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Ready The Clown Car: The First Batch of Democrats Are Ready To Announce Their 2020 Bids

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by MojoMan, Jan 1, 2019.

  1. RayRay10

    RayRay10 Houstonian

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    Got to love how Johnson keeps repeating the same thing over and over again and that the Washington Post continues to report it as if its news every time. The below article was from July when Johnson said the exact same thing:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...at-trump-other-black-voters-say-hes-out-step/


    Few demographic groups are more faithful to the Democratic Party than black Americans. But one of the first black billionaires is suggesting that the party has moved so far to the left, it risks alienating them.

    While Robert Johnson played a significant role in shaping black culture when it comes to entertainment, some politicos say he is out of touch about the politics of black Americans.

    “The party in my opinion, for me personally, has moved too far to the left,” Johnson, the founder of the Black Entertainment Television cable network, told
    CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Tuesday. “And for that reason, I don’t have a particular candidate [I’m supporting] in the party at this time.”

    “I think at the end of the day, if a Democrat is going to beat Trump, then that person, he or she, will have to move to the center, and you can’t wait too long to do that,” the lifelong Democrat added.

    Johnson’s belief that a centrist Democrat would have the best chance of beating President Trump is a common one, even among some black voters. Former vice president Joe Biden has been leading the Democratic field, including with black voters, for multiple reasons; among them is the belief that he has the best shot at defeating Trump.
    Black Americans overwhelmingly back Democrats, even though most black Americans don’t consider themselves liberal. According to a 2018 Associated Press/NORC Center poll, more than a quarter (27 percent) of black voters identify as conservative, and 44 percent consider themselves moderate. Only 26 percent identify as liberal.

    While Johnson backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, he’s since made headlines for praising Trump’s economic policies. And it’s his view that the current economy is helping black Americans.

    “I think the economy is doing great, and it’s reaching populations that heretofore had very bad problems in terms of jobs and employments and the opportunities that come with employment,” Johnson told CNBC, commenting on the black unemployment rate reaching its lowest level earlier this year.
    “I give the president a lot of credit for moving the economy in a positive direction that’s benefiting a large amount of Americans,” he added. “I think the tax cuts clearly helped stimulate the economy. I think business people have more confidence in the way the economy is going.”

    But what Johnson fails to recognize is that most black Americans are not business people, said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, an organization focused on increasing black voter turnout.

    “Bob Johnson is not working class. He does not reflect the issue, nor does he even seem like he has the ability to speak to the issues of the working class,” Brown told The Fix. “For him, to make a statement that this tax break has been helpful for black people — where has he been? Under a rock? There’s all kind of reports that have come out that this tax benefit disproportionately benefited the wealthy and not the working class. In and of itself, to make that statement says to me that he’s simply out of touch.”

    While many black voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance because they disagree with his behavior and his views on issues related to race, many also view his presidency poorly because the economic policies Johnson praises have not helped black Americans as much as the president claims, said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of the Black Pac, a group working to increase black Americans’ political engagement.

    “Mr. Johnson is an outlier within the African American community when it comes to the points that he raises,” Shropshire said.
    "Frankly the policy positions of the current Democratic field of candidates is aligned with the issues and priorities of those voters. So while Mr. Johnson may share the interests of millionaires and billionaires, he’s out of step with black voters.”

    Ultimately, the 73-year-old Johnson may have views of the Democratic Party that are consistent with those of black Americans like himself: affluent, older and moderate. However, black Americans, and thus black voters, are far more ideologically diverse than they are often portrayed to be.

    (more at the link)


     
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  2. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    Montana Governor Steve Bullock has just dropped out of the race. He is also clearly indicating that he has no interest in running for the US Senate, which in my view is the bigger news here, as Bullock was never competitive in the presidential primary contest.

    Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has dropped out of the 2020 race, and says he won’t run for Senate

    Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has suspended his long-shot bid to become the 2020 Democratic nominee for president.

    National Democrats would dearly love Bullock to run for Senate now that he’s set aside his presidential ambitions, but the governor has so far shown no desire to do so.

    “I’ve expressed all along [that] I just don’t have an interest in running for US Senate,” Bullock told the Montana Free Press in March. “I think that my skill set, and what I’ve done, I just wouldn’t enjoy it, so I’d ruled it out.”

    Monday, his spokesperson Galia Slayen said Bullock has not altered his thinking on this point: “While he plans to work hard to elect Democrats in the state and across the country in 2020, it will be in his capacity as a governor and a senior voice in the Democratic Party — not as a candidate for US Senate.”​
     
  3. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    Wow. Stop the presses.

    Kamala Harris is out.

    Kamala Harris drops bid for 2020 Democratic nomination

    Kamala Harris has bowed out of contention for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

    Hours before Harris announced she was exiting the Democratic primary, her campaign canceled a New York City fundraiser that was expected to have a number of her wealthy bundlers in attendance. At the time, Harris's team said the cancellation was because of a "personal matter" and offered no further explanation.​

    While Harris had just about disappeared off of the radar screen, this will open a window for a black candidate to really go all in with the race card and really play that up. Not sure who that might be, but if there is such a person, it needs to be someone other than Corey Booker, who probably needs to start thinking about emulating Kamala Harris move today.

    Eric Holder, anyone?
     
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  4. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    You have been saying this same thing about a candidate going all in playing the race for awhile now.

    Give it a break.
     
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  5. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    No, I will not. This was the pathway open to Kamala Harris right from the jump. She made a strong move in that direction when she took Joe Biden out with a rhetorical pointy-toed shoe groin kick, live on the air during the first debate.

    And then nothing.

    There is a big appetite for this sort of presentation among Democrat voters. It was indispensable in getting Barack Obama elected. But there are other constituency groups among the Democrats that are demanding attention just now also. Which to be fair Kamala Harris did try hard to appease, especially early on.

    In any case, it is not clear that there is a candidate who would play that angle who could muscle their way through such a large field to win the nomination this time. But such a candidate sure would garner some attention and support from A LOT of Democrat voters. However, it is getting late in the game. So if Eric Holder is not going to bust a move in this direction, then we may have to leave it to the others to try to make these sorts of appeals the best that they can.

    It will be interesting to watch the reaction to the next debate for the Democrats, which is expected to consist ENTIRELY of "White" politicians. Probably there will be a number of people who take notice of this.
     
  6. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    Please show proof that there is a big appetite for this.

    The one person who tried it somewhat is out of the race.

    You are the only one playing the race card.
     
  7. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    Perhaps you will recall how Kamala Harris spiked up into second place in a number of the polls in the days immediately following her racially motivated take-down of Joe Biden in the first debate. Proof positive and during this election cycle as well.
     
  8. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    She spiked and then quickly nose dived.

    And she is now out of the race.

    In case you haven't noticed Biden is not exactly beloved by all in the dem party.
     
  9. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    Harris path to success always depended heavily on playing the race card and the woman's card. She came heavy at Joe Biden one time and then basically sat on her hands.

    Now maybe she realized at that point that maybe she does not really want to be an incendiary racist zealot and decided to pull back. Or, maybe the Democrat party powers that be came around after that incident and 'made her an offer she couldn't refuse'.

    In any case, if she or anyone want to go this route, they need to take on Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson or someone like that as a top consultant and make that at least one of the primary central themes of her campaign. Immediately after the first debate, it appeared that Harris might be poised to do just that.

    But then crickets.... And now she is out of the race.
     
  10. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    The idea that Obama went all in on the race card is ridiculous.
     
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  11. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I get Whoopi's complaint about his answer. He says everything in a very "reasonable" way, but his argument is just an accusation of moral failing with a sprinkle of bleeding heart white patronage. He's saying black people just don't apply themselves, and don't try hard enough, and that's why they aren't educated. And he feels very sympathetic or whatever. He doesn't have anything to say about failing schools, or the distresses of poverty or illness, or the impact of systemic racism in policing and the courts and school security, the disruptions caused by unemployment, underemployment, and shitty employment, the deleterious effects of a benighted sex ed policy, attacks on abortion access, and just bad healthcare. In short, he wants to say everything is their own damn fault and there aren't real problems caused, exacerbated, or neglected by the government he's asking for permission to run. I can't blame a black person for being skeptical when your community has been persecuted by government for the last 400 years, and then a white guy comes along and says it's your own fault you didn't succeed, and he's very sorry, but there isn't anything he can do to make it better but cheerlead from the sideline. That's not someone I want in charge either.

    It might also help Senator candidates as well by giving them some gravitas, sitting in judgment of a president. Pete will still be the kid ex-mayor while Bernie and Warren are actively deciding the future of the country.

    Nah, this is the most useful Dem Primary thread in the forum. If the numerous other threads on the subject were effective, they'd stick around longer.

    You need to give it up. That has never really been a valid strategy to get the nomination. If you think that's what Obama did, I think you totally misunderstood the whole campaign -- which I suppose is fine and understandable for a conservative anyway trying to understand from the outside.
     
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  12. justtxyank

    justtxyank Contributing Member

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    IT ISN'T FAIR!!!!
     
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  13. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    That's not his argument at all, he said nothing like that.

    His only issue I see is that he said it as a white male and never talked about the root problem about why there are not being any role models to look up too.

    It's not like black people where not saying the same thing at the time.

    So just because he misspoke he can't be better educated?

    And once again he never said it's your own fault, i'm surprised you are perpetrating this myth.
     
  14. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Here's his quote again:

    “Kids need to see evidence that education is going to work for them. There are a lot of kids, especially the lower-income minority neighborhoods, who literally just haven’t seen it work. There isn’t somebody they know personally who testifies to the value of education.”

    So, if I can paraphrase, he says: (a) there are poor black neighborhoods where there are no black people who have succeeded through education to serve as role models, so (b) black kids growing up in these environments don't see any examples of how education will help them, so (c) they don't seek to maximize their education to create opportunities for themselves in life. Do you really think I mischaracterized him?

    To be fair to Pete, this was from 8 years ago. This was pre-BLM. And he was ~31 years old. And, he was in a different context trying to win a position of mayor, not President, so it wouldn't be surprising if his view was curated for his immediate goals. And I don't think his point about role models is totally wrong -- it's just totally incomplete. So the quote didn't age well.

    His campaign said the clip doesn't reflect the totality of his understanding, which may well be true. But, the onus is on him to demonstrate the totality of his understanding. All the understanding I've seen from him so far is that he understands he is not popular with black people and that nothing he says seems to make it any better. Why can't he manage to say something that resonates?
     
  15. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    No need to paraphrase it's exactly what he said and he never blamed anyone and he never talked about the root cause which he can be dinged for.

    Yes its incomplete, since when does that disqualify somebody.

    Did you read the root article after he called the author of the hit piece?

    He realizes the problem and is working on it, thats all you can ask.

    This is a great article on his outreach.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/03/buttigieg-black-outreach-2020-074867

    I can see a scenario where his actual attention to talking to black voters can create a surge of support, people appreciate when you listen.

    I really don't like this narrative of him blaming black folks.
     
  16. MojoMan

    MojoMan Member

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    I think you are reading between the lines in what Mayor Pete said there a little too aggressively. He emphasized that they just had not seen it work and that sort of thing. That implies that he sees a certain alienation, to some degree involuntary. But just doubling down on the victim angle is not helpful to these people in most cases. It has not helped them and it will not help them.

    Personally, I am in favor of providing as much constructive "Help" as people can effectively make constructive use of - not to be confused with politically motivated handouts that just keep people dependent on the government. Education and training is key here and the Democrats have failed these people in spectacular fashion over the last 50+ years. It has been positively tragic.

    I do not know if you saw, but the state of Texas (TEA) recently recently took over HISD. I find it troubling - that it took so long. Anyway, this needs to get fixed, regardless of who plays the race card, or the "Political correctness" card, or the community traditions card, or any of that kind of crap. This can be improved dramatically, but not without real accountability, which has been lacking for far too long in HISD. Generations of kids chances at real educational opportunities have been positively wasted and destroyed for decades. And the Democrats with all their PC garbage and the race card have flat out not been getting this fixed.

    It is my sense that Mayor Pete might like this takeover of HISD here, because maybe, just maybe, it just might work to help make these kids lives better going forward, and all of our lives collectively better as well because of that. Or at least he may have felt that way 6 years ago. Who knows.

    I never thought or said that Obama himself went all in with the race card during his campaign. The media and many of his peripheral supporters did that for him. It was really quite extraordinary. They appeared to be ready to make a similar move on behalf of Kamala, if she had been able to gather a head of steam and show that she was a player. But she never did, it appears to me, because she never was.
     
    #2076 MojoMan, Dec 3, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2019
  17. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Well, paraphrasing is necessary to show you the short logical walk I took from his verbatim words to the interpretation I arrived at. I don't think he meant to sound patronizing then, but he did.

    Anyway, it's a shame that he has to talk about what he said 8 years ago when he has this Douglass Plan he released just recently that says what he would actually do to improve racial justice. Here's the link: https://peteforamerica.com/policies/douglass-plan/. Not sure I like all the parts, but this is much more meaty than some old clip.
     
  18. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    Yeah that is an interesting plan but he stepped on it by saying he had support of Black leaders when he did not.

    I have no issue with being critical of what he said, I don't think it was that big a deal.

    This narrative that he is blaming black people is just false.
     
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  19. mick fry

    mick fry Member

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    Kamala is gone. Racists and Sexists! You don’t deserve a nominee.
     
  20. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Just saying so again isn't going to make it so, nor change anyone's mind.
     

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