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

The more I zoom in on Joe Biden, the more he reminds me of Bob Dole.

 

The Democrats are using the shootings this weekend to fundraise off of. Why am I not surprised?

Democrats Are Fundraising Off of El Paso, Dayton Shootings

Democrats are blaming President Trump's rhetoric for influencing the El Paso shooter and the anti-immigrant manifesto he penned before Saturday's massacre. But they seem to have no issue trying to fundraise off of the tragedy, as well as Sunday morning's mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said she's "heartbroken" about the shootings, which left 31 people dead, then asked for money for Sens. Doug Jones (D-AL) and Tina Smith (D-MN) in their respective Senate campaigns.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked supporters to split contributions between former Rep. Gabby Giffords's (D-AZ) PAC, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Giffords was injured in a mass shooting in Tucson in 2011.

And the DNC itself sent out a fundraising email, signed by Giffords with an urgent message that they "can't afford" to wait another day to pass gun control measures.

{More at the link}​

And of course they are pushing hard for what are ultimately gun confiscation plans, with no respect for our constitution or the second amendment. Business as usual. All politics, all the time.

 

Corey Booker just doesn't seem to have "it". Despite what was widely regarded as a strong debate performance last week, his poll numbers really have not moved very much.

Booker’s strong debate performance shows no signs of moving voters

Sen. Cory Booker’s performance in last week’s second Democratic presidential primary debate drew praise in the media and played well with an Iowa focus group. But so far, post-debate polls have not shown any significant movement for the New Jersey Democrat, either nationally or in one early primary state.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday afternoon put Booker’s support nationally among Democratic primary voters at 2 percent, a statistically insignificant 1 percent increase from a pre-debate Quinnipiac poll released in late July.

At the same time, Booker’s criticisms of former Vice President Joe Biden for boasting of how he was able to work with segregationist senators been detrimental to the former vice president. Biden remains the front-runner for the nomination with 32 percent support, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll, down just 2 points from late July.​

Well, it still makes sense for him to run, as long as he can stay in it. Who knows, maybe in 15-20 years, he will develop into a more credible candidate. In any case, this experience raises his profile in the Senate and with New Jersey voters, and it is surely worthwhile exercise for him to continue.

 

The latest Quinnipiac poll is starting to show some clear separation between the top four candidates:

Quinnipiac: Biden 32, Warren 21, Sanders 14, Harris 7, Buttigieg 5 | More

However, the RCP Poll average shows Sanders and Warren in a tight race for second and third:

RCP Poll Average: Biden 31.0, Sanders 15.8, Warren 15.5, Harris 8.3, Buttigieg 5.5

In the average, Joe Biden is still leading Sanders and Warren by almost 2-1.

 

Wow. Is Beto dropping out of the race? This tweet from the Washington Post's Jenna Johnson seems to suggest that he very well might be:



If so, that is probably a smart move. Beto has always been nothing more than an empty suit prop used by the Democrat left mass media. He is not cut out for this. And he is not a realistic candidate to compete against John Cornyn, either.

 

Also, it is unlikely that we have seen the last of Kamala Harris. When all else fails, she always has the race card and the woman's card to fall back on. So, that is something to look forward to in this race in the weeks to come.

 

So far there are nine Democrats who have qualified for the next (September) presidential debate. The latest is Andrew Wang.

Ninth Democratic presidential hopeful qualifies for September debate

Tech entrepreneur and political novice Andrew Yang became the ninth candidate to qualify for the September Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday, ensuring his spot while many governors and senators in the crowded presidential field appear unlikely to make the stage.

Candidates need at least 130,000 donors and 2% or more support in at least four Democratic National Committee approved polls by Aug. 28 to make the debates scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13, much higher qualification standards than the June and July debates.​

Here are the nine candidates that have qualified so far:

1. Former Vice President Joe Biden
2. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
3. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
4. California Sen. Kamala Harris
5. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
6. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
7. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
8. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
9. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang

There are five more that appear to be possibly in range of qualifying:

1. Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro
2. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
3. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
4. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
5. Billionaire investor Tom Steyer

This compares with 20 candidates over two debates last time around. If there are only 10 candidates that qualify, that will create the same format problems as before, just limited to only a single debate.

 

Nate Silver weighs in:

 

Multiple nights will be not be as much of a problem as trying to fit 10 candidates on the stage at the same time. Two nights with six candidates each would be far better for everyone, especially the candidates and the audience.

 

Yeah, I watched some of the first one just to get the flavor of what this group is up to. I think I have that now, as much as I need or want. After the primaries actually get started, I may look in again. But until then, the reports about them will be good enough for me.

Unless I am mistaken, I will not be the only person who feels this way. The ratings were way down for the second debate and are probably not going to be much better for the third one in September. I know the networks live for these things, but sometimes less is more, if you know what I mean.