American Politics Thread

[Dorothy]

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Last Updated by Pikochu: March 3, 2022

This thread was created originally to discuss the 2020 Presidential election, but now I suppose it's become a general American politics thread.

At time of writing, the next major national elections are the 2022 midterm elections. The entire House of Representatives, all 435 seats, is up for election, as well as 34 seats in the Senate, and 39 governorships of states and territories. There are also various state and local elections, which have gained more national attention recently as local issues such as education and the contents of local libraries have become hotbeds of discourse.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

If Bernie and/or Tulsi doesn't make it, I'm voting Vermin Supreme!

 

[Hector]

Beto's my guy.

 

[Dorothy]

Beto's my guy.

As a Texan, I urge you to reconsider Beto would be fine as a Vice-President, but he's inexperienced and he's pretty unimpressive when it comes to policy. He's also got ties to the fossil fuel lobby in Texas that I don't like, and I don't think he'd be as decisive on climate change as is necessary.

 

[Hector]

As a Texan, I urge you to reconsider Beto would be fine as a Vice-President, but he's inexperienced and he's pretty unimpressive when it comes to policy. He's also got ties to the fossil fuel lobby in Texas that I don't like, and I don't think he'd be as decisive on climate change as is necessary.

So for me, the thing that really strikes out to me about Beto is that un-quantifiable x-factor: that being the fact that he inspires people. I know that Ted Cruz is uniquely unlikable, but for a Democrat (and not even an extremely moderate one) to make a run at winning a senate seat in Texas...

As for the fossil fuel lobby, I can definitely understand a concern there given the steps we need to take regarding climate change. At this point though, I think some aspects of the green new deal are going to gain enough traction in the Democratic party in the primary season that even if the ultimate nominee isn't ultra environmentalist, the party will still end up moving things in the right direction.

He may be a better fit for VP considering his youth and inexperience, but there isn't anyone in the race that inspires me to get out and actually work on a campaign except for him (I did work for a campaign in 2012 when i was still in college, and I'd definitely volunteer for Beto's run).

 

[Dorothy]

So for me, the thing that really strikes out to me about Beto is that un-quantifiable x-factor: that being the fact that he inspires people. I know that Ted Cruz is uniquely unlikable, but for a Democrat (and not even an extremely moderate one) to make a run at winning a senate seat in Texas...

Thing is, the results in Texas in 2018 weren't so much Beto himself as much as they were his strategy: getting out and campaigning in every county very early on, and adopting a progressive platform which ran contrary to what the Texas Democratic Party usually vomits up (generally boring centrist technocrats who try and fail to appeal to conservatives). It worked - or nearly worked, I should say, because regardless of how close he got he still lost - in Texas because he was so different from other Democratic candidates Texas has seen. On a national level, though? Visiting every county even in all the early primary states isn't practical, and it's a bit late now to get in early. Compared to Gabbard, Warren, Bernie if he runs, hell, even Harris, there's a lot less going for Beto to stand out from the crowd, and he really doesn't have that much charisma - most of his speeches in the campaign were pretty dry when viewed outside of the starry eyes of a Democrat who thinks they might win Texas, and he's neither a rhetorical firebrand nor a convincing policy wonk. He's the golden boy for plenty of liberals, I know this, but as someone who lives in Texas, and who has watched his career since he entered Congress, he'd end up with at best an equivalent showing to Howard Dean. I could see him running up till Super Tuesday to scoop Texas' delegates to try and play kingmaker in a brokered convention, but I don't think he has a chance either in the primaries or the general as the headliner.

At this point though, I think some aspects of the green new deal are going to gain enough traction in the Democratic party in the primary season that even if the ultimate nominee isn't ultra environmentalist, the party will still end up moving things in the right direction.

I don't trust that that's the case. Pelosi and Schumer still hold the reins, and they're both centrists who love to rub shoulders with big donors, and saving the environment is bad for business. Regardless of individual representatives' thoughts on a Green New Deal (no Congressional proposals for which go nearly far enough in my estimation, since none of them explicitly call for the nationalization of the fossil fuel industry which at this point is the only way to neuter the insurmountable obstacle they otherwise pose to phasing out non-renewable energy), the leadership clearly feels no commitment to anything more progressive than the carbon tax the party has been pushing for over a decade which is no longer sufficient to mitigate the effects of climate change.

 

[Dorothy]

Amy Klobuchar has announced her candidacy. Unlikely to get very far, given the reports of horrendous treatment of her staff that have been coming out.

 

[Kassie]

Just do whatever it takes to get Trump out of the White House. No Excuses!

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

First off, I want to apologize for a 2015 comment I made in the 2016 presidential thread saying the American people would never stoop to voting for Trump. I was obviously very wrong.

On topic, I like all Democratic candidates except Tulsi Gabbard. I don't like the way she votes and she reminds me a little of Trump without the big mouth.

I hope this isn't going to be a repeat of 2016. Every candidate has their faults and people really need to get over falling in love with "cool and perfect," especially since Trump and Pence have both proven to be unbelievably terrible. I just want a sane adult back in the White House.

 

[Dorothy]

Bill Weld has announced he is running against Trump in the Republican primaries. This is the first time an incumbent President has faced a major primary challenger since 1992.

 

[Isaac the Investigator]

Bernie has announced a presidential run! He's the one who I'll be voting for.

 

[Kung Fu Ferret]

^Same here

 

[Dorothy]

With Bernie in the primaries it's effectively him vs. Harris, with the others as essentially sideshows.

 

[Aulos]

Meh. I liked Bernie Sanders back in the day and voted for him in the 2016 primaries, but I'm really not too happy to see that divisiveness introduced back into the Democrat race. Trump getting elected has been a straight-up disaster from day one and I absolutely want no repeat of that at all.

 

[Dorothy]

Meh. I liked Bernie Sanders back in the day and voted for him in the 2016 primaries, but I'm really not too happy to see that divisiveness introduced back into the Democrat race. Trump getting elected has been a straight-up disaster from day one and I absolutely want no repeat of that at all.

I'd be very curious how you would go about holding a primary race without any intraparty division. It's very curious how this criticism is never leveled against Hillary Clinaton's 2008 campaign, which was far nastier and more divisive than Bernie's ever got, and was where the Obama secret Muslim conspiracy theories first took roost.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

Im happy to see Bernie throw his hat back in the ring, I hope this run goes a lot better for him. Right now, he is the one Im behind.

 

[Dorothy]

Bernie's raised about $6 million in the first day of his campaign, blowing Harris' record out of the water. It's safe to say he's the early frontrunner for the nomination.

 

[Dorothy]

(groan) Beto and (oh god please no) Biden are expected to announce runs very shortly. Bold of Beto to forgo a very winnable Senate race against John Cornyn in order to chase the glory of crashing and burning four months into his presidential campaign.

 

[indigohex]

I'd be very curious how you would go about holding a primary race without any intraparty division. It's very curious how this criticism is never leveled against Hillary Clinaton's 2008 campaign, which was far nastier and more divisive than Bernie's ever got, and was where the Obama secret Muslim conspiracy theories first took roost.

And lets not forget the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was allegedly born in Kenya (which was championed by people like Donald Trump and Alex Jones of Infowars fame).

As an Australian, I feel that Donald Trump is America's answer to our own Tony Abbott, and he wasn't that popular. I just hope America gets rid of that embarrassment that is Trump. And good luck to the left-leaning candidates who I think will have a hard time from the American media.

 

[Gengarzilla]

I think Trump's gonna be facing a serious uphill struggle if all the Democrat candidates keep their noses and reputations clean. He still couldn't claim that popular vote against Clinton when she was being dogged by some sort of email scandal last time, so what's the likelihood of him surviving someone with the wind at their back?