Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Funtatlaguy

Funtatlaguy's Journal
Funtatlaguy's Journal
February 29, 2020

Biden will live and die with the South.

Maybe I’m Being Captain 👩?✈️ Obvious, but it’s pretty clear that Biden must be the South’s favored candidate to have any chance at the nomination.
Super Tuesday features 5 southeastern and 2 southwestern states. I think he has to win at least four of them to become Sanders primary opponent. He needs strong second place above 15% finishes in the others.

So carefully watch: Virg, NC, TN, ALA, ARK, OK, TX.

February 27, 2020

Who drops out after SCarolina and BEFORE Super Tuesday?

I say that Gabbard and Klobuchar drop out Saturday night or Sunday.

After Super Tuesday, Buttigieg and Steyer will drop out on Wednesday.

What say you?

February 26, 2020

Could Warren end up as the compromise candidate?

Is there any chance that after Super Tuesday that there are only three viable candidates remaining: Sanders, Biden & Warren.
If so, could Warren hit the sweet spot between them as a bridge to the progressive and moderate wings? Or is she considered too progressive to lure enough moderates?

I’ve heard from some progressives that they like Bernie’s policies a little more but that they like Warrens personality more and think she could get more things done in Congress especially since she favors encouraging a Dem Senate to dump the filibuster.

February 25, 2020

Bloomberg pulls out of tonight's CNN Town Hall

Anderson Cooper said that Bloomberg told CNN that he was not doing Town Hall to instead concentrate on debate prep.

February 18, 2020

Could Obama have made a recess appointment for Justice Garland?

I’ve seen and heard it both ways on this.
Does anybody know if Obama could have gotten around McConnells shenanigans by making Garland a SCOTUS appointment without Senate approval?

February 17, 2020

Ranking our candidates.

So, I thought this might be fun.
I’m going to rank, in order, who I HOPE is our nominee of our remaining candidates.
Not who I think will be the nominee.
And, of course, I will vote blue no matter who over the Orange ogre.

Warren
Klobuchar
Biden
Buttigieg
Sanders
Bloomberg
Steyer
Gabbard

February 13, 2020

I'm thinking nice can't beat crazy. We need our own a-hole.

What I’m going to say is Sooooo against my nature.
I love nice people.
My favorite bumper sticker says Just Be Nice.
But, as for picking our Dem Prez in this cycle, I no longer see NICE as an attribute.

Joe Biden is one of the nicest and most decent people in politics.
So is Elizabeth Warren whom I adore.
And I think Pete Buttigieg probably is too.
So, they are out. The time just isn’t right for nice people right now.

I think Amy Klobuchar (staff treatment) has a little A-hole in her.
Bernie and Bloomberg both certainly seem to also.
All three can certainly dish it and stand toe to toe with Trumps carnival act and call him out.
So, I’m down to those three.

Trump is crazy.
He’s not mean in the normal usage of that word.
He is a malignant narcissist.
He just believes he is the greatest person ever created and that he is infallible.

No former political playbook (such as “when they go low, we go high”) works against him.
We are Facing a cult like repub party and much of the fawning or both sideism nonsense media.
We are facing a huge percentage of the general public that are very low information voters that are conditioned to only pay attention to CONFLICT.
Again, nice doesn’t work.

So, I say give me the meanest, biggest street fighting SOB we can find.
I don’t care about their policy positions anymore.
We are fighting for our countries very survival.
Gloves are off.
Who will lead us in going after this menace to our democracy with every bone in their body.

I’m listening, Amy, Bernie, and Mike.

February 12, 2020

A "Pragmatic Socialist" rant about the best "ham sandwich".

This will be long and rambling but therapeutic for me.
So please forgive my indulgence.

Here’s where I am now after two contests.
I think we now (probably) have 4 ham sandwiches 🥪 before us.
A “ham sandwich” being that most of us here would vote for anything or anyone (even a proverbial ham sandwich) that gets the Dem nomination to oust the existential threat to our democracy out of the White House.

I personally had hoped for a female ham sandwich.
I loved both Harris and Warren.
I thought that our country really needs and is ready for (hello, Hillary got 3 million more votes) a woman.
As for ideology, when I take those online tests, I always score as the most liberal (even more so than Sanders).
However, I grew up in the southeast surrounded by very conservative religious Republicans.
I know who they are and what they care about and pushes their political buttons.
So, that’s where my political pragmatism comes in.
When volunteering in local, state, or national campaigns, I usually support the most progressive candidates in the primaries but have to “settle” for someone more moderate in the general.
That’s ok. That’s politics in current America for a myriad of reasons that we here all know.

Anyway, back to this years Dem Prez Primary.
Even though my heart is still with Warren, my head just can’t see a very viable way forward for her after New Hampshire. It should have been one of her best states.
So, very regrettably, I’m looking for another sandwich.

Biden - love, love, love him personally. Hate what he has been put thru in his life with all of the personal family tragedies. Hate the Ukraine crap with Hunter. Love, love, love his wife Jill. But, I think (barring at least a third place in Nevada and a first place in SC), I don’t see the way forward.

Bernie - I loved him and voted for him in 2016 primary and Hillary in general. Love his energy which I think has actually increased since his heart procedure. Love that we might expand the electorate under him if young people would turn out en masse. But, would they? And would it be enough in the purple states we would need to offset any loss of moderate Dems that would be scared away by the demonization because of the Socialist label.

Mayor Pete - How amazing has the meteoric rise been of this 38 year old gay married Mayor of a small city? He is so smart and so well spoken. I find it interesting, though, that when most of the media pundits “analyze” his pros and cons that very few mention the gay thing. They just say he’s too young, or too inexperienced being only a small town mayor. Inexperienced? After Trump? Well, I can tell you that in the South, there’s only one negative that matters to a lot of people (especially moderate Dems and Independents) that are somewhat religious and still uncomfortable with homosexuality. Most wont say this quiet part out loud but they don’t like the idea of two men kissing in their White House. America isn’t ready. As our nominee, Pete would be savaged by people both left and right and center (although much of it will be thru robots, Russia, etc.).

Amy - Wicked smart. Super well spoken. Great dry sense of humor. From the Midwest which is a bonus. A lot more moderate than me but that might be a good thing. Other than her “supposed temper” with her staff, not a lot of negatives are out there YET. In some ways, she’s still an unproven national entity. But could she just possibly be the “right ham sandwich” for this moment in time? Could she be our best compromise candidate and bridge and unite our moderate and liberal wings especially if she picked a male POC as her Veep?

Mayor Mike - So, looming out there with his mighty checkbook is the former GOP NYC Mayor. The huge positive being that we wouldn’t have to hold any bake sales for him. He would fund his own general election and possibly (thru some PACs) those of many of our Senate candidates in purple state races. He has earned some progressive bonafides on the gun issue. The cons are the stop and frisk issue and possible somewhat racist comments in his past. As an old white dude, that is impossible for me to say how that will affect our black Dems. I defer to them on whether or not that is a dealbreaker for them. Also, there are those in our party that don’t want another person linked to Wall Street and don’t like the idea of someone “buying” the Dem nomination and presidency.

So, After all of that, I don’t know where the hell we are and what we must now do.
I just know that if we don’t get a ham sandwich that most of us will promise to pour on the mayo and mustard and whatever else is needed between the Dem Convention in Milwaukee and November 3, 2020, that the Big Orange Cantaloupe faced Devil and his greedy corporatists and Armageddon encouraging Evangelical Dominionists (like Pence) will lead our nation and possibly our earth to irreparable ruin.

GO HAM 🥪! Whoever you turn out to be. I will give you all of my love and support!!
Going Blue, no matter who!!!





February 12, 2020

Need a Morning Joe summary.

I’m in an area where I can’t get MSNBC.
If someone that watches Morning Joe would give me a summary of what they said about New Hampshire, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.

February 7, 2020

My unsolicited advice to Biden/Klobuchar.

Biden needs to change the subject away from his poor performance in Iowa and his sinking poll numbers in New Hampshire.
He needs something to get the people in New Hampshire and elsewhere to take notice and the media to have something new and positive to talk about him.
Klobuchar needed more than a fifth place in Iowa as the next door Minnesota neighbor.
Her poll numbers in the next three contests are low.
Let’s face it, she is not going to get the nomination.

So, my idea.
They hold a joint news conference this weekend.
Amy drops out and endorses Joe who then announces that Amy will be his running mate.
Suddenly, Joe has another group of fund raisers and staff working for him.
He has Amy stumping for him.
And she can talk about being the country’s first female VP (for a man that will soon be 80).

So Biden and Klobuchar supporters tell me the down side and why it’s a bad idea.


Profile Information

Member since: Wed Nov 25, 2015, 10:17 AM
Number of posts: 11,800
Latest Discussions»Funtatlaguy's Journal