5238

I give you the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate - Jessica King!

https://ballotpedia.org/Jessica_King_(Pennsylvania)

Just kidding, but I’m happy to vote for her in my district. Sadly, she only has a 7% chance of winning right now.

5239

Timex, I think you are wrong about electibility b/c the far right has overplayed its hand by slamming every Dem candidate as a radical socialist. You do realize the GOP hammered Hilary Clinton in 2016 as being too far left, “out of touch” and a socialist in 2016, right? And her agenda was maybe 10 degrees left of center. It would have been dead center if Bernie hadn’t forced her to shift left a bit. Every single Dem is going to be slammed as a far left socialist, even likable veteran candidates.

Also, as to the idea that Warren is on the left edge of nationally visible politicians in the US, that’s actuallly true, b/c the GOP has shifted so far to the right and the true leftists in the US (the Greens and the zombified Communists hanging out at Berkeley) have become a bad and humorless joke.

On the left/right spectrum of advanced countries, Warren is about 45 degrees, as is Bernie. In my mind that represents the left edge of “liberal” but does not reach into “leftist”. To be a leftist in my view you have to advocate some kind of nationalism of parts of the economy (except for health care which is a special case) plus a number of other things (UBI, etc.)

Here’s my political spectrum of the US

90 degrees left: a couple of my old professors, undead and covered in spider webs, in the basement of the main library at Berkeley, and, of course, Armando.

75 degrees left and crazy as hell: the Greens and maybe MrGrumpy (or maybe he’s at 60 degrees)

60 degrees left: the Democratic Socialists and maybe Alexandra Ocasio-Cortes and probably a few folks at QT3

45 degrees left: Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, probably Kamala Harris & Gavin Newsome, maybe Pelosi in her heart, a decent chunk of QT3 posters

30 degrees left: me (and all right thinking Americans, of course) plus another decent chunk of posters

15 degrees left: H. Clinton, Pelosi as she acts as leader of the House Dems, the DNC in general, and some posters here when they are being “pragmatic”.

zero: B. Clinton and H. Clinton before she got the Bern, the “neoliberals” of the 90s, etc.

15 degrees right: the last few surviving on life support red state Dems, Timex, Scuzz and adjacent

30 degrees right: some of the sane never-Trump types, Strollen, Shiva?, maybe a few others

45 degrees right: Kasich. That’s it. One guy.

60 degrees right: the least worst of the current US right wing. Maybe some of the governors who are willing to use tea party rhetoric but actually govern in a non-insane fashion.

75 degrees right: the bulk of the current US right wing

90 degrees: not just neo-nazis anymore; I would put some of the US right here, more due to tribalism and extreme hatred of teh Libs than due to policy preferences.

Basically I’m saying the core of the Democratic party is about 15 to 30 degrees left by the standards of advanced nations, and the core of the GOP right now is about 60 to 75 degrees right. The GOP has shifted about 45 degrees to the right over the last 50 years, leaving a huge gap where conservatives used to be.

5240

Not about anyone here, but since you say she’s wrong it’s about you? Is that gist of it? Thanks Nick for giving the GOP the win?

Okay. Put the blame on me and everyone giving her the side-eye right now. I’m concerned with winning and putting enough Dem butts in congressional seats to matter come Nov. This was a loser strategy. It isn’t helping her at all.

5241

I didn’t say she’s wrong. That’s exactly opposite of what I am saying.

5242

I’m restating that you said anyone that says she’s wrong (presumably including me) then I’m part of the problem. Correct?

5243

Those same people were saying positive things yesterday about how it shows she is fighting back and how Trump should make good on his charity donation. These revisions are way down on the page, and the video itself is a good one, which plays up her OK roots more than her heritage itself. It’s dumb that she didn’t get the Cherokee leaders on board with it beforehand, but it’s far from a disaster.

Trump was already calling her a liar and a fraud, so him saying that again in this context doesn’t make it worse.

5244

Edit: Never mind, @Sharpe did a good job with the political spectrum.

I’m asking you to support your position. I know her voting record. She consistently votes like a liberal. That makes her liberal. If one is far left, one supports far left policies. I’m asking you specifically what policies does Warren support that makes her far left. (And one more time, this has nothing to do with 2020.)

Unless your argument is that anyone who is liberal is far left. In which case, hi Rush!

5245

Yeah, you went down this path about her identity because the GOP opened the door, you know the part where Trump called her a liar and fraud, and a princess… then you lost years ago. You and everyone else gave him that narrative.You gave him control of the conversation and true playbook style, now that the liar part is wrong, they just move the goalpost and guess what, you’re giving them that too. It’s trap people keep falling for, and this time it’s a racist and sexist trap that showcases the ugliness in this country but it’s okay because, well political points.

5246

Somewhere in between. I’ve never voted for any party other than Democrats (and Jim Jeffords, a VT Republican.) I shoulda moved to Europe a long time ago. 😉

5247

Okay. Thanks for confirming I’m right about your post. Your passive aggressive “not about anyone here, but it’s about you” BS speaks volumes.

5248

No, they looked at how consistently she voted the progressive position during her time in the Senate. She did it more consistently than most of the Dem Senators, partly because she is in a state where she can. But voting for the “progressive” things happening in the Senate since 2012 is really pretty far from being a left-wing radical. Again, Gillibrand has nearly the same record as Warren. All of the 2020 contenders do, because what that site shows is that they are principled warriors for their party, ready to take on a leadership role.

5249

Just because I am replying to you doesn’t mean i am only talking about you. There are people on this site that don’t actually agree with you, and there are those off and on this site that do. What’s your point? So literally, doesn’t apply to everyone.

5250

Here’s a commercial that Mitch just wrote for the Democrats:

5251

Some of those taxes like gas (and carbon) are Pigovian taxes and in theory increase the efficiency of the market by pricing in the externalities but the point is a good one – if you can’t win an election on them anyway…

5252

Not anyone here now translates to people other than Nick? Hmmm.

5253

Smucker is a fuckhead

5254

That is the popular conception of her. Whether her actual policies match that description is not relevant, in terms of election prospects. The narrative is far, far more important.

5255

I think we had Scott Perry before the change in the lines. He is a Republican, so I assumed that was the case.

5256

Well, cigarette taxes poll well and are popular. And the point about Arnold is an odd one. Over the last several election cycles we California voters have voted several billion dollars of increased taxes on ourselves through initiatives. Clearly we’re not actually tax averse.

5257

@legowarrior I’ve had Smucker e-mailing me his bullshit for months until they redrew the map. Now I’m going to have to deal with some Skook R unless the farmer pulls off a huge upset.

Reading/Berks was boned before the new map and boned after. They split our county three ways AGAIN!