[ Posted Wednesday, July 31st, 2019 – 16:39 UTC ]
Last night was indeed a throwdown in the Motor City, with 10 Democrats sparring on one stage. My overall impression of the first round of the second debates was that this was, in many ways, the debate that I've been personally itching to see for at least four years now. It was a direct confrontation between the "moderate" or "centrist" wing of the Democratic Party versus the "progressive" or "Democratic" wing of the party. It rarely descended into personalities, and instead remained a purely ideological battle of different visions for how to lead both Democrats and the entire country into the future. We almost got such a debate last time, with Bernie mixing it up with Hillary, but there was far too much personality getting in the way of the purely ideological debate. Also, both the country and the Democratic Party have moved significantly since 2016, so the ground for this debate has shifted.
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[ Posted Monday, July 29th, 2019 – 16:10 UTC ]
The second round of Democratic presidential debates begins tomorrow night. CNN will host two nights, with 10 candidates randomly drawn for each night. The lineups are more interesting than the last time around, at least to me, so it should make for some interesting television to watch. Added to the excitement is the prospect for many of the candidates on stage that this may be the last time they get to appear at such an event. With little to lose, the minor candidates may be making a lot more noise, in other words.
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[ Posted Friday, July 26th, 2019 – 17:47 UTC ]
We're going to wait until the talking points to fully delve into the catchy hashtag #MoscowMitch, because we feel the point being made is an important one that may just get a whole lot more attention over the next month or so (if the Democrats are capable of following through, that is -- always an open question). Suffice it to say for now that Mitch McConnell is taking an absolutely indefensible stand by essentially aiding and abetting America's enemies.
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[ Posted Monday, July 22nd, 2019 – 16:10 UTC ]
I realize that we are still in the midst of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, but today I'd like to leap forward to present a very simple (and, to me, obvious) strategy for whomever secures the Democratic nomination and has to take on Donald Trump in next year's general election. Because I think I've come up with an all-encompassing campaign slogan that will stand the test of both time and Trump. It cuts to the very heart of the argument that a Democrat -- any Democrat, in fact -- would be miles better than what we've got now. Picture the presidential nominee repeating at every rally next summer the following line: "Do we really want this for the next four years?!?"
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[ Posted Friday, July 19th, 2019 – 17:24 UTC ]
Obviously, Donald Trump dominated the news this week, by going full-on racist. The Republican Party's reliance on "dog whistles" on racial issues is now no longer necessary, since the leader of the party has given everyone a green light to just go right ahead and publicly scream racist invective as loudly as possible. That was such a big story that it swamped all the other political news.
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[ Posted Thursday, July 18th, 2019 – 16:39 UTC ]
The draw for the second round of Democratic debates is happening soon (by the time you read this it may have already happened, in fact). CNN has hyped this event almost as much as the debates themselves, and it certainly will (quite literally) set the stage for both nights of debate, as the 20 candidates who have qualified are somehow quasi-randomly divided up. The lineups will be important for all the candidates' chances of standing out from the crowd, but it is important even in this fairly early stage of the nomination race to keep our focus on the main goal: beating Donald Trump next November. And that -- as over 16 failed Republican candidates can attest to -- will be no easy feat. How do you beat Trump on the playing field he has chosen to run his campaign from?
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[ Posted Tuesday, July 16th, 2019 – 17:23 UTC ]
As I continue to recover from my Netroots Nation trip, I thought I'd ease back into writing columns with another look at the Democratic horserace. Enough time has now passed from the first debate round that the polling has caught up to people's reactions, and the candidates have all just announced their second-quarter fundraising totals, so it seems like a good time to check in once again.
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[ Posted Monday, July 15th, 2019 – 17:10 UTC ]
[Note: This is just going to be a very quick post, as I'm still recovering from Netroots Nation and spent most of today sleeping.]
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[ Posted Friday, July 5th, 2019 – 17:05 UTC ]
After all the hype, things weren't nearly as bad as they could have been in Washington D.C. for the nation's birthday. Donald Trump gave a speech in front of some stationary tanks, but he (mostly) rigorously kept to the script which had been written for him to parrot. Perhaps someone had explained that if he went off script and turned the event into a campaign rally, then his campaign would have had to foot the bill. The size of that bill is still a secret, although the National Park Service admitted it had used over $2 million for it that should have gone to regular park maintenance.
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[ Posted Monday, July 1st, 2019 – 17:18 UTC ]
The poll numbers are starting to trickle in, and what is becoming apparent is that women won both nights of last week's first round of 2020 Democratic presidential debates. The first night belonged to Elizabeth Warren (which was exactly as expected), and Kamala Harris won the second night (which came as much more of a surprise). In the first presidential debates in history with multiple women onstage, these two ladies outperformed the gentlemen, hands down. It wasn't even close.
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