Dem debate: damn!

12 Comments

1. Douglas W says:

   February 20, 2020 at 9:25 am

   Bloomberg was taken to the woodshed.
   A downright beat down of monumental proportions.

   Reply
2. Pipes says:

   February 20, 2020 at 12:22 pm

   Well. I thought it was a dust-up not a debate. It was nothing but ad hominen attacks to the delight of Putin, Trump and that north Korean turd etc. It was an embarrassment. Candidates for the most powerful position on earth, talking about stints, forgotten names, jokes, ears, tax returns. They are still fightiing the Civil War. They need to pull the nation together and all I heard was not much more than middle school behaviour. When they had a chance to add substance to the debate, their delivery ( especially Bidan’s) was lost in a rush of tourett type responses. (No offence intended to those with Tourett’s.)

   Saddly I see a second term for his Highness.

   Just sayin…….

   Reply
3. Pedant says:

   February 20, 2020 at 12:25 pm

   Bernie’s thesis is that since we already have socialism for the rich, why not let everyone else get in on it?

   I have to admit it’s hard to argue with him, and I think it has the potential to be a very winnable message.

   Reply
4. PJH says:

   February 20, 2020 at 1:39 pm

   George Carlins take on politicians and elections seems appropriate here….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07w9K2XR3f0

   Reply
5. Gord says:

   February 20, 2020 at 4:53 pm

   Nominating Bloomberg would be the worst possible thing they could do. What better way to hammer home the message that the DNC is controlled by the same moneyed interests that brought us the 2008 financial crisis. Hardly a way to appeal to those unemployed Rust Belt workers they so desperately need to win back.

   Obama won (bigly) as an ‘outsider’ who ran to the left of Hillary during the 2008 primaries, only to tack toward the pragmatic centre while in office. Bernie’s message is appealing, but he’s a bad messenger – he’s way too old, and anyone that self-identifies as a ‘socialist’ is political dead meat in the US. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. And I question whether he will be able to get along well enough with his own party members in Congress to get anything done – look at Jimmy Carter, who had a virtual Democratic supermajority in both houses and still struggled to get anything passed.

   Biden has an appealing story (blue collar kid from Scranton, worked hard, overcame multiple personal tragedies, commuted by train every day, least wealthy Senator, great resume, HOAG, etc) but somehow he’s allowed himself to be painted as some sort of DLC triangulator / tool of Wall Street / spineless moderate and that’s just not what the Democratic base is looking for right now. Frankly, I think they can be forgiven for questioning whether picking the moderate ‘safe’ choice over the ‘progressive’ firebrand is a good strategy given the track record recently (Gore over Bradley, Kerry over Dean, Clinton over Sanders – all of whom lost in the general).

   I’m quite surprised Warren is doing so poorly. Seems to me she checks a lot of boxes for them, and while she has her flaws (being baited by Trump into a DNA test, for example) I think she combines a progressive message on income equality and the economy with a signature domestic policy, without painting herself with the “socialism” brush. In my mind, she’s the true heir to FDR – rein in the worst excesses of capitalism, make it work better for more people, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

   Klobuchar and Mayor Pete will be also-rans in the long run, but might end up filling the VP slot.

   Reply
6. Tod Cowen says:

   February 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm

   The stakes drove the behaviour. For the first time in this cycle, everyone on stage has a credible path to the nomination, and we’re less than two weeks from Super Tuesday. Everyone except Sanders is pressing to raise money, since these campaigns are consuming $2-$4 million a week. So, a breakthrough performance can fire up a candidate’s base, and make potential donors more receptive to the money calls that were flying last night. Anyone who’s surprised by how things went last night hasn’t been paying attention to the dynamics of this race.

   Of course, they also might be Canadian, and more accustomed to something as bizarre as dignified exchange of policy views on actual issues.

   Reply
7. Gilbert says:

   February 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm

   Michael Bloomberg used to be a Republican, later an Indepe dent and now a Democrat. I’ll say he has no loyalty to any party.

   Reply
   • Ronald O'Dowd says:

     February 21, 2020 at 5:27 am

     Gilbert,

     He’s exactly like Trump. His only loyalty is to himself.

     Reply
8. Chris Sigvaldason says:

   February 22, 2020 at 5:12 am

   The way Pete and Amy are trying to knock each other out is off-putting and will be entirely successful. They are both finished.

   Reply
9. MF says:

   February 22, 2020 at 6:00 pm

   I think Klobuchar would be the best candidate.

   Reply
   • Fred from BC says:

     February 23, 2020 at 5:14 am

     “I think Klobuchar would be the best candidate.”

     I think so too. She can’t win (this time), but she’s the least offensive of the bunch.

     Poor old Joe Biden has just claimed to have been arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela (along with the US ambassador at the time). Problem is, that NEVER HAPPENED. Much like the incident before involving his claims about an Afghan veteran and a Purple Heart, his memory seems to have taken elements of two separate incidents and combined them to form a third, fictional one.

     If this kind of stuff continues, I think both Joe’s family and his campaign people should be investigated for elder abuse. Letting this poor old guy go out there to embarrass himself over and over is just cruel, to me. Let him retire with some dignity.

     Reply
     • Darwin O'Connor says:

       February 23, 2020 at 9:39 am

       Obviously they should Trump’s enablers first. His symptoms are far more severe.

       Reply