Barack Obama bluntly urged Dems nervous about the state of the party's primary field to "chill out" on Thursday, stressing that while there are differences between the numerous Dems running for president, those differences are "relatively minor"
From CA: https://t.co/YpRbf262ku
— Dan Merica (@merica) November 22, 2019
… “Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates, but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process,” Obama said after a lengthy answer that defend the arduous primary process that Democrats are currently in.
Obama, until recently, rarely commented on the 2020 field, but at a fundraiser here in Silicon Valley on Thursday the President cheered on the vigorous debate happening inside the party while stressing the need to get elected and warned about some of the obstacles the numerous women candidates and one gay candidate will likely face…
The former President added it was important to draw a line between contentious arguments playing out inside the party and the need to get elected, decrying “purity tests” because “the country’s complicated.”
“Those are good arguments to have,” he said about debates of health care and climate change, “but you got to win the election.”He also cautioned Democratic voters from getting too wrapped up in the issues they have with individual candidates, telling the audience in California that people’s “flaws are magnified” during a primary.
“The field will narrow and there’s going to be one person, and if that is not your perfect candidate and there are certain aspects of what they say that you don’t agree with and you don’t find them completely inspiring the way you’d like, I don’t care,” Obama said bluntly, “because the choice is so stark and the stakes are so high that you cannot afford to be ambivalent in this race.”…
The event benefits the DNC’s Democratic Unity Fund, a cache of money that will is being raised to eventually benefit the party’s general election campaign. This is Obama’s first event of the cycle for the DNC…
A number of Democratic candidates — including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — have made fighting income inequality central to their campaigns and Obama said he believes it’s one area where there is more room now for Democrats to go big.
“It is something we were aware of in 2008 and we wanted to do more about, but the first thing was putting out a big fire to make sure we didn’t have a great depression,” Obama said of the issue…
“We will not win just by increasing the turnout of the people who already agree w us completely on everything. Which is why I am always suspicious of purity tests during elections. Because, you know what, the country is complicated.” via @BrianSlodysko
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 22, 2019
You may have heard us say this before, but it bears repeating.
Any one of our candidates is better than the current occupant of the White House who's been abusing his power and has engaged in a corrupt bribery scheme.
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) November 21, 2019
Congratulations to @MichelleObama for her Grammy nomination for the audiobook of "Becoming"! A beautiful story, well-told (and well-spoken!) ?
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 21, 2019
Obama on key values: “Be kind. Be useful. Ask why not? Know you have power to change things. Being a leader is identifying the power in others and unleashing it.” #DF19 #dreamforce2019 pic.twitter.com/yjfGcbNlFT
— Shirlene Chow (@ShirleneChow) November 21, 2019
Immanentize
Is it possible no one else is here? Well, in any case, Good Morning Jackals!
Hildebrand
Good morning!
debbie
I’m glad my president spoke up.
I’m enjoying listening to a Rethuglican Congressman Mike Johnson twisting himself into a pretzel trying to justify Trump’s behavior toward Ukraine. He’s going to need medical attention soon.
low-tech cyclist
Obama: “Being a leader is identifying the power in others and unleashing it.”
Then he and I agree that Joe Biden is not a leader. Because “once Trump’s voted out, the Republicans will wake up and be bipartisan again” doesn’t identify, let alone unleash anyone’s power besides Mitch McConnell’s.
Baud
As the only candidate that everyone disagrees with, I am uniquely positioned to unify the country.
Betty Cracker
I don’t agree at all that the differences between the candidates are relatively minor, but I agree wholeheartedly that we have to get behind whoever wins the nomination.
Another Scott
‘morning all.
Good words, as always, from Obama. I’m glad he’s out there occasionally, taking some of the attention away from Donnie. That’s part of the reason why I have a small monthly donation to his foundation – I want him speaking up. He should do it more often.
Mandatory Emo Philips – “Golden Gate Bridge” (4:10)
Have a good Friday.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
I decided early on not to donate to any primary campaigns this year. I certainly am partial to a couple, and have disagreements with all, but I feel like I would rather save what fiscal resources I can afford to contribute for the one who comes out of this with the nomination, because whoever they are, they are light years ahead of trump.
Immanentize
@Baud: A vote for Baud! Is a vote against everything you stand against, including Baud!
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker: There are very significant differences between the candidates within quite a narrow band of preferred results.
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: Schrodinger’s vote?
Elizabelle
Good morning, jackals. TGIF.
Yesterday’s hearings were crystal clear on the difference between the parties. Proud to be a Democrat, and Adam Schiff speaks for me. I suspect we’re also picking up even more votes from federal employees and the military. They see what Trump is doing and even more what a danger he is.
A lot can happen in the next months. I like our chances.
Immanentize
@mrmoshpotato: It’s confusing enough to work wonders. “The closer Baud! is to danger, the further he is from harm!”
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: Right. Also explains why I had a dream where I won $1074.82 in the lottery.
TriassicSands
That is certainly true of anyone likely to get the nomination. But I’m not sure it is true of Tulsi Gabbard. She’d be a completely different kind of disaster from Trump but she could damage the Democratic Party in ways Trump never could. Fortunately, President Gabbard isn’t going to happen.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ? ??
Betty Cracker
@Immanentize: That’s true in a sense — they all recognize that issues A, B and C are a problem and have proposals on how to address those issues. But there are enormous vision differences, IMO — fundamental disagreements on our current state as a society and the path forward.
Elizabelle
Also, Linda Greenhouse in the FTF NY Times yesterday, pitched to one primary reader (“umpire” John Roberts), the Supremes and their staffs, and the rest of us in the sane world.
Can the Supreme Court Save Itself?
Two cases threaten to reinforce its image as a political captive of the Trump administration.
JPL
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
Am I the only one who thought of Mr. Rogers when President Obama said be kind?
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Princess
Good intervention from Obama. That’s a good line for a former president to take.
Re: SCOTUS. I bet Roberts would like to sit on it for as long as possible and hope it goes away. Do they have to rule on this within a certain time?
John S.
This is comedy gold. Trump’s idiotic notes sung as The Ramones.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SaoSasha/status/1197320791706263552/video/1
Baud
@Princess: They don’t have to, but they won’t sit on it. DACA will be decided by June. They’ll have to decide whether to take the Trump tax case by mid-January if they are going to issue a decision this term. They could sit on it, but they won’t since there’s a stay in place.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning. ?
msb
Phew, I absolutely needed this dose of sanity and maturity from honest and well disposed adults. Thanks! (and thank God, once more, that Pelosi is Speaker.)
P.S. Haven’t mentioned it, but new site looks great!
OzarkHillbilly
‘My duty as a black man’: the artist preserving gazebo where police killed Tamir Rice
zzyzx
@Betty Cracker: the way I see it is that we’re on a boat sailing in a part of the ocean filled with icebergs. The passengers are trying to decide who should be the captain. One person says “I want to just steer us to the closest land before we drown.” Another says, “I will take us all somewhere tropical before landfall.”
Those are significant differences and normally might be important, but meanwhile 40% of the passengers and many of the crew are busy trying to sabotage the navigation equipment and are drilling holes in the bottom so we can sink faster.
Step 1 is to make that stop. Then we can worry about improvements.
Now there’s a strategic argument over whether a, “I have an amazing view of America that I want to direct us towards,” will win more electoral college votes than, “I will make the insanity stop,” and that’s a fair one to have, but right now we need to get Queeg out of power.
Sloane Ranger
Just been watching CNN’s New Day. The Repub they had on said that support for Impeachment was going down in swing states. He cited a recent poll in Wisconsin.
Is this true or was the poll taken before the hearing started/ended?
John S.
@Sloane Ranger: Unlikely to be true if a Republican said it.
NotMax
Not everyone’s cup of mayhem (perhaps not anyone’s) – noting that TCM will be showing low-rent studio Hammer Films’ contemporaneous attempt to out-psycho Psycho, Maniac, at 2 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday.
Not a recommendation, merely a notation for the filmicly curious.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle:
I’ve had a strict rule not to think about Trump once I lie down to sleep. Last night I couldn’t adhere to it. I kept thinking about those hearings. Seeing in real time how utterly dishonest and morally bankrupt every single Republican member of Congress is has really shaken me. Of course I knew it intellectually, but seeing it demonstrated has been devastating. Also, — thanks to the WB, we know what crap they’ve been pulling with Ukraine. Now multiply that by X number of other important countries.
Elizabelle
@Sloane Ranger: Suspect it’s just that it was said by a Republican. Don’t take anything they say at face value.
That was amazing at yesterday’s hearings: Schiff at least twice cautioned the witnesses about responding to claims embedded with in questions from the GOP panelists, because they were often false. The Republicans are big on misrepresenting facts or manufacturing falsehoods.
sherparick
By the way, I cam across this story about some of Steve Rattner’s private equity heroes, the guys Elizabeth Warren would put out of business, “improving the economy” in this way.
New Barnes & Noble Owner ‘Purged’ Older Workers, Suit Says < Caution-https://www.law360.com/employment/articles/1222143/new-barnes-noble-owner-purged-older-workers-suit-says?nl_pk=695f66c0-a4f9-42d2-9e9c-e35f5cdea146&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=employment >
Barnes & Noble’s new “vulture fund” owners have implemented a cost-saving strategy that depends on the “ruthless and unscrupulous purging” of workers over the age of 40, a former worker said in a proposed class action filed Wednesday.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sloane Ranger:
Is it a lie? Or is it a truth in service of a lie?
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: I have been reading a lot about the coming of the Nazis and thinking “we are here.” It’s the complete disregard for the rule of law and democratic norms, and hollowing out our government. I think enough of us see the danger to stop it. It will be hard work, though.
Have very few FoxWorld FB friends, but it was appalling to see them all cackling about Shitty Schiff and how he’s not finding anything. They really are purposely misinformed. I think they’re also all evangelicals.
Dog help us.
Baud
@Sloane Ranger: Any one poll can have noise, even if it’s a legitimate poll.
Doesn’t really matter. Dems have to do this even if the voters decide they want to give Trump a pass.
Matt McIrvin
@Sloane Ranger: Support for impeachment is going down, in general. It’s not a huge drop, but basically as the story drags on, people with conservative/centrist leanings go back to supporting Trump.
Not a lot is happening with public opinion. I do not think we can expect anything like the shift that happened with Nixon because everyone to the right of center is in a sealed bubble in which nothing can affect them.
OzarkHillbilly
@sherparick:
Age discrimination is quite common. It happened to my wife at 60 and me at 55. The trick is, they do it in ways that give the appearance of legitimacy. I would be very surprised if B&N screwed the pooch by not adhering to “best practices”.
Shalimar
He’s right. As horrible as they would ve compared to the other choices, even a vanity billionaire like Steyer or a Russian asset like Tulsi would be a big improvement over Trump and Republicans.
Betty Cracker
@zzyzx: I get that a lot of people see it in those terms. I don’t. The boat has been sinking for a long time in my view, the sabotage will continue without significant checks on the saboteurs, and periodic bailing and patchwork is inadequate to keep the ship afloat for much longer.
But I suspect those who see it as you do will prevail, and I will dutifully line up to vote for the candidate y’all select because better to limp along in a leaky boat than plunge straight to the bottom.
Elizabelle
WaPost: kudos, Borat! We already knew you were a good guy, but wow:
‘Your product is defective’: Sacha Baron Cohen slams Facebook for allowing hate speech
We will need to put Fox News on a leash, too. They are killing our democracy. On purpose, for money.
I find it very interesting that Shep Smith donated half a million to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He knows it is dirty money, even though he did his best while swimming through the sewer in which he worked.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, we don’t need consensus, and we certainly don’t need their permission. What we need is 50%+1 of the vote in as many states and districts as we can feasibly get. Kentucky and Louisiana are hopeful signs that we can achieve that, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize.
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker:
WHOA! You aren’t also participating in the selection? Is it all rigged against your choice or something?
Baud
@Elizabelle:
This makes no sense. No media is legally responsible for harms caused by their content, so long as it’s not defamatory. In theory, the FCC can yank broadcast licenses if they get too extreme, but that’s a small slice of the media environment.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: @NotMax: *looks it up* Not the 1980 slasher and definitely not Famous Boners (1942).
zzyzx
@Betty Cracker: what sucks for me is that if I could wave a wand and magically make a candidate win, I’d be closer to Warren than Biden/Pete. Hell, I might make Jayapal (my Congressional representative) president and let her have her complete way with everything.
I just don’t believe that there’s a secret wish for progressive policies in the heartland and they’re voting for conservatives/staying home because we’re not appealing to it. A Warren election feels like a much higher risk to me and some movement in my direction is better than massive movement away from it.
I do understand the opposing argument which is why I’m largely trying to stay out of the primary wars.
NotMax
Made it through the first two episodes* of the new SF series on Prime, The Feed. Shan’t be continuing that exercise.
Glitzy yet threadbare by-the-numbers-predictable attempt to cash in on the success of Black Mirror‘s technology is malevolent shtick.
*Admit to having to force myself to make it all the way to the end of the second episode as was by then getting distracted by the relatively greater entertainment value of watching ice cubes melt in my glass.
zzyzx
@Immanentize: I think it’s just a one vote v millions in many state argument. One person can sway it some, but ultimately can be outvoted.
germy
@John S.:
More comedy gold
Betty Cracker
@Immanentize: Who said anything about rigging? I’m acknowledging mine is probably the minority view within the party, so I suspect I’ll be voting for a Democrat in the general whom I did not support in the primary. Is that still allowed, or are we required to swear a blood oath or something?
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
From 1963.
Baud
@Betty Cracker: You don’t demand a blood oath when you go canvasing? You don’t just take their word they they’ll vote, do you?
Immanentize
@zzyzx: that’s how the Head of Nixon won in Futurama!
Zinsky
Good advice from the King of Chill. God, I miss him…
Anyway, now that Trump’s true character is boldly on display for the American people, I think the Democratic presidential candidates should willfully ignore Trump and if and when they do have to refer to him make sure they use descriptors like the “criminal president” or the “degenerate in the White House. Messaging is so critical now and the American people need to be reminded every day that he is a criminal, a degenerate and a fraud.
Immanentize
@Baud: And DNA!
Baud
@Immanentize: If they have a dog or cat, I find it’s helpful to hold them as collateral.
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker: I was snarking, but if your candidate is one of the top six or seven, I think there are miles to go before we sleep. BTW when I say “candidates” generally, I do not include the 1%ers.
Immanentize
@Baud: sad story — as I was walking to the train today (which I am on), I saw a neighbor, an older gent, from a few blocks away walking his Scotty. Normally, he is walking two happy energetic black Scotties and I asked him, “only one?” He said the other was taken by a Warren canvasser.
No, he really told me, the other one, young, got very sick and had to be ushered on. It made me quite sad
Baud
@Immanentize: :-(
Betty Cracker
@Immanentize: I’ve been pessimistic lately, so I’m convinced Biden will be the nominee. I’m kinda bitter about it, tbh, but I’ll get over it.
ETA: Poor Scotty. :(
Ksmiami
@Zinsky: I call him a low rent mob boss with bad hair
Spanky
@debbie:
My religion prevents me from providing that to him.
geg6
@Immanentize:
Don’t know when Florida’s primary is, but mine is so late in the process that I basically won’t have much say at that point. I’ll probably end up going with whoever is winning at that point, regardless of my own feelings about each of the candidates right now. Pisses me right off, I have to say.
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker: If it is comforting, I really don’t think he will be. I thought he would be at the beginning of the week, but not now. The Ukraine stuff is hurting not helping him and his performance at the debate was not good.
germy
Elizabelle
I don’t think people are turning to conservatives and yearning for moderates, necessarily. I think we get a lot of disinformation from the loudest voices.
I think there’s a lot of understanding that the edifice is wrecked. The FTF NYTimes attacks Warren, and ignores Kamala, and acts like Mayor Pete is the new shiny thing. Also warns its readers: the Democrats will raise your taxes, even if you’re not rich as Croesus.
But I think a lot of voters are ready for change that makes the playing field more level. And that their vote should count for something. They see the failing institutions too. They might realize that what’s good for Wall Street is not necessarily good for Main Street.
Baud
@Immanentize:
I don’t want it to be Biden but shame on us if that’s the reason.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: I don’t think it’s going to be Biden. I really don’t. He and Bernie are placeholders, and we would be better if they both were out. Albeit, I think Biden is holding down Bernie’s numbers.
Immanentize
@Baud: It is not us. I think that the House — and the witnesses — have done a good job. Still….
Lapassionara
Also, from this date in 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy. More than 50 years ago. I still remember it clearly.
Patricia Kayden
germy
germy
germy
Elizabelle
@Lapassionara: Yeah, I always remember November 22 too. Biggest shock of my young life. (Other than being introduced to a baby sister.)
Woodrow/asim
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m staying out of the primaries as well, focusing on other candidates.
We’re just so…obsessed with POTUS, for good or ill, as a Party/movement. This was exactly the crap that we saw go down in ’07/08, and although I think it worked out for the best overall, there were some seriously rough patches. And post-election, Obama did no one any favors with his timidity in deploying OFA on the State/Local level.
(Also: my 1st comment on the new website!)
rikyrah
@JPL:
You going to see the movie?
Desargues
Apologies for barging in with this, but I would like to bring this petition to your attention. We’re all animal lovers here, and they need our help:
https://petitions.whitecoatwaste.org/nih-primates/
Also, warning: the page plays a video that I found very upsetting. Not sure how to stop it from playing.
Thank you, all. Please spread the word, if you can. I wish we can help these poor animals somehow.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: Some polling does seem to suggest Biden is holding Sanders’ numbers down, but I don’t understand how that works. There’s no logic to Biden being the top choice and Sanders the second. It has to be a name recognition thing, right?
Another Scott
@Baud: Dunno.
I generally think of FB and the rest as kinda like a letters-to-the-editor page of a newspaper. (Especially those sites that are “free”.) Newspapers have no responsibility to print every letter they get, they can shorten letters they do publish, etc. FTFNYT has no obligation to print every crank conspiracy letter they get, even if it wold drive clicks and eyeballs.
Terms of service for internet companies matter and they can be made sensible via legislation.
I don’t know where the line should be drawn, but it’s clear that FB and other companies that thrive on driving up micro-targeted disinformation and strife for clicks and ad revenue are a danger to democracies all around the world.
SBC may be wrong about the remedies, but I’m not so sure at first glance. IANAL.
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Safe safe safe with white males. Oh look — here comes Mayor Pete. ;-(
Baud
@Betty Cracker: Name rec, and old white maleness.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Elizabelle:
Does that line still work with millions of Repub voters who know damned well they had a tax bill when they were used to getting refunds?
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Baud: Now that you’re back, I no longer need to comment. I’d just be a Baud ditto-head.
sdhays
@Elizabelle: I have to say I’ve been shocked by the disappearance of Kamala in the media. I saw an NPR right up which mentioned other candidates specifically having “a good night” and only mentioned Kamala in the context of Joe’s flub about having the endorsement of the “only” African-American woman Senator. And they spent a paragraph or two about how Mayor Pete withstood criticism.
It’s really disgusting.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
It’s much easier to comment, though, now that the site remembers me ;)
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@sdhays: Gee, could be that the media still has significant biases against someone like Kamala.
An independent, strong liberal black asian californian woman like Senator Harris.
The media has made up a narrative around her early debate performances and polling that has allowed them to disappear her.
Will they cover her comeback? Will they allow her one?
rikyrah
@zhena gogolia:
Really?
I got over it in 2017, because it was obvious how corrupt Dolt45, and their unwillingness to do anything.
Either they are spineless, corrupt or compromised. However it came to be, they’ve decided to not honor their oath to The Constitution. They are traitors and should be treated accordingly.
O. Felix Culpa
@geg6: Our primary is late too – June 2nd – and we are a small population state with only a few delegates, so unlikely to have a major impact. Unless no candidate has a clear majority at that point (which is possible) and we end up with a brokered convention. I’m not sure I want things to get that interesting.
glory b
@Elizabelle: Actually, there is an Emerson poll out this a.m., which shows that support for impeachment has dropped 5 points (I think this was among independents). However, the survey was taken last week and this week, so many of the persons polled hadn’t heard this week’s testimony).
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@O. Felix Culpa: I personally think that situation is likely. There is no clear path to one candidate catching enough fire that they take a majority, not while Bernie hangs on, and multiple other candidates duke it out for first place. First place does not equal a majority in this scenario.
I also think that the candidate in the lead would attract enough also-rans with delegates to band together with them to form a majority prior to the convention. Who’s going to form that coalition?
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: Yup. They are indeed traitors and should be treated accordingly.
O. Felix Culpa
I wonder that too. In my dream world, Biden loses steam somewhere along the line and drops out. Bernie too (although unlikely). Then the women (that is, Warren, Harris and Klobuchar; not Tulsi) band together and choose one among themselves to be the standard bearer. I have my preferences among those three, but I strongly prefer a female candidate this time around.
Miss Bianca
@OzarkHillbilly: That’s where I’m at. Saving my powder (and my $) for the general.
Soprano2
@debbie: Was that the interview where Steve Inskeep asked him about a president asking the state of Louisiana to do a hypothetical investigation of himself? I snorted, I laughed so hard at how nonplussed Johnson was by the question.
Uncle Cosmo
debbie
@Soprano2:
It was, and I agree.