The 2020 Democratic ticket will be...

Biden/Harris

Beto/Willie Nelson

Hillary/Booker

Doesn't matter if it's Jesus and Mother Teresa. The Russiapublicans have it all rigged up.

Do you think they would just sit by and let people decide who wins offices? C'mon, now.

Chris Murphy and Kamala Harris.

Biden/Beto

Biden/Murphy

Ooh, what about Beto/Murphy? That combo hadn’t occurred to me till this thread, thanks OP.

Pritzer/Biden

Biden/Beto all the way baby. Where can I donate and volunteer.

Oooh, Biden/Beto.

avenatti/ eric swalwell

Murphy/Beto

Biden/Harris.

There is no progressive majority in America.

I like Beto as much as the next voter but after losing a state race I’m not sure I want to place the future of the country on the hopes of a guy that hasn’t won any major races.

Michelle Obama & Joe Biden

Yeah but Beto lifted many other congressional races. He has changed the Texas Democratic party for generation.

None of those people stand a snowflake's chance in hell of beating the orange chimpanzee. You have to face facts - the election will have nothing to do with politics, so running a politician, ANY politician against that juggernaut will fail miserably. You need to start realizing now that he's going to be re-elected in 2020. He doesn't campaign on politics, none of his voters give a damn about politics. 2020 will be a blowout compared to 2016. Plus what r4 said.

Biden/Booker

Landrieu/Michelle Lujan Grisham (Gov-Elect NM) Democrats need candidates in the south and Midwest.

No Biden, Booker, Harris, Warren.

Beto lost!!! Get over it. He's too light in the loafers for the presidency.

Swalwell/Beto

Harris/ Beto

Biden/Beto if Biden agrees to only serve one term. He's also too fucking old.

Beto lost by 2.5% in a solid red state that hasn't elected a Dem to the Senate since 1988. Winning a Senate race in a blue state doesn't fucking count. It's like winning on a GOP ticket in Texas doesn't fucking count for anything.

If Beto can carry 48% of the electorate in Texas, he can carry Texas as a Presidential nominee. California and New York are givens - any Dem can win them. Beto, like white Southerners before him, can make in-roads in flyover country which nobody in California can.

Biden/Beto will win.

Beto / Conor

Angelina Jolie & Oprah

Russia and Repugs will literally steal the vote and put in a Nazi sympathizer.

R27, they already did that in 2016. It won’t happen again.

Clinton/Beto

Biden/kloubacher

Klobuchar/O'Rourke

(Sherrod) Brown/O'Rourke

Landrieu/O'Rourke

I'm fine with any of these pairings.

Biden/O'Rourke

Do people mean New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu or his sister, former US Senator Mary Landrieu?

Landrieu was only a Mayor - no other qualifications. Julian Castro has also announced he's running for President. He was the Mayor of San Antonio and then for 4 years HUD Secretary - not really impressive either. And if he had any balls he would have run for the Senate or Governor. Too scared of losing. Better to have run like Beto and narrowly lost than have been too frightened to try.

Though a Senator or Governor is the usual, when you've got a great Dem congressman from a red state like Texas as Beto is - that's formidable.

F&F for r18.

Beto looks like a frat boy from Pali Alto. Give it up. He could be the Chairman of the DNC.

^Palo Alto

Whoever the 2020 nominee is they must STAY AWAY FROM HOLLYWOOD!!!

A lost cause.

Sherrod Brown/Beto

Put Beto in the VP slot and that gives him time and experience for 2024.

For those of you who casually throw out Biden's name, please remember: A. His age (older than Trump - 76 next month), B. His several past, unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination, C. His having to run on the miserable Obama record without being Obama and thus not automatically turning out the necessarily black and white guilt voters, D. His propensity for gaffes, E. The plagiarism scandal that forced him to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Primary, F. His well-documented-on-YouTube case of wandering hands, G. Corruption (Google Joe Biden/Hunter Biden/Burisma for starters).

Nominating him would be suicide for the Democrats. Are they that stupid?

r41, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio. And Biden is probably in better shape physically than Trump.

What about Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio? Trump won every one of those states in 2016.

R38, agreed. That was Beto's downfall.

[quote]Ooh, what about Beto/Murphy? That combo hadn’t occurred to me till this thread, thanks OP.

I think it would look weird to have the more experienced Murphy as VP to Beto. That said, I think he would make an excellent VP.

[quote]F&F for [R18].

What the fuck? I FF'ed you instead.

[R44] Beto also looked like a total jackass with that silly "skateboarding-into-my-rally!" stunt. He's toast. He had a massive cash advantage over Cruz and lost. He had his chance and blew it. He was not some insurgent, grassroots candidate - he's a neo-liberal shill who was flush with special interest cash from Wall Street, Hollywood and the usual suspects. If Democrats think candidates like Beto are their future, they will continue to lose.

"We're not Trump!" and "Everything freeeeeee!" are not going to fly.

Biden/Murphy

The Left won't accept anyone other than Bernie.

Avenatti/Avenatti

Martin Heinrich and Conor Lamb

Bernie/Whoever

Bloomberg/Tester

r43, Biden could win those states. He connects with the "rust belt" voters.

Oprah / M.Obama

[R38] [R34] When will the Democrats realize that Hollywood has lost much of its power and is no longer the popular cultural force it once was? In the Montgomery Clift thread I came across a stray fact that 43 million people watched the 1954 Oscar telecast at a time when the entire U.S. population was only 163 million. Flash ahead to this year when the Oscar telecast averaged 26.6 million views at a time when the population's estimate to be edging toward 327 million. That's a massive drop-of!!!

Put another way, in 1954 26.3 percent of Americans watched the Oscars while in 2018 only 8.1 percent did. The numbers speak for themselves.

People no longer look up to Hollywood and its motley crew of "stars" who seem to think it's their job to harangue the American public. The mystification process that made stars stars has been nullified and now the public sees these people for who they are - greedy, narcissistic, self-interested poseurs. It was always true but now there's no curtain to hide behind. Add in Harvey and their preaching seems particularly absurd.

R55, excellent post.

Joe Biden/Barack Obama

R55 is the biggest idiot whoever idioted and fucking freeper to boot. Only freepers care about Hollywood. We could run a five time felon and he would be more qualified than what we currently have in the White House.

[R58] Tiresome.

The 2020 nominee must surround themselves with working class Americans in the Midwest and South without healthcare, jobs, or teeth. Not fucking Lena Dunham and Chelsea Handler.

Jen from Appleton / Angela

Mobility Mary / Simply Sara

It won’t be anything, the GOP will have outlawed voting by then

Bloomberg/Harris

Pazuzu/Candice DeLong

Murphy - Swalwell

Oprah/Beto Absolutely no old people! No Biden, no Bernie, no Elizabeth Warren, and, for the sweet love of God, no Hillary.

Maxine Waters - Kirsten Gillibrand

R67, Oprah is old. She'll be 65 in January.

I think the dems need to start promoting some of the younger politicians. Even Sanders needs a mentor for the progressive end of the party.

R46 Obviously, you don't know anything about Texas politics. The fact Beto came within 2.5% of unseating Cruz is simply amazing.

As for Hollywood: they may have been crazy about Beto but he kept his distance. The only celebs he posed with were also Texas voters or natives: Matt Bomer, McConaughey, Linklater, Kelly Rowland, Willie Nelson. The only celeb he thanked for an endorsement was Queen Bey of Houston.

Connie Francis/Janet Jackson.

R71, what about me?

Avenatti/Harris

[R71] Well, I know that Ann Richards was the Democrat governor of Texas from 1991-1995 so no, I'm not impressed with Beto's performance. According to Texas Tribune, as of October 26, Beto had raised $70.2 million and Cruz $33.4. I'll bet those donors wished they could get a refund, as they did after the Hillary holocaust. Candidates impress by actually WINNING elections, not simply raising money and pretending to lose nobly. Beto will sink into oblivion as he deserves to. I loathe Ted Cruz, btw.

Haven't seen Avenatti on TV lately. When his one lawsuit got dismissed and his client became responsible for the plaintiff's legal bills, he's maintained a lower profile.

R67 people may joke at you, but those 2 would win in record numbers. You would probably see both Mississippi , Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia all turn blue.

Mine is Harris/O'Rourke.

[R71] I know that Ann Richards was the Democrat governor of Texas from 1991-1995, so no, I"m not impressed by Beto's performance. According to Texas Tribune, as of October 26 Beto had raised $70.2 M and Cruz had raised 33.4. Candidates impressed by WINNING ELECTIONS and not simply by raising piles of cash and pretending to lose nobly. And I loathe Ted Cruz.

^^ I meant to omit "both" in the second sentence.

Schiff/Lamb

Swalwell/Lamb

Avenatti/anyone.

Klobuchar/Harris

R71 What about me?

...defeated, most likely.

None of the above.

Sorry, but after getting $75 million and still losing, I want no part of O'Rourke. And Swalwell is handsome, but he never comes off as the brightest bulb in the circuit. And stay as far away from that buffoon Booker as possible.

Anybody else is fine.

Hillary/Hillary

Beto’s Instagram is like a teenager’s. When does he get any work done? He’s a little to old for that.

Harris/Waters

Ah, what the hell -- Beto/Garcetti.

I'm bookmarking Michigan's Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer as VP. She checks the Governor, Midwestern, and Female boxes.

Bloomberg (now a Democrat)/Beto

Bloomberg is also too old

Harris / Lamb.

Kim/Kanye

Booker / Beto

David Hogg/Sasha Obama

(for the youth)

Britney / Christina.

I would love for it to be Sherrod Brown as president, but

(a) he doesn't seem to want it

(b) since OH didn't get a Dem governor, there's no way the national Dem party would want Brown to resign, because a Repug would replace him.

[quote] Klobuchar

She gives me those Angela Merkel tingles. I like her.

Klobuchar has the charisma of cold oatmeal.

Neocorporatist and Neocon

Harris/O’Rourke

I've already bought futures contracts for Booker as the nominee, dems trying to replicate Obama. Since Tuesday they have risen about 15%. If correct this means some white guy for the VP. Had Beto had won perhaps him, but he's a loser instead.

Clinton/Harris

Close/Gaga

Bieber/Gomez

Meryl / Glenn

Harris/Lamb

I’m glad we aren’t seeing a lot of “Bernie or Busters” here. I’m tired of busted. It sucks. It’s lonely being righteous and I just want to fucking win. You’ll need to play to the Midwest and present a much different and more optimistic image because orange dude has been given a great economy from Obama and will run with it as his own. Moral victories are BS

I'll volunteer to be Booker's First Lady.

Tom Hanks / The Rock

Jokes aside, seriously Beto should definitely be on the VP slot. He's got such star power.

[Quote]I’m glad we aren’t seeing a lot of “Bernie or Busters” here. I’m tired of busted. It sucks. It’s lonely being righteous and I just want to fucking win. You’ll need to play to the Midwest and present a much different and more optimistic image because orange dude has been given a great economy from Obama and will run with it as his own. Moral victories are BS

Thank you, Tim!

[quote] Jokes aside, seriously Beto should definitely be on the VP slot. He's got such star power.

I don't see it. And neither did the majority of Texas voters. I am so sad JFK Jr. is gone. It is apparent red-state Americans want a personality rather than a President. Drumpf is a lying, thieving, treasonous fascist, completely inept and deficient in every trait a great leader should have -- and his cult doesn't care. How do you fight that?

Whoever it's gonna be Dems need to start inflating their candidate now so s/he will be larger than life by 2020.

R114, no need for that if it's Oprah. She's already the most famous person in the country.

[quote]The Russiapublicans have it all rigged up. Do you think they would just sit by and let people decide who wins offices? C'mon, now.

This is the mindset that will sink the Dems in 2020.

Maybe it comes down to just finding someone more entertaining than Trump.

Let me entertain you!

R75 Cruz troll: why is Lyin' Ted paying somebody to troll the DL? Is Lyin' Ted trying to tell us something?

I gave Beto the maximum donation of $2,700 and can't wait to send him another $2,700 for the primary and $2,700 for the general election.

I’d go for Clinton/Harris, too.

[quote] [R114], no need for that if it's Oprah. She's already the most famous person in the country.

He's spoiling for a showdown with Oprah. He covets her popularity. He name-checks her in his press conference yesterday why? He wants her in the race.

Looks like Beto is the trolls' new boogyman. All the more reason he needs to be on the 2020 ticket--they know he could win.

[quote] start inflating their candidate now so s/he will be larger than life by 2020.

How can you be larger then Spartacus ?

I am Spartacus.

Kamala Harris / Michael Avenatti

Beto is too new to headline a ticket. VP, maybe. Kamala is a nobody. What’s she done?

I like Chris Murphy. Sheldon Whitehouse was good in the SCOTUS hearing, as was Dick Durban and Amy Klobuchar. I’m guessing that Durban wouldn’t want it.

Landru/Crippen

People: Democrats fall in love on a first date: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clknton, Barack Obama. And they are madly in love with Beto. It'll be Beto.

[quote]Beto lost!!! Get over it. He's too light in the loafers for the presidency.

Beto performed a miracle in Florida. He is not going anywhere.

Elizabeth Warren will be the nominee.

She is popular with millennials, the Bernie Bros, and progressives- Booker, Biden, Clinton, and Kamala, and even Barack are not. All are old news.

Notice she is the only one to confirm running in 2020. Getting the donations, research, and apparatus running early.

Someone + Conor Lamb as VP

If you want to win: Biden/Lamb or Biden/Bento — they can talk to the non coastal Dems and independents

Grisabella/Skimbleshanks

Garcetti (LA Mayor) / Newsom (CA Governor)

Please not Landrieu, he really screwed up New Orleans politics.

It will Either be Swalwell/ O'Rourke or Harris/ O'Rourke.

Or

Martin Heinrich/ and someone from Michigan/Wisconsin in order to bring those two states.

Santa Claus / Easter Bunny

R90 I agree. And Mitch Landrieu can get the black vote as the Presidential nominee. He tore down the Confederate monuments.

The ideal would be to bring someone from the Southwest and someone from the Michigan/Wisconsin area.

Pennsylvania is in the Dems pocket at least for 2020

Michigan,Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Kansas are in play.

Beto/who the fuck ever

[bold]No Democratic governors[/bold] should be consider because we need them to helm their states for the upcoming census which is the most important issue coming in 2020.

It has to be someone from Michigan (16 electoral votes) so that it can carry Wisconsin to and someone from North Carolina (15 electoral votes).

Assuming that Pennsylvania and its 20 points are in our packet, which now it seems like they are. We only need to pick [bold]23[/bold] more electoral votes between 5 states:

Michigan (16)

North Carolina (15)

Arizona (11)

Kansas (6)

4 states*

If Pennsylvania goes back to the Dems, than Michigan and Wisconsin go as well. They both went for Trump with smaller margins than Penn. And those three give the victory in 2020.

The problem is Trump is going to barnstorm and barrage the Midwest with Back to back huge rallies in those key states.

That is how he beat Hillary after all. She ignored the Midwest thinking it'd be a shoe-in due to the polls. Most Trump voters are too embarrassed to say so to pollsters.

The Dems need to barrage those three states as well. They need to write off Indiana, Missouri and Ohio as lost causes and put all their energies into those 3 states, Arizona, Georgia and NC.

Democrats need someone from Michigan in order to secure that state and help them get Wisconsin.

Dems have an easier path in 2020 because Republicans will be defending many seats and 2018 sets them up pretty comfortably.

So they either could go with someone from North Carolina (15) in order to secure another big state and set themselves up for more gains in 2022 [bold]or[/bold] they can make a run for Arizona and finally turn the Southwest into an impenetrable blue wall.

The third option would be to get O'Rourke in the VP slot in order to help Texas become more purple, but [bold]especially[/bold] to knee cap the Republican party by stealing more Texas House seats and a Texas Senate seat. Remember, Republicans get a congressional bust because of the Texas congressional seats. Break that red wall at the House level and it will help Democrats during the mid-terms.

So I think it should be

Michigan at the top of the ticked and a combination of Arizona, Texas, or North Carolina.

[bold]Michigan/Texas[/bold]: to attract Michigan and Wisconsin and help elect more Texas Democrats to congress and in 2020/2022 and beyond.

[bold]Michigan/North Carolina[/bold]: Again, to attract Michigan and Wisconsin and convert another big state into a blue state which will help in future presidential and mid-term elections.

Perhaps the less likely:

[bold]Michigan/Arizona[/bold] in order to speed up Arizona's eventual blue status. In order to strengthen the bluest part of the nation and have a back up plan in case Wisconsin or North Carolina don't turn blue on election night.

Democrats need to be inspired and they need to feel good about their vote. I appreciate all of the strategy, but the ticket has to get them on their feet.

Someone who's ok with a moderate immigration policy. Can't espouse abolish ICE, etc. We doomed otherwise.

Did some of you not pay any attention to who won on Tuesday? Any ticket listed in this thread with two white males is automatically disqualified. Women and people of color won on Tuesday across the country. A lesbian Native American won in fucking Kansas and your dumb asses are listing all white male tickets?

There will be one white male and one female on the ticket. If the woman is at the top of the ticket, the male will be white because it will be seen as a way of placating the white male voters because most of them are still sexist and need to see a white male face if they're going to vote for a woman. If the male is at the top of the ticket, the woman will be a woman of color. I don't think a black male will be on the ticket because we've already done that. Now, fit your choices into that criteria and you'll be a lot closer to reality.

BernieBros hate Warren because she endorsed Clinton in 2016, R130.

Warren/Beto

I agree with OP. Landrieu / O’Rourke

R153, no democratic ticket will be two white males. What's wrong with some of you? Go look at the faces of everyone who won on Tuesday. Two white males is not the direction to go.

And, where did all this talk of Landrieu come from? He's boring, weird looking, and has zero national standing. I actually think anyone who brings him up is a Repug trying to fuck with us.

Democrats are already inspired because of 2018 and other social events that have pushed people to the brink of madness. In 2016 the Democratic party was bankrupted by 20 million dollars, it was mismanaged, and there was no new incoming talent. By 2018 we had a change of the guard which help inspired people to vote Democrat.

Beto fulfills the minority and young voter quota, even though he is not lol, since he branded (genuinely I think) his political career as a politician for the young and Hispanic voting community, he could be instrumental in gathering the minority and young vote. Plus he has a crossover appeal because he is an all American white boy. He has a duality about him which could be helpful as a supporting part of the ticket.

[quote]BernieBros hate Warren because she endorsed Clinton in 2016, [R130].

This right here is why Democrats should have a plan B and should consider North Carolina and Arizona. Unlike Texas, North Carolina and Arizona, the BernieBros are a real issue in Michigan and Wisconsin. This is why people shouldn't assume that a Michigan nominee could automatically pulled Wisconsin or vice versa. It would be safest for Democrats to assume that North Carolina, Texas, and Arizona are must in order offset any surprises of Pennsylvania or Wisconsin not voting Democrat again.

R150 nothing wrong with an all white male ticket. Bill Clinton was the first black president.

Landrieu has some baggage. It's not his fault the infrastructure in NOLA is fucked, it's been many years of neglect and corruption, but the Repugs will still use it against him. Plus his family has some secrets.

Al Franken needs to return to politics and stir up shit.

Biden/Beto has my interest...

And I totally agree R158. But he's toast.

Biden/Beto is a ticket this Independent Obama and Bill Clinton voter can get excited about. Obama for the working class God Bless America crowd and Beto for the brains,, new blood and sparkplug which will appeal to the younger voters.

Thanks to all those who came up with the suggestion.

Franken/Beto or Franken/Harris

To win Michigan, Ohio, PA

Biden would also appeal to this crowd but he'll be too old.

What happened to Beto/Joe Kennedy that people were talking up a month ago? Would that be seen as too "green" a ticket?

There are some trolls on her stinking up the joint. I for one am very excited about 2020. We can definitely win back PA, MI, and Wisconsin. However I a knid of nervous about a woman heading the ticket. Unfortunately I think we need a white guy on top of the ticket. Ari Melber did an excellent piece on how D's have won vote totals every year since Bill Clinton with the exception of 2004.

With our current orange president, we're used to a new scandal every week...if not every day. I live in New Orleans and it's a well-known secret here that Mitch Landrieu had a child with one of his black staffers, And no one here particularly cares since it IS New Orleans, where this has been going on for centuries...but it could be a huge impediment to Landrieu running for president, It. Just. Won't. Happen. With that in mind, my bets are on Beto/Harris...that combination clicks all the right boxes. Run Beto Run!

Garcetti O’Rourke 2020.

With me as the filling

[quote]Beto performed a miracle in Florida. He is not going anywhere.

Did he turn Florida into Texas, in order to lose a second time?

[quote]Pennsylvania is in the Dems pocket at least for 2020

NO.

[quote]Assuming that Pennsylvania and its 20 points are in our packet, which now it seems like they are.

NO again.

Do not assume anything about Pennsylvania. It is a swing state with some very liberal areas and a lot of very conservative areas. Guns are popular, tax cuts are popular, and massive distrust of the federal government is popular here.

Did we not learn anything from Hillary’s embarrassing loss??

Assuming you have 20 Electoral votes “in your pocket” is a really foolish move.

[quote]Did some of you not pay any attention to who won on Tuesday? Any ticket listed in this thread with two white males is automatically disqualified. Women and people of color won on Tuesday across the country.

^^This.

The best chance at winning is Kamala Harris in the top spot, with a younger white male (Beto, Conor Lamb, etc) as VP.

Nobody older than 60 should be considered in either spot.

R168 we're not trying to win over the country. We're trying to win WI MI PA. That's it. That's all it takes to win this thing. Except for Lamb the others are anathema to this region.

R169, I live in PA. Harris could win here with Lamb as VP.

Yeah, Biden. America just can't wait to have an 80 year-old president!

It's a battle for capturing the votes of younger voters' devotion and passion for Bernie versus older white men and women voters who voted for Dump thinking he'd be their savior.

I'm cautious about Presidential candidates focusing on identity politics for the national stage. This country can't handle it yet so it's better growing on the local and state level.

If people feel secure about their jobs and healthcare and immigration then they will be more open minded about other important issues.

A good thread about OH here. This guy makes a lot of good points.

PA - specifically western PA - is a bit healthier right now economically. He lays out some good reasons why OH may go permanently red, with IN and not with PA.

R170 Harris wouldn't survive the Republican slime machine.

How happy would many DLers be if it were Clinton and Clinton? (Hill/Bill)

With Chelsea as SOS, of course.

Bill Clinton is in no physical shape to be president again, if that were even possible.

But it would be safer for any female interns or low-level staffers!

I agree w R173's link. OH is lost. It has turned into an extension of IN KY.

Sherrod Brown. We need to get the Midwest back

Adam Schiff and Stacey Adams

Steyer/Tammy Baldwin

Oops typo... Stacey ABRAMS

Moderates win the swing states, well when we are talking about Democrats

[quote] If you want to win: Biden/Lamb or Biden/Bento — they can talk to the non coastal Dems and independents.

Put an old white guy at the top of the ticket and you lose the Obama base of non-white voters. Same outcome as running Kerry against Bush in 2004 -- only white people vote and the incumbent Republican wins.

[quote] Landrieu has some baggage. It's not his fault the infrastructure in NOLA is fucked, it's been many years of neglect and corruption, but the Repugs will still use it against him. Plus his family has some secrets.

"Secrets" is a polite Southern understatement.

W&W for r166.

[quote] [R170] Harris wouldn't survive the Republican slime machine

Every female candidate will suffer under scrutiny. My hope is that 2016 has inoculated the electorate against this brand of misogyny. So many female victories and Abrams coming within a few thousand votes of winning governor in GA means that we are now ready for female leadership.

Harris is a FIGHTER.

Glenn Close / Sally Field

White women voted against Abrams at a higher margin than white men.

THEY. ARE. FUCKING. PIECES. OF. SHIT. SOMEONE. KILL THEM.

There is no such thing as misogny.

I am so fucking sick of you cunts.

[quote]Put an old white guy at the top of the ticket and you lose the Obama base of non-white voters. Same outcome as running Kerry against Bush in 2004 -- only white people vote and the incumbent Republican wins.

Yes. That’s why Harris needs to be at the top of the ticket.

White women are the worst, for sure.

Oh great. So "white women" are the new Deplorables?

I think the lesson is that Democrats should stop pandering to women’s issues, since it doesn’t make a difference in who they vote for.

It should be abundantly clear by now that the Democratic Party leadership will be selecting a candidate in 2020 in all ways identical to Hillary Clinton but perhaps with a less tawdry past and less of an appetite for Goldman-Sachs speaking fees. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, et al have no intention of allowing upstarts like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to spoil their plans, even if it means a second term for Donald Trump. --LOUIS PROYECT

To those of you who say Biden is too old, have you taken a look at the dumpster fire that is currently in the White House? Joe is in shape, polishing his Trans Am, and is ready to hit the road. If they use that age bullshit on Biden, then maybe we should start pointing out that the president is an unhealthy fat fuck.

Kamala Harris will never be president. She's obnoxious and not too bright. She looked like an absolute fool grandstanding during the Kavanaugh hearings - rude, self-righteous and invoking the same "gotcha" rhetorical strategy throughout that made it obvious she's not really thinking. Just embarrassing. Ditto Corey Booker.

The candidate needs to have some appealing personal qualities, after all.

Judge Judy/Hanks

R190 I'm not American, so my analysis may be a bit off, but I wonder why not a Harris/Booker ticket? If old and vanilla is passe' why not ditch the vanilla altogether, and go for young and double chocolate? They are both more than qualified, articulate, and attractive.

[quote]Kamala Harris will never be president. She's obnoxious and not too bright. She looked like an absolute fool grandstanding during the Kavanaugh hearings - rude, self-righteous and invoking the same "gotcha" rhetorical strategy throughout that made it obvious she's not really thinking. Just embarrassing.

The above description could have been written about Trump as well, who is now President. Harris can outperform him at his own game.

[quote]I'm not American, so my analysis may be a bit off, but I wonder why not a Harris/Booker ticket? If old and vanilla is passe' why not ditch the vanilla altogether, and go for young and double chocolate?

White voters are not going to go for “double chocolate”.

[R199] Whatever one thinks of Trump he definitely has the common touch. Harris doesn't. She comes off as a sanctimonious, finger-pointing bitch. She embodies the Dems' elitist problem all over again - just as Warren does.

Well, they voted Orange this past election R200. Enough people voted for Obama, and I think people missed him when he was gone. They began to love him a bit too late it seemed, yet they came around nonetheless. I like R199's style.

Accusations of Russian = Israeli

r41 is a racist.

Shun him gals!

What u guys think of Gretchen Whitmer? She's the new governor of Michigan. Does she have national appeal? Could she be the key to Trump's undoing??

I still fail to see what is so impressive about Kamala Harris for president.

I think running a woman this close to the Hillary debacle is political suicide; especially a woman of color.

Believe me, Kansas is never, ever, going to be in play for going for the Democrats in the presidential vote. There's no point in even thinking about it.

We need to be done with old (70+) white men on the ticket in either slot. Beto needs a break from campaigning for a while and needs to recharge with his family. He'll be the perfect VP candidate. That means the top spot has to go to a POC, be they male or female.

Harris speaks better than Clinton IMHO. She also come off as more authentic, even if some find her too elitist.

In the weeks leading up to the election, a slate of new Democratic stars emerged who gained national attention: Andrew Gillum in Florida, Beto O’Rourke in Texas, Stacey Abrams in Georgia. None won on Tuesday — Mr. Gillum’s and Ms. Abrams’s races have not yet been called — while the Whitmer-led ticket in Michigan soared, flipping two House seats and electing women to key statewide posts.

Kamala Harris is so obviously a product of the political/academic establishment there's no way she's going to connect with voters outside the Dems' urban/coastal base.

Gretchen Whitmer for president? Yeah that just rolls off the tongue. Gretchen....what an ugly, old fashioned name.

Don't get me wrong, kudos to her for winning on Tuesday, but presidential material in just 2 years? I don't think so.

Yeah,Kamala has no charismatic appeal to Middle America or swing states like Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, or Florida. She is like a young Pacific version of Elizabeth Warren.

[quote]Whatever one thinks of Trump he definitely has the common touch. Harris doesn't. She comes off as a sanctimonious, finger-pointing bitch. She embodies the Dems' elitist problem all over again

I don’t think she comes off as elitist.

She is well-spoken, but seems like she could play dirty or rough and won’t backdown when necessary... exactly what we need to go up against Trump.

[quote]Harris speaks better than Clinton IMHO. She also come off as more authentic,

Agreed.

R201 is spot-on correct

Kamala comes across as what so much of America despises, very coastal elite and condescending toward Middle America

TerryMcCauliffe?

Terry is barely liked in Virginia. He was lucky to run against a vile Republican extremist

[quote]She comes off as a sanctimonious, finger-pointing bitch.

This type of criticism is pure misogyny.

Trump is also a sanctimonious, finger-pointing bitch.

No Californians.

In the case of Warren, one of the weirdest stories that unfolded during the tumult of the midterms was her DNA test. While the liberal media spun it as if the test exonerated her, everyone else interpreted it as confirmation that she lied about her ancestry to land a position at Harvard, which she absolutely did. Trump has and will continue to crucify her for this and it's a problem she can't deflect or make go away. It's a deal-breaker.

No elderly.

[quote]Mine: Landrieu / O’Rourke

OP gave you the correct ticket, so I don't know why the rest of you continue to comment.

[quote]Martin Heinrich and Conor Lamb

Good choice. I like Harris and Heinrich

California's primary is going to be very early in 2020; why do you think it looks like Swalwell will be announcing his run very soon? Because he's well aware of the primary order change this year. Since California goes early in 2020, and they have a shitload of delegates, if a candidate from California manages to catch fire early on, they will have a HUGE advantage in the delegate race very quickly against candidates from other states.

So Swalwell, Harris, who else from California is seriously considering running? One of them could end up being the next president.

The one thing we already know is that we aren't putting another woman up against Trump. That's a sure recipe for disaster. Having said that, a woman as VP makes sense. We're never going to have a woman president until we have a woman VP first. Let the country get used to seeing a female VP and then we can take the next step.

I still think Bloomberg has a good chance in the primary. He has the money and will hire an amazing team. It's going to be interesting to see who David Plouffe and Jim Messina go to work for. Since so many Democrats will be running, I'm sure one of them will hire Robby Mook again.

I'm afraid Harris will be looked at by a lot of people (especially men) as just another Hillary type. The one thing she might have going for is that she doesn't have the baggage that Hillary had in 2016, but still, people in the industrial mid-West will not go for her at all and we need those type of voters back if we hope to reclaim the White House in 2 years.

R141 has a good point. We shouldn’t surrender any Governors or Senator seats unless we can be sure their replacements will be another Dem, because we need those seats. I could see a Newscom/Beto ticket because Newscom would probably be replaced by a Democrat. Of course, it depends on what hey do over the next two years. Two seems smart, a fast thinker. That’s more important to me than charisma, though that is something.

The key to winning the Democratic nomination is South Carolina. Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden would seem to have an upper hand there.

If there’s a recession in the next year, as many expect, it’s a perfect time for a massive infrastructure bill.

Biden/Harris - my only reservation about this ticket is that Biden is really too old, but if he agree.es to step down after one term...maybe.

Then Harris could run on her own and have her own administration if she wins. Being VP to be Biden would be good on-the-job training for her as well.

I like it.

If it it wasn't for white women, all of you bitches would still be second-class citizens, barefoot and pregnant in a kitchen so you can all STFU.

I'd keep an eye on Montana governor, Steve Bullock. A guy like him would have major appeal to most parts of the country.

[quote] Whatever one thinks of Trump he definitely has the common touch.

Nothing common about him.

Dumb trash loves him because he did nothing in his life but be mediocre, but he stomps his foot and people quake in their shoes. The millions of idiots who didn't go to school, move to where a job was, etc. made horrible life choices and are left with pennies? They all see him as their god, and hope someday they'll have a hotel empire too.

A Bullock/O'Rourke ticket would be practically unbeatable IMO.

Bloomberg. Americans can't wait to elect a 5'2" Jewish billionaire from New York City as President. He's an irresistible choice!

Kamala was liked even in the reddest California Counties. Her hyper-competence inspires confidence.

[R231] Casual racism against white people is now the norm for Dems. I guess they don't realize how off-putting it is to a vital part of their potential constituency. Just as many posters are composing a ticket purely for its racial makeup, there's a cynical assumption that Dems are only prepared to run on identity politics and that voting patterns are directly related to skin color. This is what passes for "progressive" today. Stay in your box and vote accordingly. By now these attitudes are so ingrained that there's probably no going back and there's virtually no hope of a Dem candidate who actually runs on popular policies as opposed to race-baiting.

Meredith and Alok!

I see that some of you haven't learned a thing are a still chasing deplorables votes. Stop going after people who are never going to vote for democrats. They want us and truth be told we don't them and their nonsense.

What r6 said.

We need a attractive western Man who can speak plainly to the idiots in the center of the country. He needs to be likable and not appear too smart, yet fairly liberal to appeal to the coasts.

R213 So glad we are in agreement. Sad that such a fine potential candidate would have to "dumb herself down" to gain broad appeal. Sadly after living here for the past twenty years, I am beginning to seriously question this nation's taste and collective IQ. Especially post-Trump.

If you think black people will vote en masse for Kamala Harris, you don't know a lot of black people. She's "bougie" and "acts white."

R243 so is/was Obama

[quote]If you think black people will vote en masse for Kamala Harris, you don't know a lot of black people. She's "bougie" and "acts white."

R243, I'm black. Just shut up about who I or any other black people will and won't vote for.

1 Biden/Harris

2 Harris/O'Rourke

3 O'Rourke/Gillum

4 Biden/Warren

R198 YES!! YES!! You are a genius!! Your mouth to god's ears!!

R244, Obama has urban swag despite his credentials. He plays basketball, loves The Wire, loves Jay-Z. He’s a brotha

Kamala Harris is as white as Condoleeza Rice.

[quote]She's "bougie" and "acts white."

Some whites in the Midwest will support her for this reason.

OP here... so I added up what were serious pairings (i.e. no Meryl/Glenn) and then I also totalled positive mentions and then deducted negative mentions. I made some assumptions and stopped counting where a slew of sequential posts debated the same people. There were 45 different pairings so I only ranked ones that were put forward twice or more than twice. Here's what I netted, for what it is worth, which is scientifically absolutely nothing:

1- Biden/Beto 9 votes

2- Harris/Beto 4 votes

3 - Landrieu/ Beto 4 votes

4 - Harris/Lamb 3 votes

5 - Biden/Harris 2 votes

6 - Biden/Murphy 2 votes

7 Clinton/Harris 2 votes

8 Beto/Murphy 2 votes

9 Swallwell/Beto 2 votes

10 Brown/ Beto 2 votes

So as presidential nominee, where a name came up in combination only Biden (three times) and Harris (twice) emerge in the top ten pairings.

As VPs, Beto named in five pairings, Harris and Murphy in two pairings.

So then I thought I'd add up all the mentions of anybody, positive and negative when proposed in various pairings or singularly - I don't list anybody who only got one mention, positive or negative. The positives total reflects what was left after the negatives were deducted. Mentions werent confined pairings. Some poster posted thoughts but not nominees.

Beto netted 35 positive mentions.

Harris netted 21 positive mentions.

Biden netted 16 positive mentions.

Lamb netted 11 positives,

Murphy netted 7 positives.

Avenatti netted 5 positives.

Brown netted 4 positives.

Heinrich (Martin) netted 4 positives.

Klobuchar 4 positives.

Swallwell netted 4 positives.

Bloomberg netted 3 positives.

Garcetti 3 positives.

Hillary 3 positives.

Landrieu 3 positives.

Whitmer (Gretchen) 3 positives.

Obama (M) 2 positives

Oprah 2 positives

Schiff 2 positives

Waters 2 positives

Booker 1 (5 positives, 4 negatives)

Warren came out to a -2, Bernie to a -1

Don’t forget about the large, well-educated Indian-American populations in states like PA and MI who will support Harris.

[quote] We need a attractive western Man who can speak plainly to the idiots in the center of the country. He needs to be likable and not appear too smart, yet fairly liberal to appeal to the coasts.

The focus on peeling red-state white voters away from Trump is a fool's errand. They love him and won't leave him. Dems will win in 2020 by galvanizing the coalition that put Obama in office.

Dems will not win 2020 without a woman and/or a person of color on the ballot. Biden/Beto is a non-starter.

As Sunny Hostin pointed out with all the misogyny Hillary inspired and the racism Obama inspired - no way could a woman of color bring Trump down.

For the love of God, no Biden!!! Can't believe he is even being discussed. The names Biden, Clinton, and Warren should be banned from this entire thread.

[quote]with all the misogyny Hillary inspired and the racism Obama inspired

Obama was elected twice.

And Hillary was brought down by her 30 year history of endless scandals and the general perception of her being a pathological liar.

[R255] Anytime anyone disagrees with Hillary = misogyny. Anytime anyone disagrees with Obama = racism. This rhetorical formula is well-known by now and while it worked for a while people are sick of it. Without "misogyny" and "racism" as their shields, neither Hillary nor Obama need claim responsibility for their actions. That's not leadership.

Dems won't win unless they take a hard stance on illegal immigration and lgbtqxyz etc issues.

Most people have had it with the moral degradation of their country and the anything goes society.

Beto / Lamb. There, I said it.

Democrats need to go big, bold, and younger. There's apathy towards some of the more usual suspects. Beto has the charisma, Lamb is a winner in a Trump zone. This is a young, exciting ticket that could motivate even more young voters than the surge we saw in 2018.

I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope the economy crashes on October 2020 and whomever the D's choose wins.

Beto is not ready for the top spot.

He’s a good VP candidate, although I think Lamb brings more of the Rust Belt voters to the table.

Harris is not charismatic except to the elite

[quote]Dems won't win unless they take a hard stance on illegal immigration

Yes, Dems need to give up the “abolish ICE, support sanctuary cities” type rhetoric.

Focus on areas where there is bipartisan support, like legal status for Dreamers, etc.

R261 Please think twice and be careful what you wish for. Some people still haven't fully recovered from '08. Some are too old now and running out of time to make up their losses. No good can come from praying the economy tanks. It would probably only cause Agent Orange to declare martial law or some other extreme powers. His base would double down all the more.

Yeah, a new Dem President doesn’t want to inherit a disaster of an economy.

R263 Is that because only the elite are smart enough to recognise her intellect, her strength, and her rhetoric? Yes US is a bit dopey if they voted Trump.

[R267] She doesn't strike me as being particularly smart. She's strident and she's no intellectual. She's basically a female Obama without the charm or charisma. Been there, done that.

Klobuchar and Bullock or Heinrich

Obama is particularly smart.

Add me in to Biden/Beto. Or maybe Sherrod Brown/Beto but I don't think Sherrod has much in the charisma department (and he has an awful, raspy voice). If Oprah runs, then Oprah/Beto. I want people who have CHARISMA! The only other woman on the national stage who has as much charisma as Oprah is Stacey Abrams but she's not ready for 2020. Biden, while too old, is popular and centrist but still might attract former Obama voters who went to Trump, Beto is progressive and young--together they tick a lot of bases. I love Liz Warren but people won't vote for an older woman; Hillary clone and there are no younger women at this point who have national stature. I don't like Kamala Harris--she has an unappealing manner (and a very nasal voice). I like Klobuchar but she has the manner and appearance of a very nice Minnesota school principal.

[quote]Beto performed a miracle in Florida. He is not going anywhere.

[quote]Did he turn Florida into Texas, in order to lose a second time?

Sorry, obviously I meant Texas.

Yeah, while I would vote for Kamala, I don’t find her appealing. She is sort of like chilly to me

[quote] He’s a good VP candidate, although I think Lamb brings more of the Rust Belt voters to the table.

This. Lamb has won twice in Trump country and appeals to the Rust Belt state workers, and perhaps more importantly, suburban fraus. He has momentum.

To the few who are still saying "We should stop playing to the people in places like the Midwest and south who either like or at least aren't disgusted by Trump."

OK. Fair enough if you mean the card carrying racists(and by racist I do not mean Baby Boomers who aren't ready to vote for a black woman at the top of a ticket. I mean old school racists) But, and I cannot say this loud enough, the Dems HAVE to have someone who will appeal to the USA! USA! USA! God Bless America types. Someone who can look believable when dealing with the cornball facets of state fairs and baby kissing.

Obama could. Hillary could. I do not see Harris appearing that warm or approachable.

We can win without racists, we already did TWICE But we will never win without the common touch.

Lamb needs to stay in Congress. Why do you want to take someone out of Congress who is winning a challenging district. Don't get me wrong, the presidency is nice, but we need to focus on building a solid foundation of democratic congressional leaders. I would argue that being Speaker of the House is a better gig than being President.

Gillum/ O’Rourke

Don’t care which one is the top and which one is the bottom.

Though realistically it should probably be Beto since so many people are at least mildly racist.

R275 is correct, except Hillary was not good at yucking it up with common salt of the earth Americans

I'm struck by the "how do we sucker the Rubes next time?" tone of many of these comments. The Dems seems to be all about show and manipulation these days, and when they touch upon anything approaching actual policy it's always some radical, impossibly expensive proposal preceded by "Free!."

I'm with R276 all the way.

R279 Could it possibly be because we are coming to fully understand how much of this country is composed of rubes? I sure as hell didn't completely believe the rube quotient until around a year and a half ago. Now I am convinced that placating the rubes is as necessary as having a fair and decent agenda.

Please don't waste time on R279, as it is a stealth, yet unapologetic Rethuglican troll. Wow, all the Kamala Harris hate almost comes exclusively from him. Don't dance with the devil.

[quote]But, and I cannot say this loud enough, the Dems HAVE to have someone who will appeal to the USA! USA! USA! God Bless America types.

Kamala Harris is the daughter of two successful immigrants. She can play up that aspect and give speeches where she shows how she is the embodiment of the American Dream.

Add in All-American Marine and gun-lover Conor Lamb as her running mate, and the “USA!” types will love it.

Conor Lamb ain't ready for primetime, Conor troll. He just got in Congress last year. At least Beto already has logged 6 years in the House.

As for Bullock, whoever that is, if I don't know Bullock then that person has zero name recognition.

[quote]Conor Lamb ain't ready for primetime, Conor troll. He just got in Congress last year. At least Beto already has logged 6 years in the House.

Maybe Beto should have stayed in the House. Now he has nothing.

Sadly you are correct: Democrats have to throw a bone to USA! Americans.

Also, because we have a Pussy Grabber in Chief in the WH that got Kavanaugh appointed I don't think this sorry country is capable of electing a female President. I fucking hate it.

My liberal MIL has soured on the MeToo movement and I appreciate her honesty. I think some older women have reached outrage fatigue.

R286, it’s not new dude

Democrats need somebody really sexy and fuckable.

Do you think white fraus in flyover land will like that Kamala stole one of their men.

Kamala Harris is really fkin good looking, and not just for a politician. She has my vote.

Oprah is too old and doesn't want her private life exposed.

[quote]Unfortunately I think we need a white guy on top of the ticket.

You obviously didn't pay any attention to who won and who lost on Tuesday.

I used to like Harris but she's gone down a few pegs over the last few months for me. She wasn't very good during the Kavanaugh hearings and I thought she'd be one of the ones who would really take him on as a former prosecutor.

Stop yammering about Lamb just because you want to fuck him. No one except those of you who want to fuck him know or care who he is. He's a nobody nationally.

If the Dems have two white males on the ticket, the Dems lose.

Is Beto a “person of color” or “white”? I mean, from an electoral perspective. I see him referred to as a White person upthread, but I thought he was Hispanic? Maybe he appears as Hispanic to Hispanics, and White to Whites? It matters, for some people.

Biden/Beto

Robert O'Rourke, R293. Sound Hispanic to you?

Roberto Rourke?

Beto is a white person who presents as adjacent, thanks to his Spanish nickname.

And he is from El Paso..you can't get more adjacent than that.

Oh, well, fooled me, I thought Beto was Hispanic. I’d vote for him either way. It makes no diff to me.

[quote]Oh, well, fooled me, I thought Beto was Hispanic.

Ted Cruz radio ad making fun of Beto’s “fake” name.

Klobuchar? She's as boring as her name.

No charisma whatsoever, and like it or not, that's what we are going to NEED to oust Trump.

Rafael Cruz is one to talk

Nobody over 60 years old.

Oprah/Michelle Obama

Beto/Sherrod Brown

"To start, despite some electric wins by ultra-progressives in cobalt-blue House districts, the real story is how well mainstream and pragmatic progressive Democrats fared in both the primaries and general election contests. The moderate New Democratic caucus in the U.S. House endorsed 37 candidates in primary races, and 32 earned the nomination — an 86 percent win rate. By contrast, Our Revolution, the grass-roots organization founded and run by Bernie Sanders’s backers, had a win rate under 40 percent in the primaries. Once the general election rolled around, 23 New Democrat-backed candidates flipped House seats to help gain the majority, while not a single Our Revolution-endorsed candidate captured a red seat. Zero.

In fact, in its groundbreaking 8,000-person survey, More in Common found that “progressive activists” in the electorate are 92 percent white. Of all the “political tribes” it identified in its report on “The Exhausted Majority,” only “devoted conservatives” (at 94 percent) are more consistently white."

Not tremendously surprising is it?

It's gonna be Beto. Bill Clinton - Obama - O'Rourke.

[quote]Kamala Harris will never be president. She's obnoxious and not too bright. She looked like an absolute fool grandstanding during the Kavanaugh hearings - rude, self-righteous and invoking the same "gotcha" rhetorical strategy throughout that made it obvious she's not really thinking. Just embarrassing. Ditto Corey Booker. The candidate needs to have some appealing personal qualities, after all.

r301, she is effective and wins with huge margins in a state with a majority of Trump voting counties. She won almost all of them in 2012 and 2018. She wins in a purple state with margins greater than those of popular California Democrats—take Kamala Harris as an example.

Remember, Democrats have a safe path to victory though the Rust Belt but not the Sun Belt. This is the presidency. We cannot lose. We must win with the most effective candidate who can win the electoral college and subsequently govern while leading America through a time of moral peril, climate change, and global instability.

I love this country too much to leave the task of leading it though 2024 to a celebrity. I'd rather a person who can find electoral success and achievement across the most demanding portfolio of issues facing a president since FDR took office.

If I see that person, I will support them in the primary with my time and money. I see Klobuchar as the chief among a small group of electable Democrats who have an interest in running for president and the capacity to deliver the leadership we need.

Biden/Harris

Booker and Harris come off as being high functioning 100 IQ. Not the dumbest potential presidents but not smartypants either.

[quote]Not the dumbest potential presidents but not smartypants either.

Hillary Clinton and Al Gore were both big “smartypants”... and both were big failures too.

We're with Trump until 2024. Next.

Let's remember our winners, r313—Clinton and Obama, who very much were smart people.

[quote]I'd rather a person who can find electoral success and achievement across the most demanding portfolio of issues facing a president since FDR took office.

Are we in another Depression? Is there another global war on the horizon? I must've missed that.

[quote]Clinton and Obama, who very much were smart people.

They were both known more for their charisma and speaking abilities, rather than their “smarts”, per se.

Evers/Whitmer

Landrieu is disliked by NO and has way too much baggage

R317, Clinton is a genius. Obama was above average. Bush Jr. was probably average, perhaps slightly below. Trump has maybe a 90 IQ is my guess. Perhaps less. He’s very stupid.

Exit polls of dems about who they'd vote for in 2020.

r316, yes, if you've missed the ongoing global war featuring increasingly aggressive nuclear states at the peripheries. Yes, if you've missed the Bush-era recession and the wanton repetition of US domestic and foreign agendas that previously sent the global economy into a tailspin. We are headed to a point that sits comfortably into a comparison with FDR's America.

Perhaps you've also failed to notice the impending deficit crisis and an economy that will fail to create sufficient revenues to support its commitments to the old, poor, and infirm. You will be among those ranks someday, my friend. It is the truth, though I wish only old age upon you.

I wish a competent president upon you and us all.

Otherwise—and soon, within 10 years of inaction—we will be contending with stagflation and a climate-driven migrant crisis that dramatically worsens the impact of the geopolitical and economic policy instincts currently driving the status quo around the globe.

[quote]Exit polls of dems about who they'd vote for in 2020.

That poll is strictly a measure of name recognition at this point.

Gore and Clinton won their elections, which were then stolen from them.

And, it didn't just ask them, it showed them a list of people to pick from.

There hasn't been a legitimate Repug president since before Reagan. He got in by illegally dealing with Iran to hold the hostages until after the election. At least Nixon was actually elected...and even then look how it turned out. There hasn't been a half-decent Repug in national politics since Eisenhower and he'd spit on today's Repug party.

If they weren't given preselected bozos, the people would have named Oprah and The Rock.

Barbra and Cher!

r283, a woman (of color) will be a no go with the voters right after the Hillary failure of 2016. If a woman is on the ticket, she must be in the VP slot with a white man at the head of the ticket.

Otherwise, we are just setting ourselves up for failure again.

And we MUST BEAT TRUMP.

MN is blue

Even the outdoorsmantypes are turning on the trump administration because of their disastrous environmental policies.

R322:

r297, "adjacent" is a racist term.

Please desist in using it from now on.

r304, neither of which wants to run. Michelle just stated it again in her new book that is coming out.

And after the Hillary loss, two women on one ticket would be political suicide right now.

Gillum/ O’Rourke

Gillum is a far left socialist. Not gonna fly in the Midwest.

r315, I was no slouch in the brain department either you know.

Until it was blown out anyway.

Nancy Pelosi & Maxine Waters.

On life support, but still screaming incoherently.

Miss Chuckie Schumer as Nurse Ratchet.

r310, that was a well reasoned, well written post supporting your candidate of choice. You made some very good points.

Still not totally sold on Klobuchar, but I'm more open to her now.

Good job. Kudos.

I previously said Murphy/Harris, but Murphy/Klobuchar would also be a good combination.

Klobuchar is not very charismatic, but she is smart and well liked. Remember, she could also terminate Mike Pence just by being in a room with him alone.

Murphy/Klobuchar look too much like a nice suburban married couple. I LOVE Murphy every time I see him on MSNBC but just don't see him as having the IT factor to be a presidential candidate, and Klobuchar the same.

I will take a boring yet sane, smart, and competent leader with integrity over a celebrity with the "it" factor any day. That "it" too often winds up being "batshIT".

I've had sufficient.

[quote]I will take a boring yet sane, smart, and competent leader with integrity

Running someone like that against Trump is a no-go.

Stop mentioning my name!

If we nominate a woman, we lose. You'd be surprised at how many men, including black and latino men, who don't like the idea of a female president. And suburban white women aren't too keen on the idea, either. Why would Democrats want to start out with a deficit before the race even starts. Hillary played catch-up for the entire election, first with Bernie and then Trump. Kamala wouldn't be any different.

Trump will have a field day with another female opponent, just like he did with Hillary. Look at how easily he embarrassed Warren over her Indian heritage.

[quote]Stop mentioning my name!—Oprah -- I've Got Mashed Potatoes To Sell.

Buy my pizza too!

Black people don't care for Kamala. Stop thinking black people will vote for anyone black. That isn't true.

She is not going to work.

[quote]Hillary played catch-up for the entire election, first with Bernie and then Trump.

That’s because Hillary was unprepared.

She never expected a Democratic primary challenge from anyone.

And then she expected to be running against Jeb Bush, not a celebrity like Trump.

And she also expected the Obama coalition of voters to come out for her full-stop.

Her whole campaign was one miscalculation after another, and then playing catch up.

[quote]Stop thinking black people will vote for anyone black. That isn't true.

It’s historically true.

Hillary Rodham has never been unprepared for a thing in her life. To the contrary, it's that Hillary is too overprepared. That's exactly why people never connected to her. She was too much of a political robot

R348, Sharpton ran and was a fluke. Hermain Cain was a joke. Black people don't like 90% of the black politicos.

I am black so I know this is true. In fact, Pres Barack Obama had a very hard time prying black votes away from Hillary in the primaries esp from the Black Congressional Caucus and the Southern church lady set until Bill opened his trap about Jesse and South Carolina. Obama was initially supported by white college kids and millennials in 07 not Af Americans.

Hillary would've probably won the 08 primaries if not for Bill and the subtle racism that emerged after Obama pulled a shock win in Iowa.

We need a woman on the ticket. That is clear to me from Tuesday.

I think we have to focus on the young people and non-whites. It’s clear to me that non-whites outside of the Blue states lie to pollsters (prob because they are ashamed to be closer racists voting for an openly racist Rethug party).

Would Sherrod Brown on the ticket help us in OH? I have no idea how popular he is there, or if that whole state is a lost cause.

I

They have to have The Charisma Key.

Carter came out of nowhere, Clinton came out of nowhere. Obama came out of nowhere.

Each had The Charisma Key.

Gavin or Beto

Tom Steyer?

I love Gavin but is imagine he’s thinking down the road. He does hate Trump and can def campaign.

But he is not appealing to swing states

[quote] What the fuck? I FF'ed you instead.

I FF'ed you right back!

W is a Mensa candidate compared to Trump. In addition, while Cheney is evil, I don't believe W is, just another greedy SOB who doesn't care if thousands die for his wealth and power.

r256, and Bernie.

Please let it be a guy this time. Woman for VP.

I'm going to be called a troll again (I'm not) but this thread makes it clear how much the party is split and in disarray. It could well be Hillary again. She has the list and the donors no one else does. That means a lot. None of these alternatives are quite credible. I don't like any of the current choices.

[quote]It’s historically true.

Right, that's why so many of them vote for black Republican candidates.

Oh, wait....

It's gonna be Beto. Or to quote a meme on social media: "Obama: now available in vanilla".

OMG, I hope Hillary and Bernie are both in rest homes by 2020. I wish to never hear either name mentioned again. Hillary needs to stay far away from running for even dog catcher and so does Bernie. They destroyed us in 2016 an are why we have Trump, Hillary more than Bernie since she'd she one who actually ran and was the worst candidate EVER. And don't give me the popular vote shit. That and $2.75 will get you on a NY subway. She never bothered to visit the places where the EC mattered. She partied with rich Hollywood celebs while piece of shit Trump did go to those areas and promised them what Bernie said, economically and with his own dash of racial hatred thrown in for good measure.

Thank you, r338. I've had the chance to talk with others about Klobuchar's electability, and the consensus is that she will make for a very favorable match up against Trump. We must win.

No woman at the top of the ticket will win for another 10 years. So it is a no for 2020/2024. Unfortunately, even progressive men wouldn't allow it.

However, if Dems want females to come out in droves like they did in 2018, they need a Female in the VP spot which means a Female from Michigan/Wisconsin area has to be in the ticket.

The top of the ticket can be a man from North Carolina, Arizona, or Texas.

Or we can have the reverse. A nominee from the Michigan area and a VP from Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina. Dems cannot have a ticket that is PA/Michigan or PA/Wisconsin because they also have to take into consideration congressional sits. In that regard someone from the Southwest as VP makes the most sense in order to keep exploiting Arizona, and Texas for more House seats and Senate seats.

[quote]Hillary needs to stay far away from running for even dog catcher [...]They destroyed us in 2016

R363 = Deplorable that voted for Trump.

Sure, the finest political candidate the Democratic party has run in recent memory destroyed you.

Can Klobuchar appeal to Michigan? She is beloved in Minn.

I think Chris Murphy could appeal to a lot of people because is so good on gun control, an issue that I really think led to our victory in suburbia on Tues and an issue very important to young people.

We CANNOT have any kill ICE nominee.

I worked for HRC - it’s time for her to go away. Same with Bernie. They divide our party with memories of an ugly 2016 primary season.

[quote]Sure, the finest political candidate the Democratic party has run in recent memory destroyed you.

So fine that a reality show host is sitting in the Oval Office instead of her.

If Beto runs, he'll easily win the primary He's captured the imagination of the country. He also has the "IT Factor" the same way that Obama did and there's no way to run against that. Just ask Hillary. Beto would out-campaign Trump 2-to-1. Can you imagine the excitement surrounding the Democratic convention if Beto were the nominee?

The one good thing about Trump is that he's eliminated the traditional rules and roadblocks to running for president. You can have zero political experience and still run and win. Beto at least has political experience and knows the issues.

[quote] Beto has the charisma, Lamb is a winner in a Trump zone. This is a young, exciting ticket that could motivate even more young voters than the surge we saw in 2018.

Progressive women and non-whites must be motivated to vote. The optics of a white male ticket will be demoralizing for all the people who have felt most under siege since 2016.

R371 and I'd love to look at Beto towering over Trump on the debate stage... his massive hands waving in the air.

[quote]Beto has the charisma, Lamb is a winner in a Trump zone. This is a young, exciting ticket that could motivate even more young voters than the surge we saw in 2018.

There’s too much inexperience on that ticket.

Beto has to factor in the ticket. As cliched as it sounds, the mantra of Democrats fall in love and Republicans in line is so true.

[quote] Black people don't care for Kamala. Stop thinking black people will vote for anyone black. That isn't true.

It's more true than false. It's only a question of whether black voters can be motivated to vote. There is certainly no basis to suggest a dislike of Harris.

[quote] Hillary Rodham has never been unprepared for a thing in her life. To the contrary, it's that Hillary is too overprepared. That's exactly why people never connected to her. She was too much of a political robot

Nope. R347 nailed it. You could argue that HRC the candidate was prepared but her campaign was definitely not. And her judgment about how she should campaign was not great.

Please someone correct me if I'm in the wrong, but I had thought I read somewhere that Beto is fluent in Spanish, but Cruz is not. Beto gets major points for being bilingual in my book.

[quote] If Beto runs, he'll easily win the primary He's captured the imagination of the country. He also has the "IT Factor" the same way that Obama did and there's no way to run against that.

oh my god... He does NOT. Gillum garnered more attention from the national electorate. Beto is a MEDIA celebrity. I'm in CA and he has not yet captured our imagination. I see no "it factor" as he rambles through stump speeches like an overgrown millennial. Still, I'm open to him if he can polish up his act -- he is decidedly sub-Obama at the moment.

This is going to be sooo hard for us. We got a whole bunch of almost-theres but no solid rockstars.

[quote]Maybe Beto should have stayed in the House. Now he has nothing.

LOL Did people know his name while he was in Congress? Did you?

Now people all over the country know his name and call him a star. That's definitely a lot of something.

Is Klobuchar beloved? I’m in Minnesota and frankly I’ve voted for her every time she’s come up but I wouldn’t say I’m particularly passionate regarding her. I don’t know anyone who is actually.

I’m not knocking her and equally I don’t think I know anyone that passionately dislikes her. Republicans aside obviously. I have a super progressive friend who grumbled at me about her but still voted her in.

She just gets the job done which is generally enough but I wouldn’t say there is a lot of excitement surrounding her.

Honestly Franken was the last candidate I was excited for.

The candidate I heard the most positive, non-ad buzz about here this year was Ilhan Omar.

I’m literally in Downtown Minneapolis though and it’s very progressive leaning.

I’m going to have to ask around and see what other people here think.

Not knocking the idea. It just kind of struck me as it would never have occurred to me that she could be a possibility.

R261 Spoken like a person who has no money whatsoever.

O'Rourke/Harris

For you Harris backers, why? What's she done? I saw her in the Kavanaugh hearings and she put on a good show but to me it felt more like she was showing off (same with Booker.) So why would she be a good candidate? I know nothing about her except that she is very popular here.

Harris is brilliant, the real deal. It is high time Americans cease this dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. I was in awe of her during the Kavanaughty hearings. I agree with the previous poster who remarked on how her confidence is not only inspiring, but somehow comforting. She is unflappable.

Beto is still too "fumbly". He needs to get a little more gravitas before running. He could, maybe, do VP now but that would mean a woman or person of color at the top of the ticket because two white males is not going to fly in 2020.

Anyone from Michigan here? What's Gretchen Witmer like? Could she go national? I love that the first thing listed on her issues page is "Fix the Damn Roads".

timothee and armie.

bout time

let free love reign

and the boys fly free

Bill Murray/Chevy Chase

As if Chevy Chase would take second billing.

When are the first high-profile announcements of the beginning of campaigns likely to be?

First come the Exploratory Committees...

[quote] Beto is a MEDIA celebrity. I'm in CA and he has not yet captured our imagination.

With all due respect, no one cares what California thinks. California won't decide the 2020 election. The election will be decided in PA, WI, MI, and OH. All that really matters is whether our candidate can do well in those states. The country is so polarized that the blue states will always vote blue and the red states will always vote red. Only 4 or 5 states really matter, and none of them are on the coasts. I'm tired of DataLoungers always looking at the presidential race from the perspective of which politicians are popular in NY and CA. That's how we lose.

[quote] It is high time Americans cease this dumbing down to the lowest common denominator.

Good luck with that. Sure, we could nominate someone brainy, intellectual and professorial -- if we want to lose.

[quote] Hillary Rodham has never been unprepared for a thing in her life. To the contrary, it's that Hillary is too overprepared. That's exactly why people never connected to her.

No. R377 is right. Hillary has always been 100% prepared to govern and 0% prepared to campaign. She's the incredibly competent job candidate who the company intends to hire but ends up not hiring because she doesn't do well in the job interview.

[quote] The one good thing about Trump is that he's eliminated the traditional rules and roadblocks to running for president. You can have zero political experience and still run and win.

I agree, but I'm not sure I'd call that a good thing.

[quote] I'm in CA and he has not yet captured our imagination.

Who are you to speak for CA? I'm from California and donated to his campaign, in fact, A LOT of his donors came from CA. Beto definitely has the "IT" factor.

[quote]So fine that a reality show host is sitting in the Oval Office instead of her.

Blame yourself for having no empathy for your fellow Americans to go ahead and vote. Then, thank Russia for hacking the election.

R376, Kamala is a joke in black political circles. She was formerly the mistress to Af American San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. She has a past. Obama complimenting her a few years ago really helped lift her reputation/profile. Republicans would get this dirt on her easily. Kamala is a liability.

Unfortunately, Warren is also a liability with her Native American ancestry lie.

May as well nominate Hillary if a woman is necessary. Michelle just won't do it so.

R378, Both Beto and his wife are fluent in Spanish. Cruz who was actually born in Canada, of an American mother, has Cuban ancestry and isn't bilingual.

After taking my licks here for suggesting someone smart and competent; I wonder all the more why Americans want to nominate and elect dumb common people for their leader.

Winfrey/Moulton

Don't worry white women are amazing. No one can belittle a Gay Man, call the cops on a black girl selling lemonade, and not bother to learn a Hispanic man's name before turning around complaining that they're victims because there's sales tax on makeup or something or a transwoman feels unsafe in a male bathroom.

We bow at the altar of your struggle, such as... eh...

A translation please R402?

R402 The only women belittling gay men here at the Data Lounge surely are not white.

I think we all know who it is who snaps into homophobic insults the moment a gay man refuses to acknowledge Whitney Houston or some other black icon as being the Queen of Everything... it was "diseased old white Fags" correct, ladies of LSA?

...and LSA is what now?

"I think we all know who it is who snaps into homophobic insults the moment a gay man refuses to acknowledge Whitney Houston or some other black icon as being the Queen of Everything... it was "diseased old white Fags" correct, ladies of LSA?."

Yeah, LSA doesn't actually give much of shit. And for all we know the "diseased old white fags" meme is just an excuse for you to be racist.

Oh, wait, we do know that.

'Cause you are, bitch!

Having read through all the arguments on this thread, how about Beto/ Klobuchar?

r371, Trump has the "IT" factor? I don't think he does. I think he was just a loud mouth who said some very outrageous and often insulting things about his opponents and he somehow hit a nerve with a bunch of people who are tired of so called "establishment" candidates.

He also appealed to sexists, racists, homophobes, zenophobes, and muslim phobes.

When I think of the "IT" factor I think of someone like JFK, RFK, Ronald Reagan (for the Reps anyway), Bill Clinton, Barack Obama.

Trump does not have that same kind of appeal IMO.

So all I got so far is one poster who says Kamala is brilliant and put on an unflappable show during Kavanaugh.

Ok r371, I had time to reread your post and I see I made a misassumption about something you wrote. When you wrote "Just ask Hillary," I assumed that you were referring to her race against Trump in 2016; however, on reading it again, I know realize that you were referring to her race against Obama in 2008 for the Democratic nomination.

In that case, I have to agree with you; He most certainly did have the "IT" factor compared to Hillary in that race. Although she's a very brilliant woman, I don't think Hillary has ever possessed the "IT" factor, as clearly you don't either.

So we are in agreement, so kindly disregard my above post.

Thanks.

r378, Beto does indeed speak fluent Spanish, having grown up right near the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas.

r393, Exactly. We already did that in 2016, she lost.

The ultimate unity ticket: Michelle Obama and Melania Trump

[quote]So all I got so far is one poster who says Kamala is brilliant and put on an unflappable show during Kavanaugh.

She just has “it”, more so than the other potential candidates.

She has the right combination of experience, tough but polished personality, and she has broader appeal to minorities.

I don’t think it’s any one thing, she’s just has more of the total package that we’re looking for.

That being said, she’s also going to need the right running mate.

[quote] She just has “it”, more so than the other potential candidates. She has the right combination of experience, tough but polished personality, and she has broader appeal to minorities.

My fear: Kamala has all the right qualities to appeal to the Democratic base (urbanites, intellectuals, minorities) but none of the right qualities to appeal to the blue-collar moderates and independents in the heartland, and we're going to need at least some of them to win. I fear that she could be another Democrat to comfortably win the popular vote but lose enough of the swing states to lose the presidency. Oh, and I agree with R226 that a lot of men will see her (rightly or wrongly) as just another Hillary.

R408, I agree.

Trump is not charismatic by any means. The only reason why people pay attention to him is because he’s a train wreck. A very loud and obnoxious train wreck.

I'm throwing out a dark horse: Tim Walz, the new governor of Minnesota. He's got a real everyman appeal, and has a great story. A veteran and high school geography teacher, he was so disgusted by GWB's besmirching of John Kerry's service record, he got involved in DFL politics. He ran for Congress in 2006, and wiped the floor with 5-term Contract With America holdover Congressman, who hadn't gotten less than 60% of the vote in the previous two elections.

I like Biden or Sanders. Either could beat Trump, imo.

[quote]She just has “it”, more so than the other potential candidates.

We're not casting a movie. And anybody thinking DL's preferred diva is the answer is doomed to wonder what went wrong through 2024.

Trump sold people on ideas they wanted, even if what wasn't a lie was bullshit instead. An ugly, loud, semi articulate liar sold it to them. It's a combination of message and messenger. But message first. Every victorious Democrat sells an idea people buy or buy into. FDR, Kennedy, Clinton, Obama.

And when the Dems don't have candidate who combines message and messenger the country reverts to its default - Republican. Of the last twenty presidents, 13 have been Republican.

So whoever the candidate it is, he or she better have something to say that people will buy and the personal ability to sell it.

Tim Walz, another interesting possibility.

Would Sanders deign to become a Democrat again r418? I'd also like to see how Bernie would fare if he was actually put under the media microscope and vetted the way he wasn't back in 2016. And what about his tax returns? Would he show them this time?

Call me skeptical about another Bernie Sanders run.

[quote] Harris is brilliant, the real deal. It is high time Americans cease this dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. I was in awe of her during the Kavanaughty hearings. I agree with the previous poster who remarked on how her confidence is not only inspiring, but somehow comforting. She is unflappable.

Brilliant may be an overstatement but she is very smart and shrewd. She knows she has an uphill battle for 2020. Her victory in the Kavanaugh hearing was that she rattled the fuck out of him, made him squirm and reveal himself as a liar. She's a former prosecutor so she's in the long game. She may very well have information that Is at odds with his testimony and that could force him to recuse himself in any hearing on Trump's misdeeds.

eliz warren///// joy reid

I would like Biden/Harris.

[quote] With all due respect, no one cares what California thinks. California won't decide the 2020 election.

???? Yes we will! The billion dollar warchest the 2020 Dem candidate needs to win isn't coming from Michigan or Wisconsin. CA needs to be convinced or no $$$$.

[quote] Who are you to speak for CA? I'm from California and donated to his campaign, in fact, A LOT of his donors came from CA. Beto definitely has the "IT" factor.

Well, I can only speak for my CA progressive social and professional network. We were fired up about FL and GA and contributed accordingly. We were less impressed with Beto but I know he got money from CA. However, this "IT factor" stuff is gross overstatement. I am pleased that he did well in TX and lifted other Dems in TX but he is not ready for the national stage. He lacks polish.

Brie/cabernet sauvignon

Beto/Gillum

[quote]Her victory in the Kavanaugh hearing was that she rattled the fuck out of him, made him squirm and reveal himself as a liar.

I think that will be her biggest appeal. She is going to get in Trump’s face and make him look like an absolute fool and not back down.

And she will be able to do the same with McConnell and the other idiots in Washington to get things done.

[quote]I am pleased that he did well in TX and lifted other Dems in TX but he is not ready for the national stage. He lacks polish.

Beto should only be getting consideration for the VP slot right now. He is not ready for top billing.

He will make a great campaigner as somebody else’s running mate in 2020.

Is it me or is Michelle in the running???

[quote]Is it me or is Michelle in the running???

No, Trump just hates her.

Are we allowed to run two white men?

MO states unequivocally in her book: “I’ll say it here directly: I have no intention of running for office, ever,” she writes. “I’ve never been a fan of politics, and my experience over the last ten years has done little to change that.”

[quote]Are we allowed to run two white men?

It hasn’t worked for Democrats since 1996.

R434. Well fuck her then. Democrats are making a call and she refused it. She could go to hell for all I care

She is entitled to her own life and to make her own difference in her own way. Kinda psycho hostile there, for someone who doesn't care.

Michelle Obama is in no way qualified to be running for President.

What you call lacking polish, I call authentic. I hope he never loses it. It is rare. There's nothing worse to me that than stagey earnestness so many coached politicians have - Booker is an example of this. I like the guy but dial it back, girl. HRC is also a horrible stagey speaker.

But I agree it is too soon for Beto for President. I'd like to see him as a one term Veep under Biden, spending most of his time in a non controversial role as the eyes and ears of the administration... travelling the country, getting with people, becoming known. Then a run for President in 24.

How would Beto keep his name out there until 2024 tho? They'll be 50 viable dem candidates by 2024. It's when Trump finished his second term and the country exhausted with his antics. Lamb, Duckworth, Newsome, Biden at 90 years old lol are coming up.

R392 I never thought of it that way but you make an important point. Those states (OH, PA, MI and WI) can't be overlooked. The candidate will need to spend quality campaigning time in those states.

R441 is Robby Mook.

Beto needs to run for President later when the opponent is not Trump.

Trump would absolutely destroy him and his positive, feel-good skateboarding vibe.

We need a focused, tough-as-nails bitch like Kamala Harris to take down Trump in 2020.

As a NYer, we are making a critical mistake if we look for someone who will appeal to CA and NY. CA and NY have money and hate Trump so much for so many reasons that they will fall in line on voting and donating, as long as we pick someone who espouses basic Dem views. We need a presidential candidate who has experience, isn’t going to scare off independents with kill ISIS mantra, can appeal to middle America and a VP who can energize young people and minorities. I’d say Murphy or Klobuchar at the top of ticket and Beto, Harris or Booker as VP. Not sure Harris or Booker would even want VP slot, though they should because they are relatively young.

R443. No black woman unless you and other democrats are the only ones who will be voting for her.

I have no favorites right now. The landscape could change a great deal over the next year or two as well. It will be a crowded field, I'm just looking to see how they all campaign in the primaries. Who can move people, who can take on Trump, who can win the base and expand the electorate. Alot of these folks have never campaigned nationally and I want to see who can survive that.

FYI - When we do elect a Democratic Pres in 2020, also think about the cabinet, i.e. wouldn't it be better to have Harris as AG or Warren back in the admin as a consumer advocate.

"We need a focused, tough-as-nails bitch like Kamala Harris to take down Trump in 2020*

Ahem.

R447, No, not an elderly, ill, chronic-cough-afflicted relic with a decades-long history of corruption and scandals.

I know a lot of people are hell-bent on Kamala Harris, but there are a lot of people that aren’t going to vote for a woman, any woman, on the top of the ticket. Period. Since the next election will probably be a nail-biter due to voter suppression and relocating polling places to exclude minorities, why take a chance? We can’t afford it.

Harris will still be around when Trump is gone and we can see what happens with the Deplorables. If they are stronger than ever, we need to adjust our expectations of who people will vote for accordingly. It’s not worth living in a fascist dictatorship and having our voting rights taken away forever so one minority woman can indulge her ego. Hillary was qualified, but there were a significant number of voters who refused to vote for a woman in the top position, her other issues aside. We’re going to need a slam dunk here. A lot of votes will be “lost” or disqualified next time and we know that already.

Beto would have been a great choice with more experience. He’s white, young, male, from Texas and has charisma. That’s probably the best we can hope for right now. He’d be better on the bottom of the ticket for now.

Who is Murphy?? There are a few of them.

[quote]Hillary was qualified, but there were a significant number of voters who refused to vote for a woman in the top position, her other issues aside.

The problem was mostly Hillary herself. She started out with unfavorable ratings that were off-the-charts, and got worse as things moved along. And she was under FBI investigation for most of her campaign.

Don’t assume a woman can’t win just because Hillary was a monumental fuck-up as a candidate.

R449 Sad but true. Remember Krazy Kanye admitting he loved Hillary but could NOT bring himself to voting for her? Even in his insanity at least he spoke a hard truth. I don't think America can handle a woman as President. Not yet. And look what the Rethuglicans did to Obama! Openly wished him to fail, birtherism and obstructionism at every turn!

Kamala Harris has a sharp intellect. Not sure what you queens are going on about?

R405, LSA stands for LipstickAlley an online site designed for educated Black women. They have previously and repeatedly dissed the possible presidential candidacy of Oprah Winfrey (a fake Christian) and Kamala Harris (married to a White man and does not sufficiently ID as Black.) They have also dissed fellow sisters "who are in with the swirl" like Meghan Markle if they appear to have few Black friends.

Interestingly there was a rising star in the political world, a Southern born, college educated handsome Black man, who was at one time considered to be a rival to Obama. That is, until he married a White woman. Occasionally reading on LSA explains why his possible presidential candidacy was no longer pushed.

Beto/Joe Hennedy

[quote] She is entitled to her own life and to make her own difference in her own way. Kinda psycho hostile there, for someone who doesn't care.

ignore her. If you feed the trolls they will keep coming back.

[quote]I know a lot of people are hell-bent on Kamala Harris, but there are a lot of people that aren’t going to vote for a woman, any woman, on the top of the ticket. Period.

Give it up... a bunch of aging caftans are in the throes of their Joan Crawford for Mayor complex. Kamala is a their dream diva. It's American Idol: White House Edition.

NO POLTICIANS.

YOU GUYS DON'T GET IT. 40 YEARS OF CONSERVATIVE MEDIA AND ANTI GOVERNMENT SENTIMENT HAS COME TO THIS. WE WILL NOT WIN THE EC WITH ANYONE CURRENTLY SERVING.

Beto / Joe Kennedy

r458, Go back to Olga in HR and tell her you need more training. Не будь таким очевидным.

Beto is not 'polished' enough? Watch this again. The guy asking the question was a campaign staffer of Ted Cruz, the question was asked at an all-white Town Hall in a Republican suburb of Houston. Cruz's campaign asked the question to stir shit and filmed Beto's response in the mistaken belief that it would kill his campaign off in Texas.

Show me another Dem with Beto's balls and integrity. They can preach to the choir but can't get any converts. Cruz won by 2.5%. Abbott won by 13% which means a shitload of Texas Republicans voted for Beto, an unabashed liberal who did not feign centrist beliefs but impressed people with his honesty and authenticity, somebody who wouldn't tailor his beliefs to get a short-term victory.

[quote] [R443]. No black woman unless you and other democrats are the only ones who will be voting for her.

Bullshit. A black woman nearly won the governorship of deep-red GEORGIA and only lost by a slim margin because her opponent -- the Secretary of State -- engineered an extensive Jim Crow-era voter suppression campaign.

You and Bernie should not project your own unease with black women and cast a cloud over the entire national electorate. A black woman gets black people to vote. Black people will vote in higher numbers for Harris than for HRC (in 2016) in PA, MI and WI -- and Harris will get 90% of their votes. A black female candidate can galvanize the Obama base in a way that a white dude cannot. We cannot convert Trump's deplorable base, we can only activate ours. If a progressively liberal black man can come within 0.5% of winning governor in FL -- the most racist state in the U.S. -- Dems can run Harris nationally and win.

[quote] Don’t assume a woman can’t win just because Hillary was a monumental fuck-up as a candidate.

I wholeheartedly agree that HRC's loss in 2016 is not a measure of a female candidate's viability. She was a flawed candidate with a badly managed campaign. Even her husband told her when and how she was losing but she didn't listen to him.

Seems like any number of women could knock Trump off in 2020, but save MO, who won't run, none have a massive advantage over any of the others.

R462, if we don’t get enough Independent votes (in other words, Republicans or conservatives that hate Trump), we can’t win. That’s true in every election. Even Obama got crossover votes. They were from conservatives that were sick of the Bush/Cheney never-ending corruption.

Religious people often won’t vote for a woman because in the Bible there’s some passage that says women aren’t allowed to be the “head” (boss) of a man. She could be the second coming of Jesus Christ and it wouldn’t be good enough. Same with some older black people, because they’re religious.

Even when Sarah Palin became the Vice Presidential nominee there was talk of it, and they loved her.

Again, this isn’t a normal period in history. If we lose in 2020, it’s going to be the United States of Putin. This is not the time to do risky experiments on who people “might” vote for.

Harris does not badly in this CNN poll...first of women named... behind Biden and Sanders.

R466. Must be one of those harri s fanwhore.

As far as a black wonan losing because of voter suppression, what the hell do you think is going to happen in 2020? It’s going to be voter suppression everywhere. All the Republican governors will try to find a way to stop blacks and Latinos from voting.

A poll measures who people would like to vote for before two years of constant lies and attacks. It doesn’t measure who’s going to be allowed to vote (whites and people that can pass for white, mostly) and what people will think after Trump spends two years calling her “Satan-worshipping Kamala Harris” or whatever he comes up with.

Hillary got really high approval ratings too, before the Republicans made emails more important than electing a crazy person.

[quote] Religious people often won’t vote for a woman because in the Bible there’s some passage that says women aren’t allowed to be the “head” (boss) of a man...Same with some older black people, because they’re religious.S

Simply not true regarding black people. Since the times Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom, black woman have been leaders. Older black people would vote for Michelle Obama as if she WAS the Second Coming of Christ.

Michelle Obama has national recognition. Kamala Harris is “that woman from California.”

It’s very early days still. Most potential candidates haven’t been vetted yet. There are probably good candidates in the smaller states that nobody’s ever heard of.

When the governor of Arkansas ran for President, people thought he didn’t have a chance, being from a backwards hellhole and all. He was probably some dumb hick, kind of like Mike Huckabee.

That was Bill Clinton.

I was thinking this country can't handle a woman as President but you guys are giving me hope; thank you! I voted for Hillary but hope she's done running. She can make very valuable contributions in other ways.

[quote]When the governor of Arkansas ran for President, people thought he didn’t have a chance, being from a backwards hellhole and all. He was probably some dumb hick, kind of like Mike Huckabee.

[quote]That was Bill Clinton.

Remember when the only thing we really worried about with Bill Clinton, and the President more broadly, was his fast food addiction?

[quote] Again, this isn’t a normal period in history. If we lose in 2020, it’s going to be the United States of Putin. This is not the time to do risky experiments on who people “might” vote for.

That's your assessment. There are CRITICAL votes needed in our Dem electorate -- the Obama base -- that are essential to winning 2020. These voters will decide -- just based on optics -- that the difference between Biden/Beto and Trump/Pence is negligible and they will stay home. It happened in 2016. Do not underestimate the value of diversity in our post-Obama era. To some, white men are just as suspect and polarizing as black women are to others.

Or the GOP's rebuke of President Obama for wearing e a tan suit and liking arugula?!

[quote] As far as a black wonan losing because of voter suppression, what the hell do you think is going to happen in 2020? It’s going to be voter suppression everywhere. All the Republican governors will try to find a way to stop blacks and Latinos from voting.

Then our energy and support should go to efforts to stop voter-suppression. Don't legitimize racism.

Honestly, R467, I am not. I think she's no more distinguished than your run of the mill senator and I find her fangurls here irrational and obnoxious, like unhinged Hillary lovers. If Harris sang And I am Telling You, I'm Not Going, the sponge would flood streets.

The numbers, while early and far from definitive, are what they are at the moment. I posted them. I was a bit surprised by them. But on a name recognition basis she isn't as nothing as I thought. It's a long road to nomination, though, and I don't rate it a popularity contest, personally. I am a Biden, Landrieu, Beto backer at this point. But I never rule out anybody could come along with the actual right platform for the country. We never talk about what we want a president to do around here, we just pull out our Barbies and start fighting.

R476. Liberals love identity politics. They will never learn since they love been defeated at the hands of victory. Why play it safe while you can lose out to Orange Cheetos then claim gerrymandering. I have never met a bunch of passive aggressive group of people like progressives. They want to play another round of experimentation just to boost their ego at the expense of the minority groups who have a lot to lose if trump gets reelected.

R475, there’s not a lot we can do to stop Republicans in power from voter suppression. Pretty much the only ones that can do anything are judges. And Trump is replacing them as fast as he can.

That was the whole point of voting in the first place. Stopping those people who are now not stopped because not enough Democrats showed up.

It’s not “legitimizing voter suppression” to acknowledge there is some. We have to win by large margins or we won’t win. A couple of the Democratic winners were expected to win by larger margins. For all we know some of their votes may have been thrown away.

R421 Hey Skeptical. I will call the men in the white suits to come pick you up if you even think of Bernie for a second run.

I personally like the man, though I was not a Berner, but if any of you think that the south is going to elect a Jewish man who looks like Larry David, well...there is a greater chance of them voting for Andrew Gillum. And you KNOW that ain't happening(on a national stage.)

R450 - I don’t know about others but my posts refer to Chris Murphy, CT senator and prob the face of gun control movement (he reps Sandy Hook).

[quote]Chris Murphy, CT senator and prob the face of gun control movement (he reps Sandy Hook).

Gun control is not gonna fly in places like PA and MI. So if this guy is the face of gun control, you can expect to lose those states if he’s the nominee.

Kamala Harris is not African-American - she is half Indian. The exit polls in Texas (which now has an enormous Indian immigrant population) showed that Indians voted massively for Cruz. These fuckers are all rightwingers.

As Bernie showed in the Daily Beast interview he is basically George Wallace, he might do well with the racists in the South.

“Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada: That’s the presidency right there,” said Paul Maslin, a top Democratic pollster. “In a really good Democratic year, could Georgia or Arizona come into play? Yeah, sure. But I’m talking about winning … We’re talking about winning here, we’re not talking about some fanciful notions.”

I don't see how Beto wins the upper Midwest. Ideally it would be someone folksy with a nice story to tell us.

Then I’d have to say he is a no go R480

At least for now. We have to consider that the insane NRA types aren’t the only gun users who get their backs up with heavy gun control talk. Hunters and outdoors types do too. Some vocal celebrity hunters in my area are turning LOUDLY (for them) against the current administration because of its horrible environmental policies. We need to get the conservationists and outdoorsmen away from he republicans and handily this administration is doing that for us.

I’m not taking about big game fucks however. Anyone who is going to fly to Africa to murder a cheetah is a bone deep con.

I’m talking about the genuine conservationists and they do seem to be turning.

^Talking about big game fucks^

Beto O’Rourke/Michelle Obama Michelle Obama/Beto O’Rourke

Two decent attractive authentic people.

Yes, Democrats really need to tamp down the gun control agenda if they expect to win the Midwest.

I know the progressives don’t want to hear that, but it’s reality.

Interesting article about Sherrod Brown as the Democrats’ model for winning back states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Sherrod Brown is dull as dishwater. Fuck the Rust Belt. He is the only Senator as boring as Tim Kaine.

Sorry, ya gotta have a Star to take down reality TV celeb Trump.

[quote]Sorry, ya gotta have a Star to take down reality TV celeb Trump.

Harris / O’Rourke is the best option.

Beto would completely unnerve Trump without even trying. Beto is younger, better-looking, taller, smarter and more energetic and charismatic. Just like with Obama, Trump goes crazy with jealousy if he perceives another man as superior to him. Beto would intimidate him.

Harris would unnerve him more.

Not in the same way. He has no fear of or respect for women.

In a debate she might get under his skin for a while but I think his trump brain would then write her of as a value-less woman soon after.

I think R492 is right on with trumps mental make up.

Not much here about Tammy Duckworth. Don't know too much about her, but she served in the military and lost both legs. (Trump might say "Your fault" he's that evil.)

She represents Illinois in the Senate and is a new mother. She seems pretty centrist.

A tiny thing is that she has a slight ethnic accent, as she is half Thai. She was also born in Bangkok, but to an American dad and Thai mom. And her first name is kind of... I don't know...

A good candidate for president or VP?

Here she is in fatigues. Seems no-nonsense.

r478, Republicans do not use the phrase Identity Politics.

They use Block Voters.

Democrats need to move to Block Voters because we have more blocks.

Here's Duckworth with her new baby in the Senate lol!

Here's her husband.

An Iraq War veteran, Duckworth served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and suffered severe combat wounds, which caused her to lose both of her legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war.[3] Despite her grievous injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver which allowed her continue serving as a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard along with her husband, Major Bryan W. Bowlsbey, a signal officer and fellow Iraq War veteran, until her retirement from the Army in October 2014.[4]

Duckworth doesn't have a fancy educational pedigree like Hillary or even Trump:

Duckworth attended Singapore American School, and for a few months in her senior year was at the International School Bangkok. The family settled in Hawaii when she was sixteen. Her father became unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance.[7] She graduated with honors from McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1985, having skipped the ninth grade. She graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, and later received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.[9] She completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015.[10]

How Nate Silver thinks the Dems can win the WH with the current states that turned Blue last week- forget Ohio and Floria.

She’s a possibility as VP. I don’t see her heading a ticket.

Duckworth will run in 2024. After Trump's double term is up she will likely emerge our nominee. I believe she was born in Thailand which the R's will be relentless about. But her service and sacrifice will blunt that.

Klobuchar/O'Rourke

Pretty interesting interview of Duckworth.

Sure r433, if you want to alienate a large part of the Democratic base and probably lose.

Harris would be a great VP candidate. She is beautiful, articulate, and would fire up the progressive base. However I'm not sure how comfortable black males would be with her as the first black female president. Lets be honest, a lot of black American males are ignorant and would consider her the white man's whore for marrying white.

I worry that Harris not having children might be a negative as well.

Suburban fraus and black single mothers might feel she cant relate to them and their issues because she’s not a mother herself.

[quote]Unfortunately, Warren is also a liability with her Native American ancestry lie.

Thanks for regurgitating the rightwing talking point on warren. Back here on planet earth, all she ever said was that her mother recounted stories of Indian ancestry.

Yes r509 suburban mothers can connect much better with a serial adulterer and serial sexual molester.

Warren would be a terrible candidate. Trump has already made her into a national joke, and the campaign hasn’t even started yet.

[quote] In a debate she might get under his skin for a while but I think his trump brain would then write her of as a value-less woman soon after.

Harris is not a young woman. She is mid-50s. She is accustomed to being degraded, underestimated and undermined by men like Trump. She is not Obama and she will not go high. She'll be ready for war. Her debate clap-backs will be LEGENDARY.

Sorry, just to correct something, Duckworth's mother is Chinese.

Oprah/Tom Hanks. If Dem leadership is savy,innovative ,progressive. Which they are. Not.

[quote] Beto would completely unnerve Trump without even trying. Beto is younger, better-looking, taller, smarter and more energetic and charismatic.

Just imagine them on the podium opposite each other during the Presidential debates. One looks old, tired, mean and the other is youthful, earnest and compassionate. It would be Nixon vs Kennedy debate and we know who won after.

[quote]Back here on planet earth, all she ever said was that her mother recounted stories of Indian ancestry.

Didn’t she use her “minority” status to get preferential treatment at Harvard?

Duckworth hobbles when she walks, and she needs a cane. Some voters won't like that.

r440, Why are you assuming that Drumpf will get a second term? Fuck that! We are kicking him out of there in 2020!

The key to 2020 is giving the Democratic base someone to vote FOR. Someone who makes them want to go to the polls and wait in lines for hours to vote -- like Obama. Don't make a ticket intended to entice Republicans-masquerading-as-Independents and other GOP-leaners. Those folks didn't vote for Barack Hussein Obama in 2008 and they won't vote for [Dem name here] in 2020. 2020 is about us not them. We have two years to get Dems ready to vote and counteract voter suppression.

R519 uhm cuz the economy is roaring! Trump's a gaslighter for sure, but unless Democrats come up with a way to make the economy even more robust then we might as well phone in this next presidential election. It's the perception that matters. Obama. Trump. Whomever heads the country gets the credit or blame for the economy.

[quote]Just imagine them on the podium opposite each other during the Presidential debates. One looks old, tired, mean and the other is youthful, earnest and compassionate. It would be Nixon vs Kennedy debate and we know who won after.

Yeah, except the same could be said of O'Rourke vs. Cruz and that didn't work out so well.

[quote] Don't make a ticket intended to entice Republicans-masquerading-as-In - dependents and other GOP-leaners. Those folks didn't vote for Barack Hussein Obama in 2008

Actually, quite a few of them did. Obama won in 2008, in part, because many moderates and voters who would normally lean Republican were fed up with Bush and Cheney and wanted a change. How else do you think Obama managed to win a red state like Indiana in 2008? Obama was basically a centrist, and he ran on a message of trying to bring Democrats and Republicans together. (Yes, I know that was a pipe dream that never happened, but it helped him get elected). We need a candidate who can energize the Democratic base, but the candidate also needs to be someone who can attract a few of the independents and borderline Republicans who went for Trump in 2016.

Trump is intimidated by young alpha males like Obama and Justin Trudeau. When he attacks them, everybody laughs AT him, instead of WITH him, like when he attacks Hillary and Warren. Everybody knows that his attacks are because of jealousy. That's why Beto is the perfect person to run against him.

[quote]Having read through all the arguments on this thread, how about Beto/ Klobuchar?

The visual and, well, reality of having the older, more experienced woman below the less experienced white male candidate is not something that will sell to educated women. We see and experience that crap every single day in our actual lives and absolutely hate it.

Duckworth is my Senator. She's great but has never seemed presidential to me. If Kirk hadn't turned kind of crazy and pulled a Trump with some racist remark, I'm not even sure she would have won her Senate race.

R525; yes she would've - she won by 15 points.

[quote] Yeah, except the same could be said of O'Rourke vs. Cruz and that didn't work out so well.

But Beto lost by 2% in a deeply Red State and he brought in the youth vote, displaced voters and people who don't normally vote and they, in turn, voted a Blue ticket downstream that helped Beto's fellow Dems insides Texas. So, it was a win in a way. If Beto had run in any other state, he would have won.

I voted for Hillary. She was a very strong candidate and she could not take down Trump. No women. It won't work. It has to be a man he's deadly jealous of like Obama. I agree on Beto.

R522 Cruz didn't win their debates despite being a "professional debater". Beto held his own. Cruz won because it was Texas, because there is massive voter suppression and outright cheating and Cruz plastered the airwaves with his lying, trashy ads. If you remember during the 2016 campaign, Cruz got attacked by Trump, Rubio, Kasich, Bush even fucking Carson for his dirty tricks campaign. Beto's only mistake was not responding quicker to all Cruz's lies and letting him control the narrative.

The Texas Republicans are all obsessed with Beto - he's been getting bitchy attacks from the Gov, the psycho Lt Gov - they're jealous because he connects with people and he's hot. They hate him. But some intelligent Republicans have pretty much admitted they voted for Beto - Joe Straus and Mike McCaul.

Cruz's campaign manager Jeff Roe who makes Karl Rove look like Mother Theresa said this about Beto: “The Democrats don’t have anybody like him. I’ve seen all of them. They don’t have anyone of his caliber on the national stage. I pray for the soul of anyone who has to run against him in Iowa in 453 days,” Roe told Politico.

From 1:14.

"Cadet Bone Spurs" lol

[quote] I don't see how Beto wins the upper Midwest. Ideally it would be someone folksy with a nice story to tell us.

I think Beto would play very well in the Upper Midwest. I think a lot of voters in the Midwest are willing to vote for someone who's progressive, as long as he/she comes across as authentic and relatable and not the same old, same old. It's when a candidate comes across as too staged and forced, and sounds like a career politician, that voters in the Midwest are turned off. Beto has an energy and scrappiness that reminds me in some ways of someone like Paul Wellstone. And I can totally envision TV ads featuring Beto in jeans, shirtsleeves rolled up, walking through Midwestern farm fields or having a beer with the locals at the bar. I have a hard time picturing someone like Kamala Harris in those types of TV ads.

Whoever is pushing this Tammy Duckworth, please stop.

An additional point where Beto would drive Trump crazy: his father-in-law is a self-made billionaire, much richer than Trump, a real estate tycoon who has retired now. You just know Trump knows all about William Sanders and that would drive him bonkers. Bloomberg called him "the Warren Buffet of real estate".

R531 is a tranny on wheels.

[quote]Trump is intimidated by young alpha males like Obama and Justin Trudeau

Obama and Trudeau are both betas, and Trump is not intimidated by either.

r523: Yes, unfortunately we need centrists like Obama and since it's white men that vote for T, I say (as a white woman who has voted lib Dem for my entire life), we need to attract white men, so 2 white men is ok by me this time--anything to win potential independents who are sick of Trump. DEFEATING TRUMP has to be the #1 priority. We can attract younger voters with Beto as VP. We can have a woman candidate in 2024 (Stacey Abrams anybody). We'll see who there is besides Beto when they start having primary debates, so maybe all of this is a bit early. I even think somebody like Tester (who looks like a central casting Republican, which is probably why he wins in Montana) should be considered as a possibiity ( don't know anything about him other than Trump hates him and he's from a red state. If he wins there, maybe he beats Trump?

Just one Duckworth thing and then I'll stop.

Progressive are going to attack her if she runs.

[quote]So, it was a win in a way. If Beto had run in any other state, he would have won.

Stop trying to pretend that Beto “won” anything. He lost.

It’s the same as those who are still crying in 2018 that “Hillary won the popular vote!”

Oh yeah, he lost “fair and square”

Agree with R538. There was something fishy going on with those voting machines. The Rethugs lie and cheat.

Onnnne more. Sorry. Done.

Fun electoral map exercise.

David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to President Barack Obama and Rove’s counterpart as the Democratic Party’s strategic elder statesman, said O’Rourke “has staked out some positions that are difficult positions for some of these voters in the middle to embrace,” adding, “I think one of the strengths of O’Rourke’s candidacy is that he hasn’t shaded his positions. But I acknowledge that may be a problem for some of these independent and moderate Republican voters and conservative Democrats.”

Beto would lose in the upper Midwest. Though noble hos positions he would need to moderate his positions.

[quote] Stop trying to pretend that Beto “won” anything. He lost.

[quote] It’s the same as those who are still crying in 2018 that “Hillary won the popular vote!”

Do you normally ignore all the nuance?

R534 R537 Trump's an Alpha, huh? He couldn't go to the commemoration ceremony today because it was raining and it would mess up his hair. Justin Trudeau - that beta according to you, Trumpnik, trolled him majestically, making his speech while holding an umbrella, then closing the umbrella finishing his speech in the rain and evoking the suffering of the fallen and how spoiled he felt to just have to suffer wet hair... LOL

Whoever there is on the Democratic ticket you better vote for them.

Or don't pretend you give a shit what Shitler is doing to the country.

Our problem is that we have about 20 Democrats who would make excellent vice presidents, but none of them seem to be quite right for the top of the ticket. Hopefully, one of them will catch fire and exceed expectations.

R541 Axelrod and Rove are both hacks, old men who don't understand what's going on. And both of them hate the fact Beto refused to hire consultants. Beto campaigned as a progressive and came closer than any 'centrist' ever had to taking a deep red state - a Southern state. He's a Southerner and the last two white guy Dems who took the Presidency were also Southerners - Jimmy C and Bill C.

If Beto can get 48% of the vote for the Senate, he can carry Texas when his opposition is a New Yorker (who only won Texas by 9%). A Dem who can win Texas (plus givens like California, New York and Illinois) is the President.

Billionaires Bloomberg, Howard Schultz and maybe Steyer will attempt to buy the Democratic nomination.

[quote]Obama and Trudeau are both betas, and Trump is not intimidated by either.

LOL. Trump's entire motivation to be president seems to be getting revenge on Obama for being smarter, cooler, and most of all , more popular and beloved than Trump.

R546 I wouldn't be so dismissive so quickly. The last three successful presidential campaign managers have been Kellyanne Conway, Axelrod and Rove. These ppl. Know what they're talking about. They did win didn't they? Beto couldn't ride a blue wave to victory cuz he did not centralize his positions well there you go. A loser.

[quote]Duckworth hobbles when she walks, and she needs a cane. Some voters won't like that.

Was that comment REALLY, in any way, worth the time it took to type it?

R550, in politics, that's actually a statement of fact. Do you live in a different America than the rest of us?

I like Duckworth but I don’t see her a presidential material yet.

I’m open to it though

[quote] Liberals love identity politics.

Trump's whole game is identity politics. His success with his base is built on tried and true "fear the brown" dog whistles.

I'd go with either variation of Klobuchar/ O'Rourke. Sane, unflappable, pragmatic Midwesterner (who was the only senator to truly own Kavanaugh - with a Mona Lisa smirk and a deadpan response) & Impassioned, charismatic and (totally fuckable) Texan with both compassion and a brain. I think either is capable of taking the gassy wind out of the Cheeto-in-Chief's sails in very different ways.

Unfortunately, R551 is correct.

She's a double amputee for chrissakes, r551. Yeah, no shit, some idiot voters would have a problem voting for a candidate with a disability. But the fact that a woman with no legs requires a cane to walk is kinda the least of it, and just a really dumb-assed thing to feel compelled to point out, with video evidence no less. If you're not trolling, just note that the deplorable segment of our electorate might be put off by her disabilities and leave it at that.

BTW, has Duckworth ever given even the slightest indication that she's considering a run, or what's up with someone's fixation on the idea?

[quote] Beto couldn't ride a blue wave to victory cuz he did not centralize his positions well there you go. A loser.

I think the Dems need to address the migration issue because a lot of people are uneasy about migration. The Rethugs will accuse the Dems of wanting to abolish ICE and having an open border. If Beto decides to run, he may have to go a little more center on that issue. But we don't know if he even wants to run for POTUS. His family is against the idea.

Whoever the Dem candidate is... they will have to go centrist on immigration and gun control. They will NOT win the Rustbelt with progressive positions on these two issues.

R555 we're just messing around in the DL.. chill out. Imagining scenarios of presidential chess, if you will. It's fun to think if X runs what happens next.

White people are not going to move on gun control until a black man does a mass shooting of whites.

That's how gun control originally came about in the 19th century anyway: to stop black and mulatto men from shooting slave masters and doing revolts

[quote] She's a double amputee for chrissakes, [R551]. Yeah, no shit, some idiot voters would have a problem voting for a candidate with a disability.

Shit! I guess I can give up on my hopes of becoming president one day.

[quote]Whoever the Dem candidate is... they will have to go centrist on immigration and gun control. They will NOT win the Rustbelt with progressive positions on these two issues.

We just won in almost every state in the nation without doing that. I honestly think the move to centralize our positions is seen as dishonest. We need to do another FDR. Talk straight and stand up for your ideals. People vote for people they respect, even if they disagree on the issues. That much was shown last Tuesday.

[quote]Talk straight and stand up for your ideals. People vote for people they respect, even if they disagree on the issues.

That’s what Beto did... stuck to his ideals.

Didn’t work out.

Astaire/Rogers

Biden/Beto won't work because Beto will suck all the air away from Biden who is 30 years older and is very much out of touch with what young voters want to hear.

R562...in Texas. The fact that it almost worked in Texas speaks volumes.

The 2020 Democratic ticket will be... the most popular candidate with the primary voters. This isn't a game to me, I don't need my dream candidate, any Democrat will do. Literally any Dem would be vastly more intelligent and have infinitely better politics than Trump.

I’m not voting for any over-60s... Biden, Warren... hard-no.

R567, if you don't vote for the Dem no matter what, you'll be voting for someone over 60 by the name of Trump. Time to grow up.

[quote] We just won in almost every state in the nation without doing that. I honestly think the move to centralize our positions is seen as dishonest.

I didn't say all the positions, only the immigration/migration thing. Even people who were born to immigrants agree that immigration is out of hand, people should come here legally. This will be the big issue that Trump and the GOP will harp on.

R511 I actually heard a suburban CA white frau Evangelical say they couldn't vote for Hillary because she was married to an adulterer!

I said Dump is an adulterer himself!

She said those were all liberal lies/fake news.

Unreal.

R509 Harris has 2 stepchildren, 1 in high school and 1 in college. I didn't know either.

I hope for a grand reckoning—an undeniable revelation of his true self, irrefutable expose of his lies and clear demonstration of his true disdain for his deplorables. A conservative coreshaking event that plummets him below his current 35% favorability rating. Only then can his removal be peaceful.

Referring to Trump, I’d it wasn’t obvious. Replying to r570.

R572 That would be glorious!

Man, I am off today.

I hope for a grand reckoning for Trump—an undeniable revelation of his true self, irrefutable expose of his lies and clear demonstration of his true disdain for his deplorables. A conservative coreshaking event that plummets him below his current 35% favorability rating floor. Only then can his removal be peaceful.

[quote] I actually heard a suburban CA white frau Evangelical say they couldn't vote for Hillary because she was married to an adulterer!

My coworker said the same thing about the Gavin Newsome but I had to tell her about Trump-- no response. It's as if he's above it all or they brush it aside. The attitude is, "Oh well, that's Donald."

I was watching this group of Texan women talk about Beto. One fat Texan frau--and she was Hispanic-- said she would never vote for Beto "because of my Christian beliefs." Like the policies that the Dems have are so anti-Christian? Yet they turn a blind eye to Trump's depravity and GOP's cruelty to living children. The poor fetus but who cares about the children?

R555:

[Quote] BTW, has Duckworth ever given even the slightest indication that she's considering a run, or what's up with someone's fixation on the idea?

Beto's never given the slightest indication, either.

R575, that will never happen. Maybe when the government seizes their social security checks while he's in office, perhaps.

r559, Bitch please.

Biden and Lamb would be nice but that might be too much power consolidated from one state.

Beto seems to be spending all his time cooking with his daughter these days. She must be the favorite. Cute kid. She taught him how to make slime on Instagram, then he made a German pancake and blueberry scones for breakfast.

[quote]Trump might say "Your fault"

"I like people who DIDN'T lose both their legs!"

Conor Lamb is also a non-starter.

R559 Are you a POC? I hope that you will believe that I am not being snotty or flippant by asking that question. I ask it because I think your reading of white people's behavior/instincts could not be more off.

If there were to be a new trend of black men shooting up multiple white folks, such as the deranged DC Sniper 15 years ago it would not have the effect of whites finally getting behind gun control. It would lead to white people loading up on arsenals the likes of which would send the NRA into orgasmic delirium.

One or even two such occurrences would not change the current climate we are now living in; rather it would have to be a new trend such as what happened after Columbine when high school males began regular copy catting. And honestly, I don't see that happening. Most black men do not want to die, whereas the teenage boys in the midst of their teen angst and depression see death as a new path for fame and immortality. That is a white thing.

No, I gave up on the idea of decent white folks joining together and declaring, "This has to stop" following Sandy Hook. If the actual possibility of the slaughtering of innocent children did not bring about a demand for change nothing ever will.

As a former NRA member and gun owning woman, I can say with absolute certainty that the best we can hope for is the tightening up on mental health checks with accompanying waiting periods. It's far from the perfect solution, but it's realism---cold and hard.

Too many people in the US love their guns.

[quote]Beto's never given the slightest indication, either.

True, but he just got done running for Senate. Give him a minute.

Beto needs to run for Governor of Texas while Castro needs to run for the other Senate seat in 2020.

It's exciting that we'll soon chose a nominee. A new superstar.

r483, Except that most racists in the South would never vote for a Jew either.

I don't like how some here abusively dismiss others saying a particular progressive or centrist is the way to go. The party itself is unsure.

R589, They voted for Bernie in the South and Midwest.

Hillary, Obama, Oprah, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z are the kiss of death. Don't even bother running if you're going to get involved with any of them.

[quote]I don't like how some here abusively dismiss others saying a particular progressive or centrist is the way to go.

"Abusively"? MARY!

I hope Beto will not become the Bernie of 2020. Is there a historical precedent for a candidate who LOST a Senate race being a viable presidential candidate in the very next cycle?

R594, Abraham Lincoln. Ran for senator in 1858, lost. Elected president in 1860.

A more well known example would be nice R595

Beto's store is closed. There's only fakes on Amazon. Boo.

Agree with the posters who say 2 white men would be a mistake in judgment.

If DNC wants to appeal to the flyovers and fraus then why aren't you considering what's important to them? Realize faith is not a priority to most on DL but you must consider many voters are at least occasional church-goers. It's a question that always gets asked of candidates especially in minority communities. See Jimmy Carter as an example. So which of the under 65 previously mentioned are active in their mainstream Protestant (or Catholic) churches?

Trump isn't religious. Neither is Obama.

Americans elected a man with the middle name Hussein. We don't care about religion. It's more so about the person. Bernie's Jewish faith isn't a disqualifier. His message resonates with young people, the Rust Belt, and the working class. The only problem is he's as old as dust

Bernie's Jewish faith is not a problem. Bernie's annoying yenta sthick is.

R599, Obama was regularly portrayed in the media at the time attending church with his family. He was also questioned about his faith, especially when he spoke at Black churches during the primary and general election campaign.

My point is that at least occasional church attendance is why some favor one nominee over another. Likewise Mitt Romney's LDS faith was a strong negative to plenty of voters.