The Democratic Party, 2019

[RocketMan]

Ah, I love how these eulogies always bring out the Ruling Class in the ruling class. How someone could believe Schumer can deliver us from Trump I will never know.

[JackRiddler]

So the first one won't make news, the second one (written hours later, and I would guess in response to Schumer's) has already.

@SenSchumer
https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/1 ... 3746778114

Peter King stood head & shoulders above everyone else

He’s been principled & never let others push him away from his principles

He’s fiercely loved America, Long Island, and his Irish heritage and left a lasting mark on all 3

I will miss him in Congress & value his friendship

4:50 AM - 11 Nov 2019
2,023 Retweets10,269 Likes

@IlhanMN
https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1193925337379463169

Peter King is an Islamophobe who held McCarthyite hearings targeting American Muslims, said “there are too many mosques in this country” and blamed Eric Garner for his own death at the hands of police.

Good riddance.

8:15 AM - 11 Nov 2019
12,382 Retweets76,566 Likes

[Belligerent Savant]

^^^^^^^^^^

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/nyre ... -king.html


Schism among the 'dems', at least via overt narrative-framing.

After Schumer Praised the Retiring Rep. King, Some Democrats Jeered


Senator Chuck Schumer of New York responded to the announcement on Monday that Representative Peter King, the Long Island Republican, was retiring by publishing a warm tribute to Mr. King on Twitter.

Such an across-the-aisle embrace has long been par for the course on occasions of retirement, death or other political farewells.

But in a hyperpartisan era in which ideology often trumps old-fashioned bonhomie, Mr. Schumer was rebuked by members of his own party for saying Mr. King “stood head & shoulders above everyone else” and “fiercely loved America, Long Island, and his Irish heritage and left a lasting mark on all 3.”

“I will miss him in Congress & value his friendship,” the senator concluded.

Many Twitter followers of Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, did not agree with the sentiments.


“Good grief,” read one of the more polite responses. “Have you lost your mind?”

Indeed, the tweet prompted more than 10,000 replies, mostly negative and some downright nasty. Videos of thumbs-downs, eye-rolling and heads shaking “no,” flooded into Mr. Schumer’s feed, as the word “resign” got tossed about.

Many of those outraged by Mr. Schumer’s praise pointed out Mr. King’s more controversial positions and statements, including when he said that there are “too many mosques” in America; that protesting N.F.L. players are similar to Nazis; and that Eric Garner’s death was the result of his obesity and asthma, rather than the chokehold applied by a New York Police Department officer.

Add in Mr. King’s frequent support for President Trump and his policies, and Mr. Schumer’s comments seemed even more galling — and divisive — to some on the left.

Another of Mr. King’s congressional colleagues, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — a Muslim-American who herself has been the subject of Twitter fury — had a blunter take on his retirement announcement, noting his inflammatory statements about Islam and Mr. Garner.

“Good riddance,” she said.

Regardless of the criticism, Mr. Schumer did not delete the tweet despite some calls to do so.

“SERIOUSLY SCHUMER??,” wrote Peter Daou, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton, about the tweet. He chastised Mr. Schumer for “fawning” over Mr. King and other Democratic leaders for “enabling” Republicans. “We need a new Democratic Party.”

The reaction to Mr. Schumer’s tweet was not completely unexpected, though some said it was overblown.

Brian Fallon, the executive director of the activist group Demand Justice and a former top aide to Mr. Schumer, noted that Mr. King had a deep local and middle-class appeal — he will have served more than a quarter century when he retires — and that the senator had become “fond of him.”


“The two of them worked shoulder to shoulder in the years after 9/11 fighting to get Homeland Security funding for New York,” Mr. Fallon said. “Pete King would criticize his own party when Bush’s budgets would shortchange the grant amounts allotted for New York, and Schumer respected that about him.”

Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for Mr. Schumer, said the senator and the representative “had many disagreements on many issues, especially on immigration, his attitude toward Muslims, and women’s rights,” which manifested itself in efforts by the senator and other Democrats to defeat Mr. King last fall.

But, he added, “they’ve worked closely together on issues vital to New York, like delivering much-needed federal aid locally post 9/11, Superstorm Sandy and backing universal background checks legislation,” for guns.

[JackRiddler]

the senator and the representative “had many disagreements on many issues, especially on immigration, his attitude toward Muslims, and women’s rights,” which manifested itself in efforts by the senator and other Democrats to defeat Mr. King last fall.

So if King had lost in 2018, would Schumer have delivered the same absurd eulogy? Never mind, just a thought.

[Grizzly]

[/url]

[liminalOyster]

↑ How to burn

[Elvis]

I just love that woman.

[RocketMan]

Yep, she will unflinchingly take all comers. After her unapologetic and forceful Sanders endorsement, some of my doubts have been allayed.

[Belligerent Savant]

.

Here is your golden boy, Democrats. Advocating for a more moderate approach.

All the more reason to kill it with fire.

Obama Says Average American Doesn’t Want to ‘Tear Down System’

Former President Barack Obama, in an address to liberal donors, warned candidates not to go too far left and sought to calm those who were concerned about the state of the Democratic primary.

WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama offered an unusual warning to the Democratic primary field on Friday evening, cautioning the candidates not to move too far to the left in their policy proposals, even as he sought to reassure a party establishment worried about the electoral strength of their historically large primary field.

Not worth pasting the rest.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/us/p ... -dems.html

[PufPuf93]

[/url]

I am thrilled by the speed and accuracy of AOC's mind.

May she abide and grow and we all prosper.

[liminalOyster]

Am I the only person here who cynically sees each sudden Buttigieg "surge" as practically 100% fabricated craven falsehood?

[Elvis]

Whever you hear about the latest "surge" or "soaring poll numbers" of some candidate, just check for yourself here:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... primary-d/

Sanders doesn't "soar" because he's consistently strong in the polls, since like, forever (i.e. since 2016).

[stickdog99]

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/1 ... 020-071322

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Democratic donors say they want Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick to run for president because they’re petrified that a left-wing candidate can’t defeat President Donald Trump.

But progressives see a more sinister effort afoot.

Aides and allies to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, among other liberals, perceive the eleventh-hour campaign launched last week by Patrick — and the prospect of an impending Bloomberg 2020 bid — as an attempt to crush an ascendant left wing that would expand government more than any other Democratic president in decades.

In their view, Patrick and Bloomberg are stalking horses for moderate Democrats, high-dollar contributors and bundlers desperate to halt the momentum of the economic populists at the top of the polls — and regain control of the party levers.

It’s no minor intra-party spat in an election where all wings of the Democratic Party will need to be working in concert to beat Trump.

“There’s clearly anxiety from parts of the Democratic Party establishment and donor class about becoming a party that is unapologetic about taking on oligarchs, whether they’re Donald Trump or Jeff Bezos,” said Waleed Shahid, a former Sanders aide who now works for the progressive group Justice Democrats. “While he’ll basically try to buy votes through tons of ads, billionaire candidates like Bloomberg remain deeply unpopular. Deval’s supporters compare him to Obama, but forget that Obama also ran as an outsider populist in the 2008 primaries.”

Progressives’ concerns have heightened amid recent advances by their standard-bearers. Warren has risen to the top of the field in Iowa and New Hampshire. Sanders has enjoyed a comeback in the past month as well, receiving key endorsements and a small bump in early-state surveys after suffering a heart attack. Sanders and Warren reported having about $34 million and $26 million on hand, respectively, in their latest campaign finance filings.

“I see Deval Patrick as nothing but a kamikaze candidate,” said Murshed Zaheed, a Megaphone Strategies partner and former Harry Reid aide who supports Warren. “These folks have entered specifically in reaction to Warren’s ascendant candidacy.”

Party donors and moderates dismiss those characterizations, arguing that they are simply keeping the long game in mind — winning, followed by governance. They say that even if they personally like some of the left-wing policies, Warren and Sanders will become irreparably tarnished in a general election.

“The middle is trying to be responsible and actually operate,” said one West Coast-based bundler who is hopeful that Bloomberg will throw his hat in the ring. “At the end of the day, you can say whatever you want. If it doesn’t have any chance of getting passed, what good is it?”

The person added that while Joe Biden initially looked like the most electable contender, he has proven himself to be “weak as a candidate — but more importantly, he’s weak financially.”

The Bloomberg trial balloon and last-minute Patrick campaign have come after Biden, once the hope of many moderate Democrats, has slumped in early-state polls and disclosed that he only has $9 million cash on hand.

Ari Rabin-Havt, Sanders’ deputy campaign manager, told POLITICO: “I think the high-dollar donor class of the Democratic Party is extremely nervous about having a president of the United States who is not in their pocket.”

An adviser to Bloomberg said the former New York City mayor will support whoever the Democratic nominee is. But the fact that Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $125 million in the latest fundraising quarter and a recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed Warren losing to or tied with the president among registered voters in five of six battleground states, the person said, should be concerning to anyone who wants to defeat Trump.

The same survey found Biden leading Trump among those voters in four of those states; Sanders was ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, which were key to Trump’s victory, but behind him in three others.

“The only candidate Mike is trying to stop is Donald Trump,” said Jason Schechter, a spokesman for Bloomberg.

Patrick was greeted by a smattering of polite applause in his debut appearance Saturday at the California Democratic Party’s convention here, but also faced a heavy dose of skepticism from left-leaning delegates.

Asked about charges from progressive Democrats that he and Bloomberg represent a last gasp from the donor class and moderate Democrats to put down the progressive movement, Patrick cited his work as a civil rights lawyer and in government and industry, telling reporters, “Have a look at what I’ve been doing for most of my professional life.”

He said his record as Massachusetts governor was not “a non-progressive record,” and he said, “I’ve continued to be a progressive in the business sense by pursuing [social] impact investing.”

“Now, having said all that, don’t put me in a box,” Patrick added. “I don’t fit in one. By the way, neither do most voters.”

Both Warren and Sanders have not only proposed wealth taxes on the uber-rich, but also taken outright joy in railing against billionaires. Warren is currently selling “Billionaire Tears” campaign mugs on her website, while Sanders recently said, “I don’t think that billionaires should exist.”

In addition to being a billionaire himself — his estimated net worth is upwards of $53 billion — Bloomberg has a history with Warren. He endorsed her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, during her 2012 Senate campaign.

Months ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asked Bloomberg to think about running for president, but he declined at the time. Patrick worked at Bain Capital, the private equity firm that served as a boogeyman of liberal Democrats and former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, until last week.

To many on the left, that’s prima facie evidence that Bloomberg and Patrick are agents of a moneyed, ruling class determined to protect its interests against a rising progressive populist revolt.

“I think the reality is that we’ve got two super-rich guys who are scared to death that a progressive’s going to win the primary and then win the general,” said Charles Chamberlain, chairman of the progressive group Democracy for America. “This is about fear of victory, not fear of loss.”

David Sirota, Sanders’ speechwriter, wrote in an email to supporters last week that “the potential last-minute candidacies of corporate titans are a direct response to the Bernie Surge.”

While on the campaign trail in New Hampshire last week, Warren was asked about Bloomberg and Patrick. “I’ve noticed that billionaires go on TV and cry. Other billionaires encourage their billionaire buddies to jump into the race,” she said. "I believe that what our election should be about is grassroots."

The suspicions about Bloomberg and Patrick demonstrate the deep fissures between the moderate and liberal factions of the Democratic Party. Many Democratic officials believe they lost the 2016 presidential election, in part, because of those divisions.

Jamal Raad, a veteran Democratic strategist and adviser to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who dropped out of the presidential race this summer, said Patrick’s candidacy is not born of altruistic concerns about electability, but “the concerns of the donor and financial class.”

Noting polls that suggest the Democratic electorate, at large, is satisfied with its presidential choices, Raad said, “The vast majority of Democrats are super happy with their choices right now.”

Progressives bombarded with concerns about electability point to the 2016 election as evidence that centrists can lose, too. “Wishy-washy corporatism doesn’t sell,” said Jeff Cohen, co-founder of the pro-Sanders online activist group RootsAction.org.

Left-wing activists have embraced any sign that a Bloomberg or Patrick candidacy could backfire. Last week, Sanders fans excitedly shared on social media a Reuters-Ipsos poll that showed Sanders and Biden were tied nationally — if Bloomberg joined the race. Without him, Biden led the field by five points.

“These other candidates, whether they’ve come from Bain Capital or they’ve amassed their own private fortune that they’re going to use to try to buy the election, that’s not really competition for Bernie Sanders,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ senior adviser.

[Elvis]

OMG. Elizabeth Warren just lost all credibility with me. No words. Seriously dangerous. A fool. Has she always said this? She shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the national government.

Elizabeth Warren supports Juan Guaido. Supports sanctions of Venezuela. Says Maduro is starving his people even though she acknowledges that the US has economic sanctions and that she supports those sanctions.

https://twitter.com/AlytaDeLeon/status/ ... 5366846465

Jump to 19:35 in this video of the full interview for the Venezuela/foreign policy question:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvqJ6VpXf0


Compare and contrast (same Twitter thread):

Tulsi Gabbard
@TulsiGabbard
· Jan 24
The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders--so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.

[PufPuf93]

OMG. Elizabeth Warren just lost all credibility with me. No words. Seriously dangerous. A fool. Has she always said this? She shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the national government.

Elizabeth Warren supports Juan Guaido. Supports sanctions of Venezuela. Says Maduro is starving his people even though she acknowledges that the US has economic sanctions and that she supports those sanctions.

https://twitter.com/AlytaDeLeon/status/ ... 5366846465

Jump to 19:35 in this video of the full interview for the Venezuela/foreign policy question:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvqJ6VpXf0


Compare and contrast (same Twitter thread):

Tulsi Gabbard
@TulsiGabbard
· Jan 24
The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders--so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.

I am a voting life long Democratic party registered voter that has been majorly pissed off at Democratic party for years.

So far my druthers have been for Warren. She makes some huge disconnects regards Venezuela. Warren does not recognize that economic sanctions and isolation and foster political intrigue (attempted Chavez coup, oil strike, etc.) since the election have Chavez has brought the situation to current status. Seems Warren would recall the free heating oil that Chavez provided to New England and her state Massachusetts.

Chavez was a shift from colonialist white European oligarchs that hoarded and exported wealth to a society where Native American and black citizens that are a majority but also a large underclass gained access to power and a fairer share of the economy and natural resource wealth. So for now the Bolivarian Revolution is defunct but hard to conclude as it was sabotaged by multiple parties within Venezuela assisted by the outside influence of right wing USA (which includes the "moderate" pro-empire Democratic neo-liberals. Sucks to be in Venezuela now.

I find Gabbard very well spoken but do not trust her because of the cult thing and do not believe she can be considered a viable national candidate. alas. This video (took you advice and skipped ahead and only listened to Warren on Venezuela) may have put me back in the Sanders camp.