Be afraid, Bernie Bros. Be very afraid. We’ve got four women who are running. Tulsi hasn’t got a chance but she’s nice eye candy, amirite, guys?
I’m waiting for Amy Klobuchar to jump in.
My criteria is going to be who is most presidential. Who will represent MY interests for a change. Who will stand up for the working class, which means anyone who doesn’t live on their investments.
That’s what is important, not whether she ticks all the boxes, though Kamala does seem to have hit the trifecta there.
In fact, I’d like to see even MORE women in the primary. Why not? We’ve seen all men primaries before and no one blinked an eye. It was just assumed that one of us would vote for one of the wide variety of mediocre men.
Yeah, fuck that shit. I want to see Kamala or Amy take Trump out.
I’m voting with my vagina next year. I might even bedazzle it red, white and blue.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
ugh, I used the R word! and in moderation.
RD, it is ok if you want to delete my comment that is in moderation. It does not flow with the rest of the comments here but thought I would share my comment about her mom’s story which is really impressive.
This picture is incredible. BTW, Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA) did well this morning under Mika’s stupid onslaught — trump and McConnell will not budge but what will YOU do? Putting everything on the Democrats. Not surprised. Sharrod Brown didn’t do as well under Mika’s onslaught. He should have said, the media should go chase those Republicans hiding under their desks.
RD,
You really lifted my spirits with this article! This time around, I refuse to indulge in arguments that immediately try to find fault with any of the women who choose to run which claim that they are not the “right” one! After what was done to Hillary (and there will never be another more qualified than Hillary – male or female for a very long time) using that very same argument, let’s just say, guys we’re on to your efforts to undermine any woman who runs regardless of how she stacks up against the men running, while you turn a blind eye to the men who give us far more reason to be concerned when it comes to their “qualifications” and character!
Thank you, RD, for stepping up to the plate and hitting the ball out of the park by having these women’s backs. If women stand together and not be swayed by these bogus, worn out arguments always used against women running for president, WE WILL WIN and the boys know it.
I think Senator Harris has everything and MORE that qualifies her to run. Moreover, she has more “gravitas” than Obama had and that will be one quality needed to take on trump and the republicans (who play nasty and they cheat). She also has more in her resume than Obama did when he ran, except for an appendige hanging between her legs!
It’s time that women take their rightful place in the WH. The boys have had their chance and, as usual, it will take a woman to clean up their big, nasty mess.
The main ingredient we need in women is ambition (and determination). And Hillary had it by leaps and bounds and she would have been president in place of Bill Clinton if the society was ahead like that then in 1992 and BC would have supported her. It is nice to see this newer generation go after big dreams. It is a lot of work/risk and women analyze too much while men go at it without thinking (because patriarchy).
We could use someone like Harris as President. Strong, smart, savvy and I would hope someone who won’t pardon the cabal of criminals that have seized power. Need someone with the guts to look at corrupt Supreme Court Justices and do what is right and get them investigated and then tried for any of their crimes. Someone who will build the party from the ground up and endeavor to get and keep both Houses of Congress. Someone who won’t be afraid to sign into law real legislation that positively affects the people of the USA. Legislation that puts a stop to gerrymandering and voter suppression. But electing a woman isn’t going to be easy. Hillary Clinton was by far the most accomplished and charismatic candidate in decades. Nobody is going to be a better candidate no matter the gender. The misogyny in this country from both the hard right and the hard left is just mind numbing. It will be hard to overcome but I think we can do it.
I am not ready to jump on anyone’s bandwagon yet and that INCLUDES Harris. I want Amy to jump in too. And I caution everyone that sees Kamala as the first black/Indian/woman president to slow down. We went through that with Obama and he did not meet expectations in the bold moves category. He squandered his majorities and possibly set us back for generations. So, let’s be cautious this time and really pay attention to temperament and vision this time. Star power is not enough. Harris has to be able to meet and exceed the times we live in.
I don’t want her to give me an orgasm. I want her to be a great president.
Yep, totally agree.
RD,
I totally agree. However, I can assure you that Kamala will be expected to do the job, whereas, Obama was given free passes and excuses by the press and the dems. We’ve never seen how a woman will lead as president, but I have no doubt that the standards will be higher that she achieve what was promised and no one will be giving her free passes or excuses.
I am not looking at Harris as a personality so much as I see her as a force to be reckoned with and look forward to the debates where we can get a better idea on who these people really are. I like Amy a lot, but from what I’ve seen so far from her, she’s appears “too nice” and we are going to need someone who is not afraid to fight back with a guy like trump and his republican lap dogs.
You think Amy is too nice?? Have you seen her question nominees during confirmation hearings? She’s deadly.
Don’t mistake unflappability with niceness.
Yes! She has a spine of steal with a disarming persona. Love that about her. She’s the real deal. I encourage people to look into her, she’s an under-rated senator. She still has to announce, yes, but hopefully that will be forthcoming. Maybe not. If not, I’ll have to just do my research and learn the other candidates & their platforms. None so far have any policy positions or info about the issues on their website. I know nothing about any of the others. I only am familiar with Amy because I live in a neighboring state, and have loved her since I found out she & Hillary are very good friends. She has always been loyal to Hillary, and I love that about her. Here’s to an invigorating primary campaign and on to winning in 2020.
RD,
Please don’t take my pointing out that Amy comes across as too nice as a criticism. Yes, she has a spine of steel, Ms Becky, and yes she asked very pointed questions. I really like Klobuchar! I watched both Harris and Klobuchar in the Kavanaugh hearings and was impressed with both. Amy held her ground, asked great/pointed questions and never let him get under her skin. However, I was particularly impressed with Harris’ questioning of Kavanaugh, particularly, when she asked Kavanaugh if he could think of any law that regulates men’s bodies…he sputtered and stammered and tried every lawyer trick in the book to give a non-answer but she wouldn’t let him off the hook and he finally had to say “no.” Made him look like the dick he truly is. It was not only Harris’ questioning skills but her doggedness in pushing Kavanaugh until she got an answer which caught my attention.
It also comes down to which candidate has the best advantage in coalition building. Harris’ coalition would not only include black voters, but also potentially Asian and Hispanic voters. Her approval ratings among Hispanic voters are high in California, a state where the group makes up around a third of the electorate. She rivals of O’Rourke in that category.
How difficult will it be for Amy to build a powerful coalition? Minnesota is a pretty white state, so she doesn’t have a lot of practice at appealing to black, Hispanic or Asian voters. Her voting record is fairly moderate. I am looking forward to seeing how Harris and Klobuchar perform in Iowa.
We all know they are going to pull out all the stops in the 2020 presidential election, the Russians will be back to help trump, the republicans will lie and cheat to help trump. As it stands now, I believe Harris will handle it better. It’s only an opinion and I am not making any final decision on a candidate until the debates begin during the primary. It’s too early to decide now on who I will support.
My husband made the comment yesterday that in America a small minority is totally oblivious to how sophisticated a government that their country built for them. This minority does not deserve the first world thoughts and ideas that went into building this entity, the crown jewel of which is the judiciary (excepting rightwing nutcase judiciary, of course but they have to be discounted on merit at their own peril which happens from time to time).
I’ve been with you since the PUMA days but my agreement stops here. I don’t want to lose with a woman candidate again. I don’t want to tell white men we have no faith in them. American male votes are crucial to winning this election. Lets give them a woman VP, ok, because we’ve never even elected one of those.
Um, white guys and half white guys have had our faith for 250 years. That means half of them have been below average.
It’s time they stopped bogarting the office. And it’s time we stopped giving the benefit of a doubt just because they think they are entitled.
But you do you.
I’m just sick to death of the status quo and I want REAL change this time.
I think the major issue of our government besides Republican corruption is that the people of this country are not truly represented. Over 50% of the population are women. Therefore, common sense dictates that out of 535 Congressmen 268 should be women. That also means that 5 out of 10 presidents should be women. Our representation has got to be proportional and not just exclusive to rich, white males who think nothing about using the government for their own agenda rather than for the majority of people who are poor and middle class. If we could fix this issue then I believe everything else will fall in line.
In other words if we want the very best candidate to be President then statistically it makes no sense that they would all be male, white and rich. If you automatically eliminate women from consideration then you virtually guarantee that you never have the best President we could have.
I think it’s worse than that because male presidents have been able to get away with only having to be better than the last guy. That’s a very low bar. Women on the other hand, have to be exceptional from the outset and still suffer the effects of penis years bias.
With more women in the race, we should get an outstanding bunch of candidates who will be more focused on policy. At least, that’s what I hope and expect.
I’m waiting for Amy. I’ll vote blue no matter who, but after loving Hillary for several decades, I’m feeling that Amy is the next best thing. No one can compare to Hillary, but they are similar in so many ways. Each midwest girls, with similar values. So far I’m unable to see what others see in Harris but I’ll definitely keep looking and listening. Waiting until debates to make a determination.
Not to insult anyone’s intelligence by stating the obvious, but we absolutely must win the next election. And I think that even includes getting back the Senate. Republicans have unequivocally shown that if they have control of any branch, they will use it to completely neutralize the others. McConnell would block a Democratic President any way he could. All the public outcry would not matter to him, or to the Republican Senators from Red States. To win the Senate, we need three takeovers at the very least. One would have to be Tillis from NC. There are only two Republican Senators from Blue States up for election. Any other wins must come from Red States. The way the country is set up, 40% of the population, concentrated in smaller states which have disproportionate power per population, can control the Senate. Democrats won overwhelming victories in popular vote in 2018, and Republicans won two Senate seats. This is the political reality.
So whether we like it or not, to be able to have Democrats actually run the country and implement important policies, we need them to win the electoral vote, and also be able to have some coattails with Red State voters, or else those states will keep electing Republicans who are anti-government radicals at the least, and traitorous Russian assets at the worst.
This doesn’t mean that I know which candidate could do this, and still also be representative of liberal ideals. But I know that it is a very difficult task, like threading a needle. We could run someone who evokes a lot of enthusiasm among most Democratic voters, but who does not draw in enough independents, and who would create the same type of rabid opposition which led to the Republicans taking over virtually everything in the Obama era. We need liberalism, but we also want to be able to forge at least some kind of national consensus, or else any gain made will be completely dissipated under the next right-wing President, as we are seeing. I can’t worry about everything; and it will just play out; but I would caution to be very wary of a candidate who is “exciting,” to a portion of the base, but who cannot carry enough of the electoral population with them, not only to win the election, but to effectively govern afterward.
What i see now, was pretty much inevitable: numerous candidates who each have an appeal on some level, but maybe not on enough levels. I see no FDR here, no Bill Clinton, no Hillary Clinton, all of whom not only evoked much support, but who were, or would have been, excellent Presidents. We’ll have to pick one, of course. If the subject is women candidates here, I would choose Klobuchar over any of the others, because she is from the crucial Midwest, she is bright, she is not acerbic, and she has a good deal of elective experience. This primary campaign could be interesting, or it could devolve into “We must have a woman!” “We must have an African American!” “We must have a Hispanic!” “What happened to white males!,”, where so much animosity is unleashed, that factions are angered at the ticket, and do not support it. Harris has the identity advantage of being a woman, plus having Jamaican and Indian ancestry. But that should not be the way to pick a ticket, this isn’t the Academy Awards nominations
Pelosi should say to the #theAsset, if he wants SOTU, reopen the government. Maybe that is what she told him. He is acting as if he can do this bypassing her but he can’t even enter the House floor without a resolution.
WTG!!
I’m with Ms. Becky and William. None of the candidates thus far impress or inspire me. The next Prez is going to have a lot of shit to clean up and without a Dem majority in both houses it will be a Herculean slog. Russia will be lurking, foreign relations are in tatters, our electoral system is badly compromised, our environment is in peril, our infrastructure is crumbling and many social, cultural and racial divisions must be healed. Agent Orange and the GOP have caused a LOT of damage. The debates will tell the tale, assuming of course that the questions are fair and revelatory and there is no fluffing going on. I sure as hell wouldn’t want the job!
Good info. Call these R senators!
check his thread for other info such as ‘call the Senate: 202-224-3121’
… using @MoveOn’s toll-free legislative hotline: 855-456-0395.
Saw Kamala in DC… she’s tough and never gives up but still leads with compassion. During the Kavanaugh protests she turned her senate office into a place where protesters could rest and offered us snack bars and drinks… she was also the only office with a big “Dreamers Welcome” sign right outside. I like Amy too! Amy or Kamala would be very presidential and formidable. But I fear Russian interference regardless of who the nominee is.
Yes Welcome, a women’s forum, just the ladies, would be a super chance to showcase their diversity and strengths. I’m leaning Amy K she kicked ass during Kavanaugh and Barr hearings and would be hard for the Wizard to slime effectively. And I’m supporting all of these women over most of the guy’s running as number 1 on the ticket, no support for Bernie, Biden or Booker from me.. But more will be joining the race so open mind for now…..
oh and saw this headline on TPM…Trump Bends The Knee
Chastened President Accepts SOTU Postponement As Pelosi Asserts Authority
Stupid BS Democrats Trump has an extreme personality disorder and is incapable of being Chastened…..
it’s …Pelosi Asserts Authority and blocks Trump from delivering SOTU at the House during government shutdown…Trump says he will wait…
Tulsi Gabbard is Jill Stein 2.0. 😛
Off topic: I turn 56 in May, and it just struck me that I have a hoard of CDs and cassettes that I never dig out and listen to, so I have started doing that, because it would be quite stupid to let them just sit there until I croak. I’ve been listening to my Living In Oblivion compilation collection (5 CDs) of 1980s classics–some well-known, some obscure.
I played this one driving home from work today.