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Spartacus, Your definitions of the Democrat Factions is incorrect. The Sanders/Gabbard/Sherrod Brown/O'Rourke/Cenk Ungyer wing is what constitutes the Democrat "Left". Gillibrand, Biden and to some extent Warren are "party insiders". The Booker/Harris/Schumer Wing is the "Centrist" wing (Bloomberg if he runs as a democrat could probably be placed here as well). In 2016 Sanders represented the Democrats "left and Hillary represented the democrats "Center/Right".
I seem to have missed one from a few weeks ago. Author Marianne Williamson, who is Oprah's 'spiritual advisor, a self help guru and a writer of new age books and stuff.
First here is a brief quote from an article at the Hill announcing her candidacy:
Author and activist Marianne Williamson has announced a bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, joining a crowded field of candidates.
Williamson, who launched her campaign at an event in Los Angeles late Monday, called on voters to have a "meaningful conversation" about potential political solutions and described the current national discourse as "shallow."
"I want to engage voters in a more meaningful conversation about America," she said in a statement.
And because I had never heard of her, here is an article from Marie Clarie magazine which provides more background and a bit of a profile about who she is:
One candidate, however, is less political, and more spiritual: Marianne Williamson, author, activist, self-help guru, and Friend Of Oprah—a tier of status, not a person—has announced her candidacy for President, as a Democrat.
Williamson, whose previous run for the seat of California's 33rd congressional district as an Independent in 2014 was endorsed by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, as well as actors and celebrities like Laura Dern and Kim Kardashian, isn't like most candidates running today—mainly because she's not a politician. But here's everything you should know about her.
{The rest of the article at the link}
In any case, she has some billionaire media bigshot named "Oprah" who is apparently in her corner, so that together with her books and social media presence should make her an interesting darkhorse candidate to watch.
Last edited by Spartacus713; 02-23-2019 at 08:00 AM..
Bernie Sanders blows away the rest of the Democrats running for president on the day of his formal announcement that he is running for president again.
Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign is off to an impressive start: The Vermont senator crushed other Democratic candidates in his first day of online fundraising, and boasted social media stats that easily outstripped his competition, too.
Sanders brought in more than $5.9 million from more than 220,000 donors in the 24 hours since he announced his presidential candidacy, according to his campaign. He easily eclipsed other announced 2020 candidates’ first-day fundraising figures — as well as his own in 2015, when he he raked in more than $1.5 million online in the first 24 hours.
Sanders broke small-dollar fundraising records in that campaign, and his staff has worked to amass an online media empire, posting more than 1,000 videos on his Facebook and Twitter pages over the past two years.
I thought that people running to be nominated by the Democrats had to formally declare their loyalty to their party. No independents masquerading as Democrats this time around. Or at least that was the story last fall.
Bernie is going to pull the Democrats too far to the left and the party establishment eggheads know it. They do not want him to run and they certainly do not want him to win. If Sanders wins the nomination this time, the Democrats will be the party of socialism from now on, and all the lying and denying in the world is not going to fool anyone. If Sanders wins the nomination, the Democrats are the American Socialist Party - case closed.
Spartacus, Your definitions of the Democrat Factions is incorrect. The Sanders/Gabbard/Sherrod Brown/O'Rourke/Cenk Ungyer wing is what constitutes the Democrat "Left". Gillibrand, Biden and to some extent Warren are "party insiders". The Booker/Harris/Schumer Wing is the "Centrist" wing (Bloomberg if he runs as a democrat could probably be placed here as well). In 2016 Sanders represented the Democrats "left and Hillary represented the democrats "Center/Right".
Early in this thread, I identifies four brackets to this contest, which are somewhat similar to what you have described. But still, I would break it out a bit differently. Let's go through this again, with the leaders of each bracket.
But first, a list of the apparent or very possible noteworthy candidates at this point.
1. Michael Bennet
2. Joe Biden
3. Michael Bloomberg
4. Cory Booker
5. Sherrod Brown
6. Steve Bullock
7. Pete Buttigieg
8. Julian Castro
9. Bill de Blasio
10. John Delaney
11. Tulsi Gabbard
12. Kirsten Gillibrand
13. Kamala Harris
14. John Hickenlooper
15. Eric Holder
16. Jay Inslee
17. Amy Klobuchar
18. Terry McCauliffe
19. Beto O'Rourke
20. Bernie Sanders
21. Eric Swalwell
22. Elizabeth Warren
23. Marianne Williamson
24. Andrew Yang
That is 24 candidates which would make for a very evenly divided 3 debate panels of eight candidates each. DNC Chairman Tom Perez has already said candidates will NOT be ranked by polling numbers, so there will have to be some sort of a random draw or something. While this will make for a bit of chaos, I do believe this is a better and more fair way to do this than what the Republicans did in 2016.
So, now for the four brackets. I do not know all of these candidates well enough to assign them to the brackets below, so I will just name a few top names to help characterize that respective group:
1. Establishment bracket: Joe Biden, Terry McCauliffe, Amy Klobuchar, Sherrod Brown 2. Socialist bracket: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Beta O'Rourke (He will compete here or nowhere) 3. SJW/"Identity politics"/"Political correctness" bracket: Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Eric Holder 4. Other Bracket: Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Jay Inslee
Of course these candidates will also try to appeal to potential voters in other brackets. Their platforms in most cases will not be entirely one dimensional.
So, do you agree with this breakdown and the division of the brackets? If not, then what do you think it should be?
The Establishment and "Identity politics" wings should really be merged as in terms of actual policies the identity politics politicians have the same general policies as the establishment types. Bloomberg should really be moved to the establishment bracket ( if he runs as a democrat). There is also a loose coalition between the socialist and "other" brackets (Cenk Ungyer and Justice democrats would probably also be placed here as well).
The Establishment and "Identity politics" wings should really be merged as in terms of actual policies the identity politics politicians have the same general policies as the establishment types. Bloomberg should really be moved to the establishment bracket ( if he runs as a democrat). There is also a loose coalition between the socialist and "other" brackets (Cenk Ungyer and Justice democrats would probably also be placed here as well).
Of course at the end of it all, there can be only one.
Yes, Hillary Clinton really may run for president again. Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn told Fox News this morning there are a number of scenarios that may lead to a third Hillary candidacy.
“If the party looks too far to the left and there’s no front runner, she’ll get in,” he said.
“I think if Joe Biden gets in, that probably means she won’t run if he gets in. If he doesn’t get in, I think the field will be open for her,” Penn said.
He went on to indicate Clinton has long despised the year before the election year, so that may underscore the point she will wait as long as she can to declare her candidacy.
It appears the Joe Biden is not really all that excited about doing this again at 80 years of age. He looks to be ready to retire and play the role of an elder statesman who will periodically be called on for his observations. He is dragging his feet on making a decision about running and he is definitely not emitting a lot of eagerness here.
According to Penn, if Biden decides not to run, Hillary is poised to get in. All of the Democrats who do clearly appear to be running are climbing over the top of each other in their race to the left. Which leaves open a huge opportunity for someone to stake out the center/moderate/establushment wing of the party, especially if Joe decides to pack it in.
I hope she runs. Go, Hillary go! Stay tuned....
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