Where I disagree is that if you look closely, Joe actually faltered before Bloomberg doubled his spending. Bloomberg saw something in Iowa he didn't expect to happen. One day we'll find out what he saw. Also keep in mind he is certainly doing extensive internal polling that might be more sophisticated than other campaigns are capable of.

Having said that, what surprises me is the aggression. Where I erred was in thinking Bloomberg wanted to stay in the background until much later. He's turned up the volume big time this week and we are told he will attack all the candidates tonight. I don't think that's the best tactic, but he's a genius and I'm not.

When he makes these attacks though, we learn where his weak points are, because he's a chronic projector.

So, obviously his physical appearance is a weak point, because it's the first thing he goes after in others.

Then in response, a candidate runs an ad making fun of Trump's physical appearance, and we hear from his White House aids that when Trump saw it he lost his mind.

He also criticizes people's' intelligence, so that's a second weak point.

He hates the feeling he's being laughed at behind his back by people with more power or fame than him.

And there are some others, and luckily the candidates are catching on.

Yes, he's childish, but he's teaching us where to land punches on him.

You know how many people are working day and night to get Mark Kelly elected here in AZ?
We don't want this to go down the drain.
Mark Kelly is NOT A SOCIALIST.
And he HASN'T ENDORSED BERNIE SANDERS.

Thanks to Maraya1969 for posting the audio.

Link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212995535



Casler: I told him the real deal about Trump that people didn’t know. He was an open drug addict. Everyone knew it; none of this stuff was a secret, you know. He was doing coke on shows 20 years ago when we we’d do, you know, we’d do the VH1 Fashion Awards and I used to do the beauty pageants with him in the Nineties. Now, he was an open drug user, and open sexual assaulter, and this stuff was just kind of accepted.

Interview: And it’s not that you heard this first hand, it’s you saw this with your own eyes.

Casler: Absolutely. That’s when most of the drug use occurred on The Apprentice, when he had to read cue cards. He’d get really nervous, so he’d go in the bathroom, crush up Adderral, he’d come back to (the) set, there’d be white chunks flying out of his nose, white powder under his nose. He’s doing the same thing as a candidate and as a president. It gives him a feeling of being in control. But he’s clearly an addict. If you know anything about addiction, untreated addiction as a president is the worst thing you can have. So, yeah, he was obviously high that night. That was the same person we saw in The Apprentice. And I remember watching that and, like, Yep, he’s high. And it probably wasn’t just Adderral. You know, he did coke, he did meth, he had drug dealers coming to the after parties, selling it to him. Adderral is his maintenance high; it’s what he does during the day. When he gets down to Mar-a-Lago and these other places he gets into it a little harder. He also uses benzodiazepines—you know, Valium and stuff to come down when he hits it hard. So when you see him slurring and stuff, that’s from the benzos. And, you know, the things I saw he didn’t even hide. So many other people saw this stuff. But imagine what the people are seeing right now in the White House. You know what I mean? We got him for an hour a day on The Apprentice—on the Celebrity Apprentice—because he barely worked. That’s the other thing: the guy is unmanageable. You know what I mean? He’s not a functioning human being, he barely works. Nine days out of ten we’d have to cancel that day’s taping because he wouldn’t show up at the last minute. So imagine the dysfunction and insanity these people are witnessing at the White House, (and) the GOP leaders that you say are enabling him.

(I've made this as accurate as possible, but any errors are my fault)

Just because, I wanted this in writing so I could read it with my own eyes.

is "hitting down from a higher position." Parse his insults and you'll see what I mean.

He doesn't say, "You're fat." He says "you lie about your obesity."
He calls him "Donald"
He says, "I wouldn't hire you except to run a golf course" (especially this one, placing himself as the employer and Trump as the employee).
He says, "You're private phone number wasn't even worth writing down in my little black book filled with the names of people far more important than you are."
"We know the same people...and they laugh at you..." etc...

Some of these aren't exact quotes, but they are what he's actually saying to Trump.

EDIT: Also, you notice how Bloomberg often doesn't speak "about" Trump in the third person but addresses him directly. "Donald, we know the same people..." "Donald, where I come from we measure your height from the neck up."

I'm going straight to Bloomberg, unless there's a Joe or Amy Miracle on Super Tuesday.

He reminds Trump of his father. Both actually were self made, whereas Trump inherited and squandered a fortune.

Bloomberg is the ultimate New York insider, the very thing Trump's always wanted to be, but New York mocked and derided him.

All that historical and psychological baggage is in play now.

It's like if you're a big talker about how popular you were in high school, but you go to your 20th high school reunion and the person who was really popular and successful in high school humiliates you in front of everyone.

Can you imagine how that would feel?

That's how Trump feels.

struck me as having great merit and is in harmony with Bloomberg's attitude all along. If Biden can gain strength and establish himself, Bloomberg would then throw his support behind Biden. I really think Bloomberg was counting on Biden and that the only reason he's become a "thing" this week is because people are worrying about Biden.

Bloomberg wants to stay involved in the attack, but I think he can take or leave the presidency. I thought that was his plan all along, but unexpected developments happened. Shit got real and he stepped up his spending.

At least Bloomberg isn't gathering college students into an arena and saying "vote for me, I can make your tuition and your student debt go away" when he knows deep down he can't, because if Bloomberg did that it would be deceptive.

I can't speak for everybody else, but purple states want to win senate seats.

Mark Kelly wants to be Martha McSally.

We want good turnout. We need good turnout. We need enthusiasm.

Also, once in the Oval Office, we need someone who can work with others and win people over to legislate things that can pass in both houses.

Lastly, I don't view what I said as "attacking" Bernie; IMO it's thinking strategically and using my common sense.