speed dating Democrats

[mellowtigger]

The Democratic candidate field is just too large for the 2020 U.S. Presidential race. The official party insiders seem not to have learned their lesson from 2016: Don't bring "the anointed candidate" to a populist electorate. They seem to be pushing hard for Biden, who dutifully sat out the 2016 race so that "the anointed candidate" of that time could run. The point isn't to win over Republican voters (although I remain convinced that Bernie Sanders would have done that too in 2016), rather the point is to win over the largest bloc of voters in the United States: the unimpressed. The single largest group of potential voters are those who never bother showing up at the polls for any of the available candidates.  Bring a populist to the electorate, and you'll win.

What issues, though, will attract the popular attention? Here are the most dire issues facing the USA:

1. Climate change is issue #1 globally. It will impact economics, taxation, international relations, and immigration. This election may be our last opportunity to successfully address climate change and avoid the worst outcomes facing our planet.
2. Wealth inequality nationally. It will impact tax policies, healthcare, education, race relations, gender pay difference, general economic stability, and local crime.
3. Political corruption nationally. We see it in gerrymandering, in political fundraising, in political favoritism (so politicians can go work in the private sector they were supposed to regulate while in office), in false testimonies and fact aversion, in the current lopsidedness of the electoral college, and in dereliction of political duty.

Sub-issues: healthcare, gun violence, discrimination, job loss, debt, immigration, and abortion.

If the Democratic National Convention thinks that every American will give every one of their 25 candidates a thorough look, they're deluded. The best we can hope for is a "speed dating" introduction.  Here, then, is my very quick categorization of the current crop of candidates.

Yes, please, absolutely I would vote for them in the national election over any other candidate:
Bernie Sanders	Consistency over decades means that Bernie still deals with major issues (see the list above) despite his physical age
Elizabeth Warren	Consistency over years means that I'm convinced Warren will address the major issues (again, see that top 3 list above) despite her physical age
Yes, I would consider them in the national election amongst the field of all candidates on the ballot
Cory Booker	He still seems a little stuck in the past. I sense no climate change emergency from him.
Andrew Yang	He addresses my issue #2 directly, but again... where is issue #1?
Jay Inslee	Finally, someone tackling issue #1 by the proverbial horns.
Tim Ryan	He seems to get issues #2 and #3, but again... where is issue #1?
Steve Bullock	He seems sincere on issues #2 and #3, but again... where is issue #1?
Mike Gravel	He seems sincere on issues #2 and #3, but again... where is issue #1?  Also, at age 89 now, I think he's the oldest candidate?  He holds some youth enthusiasm, but I need some convincing here.
Probably not, but maybe if they do something particularly noteworthy by the election
Pete Buttigieg	A little too privileged to really understand life for poor people and racial minorities. (See issue #2 on my list.)
Beto O'Rourke	Come back when you've actually done something. Win Texas next time, then we'll talk.
Kirsten Gillibrand	She addresses corruption and climate change, but she seems backed by the usual unsavory sources.
Marianne Williamson	I'm all for a new national mood, but I'd also like a little more planning. Addressing the past, she's not really looking at future issues.
Bill de Blasio	Barely above my red category, below, because of his fact-challenged response to marijuana legalization. And, as usual, where is the climate change priority? He has a lot of work to get my attention.
Michael Bennet	My top issues are not his priority.
Eric Swalwell	His own website seems to be a single issue campaign... which is none of my 3 issues.
Wayne Messam	His issues don't match with mine.
Joe Sestack	Global politics, sure, but they're not the priority in 2020.
No, absolutely not, kiss my vote away Democrats
Tulsi Gabbard	She actively worked against GLBT people; she claims to have seen the light afterwards, but I expect a presidential candidate who didn't have to change from deliberately trying to marginizalize any minority; I distrust her ethics
Amy Klobuchar	We already have one outrageous, abusive egoist in office, we seriously do not need another
Joe Biden	We do not need distractions over touchy-feely personality types, generationally different racial politics, or (for cryin' out loud!) another "anointed candidate" from the wealthy class
Kamala Harris	Another candidate whose ethics I distrust. She says the right things, but her history is different. A department gets its culture from the top, and her department's culture was terrible. I distrust.
Julian Castro	I get a serious "insider" vibe from him, and his issues do not align with my top-3 list.
John Delaney	Do we seriously need another one-percenter in the mix? No, just no.
John Hickenlooper	He benefited from fracking. No. See issue #1.
Seth Moulton	Not another warhawk. And with PTSD. Do not give him the nuclear codes.

I can't stand most political theater. I dislike U.S Presidential Addresses and political debates. I can tolerate watching a few seconds at a time then switching the channel to cleanse my palate. Based on my very haphazard viewing of Democratic Debate #2, I would say that the big winner is...

... the politics of the Occupy movement and its current ideological champion, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Democratic establishment keeps saying that running on a progressive platform is a losing proposition. Yet after the two debates, that "venerable" polling site 538 says that Bernie Sanders now holds the highest favorability rating over all other candidates. #BernieWouldveWon in 2016.

I am not a Democrat.  In theory, they should be more progressive and therefore earning my vote.  You only get one opportunity to answer the poll to say what you want the national priorities to be.  If I have to, I will vote Green Party in 2020.  Their issues match my priorities.  I'm sad that AOC isn't old enough to run for President yet, because I would vote for her above all other candidates.  In spite of her political inexperience, she is both saying and doing all of the right things.

Comments

[mrdreamjeans]

A thoughtful analysis ... My priorities are different than yours, so I have a different line up in mind, based on my personal experiences and history. I lean toward a Warren/Buttigieg ticket. I don't hold the rancor for Amy Klobuchar you seem to and I also live in Minnesota, but I'm not committing to anyone yet. I agree with you on Beto and I always watch what's going on in Texas because I was raised there. He really should have run against John Cornyn for the senate, a winnable for race for him. I feel that any woman who runs for president will encounter sexism, will have to have a thick skin, yet remain attractive and charming. ( I wish that wasn't so.)

[mellowtigger]

Almost 4 months later, and it seems like the field has narrowed to Sanders, Warren, and Biden.

Warren/Buttigieg sounded good a while back, but that opportunity clearly disappeared this week when he sided with the plutocrats, saying "We’re not going to beat Trump with pocket change." Maybe Mayor Pete needs the big donors, but clearly Warren and Sanders raise more money with the poor donors like me while they threaten the plutocrats with taxation.

Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out a while back. And Hillary Clinton started attacking Tulsi Gabbard (Democrat) and Jill Stein (Green) as Russian assets, which... isn't fully rational. Heaven forbid that any liberal voter might favor a candidate who isn't supported by the Democrat politburo.

So, far, I appear to have a 2/3 chance to vote for a Democrat in the national election next year. My favorites are in the lead at the moment, so I'm happy with how things are turning out. And rumors are that most of "the squad" will be supporting Sanders. Omar already did. And suddenly his campaign is looking a lot less old-white-male.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59nqka/dont-tell-aoc-ilhan-omar-and-rashida-tlaib-their-bernie-endorsement-isnt-feminist

[mellowtigger]

And, wow, I thought I was being strict in criticizing some of the names in my list, but their undesirable behavior goes much farther than I thought.

https://medium.com/@westonpagano/a-guide-to-the-2020-democratic-candidates-you-should-not-vote-for-c1c6e4c9c26

[mrdreamjeans]

I so wish Gillebrand hadn't thrown Al Franken under the bus. He would be my favorite if he was still a senator.