we’re even allowed to read them.” In fact, the texts of the trade deals now being negotiated will be public months before Congress has to vote on them. Stressing his executive record highlights a difference with his rivals. For all her years in public life, Clinton has trouble with the question: What have you actually accomplished? Sanders is the quintessential maverick, better at indicting the system than transforming it. O’Malley, 52, has other things going for him. With his athletic frame and thick gray hair, he looks like he walked out of a Cialis commercial. In 2013, _The Washington Monthly_ called him “the best manager in government today.” And he seems to enjoy the part of the campaign that involves chatting and posing for selfies with voters. At the nearby White Star Ale House, before the dinner, I arrived 10 minutes early for his “meet-and-greet,” only to find O’Malley already working a crowd whose numbers would have alarmed the fire marshal. He was still at it when I left an hour later. Does any of this matter in a race against two far more famous candidates? Maybe not. He lacks Clinton’s money and incomparable name recognition, and he lacks Sanders’ visceral appeal to the Occupy Wall Street crowd. His narrow path to victory lies in convincing Democrats he’s a fresh alternative to the recycled Clinton, but unlike Sanders can be elected. If nominated, O’Malley would offer plenty of targets for Republicans, who would portray him as a coal-hating, gun-grabbing abortion rights zealot who has embraced unauthorized immigrants and raised taxes over and over. Rebutting that portrayal is a problem he would love to have. If old-fashioned retail campaigning still works in Iowa — and Rick Santorum’s Republican victory four years ago suggests it does — his candidacy is more plausible than may be apparent. It’s safe to bet that by February, even without a gyrocopter, Martin O’Malley will not be ignored. Copyright © 2015, \*The Chicago Tribune \*[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/53 "2015-07-23T16:09:50Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Hey, I haven’t even mentioned his hair! Pointing out that he’s an obvious snake oil salesman and con artist **is** a focus on substance, not style. By all accounts George W Bush is an earnest family man. So what? An election is not someone trying to date your sister. It’s bigger. Personal qualities don’t effect the lives of millions of people. It’s policy that matters. Policy is serious. Opinions of character are mere gossip. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460/54 "2015-07-24T05:21:10Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Yeah, as if there can’t have more than one. :rolleyes: :smack: I mean, as if a party can’t be more than one. :smack:I mean, look, this is how you talk if you’re running for governor of Texas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democratic-presidential-candidates-so-dull/725460.md?page=2)