Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2020? No, it's 2020!

[Kraken]

I worry about Sanders' demonstrated incapacity for compromise and team playing.

It takes two to tango. Show me any evidence that the GOP is open to cooperating with any D government.

This flawed assumption is the achilles heel of the centrist position.

I worry about his incapacity for compromise and team playing within the Democratic party (among other concerns I have about him).

Yeah, I was talking about Sanders' willingness to back any nominee other than himself.

Got it. We shall see what happens if he's eclipsed by another progressive candidate.

[Defiant]

I worry about Sanders' demonstrated incapacity for compromise and team playing.

It takes two to tango. Show me any evidence that the GOP is open to cooperating with any D government.

This flawed assumption is the achilles heel of the centrist position.

I worry about his incapacity for compromise and team playing within the Democratic party (among other concerns I have about him).

Yeah, I was talking about Sanders' willingness to back any nominee other than himself.

I was also thinking of this as well as his less than stellar record when it comes to building relationships with other politicians and community leaders.

[Max Peck]

The NRA's genius, devastating plan of attack is ... adding "Clinton" to the end of Dem candidates' names:

KAMALA HARRIS CLINTON
IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO OUR SECOND AMENDMENT

[Holman]

Dave Weigel has been doing a great job today of covering political appearances at SXSW.

Spoiler:

In other news, Howard Schultz utterly failed to excite the room.

Meanwhile, AOC apparently brought the house down.

[Alefroth]

Meanwhile, AOC apparently brought the house down.

With some help from Bill Nye who said AOC 'Gets it'.

[Defiant]

I have to say I was highly impressed with Mayor Pete's performance in this town hall.

[hepcat]

His competency and decency woul be easily Trumped by the evil shits who consider being gay a sin.

[naednek]

I have to say I was highly impressed with Mayor Pete's performance in this town hall.

Do candidates in town halls get the questions ahead of time? Because he sounds really rehearsed.

[Defiant]

Do candidates in town halls get the questions ahead of time? Because he sounds really rehearsed.

I don't think so - well, not since Brazile left (and, IIRC, those were topics of the questions). But I think these were, for the most part, questions that any candidate worth their salt could have expected and prepared for.

[Holman]

Smart people know the kinds of questions that will be asked, and they've been rehearsing them since before they declared.

Smart people are also able to answer unexpected questions intelligently because that's what being smart means.

This is only surprising because most of the past few rounds of GOP candidates have been literal idiots.

[Defiant]

According to the Buttigieg aide, the mayor raised more than $600,000 from over 22,200 donations in the 24 hours after the CNN town hall. The number is even more significant, the aide said, because the committee employs 20 staffers, lean when compared to other Democratic operations.

link

Buttmentum? Feel the.. err.. butt?

Also gives him a good shot to get in the debates

For candidates like Buttigieg who are not dominating public polls -- a recent CNN poll of Iowa showed the mayor garnering 1% of the wide-open field -- donations will be critical to get on the debate stage given new rules outlined by the Democratic National Committee. In order to qualify for the first two debates, candidates must meet 1% or more in three separate DNC-approved polls or rake in campaign donations from at least 65,000 unique donors, with a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.

[Max Peck]

His name is (roughly) pronounced boot-a-judge/buddha-judge/boot-edge-edge, so the butt references don't really work all that well.

[Holman]

Biden just announced that he's running, which of course makes him the immediate front-runner.

I really hope he's up to it, and that (if he wins the nom) he's ready for the fight of his life.

I kind of fear he's not made for the Trumpian political climate.

[stimpy]

Divide and don't conquer.

[El Guapo]

His name is (roughly) pronounced boot-a-judge/buddha-judge/boot-edge-edge, so the butt references don't really work all that well.

Uranus is pronounced Your-ah-nuss, but that hasn't stopped generations of elementary school students from making jokes. I think the butt references will endure.

[El Guapo]

Divide and don't conquer.

A contested primary is not a problem as long as the vast majority of people come together behind a nominee at the end. My main worry on this score is that we'll wind up with a contested convention (due in large part to the proportional allocation of delegates in most states), which will lead to a greater-than-normal amount of people not coming into the fold at the end (especially if Sanders is one of the people who loses out at the brokered convention).

[pr0ner]

Biden just announced that he's running, which of course makes him the immediate front-runner.

I really hope he's up to it, and that (if he wins the nom) he's ready for the fight of his life.

I kind of fear he's not made for the Trumpian political climate.

Of all the possible Democratic candidates, Biden is the one most likely to stick his foot in his mouth. That makes him well equipped for the Trumpian political climate!

[hepcat]

In today's political clime, putting your foot in your mouth isn't really a liability.

[El Guapo]

Why a Long Democratic Primary Slugfest Might Help Re-elect Trump.

This is something I worry about.

[LordMortis]

I don't see a long primary helping Trump. I do see more ways a slugfest helps him than I do ways it would hurt him. He's already got the vote for ego over country part of electorate covered.

Nothing would be better than 20 egos coming together to find common cause and rally behind banner that is better than any of the 20 raised going in.

Its my dream and I'm going to hold on to it for at least a little while.

[Jaymann]

I think it's a better situation than the inevitability of Clinton. The overarching message needs to be: Trump illegally diverted your tax funds to pay for his unneeded wall. Now he is coming for your medicare. And you can keep your damn guns.

[LordMortis]

I think it's a better situation than the inevitability of Clinton. The overarching message needs to be: Trump illegally diverted your tax funds to pay for his unneeded wall. Now he is coming for your medicare. And you can keep your damn guns.

I don't hate your message but my driving message would be Trump played fast and loose with the rule of law to change the Supreme Court for decades to come and the voters need to understand 1) that the Supreme Court changed and what's done is done and 2) Here's what it took to make it happen. (I would by all means implicate the GOP led Senate at every bit of my messaging) (Of course, to be frank, while I was always going to be generally unhappy with Clinton, my biggest campaigning complaint was not engaging the voters on the Supreme Court while Trump and McConnell never stopped telling the voters it was all about the Supreme Court. And heading toward four years later, it's still my soapbox)

[GreenGoo]

Jaymann is speaking to Republicans/ independents.

There is no reason for Republicans to see the SCOTUS power play as a negative.

In short, Jaymann's approach has a chance of success. LM's "you cheated to get SCOTUS seat" has none. If LM is speaking to Dems, well they don't need additional motivation to vote democrat.

[stimpy]

Why a Long Democratic Primary Slugfest Might Help Re-elect Trump.

This is something I worry about.

LETS GET READY TO RUMBBBBBBBBLLLLLEEEE

[Kraken]

Why a Long Democratic Primary Slugfest Might Help Re-elect Trump.

This is something I worry about.

LETS GET READY TO RUMBBBBBBBBLLLLLEEEE

O'Rourke brings youth and charisma, but not much substance. I suppose he should get his own sideshow now.

[Isgrimnur]

Beto is in.

[Sepiche]

I don't know if he'll end up being just a flash in the pan or what, but if you're going to join the presidential race, it certainly doesn't hurt to have Annie Leibovitz do the photos...

[Holman]

Beto is a compelling speaker and compelling personality, but his lack of experience will hurt him. (Obama was somewhat inexperienced as well, but he had also had a career in constitutional law behind him when he entered politics.)

I assume the ticket this time will be mixed-gender, and Beto is the natural VP choice for a woman presidential candidate. He's got strong campaign skills, and he could lift the fortunes of House candidates in Texas as he did in 2018. He's also kind of center-left rather than leftist, which will appeal to the traditional-Dem Biden wing of the party.

[hepcat]

I anxiously await the Trump tweets telling us all how's better looking than Beto. The first time the press calls Beto "handsome" it's going to grind Trump's gears, I'm betting.

I really, really hope Trump catches Melania with that magazine above.

[Jeff V]

Beto is a compelling speaker and compelling personality, but his lack of experience will hurt him. (Obama was somewhat inexperienced as well, but he had also had a career in constitutional law behind him when he entered politics.)

Not to mention Obama won his senate campaign.

I think this campaign is more increasing name recognition. I'd be surprised if he gained a huge amount of traction, but you never know how badly the other candidates might stumble. I'm still expecting Bernie Sanders to pull a Ross Perot or Howard Dean at any moment.

[LordMortis]

I anxiously await the Trump tweets telling us all how's better looking than Beto. The first time the press calls Beto "handsome" it's going to grind Trump's gears, I'm betting.

I really, really hope Trump catches Melania Ivanka with that magazine above.

[Holman]

Um... I think OO is pretty much required to support him now.

[Jaymann]

Trivia fact: The Beatles tune was actually called "Ticket to Rye" (listen to it closely). The record execs dumbed it down for American audiences.

[GungHo]

Trivia fact: The Beatles tune was actually called "Ticket to Rye" (listen to it closely). The record execs dumbed it down for American audiences.

We're not dumb! We elected trump!!


Oh...



Yeah I really like Beto but I see him playing for a cabinet position and this isn't a serious run. I think he knows he lacks experience. But I certainly hope his fire doesn't die after this cycle; I think he's someone who can do some good. Depending on how his career path goes moving forward, I'd love to see a 'for real run' in a decade or so

[Daveman]

I have to say I was highly impressed with Mayor Pete's performance in this town hall.

I only caught a few moments of that video but it sounded very similar to interviews he's done on NPR lately. I was also very impressed with what he had to say and how he presented himself.

[hepcat]

Um... I think OO is pretty much required to support him now.

If you pan to the right, you can see Spitzer, head down, with a copy of Carcassonne, sadly walking away.

[Max Peck]

Beto O’Rourke’s secret membership in America’s oldest hacking group

As the Texas Democrat enters the race for president, members of a group famous for “hactivism” come forward for the first time to claim him as one of their own. There may be no better time to be an American politician rebelling against business as usual. But is the United States ready for O’Rourke’s teenage exploits?

Some things you might know about Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who just entered the race for president:

• The Democratic contender raised a record amount for a U.S. Senate race in 2018 and almost beat the incumbent in a Republican stronghold, without hiding his support for gun control and Black Lives Matter protests on the football field.

• When he was younger, he was arrested on drunk-driving charges and played in a punk band. Now 46, he still skateboards.

• The charismatic politician with the Kennedy smile is liberal on some issues and libertarian on others, which could allow him to cross the country’s political divide.

One thing you didn’t know: While a teenager, O’Rourke acknowledged in an exclusive interview, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history.

The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft’s Windows. It’s also known for inventing the word “hacktivism” to describe human-rights-driven security work.

Members of the group have protected O’Rourke’s secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability. Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O’Rourke as one of their own. In all, more than a dozen members of the group agreed to be named for the first time in a book about the hacking group by this reporter that is scheduled to be published in June by Public Affairs. O’Rourke was interviewed early in his run for the Senate.

[Smoove_B]

I guess Trump will be endorsing him as Beto is clearly better at cyber.

[Isgrimnur]

I guess Trump will be endorsing him as Beto is clearly better at cyber.

He needs to gain weight and send a picture of his bed.

[Holman]

I had assumed from the first that Pete Buttigieg had no chance.

The more I hear, though, the more I think he might be very very real, or at least very very smart.



(According to Politico, he speaks seven languages conversationally.)