Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

When we show up, we win.

You are here: Home / Politics / Proud to Be A Democrat / The AOC of the Washington State Senate

The AOC of the Washington State Senate

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The piece, about State Senator Joe Nguyen, is better than the headline:

A week before he announced his run for office, he sat down for drinks with Seattle City Councilmember Lorena González. He apparently didn’t have his shit in order. González told him as much.

González also reminded him that people of color carry a heavier burden than others because they represent a broader set of communities of color. So, if he really wanted to run, he “better not fuck it up,” González said, “because if he did it would make it harder for the next person of color to successfully run and win.”

Nguyen says he agreed with her and delayed his announcement for a week to “shore up some stuff.”

“We don’t have the luxury of a narrative,” Nguyen says. “In a lot of cases, we’re the first and only impression people get.”

With that in mind, Nguyen didn’t just want to win his first ever election to anything. He wanted to win big.

And he did. He crushed Shannon Braddock, deputy chief of staff for King County Executive Dow Constantine, by over 16 points.

“People still tokenize. They still say I won just because I’m a person of color,” Nguyen said. “But I’m just like—scoreboard.”

What comes out of the story loud and clear is Nguyen’s immense energy, dedication, hard work, and willingness to do things differently because they make sense. Worth a read.

Reader Interactions

190Comments

  1. 1.

    PJ

    Eh, it’s a hagiography.  Dude is “super cool” and says “fuck” a lot.  He’s proud of sleeping 4-5 hrs a night.  It reads like an Onion parody.  I have no idea what this guy is really like, but I would be very skeptical if I lived in his district.

  2. 2.

    germy

    Because lawmakers only have a finite amount of floor time, Republicans have added 14 bad faith amendments to the bill. The longer they debate the merits of one bullshit amendment or another, the fewer Democratic bills get passed. Nguyen estimates that Republicans had killed 5 or 6 bills before lunchtime. This common parliamentary play pisses Nguyen off, but he also sees Republican obstructionism as a chance to get some work done.

    Interesting that he knows what they’re up to, but doesn’t despair.  He’s an optimist, and a hard-working one.

  3. 3.

    Wapiti

    @PJ: It’s The Stranger, Seattle’s alt-weekly paper. A free paper whose business model depends on ads for dope, tattoos, and escort services. “Fuck” is mundane for them.

  4. 4.

    Yutsano

    Paging H.E. Wolf. H.E. Wolf please come to the white courtesy phone for an important message.

    I find it kind of surprising I’ve never heard of this guy until just now. Then again news out of Olympia has been kind of quiet. Or I haven’t been paying attention.

  5. 5.

    WhatsMyNym

    Braddock has picked up several significant endorsements, including one from the 34th District Democrats.

    But that organization also endorsed candidate Joe Nguyen, a Microsoft senior manager, who points out on his voter statement, if elected he would be the first legislator of color from the 34th.

    via King5 TV

    ETA: there were 11 candidates running, 7 of them Democrats.

  6. 6.

    opiejeanne

    @Yutsano: I find it surprising too. Who is this guy? I didn’t realize Dow Constantine lost his race.

     

    mistermix, if you want to write about a real WA state senator whose election actually broke the deadlock in our state senate, then you should at Manka Dhingra. With her election the Democrats have a majority of one, and a slew of bi-partisan bills were passed that had languished in the state senate.

  8. 8.

    GoBlue72

    @PJ: Well its a good thing you don’t live in his district then, ain’t it bub?

    Meanwhile the folks in White Center are gonna re-elect this guy in 4 years by another wide margin.  Book it.

  9. 9.

    Amir Khalid

    The initials AOC can confuse me. To you they mean Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but to me they mean Liverpool FC’s Alexander Oxlade-Chamberlain. A bit like Alison Becker/Alisson Becker.

    Seriously, I’m not sure why seemingly every rising young Democratic pol gets compared to the American AOC. Is there a reason they all have to fit into a type?

  10. 10.

    Chyron HR

    The AOC of the Washington State Senate

    How so, is he going to go on a spite tour around the country claiming that the Rigged Neoliberal DNC Rigged The Election Against Him?

  11. 11.

    GoBlue72

    @opiejeanne: It was Dow’s deputy chief of staff, Shannon Braddock, another milquetoast white moderate Democrat that the WA Senate did NOT need another one of.

    Was really great to see Nguyen thoroughly kick her ass in the GE.

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    @opiejeanne: Eh. It’s his schtick.

    I do have to say I love the energy Washington is getting from our South Asian politicians as well. Personally a Senator Jayapal would not be a bad thing to me.

  16. 16.

    GoBlue72

    @Yutsano: more that half of you are a bunch of whiny boomers who’d vote for Bloomberg as a 3rd party candidate if sanders won the primary.

    its pathetic

  17. 17.

    Baud

    He crushed Shannon Braddock, deputy chief of staff for King County Executive Dow Constantine, by over 16 points.

    AOC took out a high ranking incumbent in the primary.  That doesn’t sound like what happened here.

  18. 18.

    Yutsano

    @GoBlue72: Snerk. U funnee.

    @Baud: Well true. Braddock and Nguyen were the top two vote getters in the primary to the general. That’s when Nguyen won by his large margin. But he did take down the person most in the party expected to win. And honestly I’m good with that.

  19. 19.

    Mary G

    WaPo says Wilmer has released “medical records,” letters from three doctors that sound like Trump’s.

    Sanders (I-Vt.), who suffered a heart attack in October, released letters from three physicians Monday saying he is fit for the presidency, with one writing: “At this point, I see no reason he cannot continue campaigning without limitation and, should he be elected, I am confident he has the mental and physical stamina to fully undertake the rigors of the presidency.”

    This seems insufficient, but the story is “developing.”

  20. 20.

    WhatsMyNym

    Just a reminder that Joe Nguyen still works for Microsoft, not the most progressive company in the world.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @Mary G: While the language of this letter is not as absurd as the language in the letter from Trump’s “doctor”, the idea that a nice letter is a reasonable substitute for the release of medical records by a 78-year-old man who just had a heart attack while running for the office of President is every bit as ridiculous and absurd as it was when Trump did it.

    Sadly, Trump got away with it, and here we are.

    edit: age correction supplied, free of charge, by Baud 2020!

  27. 27.

    Yutsano

    @WaterGirl: He’ll get away with it. Rose Twitter is probably already running with these letters as proof positive he’s fit and ready to go. When he drops again (it will be a when) what will the poor dears do at that point? Sanders needs to stop living in his rose bubble and face reality: he might not be healthy enough to do this.

  29. 29.

    Kent

    This is an old article about a freshman Senator.  I’m not getting the connection to AOC.  All he did was win in a Dem district.

    If you want to really explore young up and coming politicians of color in Washington State, one to profile is 38 year old Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib.  He’s a blind Rhodes Scholar of Iranian heritage and I suspect the likely next governor when Jay Inslee finally decides to hang it up.

  33. 33.

    15 flush mistermix

    Sorry about the age of the article – it showed up in a feed today and I didn’t see the date.

  40. 40.

    opiejeanne

    @Yutsano: I have no problem with Jayapal in the Senate. She was an interesting city council person, I believe she’s a force for change for the better. I live on the East Side so I’m not up on Seattle stuff as I would be if I lived there. I live in the county just outside the little burg of Woodinville; I can’t vote on stuff in town but what they do sometimes affects us just outside of town.

  41. 41.

    Betty Cracker

    @15 flush mistermix: No apology necessary, IMO. It’s an interesting article that is not time-sensitive. This part caught my eye:

    “We’ve brought in perspectives, voices that don’t often have a seat at the table,” Nguyen says of his work with other first-year Democrats. “That’s good for the legislation, but then people also feel that this is actually their process.”

    “Otherwise,” he added, “Politicians are just parroting the commentary of lobbyists—and that’s in the best-case scenario.”

    Uh-oh. Watch your back, State Senator Nguyen!

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    I am making a new recipe today, chicken soup of sorts, which seems appropriate since I have been under the weather.

    I was about to write that browning chicken is more complicated than it would seem, because the skin kept sticking to the pan, when I realized I screwed up the first step right out of the gate.  sigh.

    Heat olive oil in pan, check.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Check, Roll in flour and shake off excess.  Uh oh, forgot the flour.  That would explain why the skin was sticking, no doubt.

    At least they said to brown the chicken in two batches, so it appears that I have only half fucked up the first step.  Go me!

  46. 46.

    Kent

    @Mary G: But how healthy will he be in 9 years at age 87 at the end of his 2nd term?  Because I have no use for an instant lame-duck one-term president

  47. 47.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: Where I see a problem is that the State of West Virginia has a Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    @Mary G:

    At this point, I see no reason he cannot continue campaigning without limitation

    This is a triple negative. I am unable to decipher it with full confidence, and I’m not sure that sentence says what the doctor wants it to say.

  52. 52.

    Kent

    @WaterGirl: What’s the chicken soup recipe you are making?

    I make my own insta-pot chicken noodle soup all the time.  The kids love it and I send it in thermoses for their school lunches.

    1.  Pressure cook about 1 lb of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts with about a cup of chicken broth, shred and set aside retaining the broth.  20 min is about right for frozen breasts straight into the pot, if they are thawed or fresh you’ll need much less time.  Just cook them enough so you can shred them with forks.
    2. Saute equal amounts of onion, carrots, and celery until lightly browned (about 2 cups each chopped).  Add some garlic 1/2 way through and some Costco no-salt seasoning (or your preference of herbs).  I saute on the stovetop, not in the instapot.
    3. Combine shredded chicken, sauted vegetables, 1 qt chicken broth, a bay leaf, and about 10 ounces dried egg noodles or whatever short pasta you have on hand in the instapot and pressure cook for 1 minute.
    4. Stir, salt and pepper to taste, and serve.  You may need to add extra broth at the end if too thick.
  54. 54.

    Major Major Major Major

    I read it and, frankly, don’t see much he has in common with AOC, other than “POC who ousted established politico.

    He seems committed and energetic, which is great, and I like his use of new media, and it’s always good to see more representation, though.

    ETA: Oh, and it’s from April? Slow news day.

  56. 56.

    germy

    @debbie:

    At this point, I see no reason he cannot continue campaigning without limitation

    Campaigning, sure, but what about presidenting?

  61. 61.

    CaseyL

    Wilmer is a spoiler, and RoseTwitter is intended to trash Democrats, encourage young people not to vote for Democrats; in short, they want the GOP to keep running/ruining things.

    Why?

    Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn “why.”   Like I don’t give a damn for the excuses Trumpettes give for supporting the Human-shaped vomit puddle.  It’s enough to know they’re ratfuckers and despise them accordingly.

  63. 63.

    opiejeanne

    @Major Major Major Major: Yes, and all he did was trade a D seat for a D seat.

    The state senator from my district flipped an R seat to D and broke the deadlock in Olympia. She’s also a POC. Before her election the seat was held by a place-holder R after the R senator died right after the 2014 election. Andy Hill. R-light, IIUC, but the place-holder was not but I don’t think he bothered to attend many sessions of the senate.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    @Kent: I don’t have a pressure cooker or an insta-pot.  My mom’s pressure cooker scared the crap out of me when I was growing up, so I have no interest in one.

    Yeah, l know they are totally different and this time the big hot metal piece won’t come flying at me from across the room, but it’s not logical at this point.

    Making this recipe.

    https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chicken-and-dumplings/

    I am generally a good cook, really I am, but i cannot make a good chicken soup to save my life.  But I’m trying this one, dammit, because Beth said it’s amazing.

    I have 10 minutes to rest before I have to start making the dumplings.

  68. 68.

    Emma

    @opiejeanne: Yes, Manka Dinghra is amazing! I attended an Asian American-focused debate between her, Patty Kuderer (also very cool), and a few others, including the local libertarian who keeps running and losing (thankfully). I don’t want to say too much, or I’ll be waxing lyrical over my keyboard for the next hour, but just the fact that she was a prosecutor made these 2 libertarians (old and white, of course) stage an obnoxious walkout hahahaha.

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: Well, in the second round, I did what I was told, and not only did the skin not stick, but it also browned faster.  So I’m half and half on this one.  Hedging my bets, apparently.

    Next I’m supposed to put half-and-half or milk or heavy cream into the broth, but I have no idea why I would want to do that.  Does anyone have a thought?

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kent: That’s a problem Sanders shares with 77-year-old Joe Biden. How does anyone who’s pushing 80 right now run for what we all hope is eight years in an incredibly demanding job? Of course, Sanders’ unsuitability for that task is exacerbated by his recent heart attack. Both of our current front-runners are too goddamned old. Good thing the opponent is a demented clown — maybe that’ll save us.

  73. 73.

    opiejeanne

    @CaseyL: Casey! How are you doing?

    My tests came back and showed that I’d been very bad after Turkey Day, with regards to sugar-intake. I realized that I had been drinking soda almost every day for two weeks to try and stay awake to get things done in time for Christmas. Saw the dr on the 20th, crashed on the 21st. The odd thing is that I’ve been losing weight the last two months, not the usual response, nor is hating the sight of food.

    I’ve got it under control now, eating correctly again,  and feel a whole lot better. I have an appointment this week to talk to a prescribing pharmacist about my meds and whether they need adjusting. Probably, but I’m also a guilty party in need of adjusting.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic:  Hmm..  It didn’t stick in the second set, with the flour, but I had already spent x minutes cooking the first batch, so the pan might have been hotter by that point anyway.

    I used the 5 setting, which is always my middle of the road I have no idea setting.

  76. 76.

    Mo MacArbie

    @WaterGirl: Eh, even with flour, some stuff is going to stick, and that’s OK. The veggies will loosen some of it up, and then a bit of wine or stock will really clean it. Then all that brown goodness will be free in the pot.

  78. 78.

    Kent

    @WaterGirl: Cool recipe.  If you are a soup person though, Instapot will change your life.  That’s all I use mine for.  3-qt size for solo cooking or cooking for two.  The 6-qt size for a family.

    I have two of them.  I bought my college daughter a 3-qt one.  She wasn’t using it because she didn’t know how so I bought the identical one and we started cooking together on weekends long-distance via FaceTime.  Her in Arkansas, me in Washington.  The 3-qt is great for smaller volumes but i kept overfilling it for bigger recipes  so I finally bought a 6-qt model from Costco when they went on sale.  Honestly I only ever use them in pressure cooking mode for soups, stews, etc so I don’t care about all the other features.

  80. 80.

    CaseyL

    Oh, and like the other Washingtonians here, I had not previously been aware of Nguyen.  He sounds like a good guy, but like Opiejeanne I think more attention should be paid to Democrats who flipped their district and gave us a majority in the Lege.  Knocking off an “Establishment Dem” is only useful if the seat is still held by a Democrat at the end of the day.

    The Stranger is a contrarian and more-progressive-than-thou publication.  I used to like their endorsements. Now I read their endorsements as one minor source among many.

  81. 81.

    opiejeanne

    @Emma: I met her at a meet & greet at a Kirkland home, after reading about her online. I am so proud of Manka Dhingra, out of all proportion really, so I should probably shut up now.

    That debate would have been a sight to see, and I would have laughed when the two old libertarians walked out in a snit.

  82. 82.

    Emma

    @WhatsMyNym: I was kinda meh about that too, but at least he seems like the type to say “screw that racist crap” about the model minority myth rather than repeating it like Andrew Yang does. Perhaps because he’s Vietnamese rather than Chinese American. Anyway, he seems like a force for good, despite the article’s annoying framing of popping melatonin and waking up with energy drinks as good work ethic.

  83. 83.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @chopper:

    Living here, I am developing an amateur theory of aging, which is that at the beginning and end of life, time works bigger changes than it does in the middle. There’s a big difference between a 3 yo and a 7yo, but not much between a 43 yo and a 47 year old. Old people’s bodies are like kids in that there’s a significant difference between your average 73 yo and 77 yo. I’m talking on average here, but it’s what I see.

    ETA: That’s why you hear very old people say I’m 97 and a half, like being 4 and a half is worth mentioning.

  86. 86.

    hitchhiker

    @opiejeanne:

    I live in downtown Seattle, and I knocked on doors for your state senator! That was a very important and satisfying win. Same thing when we flipped Dave Reichert’s seat in the 8th CD, something Democrats on the eastside have been trying to do for a very long time.

     

    After the election in 2016 I was one of the people standing outside his office in Issaquah every week, holding signs and making noise. He chose to leave office rather than run again, but I still think he’s got his eyes on the governor’s office.

  88. 88.

    CaseyL

    @opiejeanne: Hi there!  I’m doing… middling.  Got laid off from my job, which as you may recall was a job I loved.   So I’m dealing with that.

    I haven’t had any post-holiday tests, but I was a little bit bad.  Honestly not too bad- it helped that we went out for Indian food on Christmas Day, and I stayed away from the naan and the dessert.  (The only baked goods I’m really vulnerable to are home-baked goodies; I can say no to store-bought sweets.)

    I’d suggest drinking sugarless sodas, if you can.

  89. 89.

    Kent

    @Emma: He is funny as hell and seriously  badass.  A year or so ago he was on Pod Save America and killed it.  Far as I can tell, he’s a pretty mainstream WA State Democrat which means more liberal than the national median.  But he’s a results-oriented party guy and not the tilting at windmills uber-progressive type.

  90. 90.

    Emma

    @opiejeanne: maybe we should do an Eastside BJ meet-up one day! I don’t go to the Seattle ones because you’d have to pay me to drive there, but I wasn’t aware that there Eastside people here :) (then again, it’s only these days that I’ve actually been commenting a bit here and at LGM, I usually just lurk.)

  91. 91.

    Roger Moore

    @Kent:

    Instant Pots are also great for cooking dried beans.  I can’t understand how I ever wanted to eat canned ones.  Also, too, hummus made with home cooked chickpeas is a completely different substance from store bought.

  92. 92.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Baud: People have said I’m the AOC of Balloon Juice.

    I thought they were saying you were “this SOB over at Balloon Juice.”

    No? No? Guess it’s time for my semiannual wax removal…:^p

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    Well, the dumpling mixture that’s just sitting waiting to go in looks kind of runny to me, but I know nothing about what to expect.  So I’ll let it sit for 10 more minutes.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @Kent: I didn’t remember him by name, but when you said that he was blind, I totally remember the guy.  He was very impressive.

  99. 99.

    Kent

    @opiejeanne: Puget Sound is producing some very good young Democratic politicians.  If only the rest of the country had as deep of a bench of up and comers.

    Unfortunately I live down here in Camas on the Oregon border so 95% of our political news coverage on NPR and such is Oregon politics which bleeds across the river as we don’t really have our own political media here.  Camas and Vancouver are mostly blue-ish purple precincts but unfortunately the legislative districts are expansive and cover a lot of rural Clark County which is much redder.  So I keep campaigning and supporting our local Dem challengers but the GOP incumbents keep winning, although by closer and closer margins each time.  The big effort for 2020 will be to see if we can finally beat Jaime Hererra Beutler in the WA-3rd.  It’s the last remaining district touching the Pacific Coast south of Alaska that isn’t Dem.

  102. 102.

    opiejeanne

    @hitchhiker: Thank you! She was the key in 2017 when they finally got around to having the special election to replace Andy Hill. Then she had to do it all over again in 2018.

    We provided food several times for the volunteers at the Redmond HQ. I realized that one tray of food I took in was lacking salt, after I’d assembled it. So I took along a salt shaker. The tray was empty when I came back a few hours later, so they must have liked it.

    On election night 2018 we went to the Redmond HQ to retrieve a casserole dish and sat down to wait for the returns. She arrived, followed by our two state representatives, Roger Goodman and Larry Springer,  followed by our US congresswoman Suzan Del Bene , followed by one of our US senators, Maria Cantwell., followed by a couple of film crews.

    Both Suzan Del Bene and Maria Cantwell came over to me and talked to me on camera, and I was so shocked I’m sure I mumbled something stupid.

    My son lives in California and that just boggles his mind, that we come into contact so easily with our elected representatives. I remind him that it’s a small state when compared to the population of California. Took me a while to get used to, also.

  104. 104.

    germy

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I thought they were saying you were “this SOB over at Balloon Juice.”

    Everyone calls him “Sweet Old Baud” (or sometimes just the initials)

     

     

    (old Benchley joke)

  106. 106.

    Yutsano

    @Emma: Hold that thought…I’m going to be in town some time in February. Not quite sure the when but some time in there. I would have zero issue going to the Eastside for a meet-up if that is easier for people.

  107. 107.

    dnfree

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: also agree on the changes as we age. I remember how my parents and my in-laws aged between 70 (still active and vital) and 80 ( not so much). My mother died at 80 and mother-in-law had full-fledged Alzheimer’s.  People develop Parkinson’s or have strokes. Serious health issues are much more prevalent than I expected. Sanders and Biden should both know that.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I believe that’s just what we use to call SCIENCE.  Women also typically have more stamina than men.

    I might have to question that last one at the moment, because I am exhausted after making this soup!  Definitely a soup to have someone make FOR you when you are feeling puny.

  112. 112.

    Baud

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It sounds like something that has a basis in fact.

    Hillary was 69 in 2016. She could have finished her two terms without even reaching Biden’s or Bernie’s current age.

    Let that sink in as you recall the difference in media coverage.

  113. 113.

    frosty

    @opiejeanne: Many years ago I got to chat with Sen Sarbanes (MD) while stretching at the Hopkins track over the Xmas break. Definitely more contact in the smaller states.

  116. 116.

    Kent

    @Emma: Yes.  The WA-3rd runs all the way up I-5 to just south of Olympia, through all those ugly right-wing towns like Kelso, Longview, Centralia, Chehalis, etc.  and also out to Grays Harbor, Aberdeen and so forth.  But all those stagnant white blue collar areas are not growing, and some are shrinking while the urban parts of Clark County including Vancouver and Camas are growing fast.  So eventually the blue parts (Portland suburbs) will overtake the red parts (rural SW Washington).  With the right candidate that might be 2020.  Carolyn Long wasn’t a particularly strong candidate in my mind.  I’d like to see some really charismatic local candidate emerge.

  117. 117.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Biden discussed the possibility after a woman told the former vice president that if he is the nominee, he will “have to pull out all the stops.”

     

    “Our 21-year-old son said the other night, ‘I wonder if Joe Biden would consider choosing a Republican as a running mate,” the woman added.

     

    “The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” Biden replied. “Let me explain that. You know there’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now … they’ve got to step up.”

    His approach isn’t popular here but you have to look at the whole context if you’re going to judge. He’s obviously not actively considering it right now.

  119. 119.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: Yep. This is a “theoretically there are some good Republicans out there, but they need to step up and actually reveal themselves before I’d even consider it.”

    So basically no.

  120. 120.

    Kent

    @WaterGirl: Hey, Ted Cruz is tanned and rested!

    But if that is fucking true then Biden needs to be flushed down the toilet with extreme prejudice.  A 78 year old geriatric who would intentionally put a Republican VP within a heartbeat of the oval office?   That’s beyond disqualifying.

  122. 122.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    God, we have a fascist mob boss in the White House. WE NEED TO GET HIM AND HIS GANG OUT. Putin is running our foreign policy. WE HAVE TO STOP HYPERCRITICIZING OUR OWN CANDIDATES. (Except the one who’s a Russian asset.)

  123. 123.

    senyordave

    @Baud: I don’t have any problem with Biden saying that he would be open to choosing a Republican as a running mate.  I’m retired and love it, but if an NBA team wanted to sign me (61 years old) as a point guard I’d take it in a minute.  IMO there is a better chance of that happening than Biden selecting a Republican running mate.

  125. 125.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Kent: It’s not true. A reporter asked if he’d make a Republican his running mate. His answer was basically “There are some good republicans out there, though I can’t think of any I’d pick. Republicans have to step up and actually be helpful first”

    Basically, it’s a respectful “no” with a slight push for Republicans to act like decent human beings.

  126. 126.

    zhena gogolia

    There is more handwringing on here about little things Biden says in response to stupid questions than there is about the fact that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS SECRET PHONE CALLS WITH PUTIN.

  127. 127.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: I provided a link to the very context you copied and pasted, and my description — “open to” — isn’t inaccurate. I neither said nor implied that Biden is actively vetting John Kasich.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: I am getting ready to take a break from this place.  I wanted Harris too.  It isn’t going to be her, and she wasn’t perfect anyway.  No one is.  Gahhhh!

  129. 129.

    MisterForkbeard

    I did a check on some major news site (cnn, msnbc, others) to see if they’ve picked up the latest Biden non-story of being ‘open’ to a Republican VP. Just CNN, so far.

    But this is the first time I’ve looked at the FoxNews site in years. And even for a supposedly straight ‘news’ site, it’s amazingly biased and propaganda. I’m kind of surprised, to be honest.

  132. 132.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker: The phrase I bolded provides context for how the issue came up and the important caveat he provided.  I didn’t mean to imply your description was inaccurate.

     

    ETA: You said “on a unity ticket” which could be interpreted as his plan rather than the effect of a Republican running mate. The full context makes clear that it isn’t his plan.

  133. 133.

    Mary G

    One of these things is not like the others:

    NYT writers reflect on their favorite notes from the comments section:F Manjoo- he gave me a new perspectiveJ Bouie- they had a new, relevant aspect to an argumentD Leonhardt- he raised a good point I didn't addressBret Stephens- she agreed with me and told me i was right pic.twitter.com/EMv1z2pCAP— lauren (@LLW902) December 30, 2019

  135. 135.

    Roger Moore

    @frosty:

    Many years ago I got to chat with Sen Sarbanes (MD) while stretching at the Hopkins track over the Xmas break.

    For many years, Wayne Allard (R-CO) was my family’s veterinarian.  By the time he was a senator, though, he had mostly turned the practice over to the next generation.

  136. 136.

    Kent

    @Omnes Omnibus: No I did not.  I have now.  But still.  I’m sick to death of Dems who elevate GOP “Daddies” to positions of power.  Like Obama appointing Comey to head the FBI.  That one “bipartisan” act may have given us Trump, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh.  Republicans are NEVER that stupid.

  139. 139.

    Emma

    @Kent: To be fair to Longview, my mom and I didn’t feel weird walking around as the only 2 Asians there hahaha. We had lunch at a diner there on the way to the iris farm; it was so flipping good, and no racism happened :D

  140. 140.

    piratedan

    @Betty Cracker: I think it speaks more to the quality of the question than Joe’s actual answer imho… here we are, watching the press, actively push some bullshit theory on our Presidential Candidates… if they’re going to do this kind of bullshit, then where are the same idiotic questions going to be asked of Trump?  in other words, why haven’t we heard….Hey DJT, in order to promote unity for the country, have you considered offering the Vice Presidency to Tulsi Gabbard?

     

    It’s the same bullshit that the press is keen to peddle, the Dems can only have legitimacy if they are behaving in a bipartisan fashion, the GOP, not so much.

  143. 143.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @GoBlue72:

    “Bookmark it, lib!”

    That’s all I could think of when I read your comment. Very trollish, divisive, and content free.

  146. 146.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: I don’t think there’s a single commenter or front-pager  here who doesn’t recognize that Trump is an existential threat to democracy and who isn’t prepared to vote for Biden if he’s the nominee. Speaking for myself, my anxiety about Biden’s candidacy is directly related to the incredibly high stakes.

  148. 148.

    Dan B

    @Emma:  There are some good restaurants at Crossroads Shopping Center.  North is harder for me.  We got in awful traffic last Sunday evening.  Took us almost 40 minutes to get to Greenwood from Beacon Hill.  I-5 and 405, ugh!

  150. 150.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker:

    Then start trying to look at this good qualities and build them up in your mind. That’s what I did with Hillary in 2016 and I ended up being a huge fan.

    We are part of the story, not just passive victims.

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: @Betty Cracker:  As far as I’m concerned, Betty has done more in 2019  to lower the temperature of the conversations about candidates on Balloon Juice than any other front pager.

    She’s clear-eyed, manages to capture how many of us feel, and with her example reminds us all to keep our eyes on the prize.

  155. 155.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    You’ve probably already completed this step, but I’d go with the half and half, if only to cut the fat. I know you know this, but be careful about curdling.

  158. 158.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Kent: Why am I not at all surprised that you’d shoot your purity-pony mouth off before even bothering to verify or contextualize the alleged statement? Now you look like a complete idiot. But that won’t stop you from doing the same god-damned thing the next time some troll rings you up.

  159. 159.

    Emma

    @Dan B: :((( that’s why I hate driving. I like Crossroads Mall, it’s about 15 minutes away from me! There are also some restaurants in the blocks surrounding the mall itself. I’m happy driving north or south or east, just not west hehe. If further south is easier for you, there are some good restaurants at Factoria Mall, or maybe Newport? But if Opiejeanne is right outside Woodinville, that makes it tougher for her. This is why I also hate planning events :D

  160. 160.

    Kent

    @Emma: Longview gives me the creeps.  My daughter’s soccer team plays away games up there every season and we usually grab some lunch.  I can’t think of a place with a higher percentage of lower class white tattooed meth head looking people than Longview.  And I’m white and grew up working class.  My wife’s employer has a clinic in Longview and they basically can’t get providers to stay there at at any price.  No one with other options wants to live there.

    I teach with a woman who commutes down to the Vancouver area from Longview every day (about 30 min drive).  She has deep family roots there and her husband works there so they stay. Plus it’s cheap.  But she says there is a deep hidden history of racism there going back generations when it was a KKK hotbed that lies just under the surface.

    For those who don’t know Washington State, Longview is basically the Gary Indiana or Youngstown Ohio of Washington except that it is still all white.

  161. 161.

    Ken

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    The 2024 primary’s gonna be lit!

    The Democratic one, maybe.  The Republicans may still be running under the rule that no one other than Trump may be on the ballot.  (I’m sure the party will want to get rid of the rule, but every time they try the base growls.)

  162. 162.

    ruemara

    I sure hope he isn’t the AOC of the Washington State Senate. I hope he’s actually hard working, not concentrating on twitter beef and not a Wilmer mouthpiece.

  163. 163.

    Emma

    @Kent: yeah, I figured, pretty much every little place in WA has a white supremacist backstory (hello, Bellingham with Chinese pogroms.) My bar for rural towns is pretty low, tbh, and I’m very easy to please with good, cheap food.

  164. 164.

    Yutsano

    @Emma: I tell you what: Let CaseyL and I handle the logistics. We’re pretty good between the two of us at picking where and when will work for the most number of people. And I’ll even do some exploring on that side to see what sounds good. I would aim closer to north because there is the 522 that the in town Seattle folks can use to sneak back home. I’ve done that more than once and it does tend to avoid some of the east-west traffic messes. Anyway I’m just spitballing now.

  165. 165.

    Kent

    @Uncle Cosmo: This is the exact quote:

    “The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” Biden replied. “Let me explain that. You know there’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now … they’ve got to step up.”

    We don’t pick our VP candidates from random Joe’s (or Jane’s) who happen to be Republican.  We pick or VP candidates from a short list of elected officials.  Meaning most likely someone currently in the House, Senate, or Governor’s office of some state, or someone recently retired from high office with longstanding experience campaigning and winning states.

    So who are these “really decent Republicans” he is talking about?  Not long-dead Republicans like Lincoln and Eisenhower.  Who are they in 2019?

    I get that he is trying to be all bipartisan-y to chip away at Trump’s base of support.  But it’s just a very inept answer and lends credence to the meme that it is just Trump who is the anomaly and not the entire Republican party.

  166. 166.

    opiejeanne

    @Emma: I have no problem with the drive to wherever that is, we’ll show up if we are able.

     

    ETA: Are you talking about Crossroads Mall in Bellevue?

  171. 171.

    Roger Moore

    @Emma:

    pretty much every little place in WA has a white supremacist backstory

    This is certainly not limited to WA, either.  If you find a city that’s almost exclusively white today, it’s very likely it has a history of running minorities out of town.  If they were first run out more than a couple of generations ago, it’s very likely it had a history of forcibly keeping them out, too.  There’s a fantastic website, run by the author of Sundown Towns and Lies My Teacher Taught Me, that tracks the history of this kind of thing.  It’s not comprehensive- there are many places not listed that likely could be- but it shows just how many places have a history of this kind of thing.

  172. 172.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Nancy Pelosi passed over 400 bills this year.

    How many bills did AOC pass this year?

  174. 174.

    Emma

    @opiejeanne: yep, unless there’s another Crossroads that Dan was actually talking about. If we do go north, Cafe Bahar does a great thali buffet brunch/lunch and lots of seating, but I don’t know if South Indian is everyone else’s sort of thing. (It should be, though)

  175. 175.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I ended up going with only a splash of half-and-half, no milk and no cream.  So it stayed pretty broth-y instead of being creamy.

    There was already plenty of half-and-half in the dumplings!

  176. 176.

    Yutsano

    @Emma: All ur Keralan curries r belong 2 us.

    We’re pretty adventurous eaters. I talked a meet-up group into Indonesian even though I was the only one who had never had it. Everyone loved it. Same with their first experience with Korean food and bibimbap. So we could be down for something like that.

    EDIT: They have a website! http://www.cafebaharseattle.com/

  178. 178.

    Emma

    @Yutsano: oh good! In that case, I will rack my brain on interesting Eastside places. Edit: since you enjoy Indonesian, you will probably like Kedai Makan in Seattle, which is Malaysian cuisine. Not sure what region, specifically, since Penang cuisine is pretty different from Kuala Lumpur, but they maybe were like “eh, Americans won’t know the diff anyway.”

  179. 179.

    Yutsano

    @Emma: I think we could do worse than to offer toasts of nasi goring to wonderful commenter Amid Khalid. He really was a tiny bit salty about us choosing Indonesian, so maybe we can make it up to him.

    I’ll be securing the dates by next week. Planning can start shaping then.

  181. 181.

    Emma

    @Emma: the edit timer ran out just as I was typing, but I remember now that the Mahathir quote was about the judges whitesplaining rendang to a Malay woman. Now, I don’t exactly care for Mahathir, but never been so proud of a SE Asian politician as when he used “whitesplaining” correctly :D

  182. 182.

    J R in WV

     

     

    @Gin & Tonic:

     

    Where I see a problem is that the State of West Virginia has a Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

    Every state has a National Guard, some have both Army and AF National Guards. So they might not call it a department of Military Affairs, but they still have that same department.

    In this case, it’s rolled into Emergency Response and State Police… not sure what’s bad about that, now that the Nazis have been fired.

  184. 184.

    Mike in Oly

    @Kent: Centralia, Chehalis and surrounding areas are turning more purple all the time as more and more folks are pushed out of Olympia and head south of Thurston Co. for lower real estate prices. I work with a lot of liberal State employees that commute up from those areas. And with the population pressures coming at us from the north I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.

  185. 185.

    CaseyL

    Yutsano, DanB, Emma and all the other Eastsiders: I was going to look at Bothell/Kenmore eateries, but it looks like you’re zeroing on the Eastsider proper, ie Bellevue.   I have to say I’m not real keen on repeating Indonesian, though.

    ETA: Cafe Bahar in Kirkland looks terrific!

    ETA 2: Yutsano, I will be unavailable on Jan 12 – I’m going snowshoeing!!  And I’ll be temping, so weekdays aren’t so good.

    ETA 3: @Mike in Oly: Interesting to know, and thanks!  I know I want to leave Seattle for somewhere less crowded and less expensive, and have been open to adding my tiny little vote to help purple cities turn Blue.  Timetable depends on when/if I get another FT permanent job by April.

  186. 186.

    Emma

    @CaseyL: I’m fine with Bothell and Kenmore, I only mentioned Bellevue places because Dan said further north would be hard for him, but in Yutsano I trust.

  189. 189.

    Procopius

    @debbie:

    At this point, I see no reason he cannot continue campaigning without limitation

    This is a triple negative. I am unable to decipher it with full confidence, and I’m not sure that sentence says what the doctor wants it to say.

    Seems clear to me. Try, “I see no reason he cannot wear white shoes after Labor Day.” Or maybe, “I don’t see any reason why he can’t eat an unlimited amount of bread.”

  190. 190.

    debbie

    @Procopius:

    I think your examples are double negatives. He should have just recast it as a declaratory statement, like “I am confident he can continue to campaign without limitations.”

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