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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Semi-Respite Open Thread: Sorry, Mr. Delaney, ‘Niche’ Is Not Enough

Semi-Respite Open Thread: Sorry, Mr. Delaney, ‘Niche’ Is Not Enough

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Pointing & mocking is the only reasonable conclusion. Ed Kilgore, at NYMag, “Delaney Was First In, and Now Is Finally Out”:

Every presidential election cycle, there are vanity candidates: pols or wealthy business people who have the determination, the resources, the ego to persist in the difficult task of running for president despite abundant signs that it’s not working. Many observers accuse 2020 candidates Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer of running that kind of campaign, wasting tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars better spent on promoting the Democratic Party or down-ballot candidates.

But before either of these men got into the fray, there was another wealthy candidate who launched a presidential campaign long before anyone else, made a brief but not necessarily positive mark on the contest, and then hung in through thick and mostly through thin before abruptly leaving the race just three days before the Iowa caucuses: former Maryland congressman John Delaney.

A three-term congressman from a gerrymandered district running from the D.C. suburbs into western Maryland, and before that a successful (and largely self-made) banker, Delaney emulated another Marylander, 2016 candidate Martin O’Malley, in following the “book” by getting into the race early and focusing obsessively on Iowa. Indeed, nobody was going to beat Delaney to the starting post: He announced his candidacy on July 28, 2017. Unlike O’Malley, Delaney was rich enough to self-fund (loaning over $20 million to his campaign), and by declining to run for reelection in 2018, he was able to run full-time. By the end of 2018, he had completed the so-called “full Grassley,” with appearances in all 99 Iowa counties, a feat many presidential candidates never accomplish. By the autumn of 2019, he had spent a total of 80 days in the state, holding 229 events. From the get-go, he identified himself as a member of the moderate, “pragmatic” wing of his party. But his early start didn’t do much for him in terms of early popularity…

From the Cosplay Socialists — d/b/a ‘dirtbag leftists’ — pushing their own vanity candidate:

At least Delaney wasn’t being propped up by the Russians and the Republicans. Assuming there’s a difference between those two groups any longer.

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  3. 3.

    Ohio Mom

    Are there any more white men I could never remember the name of/could never tell apart still running, or is he the last one? I think he’s the last one, just making sure.

    if Trivial Pursuits was still a thing, those guys would be an answer.

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    @Ohio Mom:

    Chris Murphy has been tweeting about the impeachment trial. He tweeted that it was really nice to see all the Senators who are running for president — Elizabeth, Bernie, Amy, and Michael — chatting in a friendly way during the breaks. Almost every tweet in response said, “Michael????”

    Michael Bennet is still in. I had hopes for him as the young version of Biden, but he didn’t get any traction. He’s a good man.

  9. 9.

    Ohio Mom

    Zhena, Thanks for that. I do remember Bennet, vaguely. My favorite candidate who never gained any traction was Inslee.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    Another Scott, I saw the video of Stacey Abrams predicting she’ll be president in 20 years, tops, and started doing some quick arithmetic.

    If it takes her that long, I’d be in my mid-80s, and who knows, maybe I won’t still be around. She needs to tighten up her time line.

  13. 13.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I know most people here hate Bill Maher.  He drives me nuts.  Still watch every week.  The end segment is usually the best part.  Tonight included a perfect campaign ad against trump. Clips showing his verbal diarrhea. Then he ended with a fake pee tape video.  A perfect trump look- alike.   2 naked hookers peeing on bed.  trump ordering one to pee on the bible.  Brutal. It made my Friday night.

  14. 14.

    James E Powell

    @Kent:

    I never saw that before. He said the same stupid shit that people were talking in the 90s. Public private partnerships? Detroit coming back? I cannot throw up enough.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    @Kent:

    I really disliked him in that debate. I’ve really come to loathe that battering ram way of talking. So, so sick of the phony power posturing. The dominating with volume and sheer number of words. It’s not clever or interesting – it’s just a barrage of sound and more and more I think it’s used to cover the fact that there’s nothing really there.

  17. 17.

    anarchoRex

    Does bringing up Perez’s hypocrisy in not changing debate rules to get more POC candidates on stage, but then doing it so Bloomberg can, go against the spirit of a respite thread?

  18. 18.

    West of the Rockies

    @Another Scott:

    Is the black hedge fund guy still in?  And what is Tulsi waiting for?  Pete’s numbers are dwindling, too.  He should check out.  Above all, I wish BS would cash out.

  19. 19.

    guachi

    I don’t know why Bloomberg got in the race unless his goal is a Sanders nomination. He’s taking valuable votes from a non-Sanders candidate.

  22. 22.

    anarchoRex

    @Another Scott: That’s in reference to a Politico story about some rando DNCers wanting to bring back super delegates on the first ballot. It’s not related to what I’m talking about.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @anarchoRex: Ok.  But still, meh.

    From [another] Politico story:

    But the donor threshold was rarely what determined whether candidates made the stage. The only candidate to hit a polling threshold for a debate but not qualify, due to not hitting the donor threshold, has been Bloomberg. In every other case, excluded candidates have either hit neither or just the donor threshold by the time qualification closes.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    West of the Rockies

    @West of the Rockies:

    Deval Patrick is still in the race.  At least Schultz got out.  Wouldn’t it be great if the billionaire boys all threw some of that cash at green energy or college tuitions or cancer research?  I hope Bloomberg is sincere about dropping $1,000,000,000 to defeat Lump.

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    @West of the Rockies: I’d be much, much happier if the billionaires were spending money on voter IDs, fighting voter suppression, and GOTV.  Nothing else much matters if we can’t pick sensible leaders in fair elections.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    Jay

    A small win,

    christopher paul hasson, the coast guard lieutenant who plotted to assassinate members of congress, has been sentenced to 160 months in prison. judge hazel found that the terrorism sentencing enhancement did apply in this case.— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) January 31, 2020

    “white supremacist ideology is deeply embedded in the soul of this country. the seeds were planted in 1619,” judge hazel said. “those seeds have grown and produced dangerous fruit. mr hasson is but one leaf that has fallen from that tree.”— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) January 31, 2020

    “maybe one day we as a nation will do the hard work or digging up the roots of that tree,” judge hazel continued, but the sentence he imposed today was not intended to be an attempt at that work. it simply addressed the conduct of one man.— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) January 31, 2020

  35. 35.

    Leto

    John Delaney, otherwise known as Canned Ham in the Avalune and Leto household. He also looks like the generic fish character from Sponge Bob Square Pants. Either way, totally forgot that he was alive and still somehow attached like a parasite to the Dem party.

  36. 36.

    lamh36

    Lakers tribute to Kobe before the game tonight.

    I don’t even know how the players can play the game tonight after the entire tribute was done.  Both sides were emotional.

    Cant believe it’s just been less than a week.  RIP all the 9 victims and sending light and prayers for comfort and peace to the families they left behind.

    https://twitter.com/espn/status/1223451756534910976?s=21

  38. 38.

    Another Scott

    BlueVirginia.us:

    From the VA House Democratic Caucus:

    Virginia House of Delegates Removes Barriers to Voting

    RICHMOND – The new Democratic majority in the House of Delegates has worked swiftly to expand access to voting in the Commonwealth, including passing “no excuse” absentee voting.

    Under current law, Virginia voters are required to provide one of several valid excuses to vote prior to election day. Under HB 1, Virginia voters will now be able to vote absentee, by mail or in person, for any reason.

    “Virginia voters shouldn’t need an excuse to vote absentee. There are a multitude of reasons why a voter, in their own personal life, may wish to vote early and now they’ll have that ability.” said Del. Charniele Herring, House Majority Leader, and sponsor of HB 1. “I’m glad that the House of Delegates is approving legislation to make voting easier, I look forward to passage in the Senate and the signature of Governor Northam to make HB 1 and other easy access voting bills law.”

    In addition to HB 1, the House of Delegates has also passed:

    HB 207, sponsored by Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, which would provide a special application for any voter to receive an absentee ballot in all elections that they are eligible to vote in. This would allow voters to essentially permanently enroll in a “vote by mail” program without having to fill out the absentee ballot request several times a year to vote by mail in various elections.

    HB 238, sponsored by Del. Mark Sickles, would provide for any absentee ballot that arrives by noon on the third day after the election but is postmarked on or before the date of the election to be counted.

    “The Democratic majority in the House of Delegates has made accessibility to the ballot box one of our top priorities for 2020,” said Del. Rip Sullivan, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “We’ve seen record voter turnout in recent years, and we hope that these bills, and others, will help continue that trend so that we make it easier for Virginians to be heard and represented.”

    Every election matters. Voting access matters. We need to never forget this, and fight for it always.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  41. 41.

    Another Scott

    @James E Powell: My J could have given you an earful about it tonight!!

    :-/

    With luck, it will blow over soon.

    But, man, Vlad knows how to pick a nerve, doesn’t he?!

    :-(  :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  44. 44.

    The Dangerman

    @lamh36:

    Lakers tribute to Kobe before the game tonight.

    Nicely done. Represented really well.

    LA is a basketball town. LA didn’t give a shit that the Rams left and didn’t much care they came back. Gave even less a shit the Chargers moved a bit north. Dodgers are the Boys of Summer, but ball here is year round. Hell, try to get on the court in Venice, or for a real challenge, Laguna Beach (legendary).

  46. 46.

    Jay

    Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has welcomed a decision by France to dispatch war frigates to the eastern Mediterranean as a standoff with Turkey over regional energy reserves intensifies.

    With tensions between Athens and Ankara causing growing international alarm, Mitsotakis described the vessels as “guarantors of peace”.

    “The only way to end differences in the eastern Mediterranean is through international justice,” he told reporters after holding talks in Paris with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Greece and France are pursuing a new framework of strategic defence.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/29/greece-turkey-standoff-france-send-warships-east-mediterranean

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    @Citizen Alan:

    True Story: John Mahoney (from “Frasier”) was a friend of my late father-in-law. Very nice guy. They drifted apart when my FIL started dating a woman who didn’t fit into their friend group, unfortunately.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    @Eljai:

    Didn’t you know? They don’t need Hillary’s voters to win the primary, and then we’ll all be forced to bend the knee in the general to General Zod Bernie. ?

    I still haven’t heard an explanation of which orifice they’re expecting to pull 20 million brand-new primary voters from, but that’s their plan.

  59. 59.

    JWR

    Oy! Just before Colbert, my first Bernie! ad, in Southern California. I also just read on Politico that The Bern! spent $50 million on ads. Too bad he’s not spending all that moolah to elect a Democrat.

  65. 65.

    JWR

    Felanius Kootea: If anyone would like to watch Maher’s demo anti-Trump ad without putting up with Maher, it starts at about the 2:30 mark, and lasts about a minute. Not great, but good. And now I’m really starting to wonder whether any Dems will openly challenge Emperor Trump in any way during the SOTU.

  69. 69.

    opiejeanne

    @Yutsano: It was really pretty. Now it’s just raining and raining.

    The neighbors kitty-corner from us has what could be called a vernal pool at the corner of their lot. It becomes a small pond if it rains enough, and now it is a small lake. With ducks.

  72. 72.

    opiejeanne

    @mrmoshpotato: Oh, but isn’t he the one who told us he doesn’t care a fig whether Bernie gets the nom?

    I swear, one of the earlier threads tonight was crawling with new names.

  73. 73.

    Chris Johnson

    @opiejeanne: Yeah it was. I think Balloon Juice gets it from both sides: dirtbag lefty trolls, and then also neoliberal flagwaver trolls to rile up the lefties, or just weird little presences ‘mole’ing it up like Bill Haydon out of Le Carre novels. It’s hard to tell between that sort of thing, and your classic DougJ good ol’ american trolling for sport.

    Does make me uncomfortable about Putin’s known tactic to seed BOTH sides of the argument. It’s easy for us to see the dirtbag left trolls when it’s that obvious (like Reddit and its vote-brigading mandating a ‘Russiagate’ narrative) but we’re not supposed to see the ones herding us into blindly obedient bandwagoning for Joe Biden, or teaching us that the American people are irredeemably sexist and racist beyond all belief. And that would be the trolling aimed at us: discouragement.

  76. 76.

    Just Chuck

    It’s cool that the Dem primary field is finally starting to narrow down to “people for whom I have some vague recollection of them existing”.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @anarchoRex

    I’ll believe in your massive youth turnout when it actually happens. IIRC, statisticians say that a mere 17 percent would do it, but we’re all still waiting for those Joe Rogan fans to show up.

    Believe it or not, the way to prove us wrong is to actually fucking SHOW UP, not to stay home whining that you totally would have shown up if everyone wasn’t so mean to you.

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