1627

This is one of my concerns about 2020- we’re going to see enough anti-Trumpers in the Dem primary that we get a Dem president that’s on the rightward fringe of the Dem party.

1628

Unlike several of you folks, I’d vote for Sanders or Warren in a heartbeat, regardless of age. I too would like to see a younger president, but both of them carry strong Democratic values that they do not deviate from when faced with challenges. That’s a value we really need at this point, not more meandering centrist appeasement to old fashioned political themes.

If you’re going to have a president that rocks the boat and proposes very massive changes to our systems, it can’t be someone that leads with a whisper.

1629

I mean… if Bernie is such a Democrat, why isn’t he in the party?

And if you want to rock the boat and do massive changes, you might not win.

That said I’d probably vote for Sanders or Warren. It would be hard for the GOP to get my vote, they’re almost all complicit at this point. Kasich or McMullen would probably get my vote, but they’ll never win a primary because Republicans would rather have human stains like Cruz and Pence.

1630

That’s his thing, I guess. I mean he ran in the primaries last election. I agree, but it’s not been a roadblock to him at all.

1631

I agree completely. There are some still outside the system, however, and I feel like there might still be room for one. The problem is that it seems they have to uphold the crazy, or they have no shot at all in the Republican primaries.

1632

Buncha nonsense. Franken 2020.

1633

I want to see who is the best campaigner. In the past, I’ve focused solely on policy issues, but we don’t need another candidate with great ideas and experience but poor on-camera charisma. I also worry that women and minorities still start with a disadvantage, and therefore have to be exceptional campaigners.

I like most of the septuagenarian crew, but I think the party and country need to look for someone younger than Biden/ Warren/ Sanders. I also like several of the billionaires, but I agree with Strollen that POTUS is not an entry level job.

In the end, I think I Harris/ Sherrod Brown, or Gillibrand/ Sherrod Brown would make the strongest tickets. But I have not seen any of them in front of a crowd yet.

1634

Some people may be bringing up how age plays with the electorate, not whether they’d vote for them individually.

1635
1636

The problem with Sherrod Brown is that the Dems in Ohio don’t have anyone who seems capable of retaining his seat at the moment. Of course, 2020 is a long ways off.

1637

And that’s a totally fair issue.

1638

I mean Trumperoni got elected at 70/71, right? Same ballpark Warren’d be in.

1639

That’s his thing, yes.

And it’s both a problem and a roadblock to everyone but him personally.

First of all, Bernie is some kind of onerous house guest. He shows up at your house and makes himself at home and eats all the food in your fridge and drinks all your beer and insists on having his own bedroom. He invites all his buddies to your house and they hang out there constantly taking advantage of your goodwill, even though they spend most of their time telling you what a dickhead you are.

And then, when you suggest that perhaps Bernie should, you know, pay some rent, Bernie and all those friends he invited over respond by telling you that maybe instead of rent, they’ll just trash your house instead, so back the fuck off.

There’s a happy home for Bernie Sanders within the Democratic party. His policies and platform ideas – raising the minimum wage, free college, and single payer – are in lockstep with the progressive wing of the party. I’m not sure there’s a hairsbreadth of difference between him and Senator Warren or Senator Franken on most issues. Bernie should be proud that he moved the party to the left in 2016. I mean, when you’ve got Max Baucus talking about single payer deserving serious consideration, that’s some kind of amazing.

But yeah, Bernie’s happy to not have to deal with the baggage of having an official “DEM-VT” next to his name. Which is fine for what it is. And there are definitely some dues to pay with being a member of either party. But in a presidential primary season, those dues are a currency you can collect on because Democrats are going to be more likely to support Democrats when it comes to earning the nomination.

1640

Hell yes. I would vote for a Franken/Duckworth ticket in a hot minute. Can you imagine the seizures it would induce on the far right? Two very capable people leading another round of firsts, first Jewish President and first Asian American and female VP. It would also set Duckworth up quite nicely experience-wise to run for the top job once Franken’s term(s) was up. I’d love to see the mental gymnastics the right would have to execute to get hyper-critical of a guy with a pretty spotless record of tireless work in the Senate and a female U.S. military veteran, severely wounded in combat, who also has developed a reputation as a talented and tireless Representative in Washington.

To be honest though, I’m going to vote Democrat in 2020 no matter who they put up. It could be a cardboard cutout of Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China and I’d vote for it. I’m still an Independent, but the GOP has torched any possibility of my seeing any of their candidates in anything approaching a positive light given the last 9 months of total fuckery.

1641

Trigger, I hear what you are saying, but I’m unsure if you think well over half the delegate count during the last primary is anything to throw someone under the bus for. And that was against Hillary to boot.

Because a pic summary is better, wiki’s paints the picture:
image

I mean, there is a chance he will again run. And I’m sure if he’s leading the ticket by the end, it won’t be because a Democrat with a capital D didn’t want to punch Bernie on the ticket. Clearly, many did.

1642

I’m going to stop here and say FTFY even though every time I pushed the time back I kept thinking, “well, no, what about X” and thought I could go a little further.

PS Franken/Duckworth 2020 is so hot it is burning my brain just thinking about it oh maybe that’s just the lingering sickness I can’t seem to shake.

1643

Unfortunately it doesn’t take them much. I follow Franken (my Senator!) on Facebook. He often posts updates on legislative aims and so on. Every single post is filled with right-wingers complaining that he 1) is an unfunny comedian (and therefore has no business being Senator) and 2) stole his first election. I disagree with both assessments (I thought he was hilarious, not to mention he is a close student of pertinent issues, lawcraft, politics, and his constituents’ needs. Also, his first election was so close it triggered a recount. He won in the recount. And handily won his second election. Scoreboard, whiners.) but those are the sort of basic floor routines the Right has no problem executing when it comes to Franken. His exemplary record doesn’t even register to them. And that doesn’t include the veiled or overt anti-Semitism…

Basically, you wouldn’t love to see those mental gymnastics; they’d make you think less of your fellow Americans and/or Russian bot neighbors.

1644

unmöglich!

1645

I keep considering legally changing my name to Generic Democrat, and then bring out poll after poll about how I can smash any given GOP candidate.

1646

This is interesting.

I count three potential Democratic challengers for the nomination at least in that co-sponsor list on Bernie’s Medicare-for-all bill.

Not totally sure Bernie would let Booker and Harris jump on this ship if he was planning to run in 2020.