The SC Debate

Posted by TomCat at 9:47 am Politics

Feb 262020

The performance that I liked best in the SC debate was that of Elizabeth Warren, but I’m sure my own bias enters into that. I think that Bernie, Joe and Liz did well. Amy and Pete barely held their own, at best. Bloomberg was weak, and Steyer did not belong on the stage at all. Other losers were the boo birds that the Biden campaign planted in the audience to scream BOO every time Bernie opened his mouth.

Seven Democratic presidential candidates took the stage Tuesday night in Charleston, S.C., for a fiery debate days before the state’s primary on Saturday.

The showdown in the Palmetto State also marked the final debate before Democrats battle in the biggest day on the primary calendar — Super Tuesday — next week.

Who won and lost in the latest debate?

WINNERS

Former Vice President Joe Biden

Biden kept his hopes alive with one of his strongest debate performances.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Warren is the most consistent debater left in the race.

She went after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg once again in this debate. She did not eviscerate him as thoroughly as she did last week in Las Vegas, but she again raised questions about his treatment of women in the workplace….

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Sanders won on Tuesday by not obviously losing.

He came under the kind of sustained attack that any front-runner faces…

Inserted from <The Hill>

The biggest loser in the debate was CBS News. Here’s an excerpt from an email from Marcos Moulitsas of Daily Kos.

We went from perhaps the best debate ever, last week, to one of the worst ever, Tuesday night. What a disaster, from the questions, to the moderation, to the way they shoehorned one last commercial break at the end, without nothing but a “goodbye!” on the other side, Taking ad money from both Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer for commercials was an added insult.

It was insulting that in a DEMOCRATIC debate, moderators spent valuable time asking about North Korea, China, Syria, and other issues that fail to inform the vote of a single Democratic primary voter. As a result, climate change, choice, unions, and other key progressive priorities were ignored.

This was the worst moderation and production of any debate this season.

South Carolina debate wrap: Rivals take aim at Sanders

I disagree that Liz’ statement that she would be a better President was an attack. She was saying something good about herself, not something bad about Bernie. Everyone else on the stage attacked Bernie. Bernie’s honest statement that, over his long career, he has made some bad votes was honest. Kudos. He defused all the attacks well.

Elizabeth Warren: People Want to Hear From the Women Who Worked for Mayor Bloomberg

Mike “Kill It” Bloomberg [R-NY] had to buy that woman’s silence with an out of court settlement. The establishment media attacked Liz for attacking Bloomberg. They said she should have gone after Bernie, because Bloomberg isn’t even on the SC ballot. I disagree. That debate may have in SC, but it was also the debate for Super Tuesday, where Bloomberg hopes to excel and replace Biden as the establishment alternative to Bernie.

I look forward to Saturday and Tuesday with fingers crossed

RESIST!!

The State of the Race–2/24

Posted by TomCat at 11:28 am Politics

Feb 242020

We in a brief pause, before The SC Debate tomorrow, the SC Primary Saturday, and Super Tuesday a week from tomorrow. So here is a look at the state of the race as of now.

Energized by his landslide victory in the Nevada caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders turned his focus to President Trump on Sunday while his campaign made plans to try to win the coming South Carolina primary and amass an insurmountable delegate lead on Super Tuesday next week.

Mr. Sanders plans to be up on the air with commercials in every South Carolina media market this week, and his staff is scrambling to add new rallies to his schedule as they take aim at their next big target: overtaking the front-runner in Saturday’s primary there, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to all but extinguish his candidacy.

But attacks on Mr. Sanders began mounting on Sunday, with Mr. Biden criticizing him as disloyal to former President Barack Obama — a charged message with the predominantly black electorate in South Carolina — and others describing the Vermont senator as a long shot against Mr. Trump. Mr. Sanders, in turn, used a rally in the Super Tuesday state of Texas to highlight some favorable polling numbers against the president — and attempt to reassure Democrats about his electability if he wins the nomination… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

I haven’t given up on Liz, but Joe’s attacks on Bernie are as disingenuous as are criminal Trump’s* attacks on Joe. Bernie criticized Obama, but so did I. Neither of us was disloyal to him at any time. In addition, whether ANY Democrat beats Trump* is up to us. It will happen, if and only if we make it happen!

Here is the latest delegate count.

State

Date ▾

Delegates*

Sanders

Buttigieg

Biden

Warren

Klobuchar

Steyer

Yang

Gabbard

Primaries/

Caucuses

Open/

Closed

Pledged
Delegates

–

3979

Superdelegates

–

(771)

Total
Delegates

(2,382 Needed after 1st
Ballot)

–

4750

–

Pledged
Delegates

(1,991 Needed on 1st
Ballot)

–

3979

Iowa

February
3

41
(8)

Caucus

Semi-open

New Hampshire

February
11

24
(9)

Primary

Semi-closed

Nevada

February
22

36
(12)

Caucus

Closed

Here are latest SC Poll Results

Biden

Sanders

Steyer

Buttigieg

Warren

Klobuchar

Biden +3.0

Bernie Sanders has the best chance of any candidate, at this point. I think that when Super Tuesday is in the books, we’ll all have a much better idea.

RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Nevada Debate: Big Win for Warren

Posted by TomCat at 8:53 am Politics

Feb 202020

The Nevada debate was far more interesting than any of the earlier ones. In my opinion, my two favorites finished first and second. I was most pleased to see Elizabeth Warren so dominant that NBC couldn’t okie-doke her the way ABC did in New Hampshire. I was also pleased to see Mike Bloomberg [R-NY] learn that having to buy his place on the debate stage showed that he never deserved his place there.

The top six contenders for the Democratic nomination gathered Wednesday night for (what feels like) the 7,000th primary debate of the 2020 cycle. But the latest episode of the politics-themed reality show that we’ve all come to know and dread was markedly livelier than its predecessors. And it isn’t hard to see why. Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Joe Biden all came to Las Vegas desperate to improve their campaigns’ flagging fortunes with a big gamble or two. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, is dispositionally incapable of allowing his newfound front-runner status to soften the edges of pugilistic populism. And Michael Bloomberg couldn’t help but bring out his co-partisans’ inner Robespierres.

So, who won the rumble in Nevada? Here’s a definitive ranking of the candidates’ nights from best to worst (as measured by the subjective impressions of an exceptionally unrepresentative white man in New York City):

1) Elizabeth Warren

The Massachusetts senator’s campaign is probably beyond saving. Warren entered Wednesday night’s debate polling in fourth place nationally, some 15.5 points behind the front-running Bernie Sanders. Current surveys suggest she is poised to win no more than a negligible number of delegates in the Nevada caucuses, none in South Carolina, and, per FiveThirtyEight’s model, just 8 percent of 1,357 pledged delegates up for grab on Super Tuesday.

But if there was anything Warren could do to revive her candidacy in Nevada on Wednesday night, she did it many times over. In recent weeks, the senator has tried to smooth out the rougher edges of her populist persona, in a bid to cast herself as the “unity” candidate (and/or to mitigate any potential gendered double-standard the electorate might apply toward female candidates who code as aggressive). But pugnacity is just another word for nothing left to lose. And with her campaign on the ropes, Warren reprised the role that had made her name: merciless inquisitor of the superrich and powerful.

Within minutes of the debate’s opening, Warren stopped the show, threw the nearest billionaire up against a wall, frisked him — and revealed that beneath the would-be emperor’s gilded façade lay little more than an empty suit…

Inserted from <NY Mag>

Please click through for the rest of the article. After Warren, the authors list, in order of finish, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar , and Mike Bloomberg. I agree, except that I would put Pete in third and Joe in fourth.

If you want to watch the entire debate: Watch The Full NBC News/MSNBC Democratic Debate In Las Vegas

For a debate summary…

Watch Highlights Of The Democratic Debate In 5 Minutes

Kudos to Liz for coming to Amy’s aid in the face of Pete’s unfair attack. Here are two about Liz alone.

Fat broads” and “horse-faced lesbians Warren rips Bloomberg

Elizabeth Warren Targets Mike Bloomberg For His Company’s Non-Disclosure Agreements

Woooo Hoooo! Did Liz tear that misogynist Republican a new asshole or what?

RESIST!!

A Win for Bernie!

Posted by TomCat at 9:05 am Politics

Feb 122020

After much publicity, and far more hype than their delegate count warrants, the New Hampshire primary, is now in the history books, and it’s a win for Bernie. If that surprises anyone, please contact me about the bridge I have for sale. It connects Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, consolidating support on the left and fending off a late charge by two moderate rivals to claim his second strong showing in two weeks and establish himself as a formidable contender for the Democratic nomination.

Mr. Sanders had about 26 percent of the vote with 90 percent of the ballots counted, while former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., was a close second. Mr. Buttigieg split the centrist vote with Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who surged in New Hampshire to finish in third.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mr. Sanders’s progressive rival, finished a distant fourth in her neighboring state, and in a stinging blow to his candidacy, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. finished fifth.

The results raised immediate questions about how much longer Mr. Biden and Ms. Warren, onetime front-runners, could afford to continue their campaigns. Both had already cut back their advertising because of financial strain… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Bernie Sanders declares victory in New Hampshire

Here are the results, updated this morning.

0212NH

And here is the delegate count to date. I must say, that I’m disappointed Liz didn’t do better than she did. At least she beat Biden.

Here is the delegate count to date.

0212DemDelegates

Kudos to Bernie, I’m not quite ready to give up on Liz yet, but since she didn’t win, I’m glad he did. If Liz drops out, I’ll be an instant Bernie supporter.

The Republican Reich also had a NH primary. Republican voters defecated on America,

RESIST!!

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