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Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Post any national/international news discussions in this forum. Debates welcome.

Pick your top 3

Joe Biden
1
7%
Bernie Sanders
5
33%
Elizabeth Warren
6
40%
Kamala Harris
0
No votes
Pete Buttigieg
2
13%
Corey Booker
0
No votes
Beto O'Roarke
0
No votes
Andrew Yang
1
7%
Marianne Williamson
0
No votes
Other
0
No votes
 
Total votes : 15

Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby KaiserGlider » Sep 29, '19, 5:17 pm

Vote.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Hanley! » Oct 01, '19, 11:34 am

I'm not someone who can vote in this election, but I do keep up with American politics because I'm a nerd.

I only gave votes to Warren and Sanders on this poll, as I couldn't come up with a third candidate from those remaining. Candidates like Yang and Williamson have interesting proposals on certain issues, but their policies are very lacking in other areas. Then there's the Biden/Harris/Buttigieg/Booker class, who stand mostly for politics as usual and aren't progressive enough to introduce the scale of change that's needed in the country post-Trump.

At the moment, I'd say Sanders is a better candidate than Warren by leaps and bounds, but Warren is much better than most of the rest of the field.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Everlong » Oct 04, '19, 11:44 am

My order of preference is as follows:

1. Liz Warren. I think she's had an extremely effective career as a senator, is more progressive than anyone on the list but Bernie, has a plan for pretty much everything, is likable and is highly intelligent. I think she'd represent America perfectly on the global stage. Plus, she's a woman, so that's a bonus.

2. Pete Buttigieg. Not quite as progressive as I might like, but he's got almost everything else I could ask for out of a candidate. He's young and a breath of fresh air, which given the geriatric nature of some of our leading contenders, the importance cannot be understated. He understands the importance of climate change and cares about posing solutions, much more than some of the other more moderate candidates. He's arguably the most intelligent and thoughtful of all the candidates running, and probably also the most likable. He's built a huge following in almost no time at all due to his uncanny ability to deliver complicated messages in a way that can be easily understood by all people. A lot of other candidates have simpler messages, but Pete has a very grounded approach that I think will translate well to a lot of average people in the United States. He has progressive aims over the long term, but has a practical approach in some regards, understanding that massive shifts are not always possible.

3. Bernie Sanders. I still like Bernie a lot, but I think he's kind of a pie in the sky candidate, and he's not even the best progressive running right now. He's far too old--he and Biden shouldn't even be running, IMO. However, his progressive views have garnered huge grassroots support and he's done a ton to move the party as a whole quite a bit to the left over the last several years. So I love Bernie for his ideals, but I'm concerned about his age and also with his ability to pull a following in Washington. I think in terms of inspiring loyalty and followers not just in the general public but in congress, Warren and Pete would be significantly better.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby UTK » Oct 06, '19, 9:22 am

#YangGang
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Hanley! » Oct 08, '19, 11:58 am

Everlong wrote:3. Bernie Sanders. I still like Bernie a lot, but I think he's kind of a pie in the sky candidate, and he's not even the best progressive running right now. He's far too old--he and Biden shouldn't even be running, IMO. However, his progressive views have garnered huge grassroots support and he's done a ton to move the party as a whole quite a bit to the left over the last several years. So I love Bernie for his ideals, but I'm concerned about his age and also with his ability to pull a following in Washington. I think in terms of inspiring loyalty and followers not just in the general public but in congress, Warren and Pete would be significantly better.


I was trying to decide whether or not this was the right place to debate politics, but it's been quiet around here so I guess it couldn't hurt.

I disagree strongly with the idea that Bernie isn't the best progressive running right now. He's to the left of Warren on every major issue, and his proposals are bolder and more far-reaching. He's the only candidate proposing to eliminate all student debt and all medical debt. He's been far less vague on his support for Medicare for All and what it should cover. For example, Warren seems to be advocating for a system whereby mental health cover would only be provided under private insurance. For the most vulnerable in the country, the difference between a Bernie presidency and a Warren presidency could be substantial.

Bernie's also way ahead of her on foreign policy matters. Warren voted for all of Trump's outlandish military budget increases, and when she was questioned on this she really didn't have a good answer. She's not as progressive as Bernie when it comes to speaking out against Israel's human rights violations. And she hasn't shown as much interest in foreign concerns in general, with the exception of trade agreements which she tends to frame as a national issue. Where a candidate stands on foreign policy is of particular importance, because the president is more empowered to make foreign policy decisions without going through congress. It's also important because 'foreign' is where I live. :P

Also relevant to foreign policy is the climate crisis, and the legislation that Sanders has put out - based on the Green New Deal framework - is so much more ambitious than anything else that's even being hinted at by anyone else in the field. It's a plan that takes the issue seriously and doesn't deal in half-measures. It would make America the world leader on the climate issue.

Finally, I just think Bernie is the candidate who won't be afraid to tackle problems root and branch. Which matters, because the system that he's working in is resistant to change. He put out an agenda to get money out of politics over the last few days which could radically improve the way politics works in America, removing the incentive for the government to work for corporations instead of people. I do like Warren, and I think she's better on the issues than the vast majority of presidential candidates in the modern history of the United States. But to me she feels like a compromise between Bernie and the Democratic establishment. And I don't see any reason to begin the election with a compromise. It's better to keep moving the Overton window to the left.

On Bernie's age, it's not that it doesn't matter, but it's only something I'd take into consideration if I thought there was another candidate that was close to him on the issues. If anything, his age means that this might be the best and only chance the country has of electing a candidate that's this progressive, bold and uncorruptible. On the flip side, we could be hearing Buttigieg's name in the news for the next 50 years. Which I can't say I'm too excited about, at least as of yet.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby The Legend » Oct 09, '19, 9:21 am

At this stage of his life and at the point we are in as a country, knowing what a fight it would be to get Republicans to allow him to do anything, I think Bernie is better suited as the head of the Democratic Party, the face of the progressive movement and a sort of compass to guide the party than he actually is as a candidate.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Hanley! » Oct 09, '19, 11:15 am

The Legend wrote:At this stage of his life and at the point we are in as a country, knowing what a fight it would be to get Republicans to allow him to do anything, I think Bernie is better suited as the head of the Democratic Party, the face of the progressive movement and a sort of compass to guide the party than he actually is as a candidate.


If Bernie is going to continue to lead the party on the key issues, I think he'd be more effective doing it as president. Change comes from the top, and it's easier to lead a grassroots movement with that sort of visibility. Besides, establishment Democrats aren't going to give him a leadership role within the party if they can avoid it. He's too much of a threat to their way of life.
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Everlong » Oct 27, '19, 3:39 pm

@Hanley! interested if your thoughts have changed since Bernie's heart attack?
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Re: Who are your current top 3 Democratic candidates for 2020?

Postby Hanley! » Oct 27, '19, 5:41 pm

Everlong wrote:@Hanley! interested if your thoughts have changed since Bernie's heart attack?


Not at all. For starters, he seems like he's in good health now. The procedure he had done should keep his heart healthier going forwards. He still works harder than any other candidate in the race, and still comes across as sharp and energetic. And others have done the job of president after much more severe procedures.

More importantly though, he's still the best candidate on the issues that the country cares most about. He's the most progressive. He's the least compromising - you know that he's not going to change his views for political gain after reaching the office. He's laid out a theory of change; he has a path to getting radical new policy ideas through, difficult as it still may be. And most indicators suggest that he has the best chance of beating Trump out of any nominee in the race right now. There might not be an opportunity to elect a candidate this strong again for decades; I just don't see the argument for not taking the chance.

It would be different if I thought there were someone close to him in terms of policy; then I'd pay more attention to his age/health. But only Warren is remotely close to him and she's still a ways away. Since my last post she's become even more vague around Medicare For All. She's talking about announcing her plan on how to pay for it shortly, despite saying previously that she supported Bernie's bill which already details how it will be paid for. And it's odd that the candidate whose brand is that she has a plan for everything, doesn't yet have a plan for the key issue for most Democratic voters. It seems she's trying to avoid a soundbite about raising taxes on the middle class, because that's where most of her voters are coming from. I like Warren, but I'm starting to have some trust issues there.

Warren is not all that much younger than Bernie in any case, and is much less likely to win an election against Trump as consistently shown in polling data.

Even if the worst were to happen in terms of Bernie's health, I do think it's important for the public to have the chance to vote for someone with his uncompromising policy positions: to provide a mandate to implement real change in the country. If he didn't make it through his first term (and there's really no reason to believe this would be the case) he'd still have provided a platform for real change that can be executed by what will presumably be a carefully-chosen VP. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was Warren.

The main thing that's changed for me over the last couple of weeks in terms of this race is that I have an even worse impression of Buttigieg. The more I see of him, the less I like him. He has no record and no strong signature policy proposals, so I didn't really see what he added to the race to begin with, but now that he's moving right on the issues because he can't find a path to victory in the more progressive lane it's become pretty clear that he has no real values and simply wants to be president. Add the policing scandals from his hometown and Zuckerberg's involvement in his campaign, and I'm really worried about the prospect of him as president. The one thing I really give him credit for is saying he'll introduce a constitutional amendment to repeal Citizens United, but when I look at who's funding his campaign, I wonder how trustworthy he is on that issue too.
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