She’s not my dream candidate, but it wouldn’t give me pause to vote for her. (I would particularly enjoy a Warren / Klobuchar, Cagney-Lacy ticket, but we all know why that’s not gonna happen.) She’d also be great as a VP candidate — someone on twitter referred to her ‘powerful Vice Principal energy, which I both respect and fear.’
That may actually be her best position, as the race stands right now: VOTE CANDIDATE X — DON’T MAKE AMY COME AFTER YOU. On the other hand, it’s early to suggest that she should settle for second place, correct?
In Salem, ?@amyklobuchar? sets the tone for the next two days in New Hampshire as she barnstorms the state:
“I have been bolted down and I am finally unleashed.” pic.twitter.com/gnePkSXFe2
— Jasmine Wright (@JasJWright) February 10, 2020
“And by the way, I’ve got a plan for the Midwest – and we can include NH as well. We’re going to build a beautiful blue wall around these states, and we’re going to make Donald Trump pay for it,” Klobuchar says in Nashua.
This starts chants of “AMY! AMY!”
— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) February 9, 2020
The last time I saw Klobuchar on the stump was deep into the impeachment trial in Iowa, when she was clearly frustrated about being pulled from Iowa.
Her speech in NH today is strikingly different: more energetic, more focused, and better received by a much-bigger crowd
— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) February 9, 2020
… Pundits have been predicting the moderate Minnesota senator’s rise in the Democratic primary since October, as she racked up supposed debate wins and endorsements and built a campaign on her own “electability” in the states Democrats desperately need in 2020. For months, though, there was little sign among voters of that surge. Polls remained stagnant, and small, quiet crowds often tailed her in Iowa.
But this time, after the latest Democratic debate and just before New Hampshire votes in the nation’s first primary, there’s serious evidence that the Klobuchar is becoming a threat to the other moderates in the race: record-sized crowds, impressive fundraising hauls, and polls that suddenly show her in third place, ahead of Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.
Her delight at this fact, at a succession of diners and packed rallies across New Hampshire, is palpable…
SOME OF US REALLY LIKE PLAUSIBLE AGENDAS. https://t.co/HuPbr0YiGC
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) February 10, 2020
So, despite my earlier misconception, pretty clear she & Buttigieg are not gonna be running buddies. But she’d certainly be a good backup for Good Ol’ Uncle Joe, who likes to think Repubs can be ‘reasoned with’. And if Bloomberg somehow manages to buy the nomination (still think it’s the longest of long shots, but who knows, after Trump), well — he’s gonna need somebody who knows where the bodies are buried in the Capitol, and I don’t think Amy’s too ‘pure’ to work with a guy like Mike, despite his not-always-savory NYC tenure…
The response she generated seems to be a reflection of how much Klobuchar showed up last night looking to assert and insert herself. Does it translate to actual votes? Maybe with Biden all but conceding the state 3 days before the primary? That’s what she’s trying to sort out
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) February 8, 2020
Asked about McConnell, Klobuchar says “nobody anticipated” that his goal would be making Obama a one-term failure. "My job will be to anticipate that,” she says, focusing early on judicial appointments.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) February 8, 2020
Surging in neutral is the brand, actually. https://t.co/4eB882JsHg
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) February 10, 2020
HANOVER, N.H. — Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) sprinted through New Hampshire this weekend, trying to use a widely praised debate performance — and an ensuing infusion of donations — to exceed expectations in the upcoming primary and beef up her skeletal organization in the races to come.
Hours after the debate, her campaign announced it had raised $1 million. By Saturday afternoon, they revised that number to $2 million. But Klobuchar, who has had strong debate performances in the past, acknowledged the challenge she faces at this inflection point: Can she turn a moment into momentum?…
“I know I’m not the candidate that’s number one right now, but we are surging,” she told voters at Dartmouth, her third of four campaign events Saturday. “Someone told me in a text with an auto-correct that went bad: ‘congratulations on your insurgency.’ ”
Klobuchar is competing for moderate voters along with Buttigieg, who claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses, and Biden, who placed a disappointing fourth. To standing-room-only crowds, she sold herself as a Goldilocks for those who believe the 77-year-old Biden is past his political prime and the 38-year-old Buttigieg is too young and inexperienced…
We are all @amyklobuchar #Apictureisworthathousandwords#democratdebate pic.twitter.com/e10KYwhM6v
— Tom D'Angora (@TomDangora) February 8, 2020
germy
I’d like to see Klobuchar on the Supreme Court.
schrodingers_cat
Go Amy!
Baud
Fear the Klo!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I could be ready for Amy The K, but she’s got some work to do. In the recent Quinnipiac she didn’t even register among AA voters, couldn’t even match Yang’s 1%, and her meeting with voting rights activists in Milwaukee a couple of months ago was apparently not successful
ETA: @Baud: I like it!
download my app in the app store mistermix
I believe the term of art is “Klobucharge”. Also, the Klobucar is about to run over her opponents.
Ohio Mom
She’s not my favorite — my heart belongs to Warren — but I could definitely see myself canvassing happily for her.
Does Trump have an ugly nickname for her yet? I get the impression he’s barely aware of her, which is to her advantage.
germy
Over the course of the 2017-2018 congressional session, Klobuchar voted to confirm nearly two-thirds of Trump’s judicial nominees that came up for a vote, far outpacing every other Democratic senator currently seeking the nomination.
WaterGirl
@germy: Thanks for that. Amy K. is way too conservative for my tastes.
She is good in the debates, but being good in debates does not make you a good leader, good manager, or good administrator.
Chyron HR
So if she places highly in NH, are we in for another deluge of anonymous unsourced, “Mrs. Klobuchar and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and the baby threw a comb at me,” stories?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and for anyone of around my vintage:
Rumors was my first album, tenth birthday present from my older sister. And DSTAT did seem dusty in ’92. But then I always preferred Go Your Own Way
schrodingers_cat
@germy: But the man who has voted like Chuck Grasseley’s twin on immigration issues is the True Progressive Liberal Jesus.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m seeing Go Your Own Way used lately for COPD treatment commercials.
germy
@schrodingers_cat: Yes, we’re living in strange times.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: For his cult, may be.
germy
@schrodingers_cat: One can argue that an immigration policy can be reversed by a Democratic president, while Trump’s judges will last longer than many of our lifetimes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: Oh, those are killers. When REM shows up in ads for those meds, that’s when I go buy a few cardigans and start asking people to turn the heat up
topclimber
The best ticket for Amy is with Bernie, if he is as shrewd as he might be and not as ideologically rigid as we fear. It gives him aLefty/moderate team; a VP who is fluent in the ways of what will at best be a narrow Dem Senate; help in some swing states; and deflects the lingering misogyny issue a tad.
trollhattan
She’s now #2 on my list. Considering we once had two dozen that’s a compliment more than frustration on my part, especially considering I barely knew she existed before announcing.
schrodingers_cat
@germy:You may trust the man who takes victory laps on Lou Dobbs and demonizes immigrants using the same words as the Orange King, is going to reverse this administration’s decisions on immigration, I don’t.
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
World Turning. Jes sayin
But that pre-dates your ten-year-old Rumors love. I bet you had Frampton Comes Alive, too.
Didn’t you!
germy
@schrodingers_cat: I think you have me mistaken for a Bernie supporter.
I’m on team Warren. I’m hoping she’s the Democratic president that reverses Trump’s immigration policy.
Kent
I’m just hoping that either Warren or Klobuchar are still viable by the time the road show gets to WA on March 10. I’m in the ABB camp which only leaves those two.
I think she would honestly be the best VP candidate for any Dem if she doesn’t earn the spot on the top. The Trump administration is going to leave utter wreckage in every corner of the executive branch from the EPA to the State Department. The next president is going to need to delegate to the VP the Herculean task of setting things right and purging Trumpism from the government. That is going to take a no-bullshit take no prisoners hard-ass manager to parachute into every agency and demand answers as to why they aren’t getting shit done faster Why the EPA hasn’t reversed all the Trump-era pollution friendly regulations. Why the Education Dept is still fucking around with Student Loan forgiveness and coddling charter schools. Why HHS hasn’t reversed Trump policies to undermine the ACA. Why Interior doesn’t have a plan on the President’s desks to re-expand Bear’s Ears and other National Monuments last week. That is tedious bureaucratic shit that is going to need to be a 24/7 job and Klobuchar is perfect for it.
And if we have to have Wilmer then putting Klobuchar as VP would increase my comfort level with him and really increase his viability in the upper midwest I think. I don’t want to go there yet though. If he wants to be President that is the kind of thing he would need to do. Sort of a “Night of the Long Knives” in Bernie-land like Hitler did in 1934 when he purged his amateur street-fighter SA ranks and cast his lot with the more professional German military and SS.
schrodingers_cat
@germy: Warren is not my candidate but if she is the nominee I will vote for her without any reservations. And work hard to get her elected.
Seanly
I will vote for any D over Trump. My preference at this point is Warren, but I’d vote for each and everyone of them. Sanders might be a “hold the nose” type of vote.
Sab
Has anyone heard from debit lately?
Cacti
Would be happy to see Klobes get a strong finish in NH.
Strong resume, good debater, and unlikely to embrace election-killing policy positions (*cough* Bernie *cough* Warren).
She’s also an actual Democrat, and not one of convenience (*cough* Bernie *cough* Bloomberg).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Immanentize: I didn’t, I don’t remember the second and on albums, but never that one.
I later found out the same sister who got me that album hated Buckingham/Nicks and thought they ruined Fleetwood Mac.
Bare Trees.
guachi
I’ve only donated to one candidate this cycle – Klobuchar. Gave $50 after the debate. She’s my second favorite after Warren, whom I will donate to pending New Hampshire results.
I guess I wasn’t alone in donating to Klobuchar as she netted $2.5 million after the debate, about 10% of her entire take this cycle.
She has things I don’t like about her. But she wins and has outperformed other Democrats in Minnesota consistently from her very first state-wide race.
Death Panel Truck
I’d make that Lacey-Cagney. I think Mary Beth would make a kick-ass president.
Another Scott
@topclimber: Interesting. Her frequent “I like Bernie; we’ve worked well together in the Senate” comments at the debates puts that into a new context for me…
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike in NC
I hope Senator K buries Wilmer in the NH primary, who more than anybody not named Putin gave us Trumpism.
White & Gold Purgatorian
God, I love this:
Amy has been my number 1 choice since she got in the race. Glad she stuck it out and hope the Klobmentum is real. For those who want the next Dem administration to skip the “look forward, not back” forgiveness fest, give Amy a look. I am convinced she would Do her darnedest to hold Trump and his cronies accountable for their crimes. Make him pay, indeed.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Seanly: As far as voting for Bernie in the general election goes, I’m going with mrmoshpotato’s solution…vote for Bernie and then throw up.
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did she re-gift you Rumors perhaps??
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@guachi: the look on her face in that tweet that she’s giving all the shouty old guys who want to tell the waitress they’re still waiting on that refill of their Sanka? It makes me want to vote for her
and not only because she looks like she’s imitating Rachel Dratch
schrodingers_cat
Joe Biden’s team is absent on Twitter. I saw more tweets promoting the Orange King in the NH primaries.
schrodingers_cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was priceless.
Betty Cracker
@Another Scott: Saw a clip this morning of Klobuchar answering a question about Sanders, and she said although she likes Sanders and considers him a friend, she thinks a Sanders nomination could be a tough sell overall and a drag on down-ticket races, especially in the suburbs. Then she said that was as far into the punditry racket she wanted to venture.
This doesn’t mean she wouldn’t join his ticket if it shakes out that way, but I thought it was a great answer. She didn’t lie about Sanders’ policy positions or demagogue issues like a wingnut; she just said why she thought it could hurt the party’s chances.
Death Panel Truck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I am a fan of ’60s British blooze, so Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac does it for me. Great band until Green basically went nuts. Several members of that band had personality problems of one kind or another.
WaterGirl
@Death Panel Truck: Your first attempt at that comment went into moderation, so I released it, but you have obviously reposted so I will delete the first one.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think you meant sweater vests, didn’t you? :-)
Death Panel Truck
@WaterGirl: Thank you. I don’t know what happened, but my nym changed for some reason.
Patricia Kayden
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: Thanks.
This election season could turn out all kinds of interesting ways, but I really can’t see St. Bernard winning. She’s smart to sound reasonable and “I’ll work with anyone”-ish, but she’s smart not to get too close to him, also too.
The idea of them on a ticket together is interesting, I really can’t see Bernie offering her the VP if he has to pick someone, either. His whole shtick is that the Democratic Party is Corrupt™ so he’d probably pick some “fresh face” or other. At least that’s my guess. I hope it doesn’t come to that…
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
@Another Scott: His supporters are tweeting gulliotine gifs to supporters of other Ds. He will choose someone toxic like Gabbard.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
That Senate candidate in Maine that Anne Laurie posted about also used a guillotine motif. When did that become their symbol?
WaterGirl
@Death Panel Truck:
Your name/nym showed up as simply “1”, surely you must have accidentally typed over your nym.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
That would be kind of a cool nym.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Two words. Compression socks.
You’ll thank me.
rp
My current rankings:
Warren
gap
Klobuchar
Biden
gap
Bloomberg/Buttigieg
enormous gap
Sanders
the Conster
Sanders is the Kiss of Death. His M4All vaporware got wrapped around Harris’ and Warren’s axles, so Amy should stay as far away from everything about him. If he’s the nominee, Jane Sanders’ FBI investigation for bank fraud will be re-opened the next day, since her nemesis from VT – Brady Toensing – was hired by Barr’s DOJ last summer in anticipation of the Kremlin’s #2 choice splitting the party so he *wins* by division. Again. If Democrats don’t understand that Sanders will destroy the party from top to bottom – his mission – then I just don’t know what else to say. We shouldn’t even be talking about an 80 year old cardiac patient with no transparency, a criminal wife and who appears in the Mueller Report, whose last campaign strategist partnered with Manafort for Putin IN UKRAINE where all the election ratfucking efforts were beta tested. Does Ukraine ring a bell? WTAF.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl:
I already have a six of those. Wait, are you saying…. hold on, there’s a draft in here, I have to go check that damn thermostat
Hoodie
I’ve long thought Klobuchar might be the most effective candidate in the general. She seems to be able to appeal to both the moderates and left in the party, without the synthetic, robotic quality you sense in Buttagieg. She’s like the real center-leftist he’s simulating. She’s also sneaky clever and thinks well on her feet. I’m not sure how Trump would attack her and she has enough of an edge to take him on, particularly his dreadful misogyny. I do think getting the nomination would be a challenge for her, simply because she has not been on the radar for key groups, like AA voters.
MisterForkbeard
@Another Scott: I’d rather he didn’t give her the nod.
Klobuchar is not super likely to be replaced with a Democrat in the Senate, IIRC.
Kent
The weight of history and the seriousness of the moment may have a clarifying effect on his thought process. Despite all the holier than thou loner shit, I gotta believe that Bernie is some kind of American patriot at heart. If he actually does win the nomination, the singular importance of the moment and the task at hand may lead him to think more strategically and leave some of the purity pony bullshit behind.
At least we can only hope that would be the case. He will be sitting there, all alone, with the eyes of the country and the entire world on him. And that will be the first biggest sign about whether he is actually going to unify the party and move forward with the project to defeat and bury Trumpism, or if he’s still going to remain a poseur tilting at leftist windmills. I have no idea which way he is going to go. But I think there is a non-zero chance he will take the more unifying path. That doesn’t necessarily mean Klobuchar, but at least someone like her who he can send to WI, MI, and PA for the duration to relentlessly campaign.
feebog
I listened to Chris Hayes interview David Plouffe on the way home from work yesterday (ok it was the way home from golf, but I make it seem like work). Plouffe observed that as long as the field remains wide open with 5 or 6 candidates, Wilmer has the best chance of garnering a plurality of candidates. Many states are allotting delegates by congressional district as well as vote totals but a candidate needs at least 15% of the statewide vote to get any delegates. Imagine in California the vote ends up Sanders 22%, Bloomberg 17%, Warren 14%, Biden 13%, Steyer 11%, Buttiegieg 10%, Klobachar 9%, everyone else 4%. Sanders and Bloomberg are the only ones to pick up delegates, but Sanders get’s the lions share for sure. If Sanders goes into the convention with a plurality of delegates, how is he denied the nomination. To be clear, Sanders and/or Bloomberg are my very last choices, but this could happen unless a more moderate candidate prevails on Super Tuesday.
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: Nina Turner.
Kent
@rp: My rankings are similar but the utter incompetence and listlessness of the Biden campaign has caused me to drop him down to the other Bs. I have Bloomberg and Biden swapped because I think Bloomberg is more ruthlessly equipped to bury Trump in a tidal wave of money. And if he needs to drop another 1/2 billion dollars into the campaign in October he can write the check without a second thought.
MisterForkbeard
Off Topic: The DOJ is apparently freaking out due to pressure from Trump and Barr and will be rescinding its 7-9 sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/reports-doj-to-make-extraordinary-reversal-on-tough-sentence-for-roger-stone
“The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate to Mr. Stone’s offenses,” the DOJ source said.
They’re also claiming this decision was made before Trump tweeted about it. Which (even if true) doesn’t absolve them at all. 7-9 years was pretty minimally acceptable, to my point of view.
guachi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I posted that to Facebook. I’m not a woman but I can believe many women can relate.
the Conster
@Kent:
You can’t be serious. He’s a lifelong Dem ratfucker who has always wanted to be a left wing dictator/cult leader. Now he’s a sick old ratfucker, with a wife who has a real knack for spending other people’s money, whether it’s from his campaign funds since Burlington, kids’ college tuition, fake institutes, shell companies for campaign ad buys, or dark money PACs used to fund their inner circle of grifters, family members, paid toadies, internet trolls and true believers.
Betty Cracker
@Kent: His hiring choices after the bitterly divisive 2016 race don’t inspire confidence, but if Sanders wins, I sure hope your best case scenario plays out.
Kent
@the Conster: You have no argument from me. He is my last place candidate in the primary and the Bernie movement makes my skin crawl. But I do think the weight of the moment may have a clarifying effect on his mind. At least that would be the hope. WTF do any of us know. Maybe I’m grasping at straws.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@feebog: First of all, it’s not that simple, read MM’s “New Rules” post from earlier this morning. Second, as that post notes, if a candidate doesn’t get a majority on the first ballot, superdelegates vote on the second ballot.
P.S. Just remember when you golf, you golf with Trump.
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud: Hmm, that works as long as you’re not a German-speaker, since “Klo” is short for toilet in popular parlance there.
MisterForkbeard
@Kent: I remember seeing a lot of similar considerations for Trump – “He’ll rise to the occasion and seriousness of the presidency”.
Not that Bernie is similar to Trump in this way in kind or degree, but these people are over 60 years old. They’re not going to change – they are who they are.
topclimber
@the Conster: Your disdain for Sanders is well known and shared in varying degrees by many. But what happens if he is the nominee? Do you hope he makes an attempt to unify the party with a moderate VP pick; or do you prefer he flip the non-believer Dems the bird and run with a Bernie clone?
Forgive me if that is not what you mean. But if we get Bernie I want a united party that has a least a fighting chance of beating Trump, rather than a fractured one with none.
mrmoshpotato
@Chyron HR: ROFLMAO! Well done.
smintheus
“Asked about McConnell, Klobuchar says “nobody anticipated” that his goal would be making Obama a one-term failure.”
That’s just BS, everybody who wasn’t wearing rose tinted specs knew that Republicans would obstruct everything they could and keep throwing mud at Obama. Palin had campaigned on the accusation that Obama was a terrorist sympathiser ffs.
WaterGirl
@Baud: It’s yours for the taking! But that’s what we all see anyway when you post a comment. :-)
Juice Box
@schrodingers_cat: Bernie won’t choose Gabbard. His first choice will be a white man and his second choice will be a non-white man. He¡s never been one for hiring “girls”.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Rut roh.
Amir Khalid
RIP Joseph Shabalala, founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Ksmiami
@Kent: he’s a goddamn egomaniac who will secure a complete fascist takeover in the US and that’s me being generous
Amir Khalid
@MisterForkbeard:
Does it matter if the DoJ rescinds its sentencing recommendation after the fact? If the judge is convinced by the original argument for 7 to 9 years, he is surely free to send Stone to Federal pokey for that long regardless.
Miss Bianca
@Sab:
I was just wondering the same thing, the other day – I haven’t seen her nym in quite a long time.
Citizen Alan
@topclimber: I want a united party. I just don’t think Bernie can give us that or even thinks its necessary to try. I honestly think that if he wins the nomination, his Veep will be the most far-left national figure who will take the job. And if in some fantasy universe he wins, no one to his right one iota will be considered for any Executive job.
Barbara
@MisterForkbeard: Sanders isn’t my first choice, and I don’t like his disdain for the party. However. He has a 30+ year history in the political arena and while it includes a lot of demagoguing, especially on issues related to immigration (as sc has documented), it also includes a lot of collaboration with Democrats, e.g., voting for the ACA. He has never to my knowledge (and please correct me if I am wrong) been the decisive vote that waylaid important Democratic legislation, or that launched an important Republican priority. So I don’t think it’s fair to say that Sanders and Trump are similar in that respect just because they are over 60.
Barbara
@Amir Khalid: Judge does what judge wants. The only real constraint on the judge is that she give the sentence in terms of what the defendant has done, not to make an example of him or because he did other things that he was not convicted of. This, I believe, is Judge Jackson (nee Amy Berman), who was very, very careful when she sentenced Paul Manafort to make it clear on what basis she was sentencing him. For instance, she noted that it wasn’t her job to compensate for Judge Ellis’s (too light) sentence.
topclimber
@Citizen Alan: I hope we don’t have to find out what he would do. But as the famed amendment king (or whatever), perhaps he knows that eventually you have to go with the coalition you have, not the one you would like.
Miss Bianca
@rp:
Damn…that’s my ranking as well, as of this morning.
patroclus
I’ve made no secret on this blog that Klobuchar is my candidate because I really believe she would make the best President out of the whole field and I also think she has the best chance to beat Trump. And further, I think she could unify the party well. I’m thrilled that her debate performances have propelled her into the top tier and I’m really hoping that she does extraordinarily well tonight.
Go Amy!!
gene108
@Betty Cracker:
Sanders didn’t do ANY down-ticket campaigning for Democrats, who supported him, in 2016.
I can’t see him being bothered to do it this year.
Betty Cracker
@Barbara: I believe you are correct about Sanders not getting in the way of key Democratic priorities, unlike, say, Joe Lieberman. He can be an annoying poseur, but Sanders has also never been as bad as someone like Grassley on immigration either; those two teamed up to kill a guest worker progrram ages ago that unions opposed. He supported DACA and other mainstream Democratic Party immigration reform proposals for a decade or more. IMO, talk about Sanders being a Russian agent sounds like Q-level kookery to me, though to be fair, his most vociferous supporters are as full of crap about the DNC as his most ardent detractors are about Sanders.
mrmoshpotato
@MisterForkbeard:
“Yeah. Running a racist, fascist, misogynistic campaign was just an act. Right, guys? Right?”
trollhattan
@Death Panel Truck:
Green was absurdly talented and unable to handle the pressures of being that good and receiving adulation he felt either misguided or that he was unworthy of. How he’s alive is some kind of miracle, itself.
There’s a Mayall Blues Breakers recording that has Green filling in for Clapton immediately after Eric left the band and you cannot tell it’s not Clapton playing. It’s eerie.
mrmoshpotato
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Glad to see that’s catching on. :)
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: @Sab:
Two words: tax season. I think she does bookkeeping and is involved with tax preparation.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: True, hence the nym.
Chris Johnson
@topclimber: If Sanders picks Tulsi Gabbard for a running mate, I join Conster.
Never thought I’d say THAT.
If he did that, it would be because he is what a bunch of raving Balloon Juicers have insisted he is: run from Russia, same thing as Trump. It’d be like switching from Trump to Pence, but with more cover for shenanigans.
IF he even gets the nom he has to pick anybody not Gabbard (or Bloomberg, but I kid) because it’d be a dead giveaway that the fix was in.
Barbara
@Betty Cracker: He doesn’t have to be a Russian agent to receive the benefit of Russian ratfvcking. He is not, however, a money laundering mobster in thrall to Russian oligarchs. That’s what Trump is.
Chyron HR
@Betty Cracker:
IMO, talk about how nobody can prove there was a connection between Bernie Sanders and the documented efforts by the Russian intelligence service to support the Sanders campaign sound like NO COLLUSION NO COLLUSION to me.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: He is an ideological fellow traveler.
the Conster
@Betty Cracker:
He’s not an *agent* he’s an *asset*. He’s too damn lazy and narcissistic to be an agent, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’s compromised. Why did Tad Devine show up on his doorstep to arm twist him into running against Clinton, while Manafort offered to run Trump’s campaign for free, both fresh off their gig in Ukraine? Did you read the correspondence between Devine and Kilimnik, from the Manafort trial? You can’t be that naive to think that someone so enamored of the old USSR that he honeymooned there, had their flag in his office, is passionate about Fidel, Cuba and Ortega’s Sandenistas with a wife who freely spends other people’s money hasn’t been compromised. Good grief, that’s the height of naivete.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
Whereupon he will have the Criminal-in-Chief and the Griftorney General on his back, demanding he resign, or perhaps commit seppuku.
I’m only half-joking.
bluehill
@Chris Johnson: Does make me wonder why Trump and his followers seem to be favoring Bernie. Maybe they think he’s the easiest dem to beat or that he has the best shot at fracturing the party.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: Sanders has (almost) always been willing to comprise, but in the last ~5 years has created a movement that is paranoid, self-righteous and delusional. My grumpy old man’s belief is that most of his supporters don’t understand (for starters): that “single payer” is not a synonym for “universal health care”– ‘Every industrialized nation in the world has single payer except the US!” is a standard screech on Rose Twitter; that Obama and the Clintons are not, in fact, the real obstacles to progressivism; I suspect few if any know who Blanche Lincoln and Tim Johnson were, and what that means for all the treacherous Obama-era “incrementalism!” they regularly decry with such righteous adolescent anger; and I’d bet a large sum of money that the majority of people waving the “No TPP” signs at the ’16 convention couldn’t give a half-accurate, brief description of what TPP was, if indeed they ever could.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SFAW: Well, the judge in this case isn’t a ‘he’ but a ‘she’, and ol’ Roger has done his level best to piss her off during his trial.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@bluehill: Why not both? After all, IF either of those prove true, it’s a win for the Republicans.
Betty Cracker
@Chyron HR: Well, if Sanders had encouraged Russia to hack his opponent’s email on national TV, if he had family meetings with Russian operatives at Bernie Tower, if his campaign manager shared internal polling data with a known Russian agent, if his aide insisted on a secure communication channel with Putin, etc., your analogy would make more sense. Alas…
Russian operatives definitely ratfucked the 2016 race to benefit Trump and Sanders. Trump denies it. Sanders doesn’t. I don’t like the cantankerous coot either, but some of y’all have gone down the rabbit hole, IMO.
PJ
@bluehill: Why do you think they are urging Republicans to vote for Bernie in SC? They definitely think Bernie would be the easiest Democrat to beat, by a large margin. According to Rick Wilson (who is a Republican with his own agenda, but I believe him on this point), they have massive amounts of oppo on him that will drop as soon as he is the nominee, but not before, because they want him to win.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: I think Sanders is completely unwitting useful idiot*, too arrogant to see what’s in front of his face. Trump is a half-witting useful idiot.
*to the Russians and the Republicans
?BillinGlendaleCA
@bluehill:
Yes.
And yes.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes, totally agreed. Most of the world does not have single payer and people screeching M4A don’t seem to have any clue about how Medicare actually works. I don’t like Sanders supporters, that’s for sure.
billiam catnerd
@bluehill: Russia doesn’t care which stooge wins as long as it’s one of theirs.
SFAW
@SFAW:
or her back. [Forgot it was Judge Berman Jackson.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks. I realized post-edit-time-window that I screwed up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker:
Join us, we have cookies.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@?BillinGlendaleCA: LOL
the Conster
@bluehill:
I know why. The DOJ will “Hunter Biden” Jane Sanders, with the added benefit of it being true. Obama’s DOJ opened the bank fraud investigation into her, then had to hand off the investigation and the grand jury proceedings to Trump’s DOJ. The investigation was *closed* – according to Jeff Weaver, the only source of the reporting – the week of the blue wave in November when it became clear that the House would open investigations on all fronts. If not indicting Jane to force Bernie to do his Dem ratfucking thing for 2020 doesn’t sound like the pro’est of quid pro quos, I can’t help you. If I’m as crooked as Barr and needed leverage over an election that indicates Republicans would be flushed out of office otherwise, that’s what I’d do to protect all the secrets.
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker:His campaign received aid from GRU it is in the Mueller Report.
2. His record on immigration pre 2016 is problematic
Here is one of the many articles that tells you why along with his voting record.
arrieve
I saw speeches by 16 of the Democratic candidates at the New Hampshire state convention in September. I’m Team Warren, and she got by far the most enthusiastic reception, but I was surprised by how much I liked Klobuchar. She wasn’t someone I’d even considered up to that point — Kamala was my second choice, and there was probably a five-way tie for third — but she is a wonderful speaker, smart, funny and down to earth, and though she’s not my first choice I could happily support her. I think if she is the nominee and people see more of her away from the debate stage they would like her.
Chyron HR
@Betty Cracker:
“There was never, ever, ever any suggestion that Hillary Clinton quote-unquote stole the election,” Sanders said.
Ha fucking ha.
bluehill
Ugh. Sorry, I asked. Seems like one consequence of this big field is that votes for fairly similar candidates are going to get spread out potentially allowing Bernie to build up a sizeable delegate lead after the earlier contests.
name needed
@Betty Cracker:
Sanders saw the help his campaign was getting, AND DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING TO THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN OR HIS SUPPORTERS.
WTF. He’s complicit in it all.
edit: this posted with just a “.”
Kay
@arrieve:
I think so too. She’s my second choice. I would be really pleased if she were the nominee. I’ve come to admire that she doesn’t feel she has to be “nice” and ingratiating just because she’s female. I think it’s brave to buck that demand. It’s unfair and constricting. She is what she is and it’s fine. She’s not your mommy and she doesn’t pretend to be :)
Kraux Pas
Klobuchar is in real competition for my vote. My heart is still w Warren but if Klobuchar demonstrates a better chance of beating the B boys, I’m all in.
Clobber them with that Minnesota mean.
Betty Cracker
@schrodingers_cat: As I said at #101, Russia ratfucked the 2016 election on behalf of both Trump and Sanders. One side — Trump’s — eagerly accepted that help, actively sought to benefit and expand the effort and continues to deny that Russia interfered to this day.
I’ve read the Mueller report. I don’t believe it contains any evidence that Sanders or his campaign were anything other than passive recipients of Russian troll campaigns designed to damage Clinton. If there’s something I overlooked, please point me to it!
As for Sanders on immigration, I can understand holding a decade and a half-old position against him — there are some votes I will hold against elected officials forever too. But I think it’s misleading to say Sanders’ immigration positions are identical to Grassley’s. We have voting records on both men, and they just don’t support that view.
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: I haven’t compared every vote but on immigration he has voted more often with Sessions and Grassley than with other Democrats. He was a reliable anti-immigrant vote in the Senate.
Kent
What Biden needs to do if he crashes and burns tonight is drop out and endorse Klobuchar. She is BY FAR his closest counterpart in this race, both in terms of policy and style. That could really make a difference, especially with the black vote which I expect to be up for grabs if Biden fades.
.
@Betty Cracker:
I have a comment in moderation, but Sanders has had 3 different *explanations* for what he knew and when he knew about the Russians boosting his campaign. Remember, he had Paul Manafort’s partner running his campaign. When pressed as to why he didn’t say anything especially to his supporters who were being manipulated and who hung on his every word, when he knew he was being helped by the Russians in September, he said “we knew what we knew when we knew it, and that’s all I can say”.
That interview is in the VT Public Radio studio with Jane Lindholm who made him answer her question. He was trapped in there with her, and couldn’t run away.
J R in WV
@Kent:
I have trouble understanding how someone so antithetical to American Democracy could be regarded as a patriot. Here’s a mention of “Bernie” Sanders from the Mueller report where Guiccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks are clearly trying to help “Bernie” and harm Secretary Clinton. I thought it was one of the most striking non-criminal things mentioned in the whole document.
Page 46 of Volume One of the “Report on the Investigation…” by Mueller:
the Conster
@Betty Cracker:
Sanders has had 3 different stories about what he knew and when. On VT public radio, Sanders admitted he knew his campaign was being helped by the Russians in September. When pressed about why he didn’t tell his supporters who hung on his every word, he said “we knew what we knew when we knew it”. He had Manafort’s partner running his campaign strategy, both fresh from Ukraine where the election ratfucking was beta tested, right down to the “lock her up” chants, used by the Berniebrats in Philly outside the convention. These are all quite the coincidences.
Mary G
@Kay: I agree. I thought she did the most actual damage to Kavanaugh in his hearings before the Judiciary Committee when she got under his skin and made him lose his temper about his drinking and eventually have to apologize to her. She has decided to embrace the Mean Girl rep and is very unflappable. Twitler would have a hard time getting under her skin.
That wry look on her face in the middle of the shouty men in that last tweet is worth a few hundred thousand in free advertising.
trollhattan
@J R in WV:
At day’s end I ponder what Wilmer’s tangible accomplishments are, after a lifetime in elected office? “Advancing a narrative” is not tangible, so what’s his elevator pitch list?
Kay
@Mary G:
I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I don’t think we’ve seen this before. You recall the nonsense with Clinton “she MUST cry!” – then when she did it was portrayed as inauthentic. What if you just said “fuck it- I’m not doing any of that”?
I think Warren’s “warmness” is authentic as a personality type so I’m not diminishing that, but surely we can have more than one model for “female candidate”, right? Given that we’re half the population and come in all styles? :)
Chyron HR
@Betty Cracker:
Okay, now you sound like when Nunes got caught on the phone with Trump’s Russian mob goons and his whole defense was (paraphrased) “HAH! Look at what the loony libs are saying now! Can you believe how loony they are?”
sdhays
I just told my Dad that she’s not going to make it to the Illinois primary, so that means she’s going to be the nominee.
PJ
@Kent: Even if Biden is hemorrhaging cash, he’ll be in through SC and NV. I would expect all of the six top candidates (including Bloomberg) to be in it through Super Tuesday if they have enough cash on hand, because why the fuck not? Why let two tiny, unrepresentative states decide who gets to be President?
cokane
@PJ: Ehh, I can see Warren dropping out if she comes in 3rd or worse in NH, Nevada and South Carolina. These campaigns consume absurd amounts of money every day they’re active, and, sadly, can’t compete effectively without it.
You’re right about Biden, mostly. He should absolutely stay in until South Carolina at least. If he loses that though…
Martin
So, I hope the other dem candidates pick up on Bloombergs strategy here. Steyer seems on the same page.
Your job is to attack Trump. You distinguish yourself from the rest of the field in how effectively and where you do that. Otherwise, pretend the other candidates don’t exist. Don’t take the moderators bait.
Q: “What’s your plan for healthcare?”
A: Defeat Trump and McConnell and work with a democratic congress to see what we can achieve.
TC
i’ve voted for her twice, and would take her over any of the moderates remaining. As a progressive I like Sanders, Warren. That said, her path to the nom is dimly lit. She would need both Biden and Warren to get out before Super Tues, and that ain’t gonna happen. She’s got solid support here in MN, but when has a MN pol ever done well nationally?
cokane
@Martin: The problem is other Democrats can’t copy Bloomberg’s strategy, except Steyer. They can’t just blanket TV with anti Trump ads.
Martin
@cokane: That’s not my point. My point is that they need to stop talking about each other. Nobody cares about Pete/Biden generational battles. Always talk about Trump. Put your positions in contrast to his.
cokane
@Martin: The thing is — it’s a primary. People in the party actually do care about the differences between the candidates.
SFAW
Since it’s an Open Thread: Josh is reporting that the “lead prosecutor in the Stone case has just submitted a notice of withdrawal from the case.” Apparently he’s still in the DoI, it’s only the Stone thing.
Thank FSM we have a criminal as AG, otherwise Stone might have to pay for his criming. [Yes, I know we have to wait until Judge Jackson passes sentence.]
PJ
@Martin: The problem is that Bloomberg has billions to spend on ads, and the others don’t. Bloomberg never has to shake one voter’s hand, he doesn’t have to go to one debate, he never has to step foot in any of these states if he doesn’t want to. Everyone else has to show up in person and make a case for themselves. Which means that they have to distinguish themselves, and that means drawing distinctions between themselves and other candidates.
cokane
@PJ: Well said.
PJ
@PJ: I mean, if everyone followed your suggested rules, are primary voters just supposed to decide based on whoever has the better ads against Trump?
Kent
What they don’t do now and could do is start every single answer to a question with an anti-Trump message. I don’t know why they don’t all do it.
Q: Senator Warren: Are you for M4A and how would you pay for it?
A: What the American people need to understand is that President Trump is trying his best to STRIP health care from millions of people. His own Justice Department is suing at this very moment to overturn the Affordable Care Act which would strip millions of their health coverage and strip millions more of protections affordable coverage due to pre-existing conditions. That is the world we are living in and what a vote for Trump means. As for the answer to your question. Just reversing course and implementing the ACA as it was written instead of undermining it would bring affordable health care to millions. The public option supported by some would be a big step further and something I support as a transition measure. Ultimately I believe that M4A will provide the most economical coverage for the most people because it would guarantee affordable coverage for every single American. But that is a long-term objective and we have a lot of steps to take to get there”
Start every single answer with a explanation of why Trump is so bad before you explain why you want to do what you want to do.
Betty Cracker
@Chyron HR: Okay moo-mer.
Omnes Omnibus
@germy: Why?
O. Felix Culpa
Jumping in to note that one of our top campaign management talents just got snapped up by Bloomberg. From New Mexico! No one usually pays attention to this state or its people, so this is extraordinary. I don’t know if the individual in question will work here, but the fact that Bloomberg’s reach has extended to our obscure corner of the world is telling. He is spending MONEY and building campaign infrastructure mightily.
Lumpy
@gene108: Can you give an example of a Democratic candidate who endorsed Sanders, who Sanders did not campaign for?
Regarding the thread title: should be “Klomentum”
Klobuchar support will come at the expense of Biden, Buttigieg, Warren and will split their votes, making it likely that none of them get over 15%. In other words, a Klobuchar surge may help Bernie. Moderates should hope that the field narrows, not expands. Fewer moderates in the race are better, from that standpoint.
tam1MI
Which is why Bloomberg is surging. He’s not stuck in the lobster trap.
PJ
@tam1MI: Bloomberg isn’t a genius, but he is very smart, and he knows from being Mayor of New York, if you have shit tons of money to spend as you please, you can set your own rules.
Money is the gravity of media attention, and Bloomberg entering the race is like Jupiter moving between the Earth and Venus. [I have no idea if this is true, I just liked the imagery.] If Democrats do win the White House and Congress, one of the first things we have to do is pass Amendments overturning Citizens United and establishing real campaign finance reform.
Kent
If Bloomberg wins and faces a GOP Senate with McConnell as majority leader he will have his own damn self to blame. Bloomberg dumped over $6 million of his own money in the 2016 PA Senate race in favor of Pat Toomey who beat his Dem challenger by just 1% of the vote.
Kent
Just noticed a Klobuchar puff piece on the front page of the Post. I guess they are getting behind her. At least it wasn’t a hit piece. Apparently she was the cool funny one in college
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/11/klobuchars-friends-tell-different-story-about-her/
cokane
@tam1MI: I’m not so sure Bloomberg’s current bump in polls will translate to much in terms of results. We’ll see. But he’s not going to place high in the three pre-Super Tuesday races. He’s also unlikely, imo, to capture a ton of support once candidates start to drop out.
J R in WV
@J R in WV:
Dammit, that black quote sometimes gets my goat!!
J R in WV
@PJ:
“We” can’t pass Amendments — it takes a super majority of congress AND state legislatures to do that.That’s really hard, see the Equal Rights Amendment for just how hard it is!
What we can do is shuck the Federalist judges out of there, change the structure of the judiciary to make them irrelevant by adding real judges into the system, something like that. OR Pass a bill making it plain that Money =/= Speech !!!