How we have missed you these past weeks
-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Serious 2020 Democratic Primary Thread
- Thread starter MikeDawg
- Start date
rip bernie
He's not even 90 yet. He has at least 4 more runs left in him!
On that note, are you guys convinced that this thread is a delusional echo chamber yet, or does Bernie have to suffer a landslide defeat in a third primary?
Yes tonight is effectively it. There's no path to even close to a tie for Bernie if he gets curbstomped in the south and, at best, comes close in the midwest.
Technically, 4 big states vote a week from today and if Bernie did well then he'd have a good shot, but I can't imagine he'll do any better in Illinois or Ohio than he's doing in Michigan, so that's likely 2 more losses. And he's definitely losing both Arizona and Florida. I'm not sure if/when he'll drop out, but after next Tuesday would seem reasonable to me. I'm not sure I see the point in sticking around past that, unless he's praying for a like... Hunter Biden hail mary, but that would be a bad look.
Not entirely sure what the takeaway is, but it honestly might be just that Bernie's natural ceiling is reasonably low, and is comprised pretty heavily of enthusiastic supporters likely to turn up in any primary. But when you pour gasoline on the turnout overall due to a wildly unpopular incumbent, most of those new people who didn't turn out in 2016 are not so likely to be a Bernie supporter. If they were, then they'd have already been turning out last time.
Alternative, but related theory, Bernie can, for the most part, only win caucuses. As more states moved to primaries, he was always destined to lose in 2020.
Last edited:
Hope Bernie drops out asap. We don't need this to go on any longer.
There's probably major risk of one of the candidates contracting corona, and I really hope the race is not on at that point.
There's probably major risk of one of the candidates contracting corona, and I really hope the race is not on at that point.
Yang endorsed Biden.
I just put $20 on Liz endorsing Bernie, so she better pull through. She made plenty of poor decisions this cycle, so what's one more?
I just put $20 on Liz endorsing Bernie, so she better pull through. She made plenty of poor decisions this cycle, so what's one more?
I think honestly the biggest take away is that all signs point to people turning out with one thing in mind- beating Trump. And they will go with whoever is touted as the person who could beat him. Exit polls and general polls showed a lot of support for Bernie's and Warren's policies but it didn't translate into them per say, which shows that among a big part of the electorate (older especially) its not really an issues election as much as its a electability election. Once the establishment did their hail mary to resuscitate Biden and flooded the media with positive Biden Will Beat Trump messages I think that was the huge thing. Also lots of day-of voters who prob took their cues from the media message before Super Tuesday.
I know some people are still hopeful but honestly after Super Tuesday I really think Michigan was Bernie's swan song. I understand if Bernie drops out or continues a bit longer cuz both are reasonable options right now for him but the latter seems less viable as time goes on and he continues to lose vs Biden in certain states.
I guess my biggest question now is which progressive will run in 4 years? I have no interest in Trump or Biden's campaigns and will not be supporting either of them so hopefully in 4 years there will be a candidate I can get behind. There's still Tulsi but she doesn't have a chance this time around so yeah.
Also this isn't to undermine smaller elections too but I'm speaking just about the presidency right now.
Hope 4 da best plan 4 da worst
Let's goooo biden
Can I get a biden HOIIIIIIYYYYPPPE????
Let's goooo biden
Can I get a biden HOIIIIIIYYYYPPPE????
the country is going to shit and you're shitting on the only leader trying to do something about it
He's been trying for 60 years to no avail. He should either try harder, or step aside. We had an abundance of progressive, diverse, accomplished candidates. Thanks to Bernie and his incessant bros, we got Uncle Joe instead.
Right now, his legacy is taking $300mil in donations from working class people and using it to help elect Trump. He has no accomplishments, no plans, an incredibly toxic base, and a reputation among his peers of being a useless asshole.
The voters made their choice. As Liz would say: don't shoot the messenger, I'm just a player in the game.
At this point, I'm most excited by the possibility that Diamond Joe will have to step down halfway through his term and let Kamala take his place. Until then, I'm #RidinWithBiden.
Last edited:
Well this is just so hypothetical that it's barely worth discussing. This depends on 1) the winner of the 2020 election, 2) assuming it's Biden, is he running in 2024?, 3) if not, who was his 2020 VP pick?, 4) is this person themselves conceivably progressive enough to not face a strong primary challenger when they run in 2024, or is it someone like a Klobuchar, who'd be more likely to face one?
That said, I'll humor it for a minute...
Obvious feasible choices though include numerous members of "the squad", or even someone like Katie Porter, but honestly House -> run for president rarely ever goes well, and they're all still relatively inexperienced.
There don't seem to be too many progressives that would excite you currently in the senate or among governors.
But this is a long way off. Obama was a totally unknown name in 2004 if you were trying to predict who would lead the party in 2008. He had only just won the senate seat in Illinois in that same election. For all we know the next nominee is a similar story, such as Ben Ray Lujan, Sara Gideon, or Mark Kelly, assuming they win their senate races.
Honest question now that the primary is over and we can all stop fronting: do any of you seriously believe there's any chance in hell that Medicare for All would even make it out of committee?
I'd love to vote for single-payer. Unfortunately, single-payer wasn't on the ballot this year. Bernie had no plan whatsoever to pay for, pass, or implement the most radical healthcare system in the world. Meemaw at least tried to pay for Bernie's pipe-dream, but she was still $12 trillion short, and she got completely shit on for daring to come up with a plan for his ridiculous idea.
Biden doesn't support single-payer, but he'll definitely get us closer to it than Bernie ever could.
I'd love to vote for single-payer. Unfortunately, single-payer wasn't on the ballot this year. Bernie had no plan whatsoever to pay for, pass, or implement the most radical healthcare system in the world. Meemaw at least tried to pay for Bernie's pipe-dream, but she was still $12 trillion short, and she got completely shit on for daring to come up with a plan for his ridiculous idea.
Biden doesn't support single-payer, but he'll definitely get us closer to it than Bernie ever could.
Your angry and retributive speech has convinced me that it's the bernie bros who are toxic. I'm #RidinWithBiden to own the bernie bros
Good for you. I'm #RidinWithBiden to own Donald Trump.
I don't think the 40% of the country that votes republican no matter what is the problem.
It's the 30% of the country that constantly feels the need to appease them.
Universal healthcare is possible. It doesn't get shot down because it's unreasonable, it's gets shot down because people are afraid unreasonable people won't like it.
Access to abortion is popular too, but that doesn't prevent republicans from continuing to nominate candidates that are opposed to it (almost universally). The republican party knows they don't need to care about progressive votes.
Why is it constantly on the left to compromise until there's no other choice? I think coronavirus will test people's faith in american health care. We're already seeing insurance companies drop copays, costs for tests, and adopt other aspects of m4a temporarily. People are soon going to realize their health depends on others having health care.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the coronavirus is going to peak in the next month or so, but if it's prolonged, or if it hits congress in any significant way, I do think it's going to affect nation attitudes on healthcare.
I could see m4a going through committee easily next april.
It's the 30% of the country that constantly feels the need to appease them.
Universal healthcare is possible. It doesn't get shot down because it's unreasonable, it's gets shot down because people are afraid unreasonable people won't like it.
Access to abortion is popular too, but that doesn't prevent republicans from continuing to nominate candidates that are opposed to it (almost universally). The republican party knows they don't need to care about progressive votes.
Why is it constantly on the left to compromise until there's no other choice? I think coronavirus will test people's faith in american health care. We're already seeing insurance companies drop copays, costs for tests, and adopt other aspects of m4a temporarily. People are soon going to realize their health depends on others having health care.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the coronavirus is going to peak in the next month or so, but if it's prolonged, or if it hits congress in any significant way, I do think it's going to affect nation attitudes on healthcare.
I could see m4a going through committee easily next april.
Universal healthcare is not synonymous with Bernie's Medicare for All idea, despite what his marketing team will have you believe.
Are you set on Bernie's M4A proposal, or universal healthcare? Because nearly every "universal healthcare" system in the world offers a private option, and the ones that don't aren't as comprehensive as Bernie's.
Abortion is absolutely not popular. Only 46% of americans identify as pro-choice. I encourage you to google some basic statistics before making such claims.
I'm not sure what coronavirus has to do with M4A. The main (global, btw) concern isn't about whether people can afford covid-19 treatment, it's whether we have the infrastructure to support the rapid influx of patients.
You didn't explain at all how it's going to get out of committee, even though that was the original question.
I'm ready to beat Donald Trump...AND flip the Senate too!
Last edited:
I don't see Biden going two terms if he somehow wins 2020. If he could barely string together a coherent thought now what's 4 years of the presidency gonna do to him?
His VP pick I could see being like, Kamala or Stacy Abrams. The former I could see being challenged especially since she didn't really have much support nor good policies this run. The latter I'm not sure would be since she's pretty wildly popular at least among her own constituents. But maybe.
I don't see any house to presidency runs in 2024 tbh. Porter I think is well positioned to continued in the house right now. AOC is too young but she's definitely president material later down the line as she continues to improve her credentials.
I wonder if Tulsi would have a better chance with Bernie not running since his base for the most part would receive her well. I'd hope so tbh she brings up important discussions and I think would be a good president especially if she picked her administration wisely.
Personally I'd love to see Nina Turner give it a go despite the relative lack of experience. She's got a passion and a fire in her that is very electric and supports great policies.
