Clyburn endorsed Biden

But he obviously undersands the risks in letting him debate Sanders.

And they'll probably do it, too.

Hopefully it means it doesn't have a future.

UPDATE:

Which won't stop them.

As it should be

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The 10th "debate"

Less than 24 hours after a Live 5 News report on the high cost of a guaranteed seat at the Democratic Presidential Debate, the Charleston County Democratic Party no longer shows the option on their website.

A report Thursday stated people looking to watch the debate in person would have to pay for a minimum sponsorship package of more than $1,700 for a package that also includes multiple First-in-the-South events.

"The only guaranteed way to get a ticket is to become a sponsor of the debate,” the website stated.

But on Friday, the Charleston County Democratic Party chapter removed the sponsorship link and changed its wording to: “Unfortunately, CCDP will not have any tickets to distribute.”

Party officials explained tickets are handed out to organizers like the Democratic National Committee, CBS, Twitter and the Black Caucus Institute.

Then, they are first given to paid sponsors and handed to campaigns to pass out extras.

  Live 5 News

So, yeah, that could explain all the Bloomberg support in the audience, as well as the anti-Bernie sentiment.

President I-Don't-Have-Time-To-Watch-TV was on it:

A "chocker"???  Does that have anything to do with "covfefe"?  Or "smocker"?  Or is that something that mafiosi understand? *

Politico got 15 "experts" to comment on the debate. Here are some excerpts:

Alan Schroeder is a professor in the school of journalism at Northeastern University in Boston. Schroeder is the author of several books, including Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail.

An air of desperation permeated this gathering, not surprisingly, given the realities of the calendar. The biggest desperado of them all: Biden, who substituted nostalgia for vision and loudness for coherence. Biden spent almost as much time griping about not getting called on as he did discussing the topics on the table—the wrong move for a debater who already reads like a crabby codger.

  Politico

Joe has made similar complaints in every debate I've watched.

Bloomberg’s overall tone-deafness is staggering, as evidenced in the weird joke he made about having won the previous debate, a quip so odd that it eluded even those in the live audience whom Bloomberg had seemingly paid to cheer. Another problem for the former mayor: The Bloomberg whom voters were watching on the debate stage could not hold a candle to the Bloomberg who kept popping up during commercial breaks. The two Mikes may as well have been different people.

And CBS should have never allowed any political ads during the debate.

Buttigieg and Klobuchar managed to stay out of each other’s grills this time, both of them striving mightily to promote the appeal of a moderate Democratic nominee. Articulate as Buttigieg may be, he is shaping up to be a divisive figure. (Evidently one person’s brilliant is another person’s smarmy.) Klobuchar tried her damnedest, but instead of relishing the experience, as she has in previous debates, she was reduced to last-ditch pleading. A joyless Klobuchar is not the Klobuchar debate audiences have come to expect.

Finally, a word about the moderators of this broadcast: Let’s stipulate that moderating a live TV debate is a singularly tough job and that any journalist in this role can have an off night, but this was an especially off night for Norah O’Donnell, Gayle King and the small army of journalists whom CBS saw fit to add to the dais. Too often the questioning stoked conflict for conflict’s sake, and the candidates were allowed far too much leeway to run amok. When debaters sense weakness in moderators, etiquette flies out the window and chaos ensues. That’s what happened in this high-intensity, low-information debate.

Jennifer Lawless is a professor of politics at the University of Virginia whose research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics.

If I had to come up with a motto that emerged from this debate, it would be an homage to Nike: Just Do It! It’s time to vote. We don’t need another debate. We don’t need another town hall. We’ve reached the point of the primary season where these debates provide little in the way of new information. Voters have seen the candidates engage in robust conversations, breakout moments and lackluster performances. They’ve viewed prepared statements, rehearsed accusations and off-the-cuff responses. They’ve developed a sense of the candidates’ strengths, weaknesses, experiences and temperaments. This isn’t to say that debates can’t matter or that citizens don’t learn from them. But we’ve reached the point of diminishing marginal returns. It’s enough already.

Obviously not. Why then do so many people say they haven't made up their minds?

Larry J. Sabato is founder and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and is a contributing editor at POLITICO Magazine.

If I’ve learned one thing over these 10 Democratic debates, it’s that identifying the loser is easier than picking the winner.

And the loser Tuesday was everybody on stage. The Democratic Party. Any hope for sensible, coherent debates.

Out-of-control candidates talked over one another, and hapless moderators were unable to enforce the rules. I’m partly sympathetic. The classroom can be like that—a tug of war between teacher and unruly students, although I’ve never had a class with people constantly waving their arms in the air and begging, “Pick me, teacher. I know the answer!”

[...]

To no one’s surprise, Sanders was the primary target. He’s the current frontrunner so it was his turn to fend off attacks. As befits a frontrunner, he was the center of attention, and as far as I could tell, he shed only a little blood. Almost no one’s mind was changed. Sanders has the most intense support, though nowhere close to a majority. His backers will stick with him through thick and thin, and that’s enough in a still-crowded field.

The South Carolina audience actually seemed quite disdainful of Sanders, to the extent that at one point when he said something and they responded with groans and boos, he looked out at them and said, "Oh, really?  Really?" quite testily.

Bloomberg isn’t even on the South Carolina ballot, yet there he was on stage [...] . Bloomberg improved his performance from godawful last week to merely awful this time. Warren finished administering the beating she gave Bloomberg in his first debate. It made no difference because Bloomberg’s TV ads appeared before, during and after the show. Shouldn’t the stations and networks pass on airing any candidate’s advertisements during a debate? Shock us, and maybe introduce a small element of fairness, even if it costs you a few dollars.

[...]

Steyer was passionate and finally got a decent share of debate time. Maybe it wins him a few more points on Saturday, probably eating into Biden’s vote. As of yet, though, no one sees Steyer as a real contender to be the Democratic nominee.

[...]

I’ll finish by noting my own (biblical) words to live by: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The Democratic debates, combined with the presidency of Donald Trump and the coronavirus, suggest we ought to stock up on nonperishable foodstuffs.

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst, lawyer, author and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

What a mess. It was exhausting. At times, I felt as if I was watching a team of 5-year-old kids peacocking for attention. They raised their hands incessantly, talked over and interrupted one another frequently, and ignored the questions they were asked to discuss whatever they felt like discussing. Bloomberg even delivered an incredibly bizarre joke about the Naked Cowboy that no one outside of New York could have comprehended.

[...]

On issues of racial and economic justice, Steyer really stood out. His statements on these issues gave him standing with the African American community that he probably hasn’t enjoyed to date. For the first time over the many weeks of debates, he made us want to listen to and believe in him.

As always, Warren was superior on issues of gender, racial and economic justice. However, Tuesday’s attack on Bloomberg didn’t seem to resonate with the audience and may have caused her campaign more harm than good. Bloomberg does not appear to be a Harvey Weinstein, and the allegation [she] made against him [that he told a pregnant employee to "kill it"] will inevitably be investigated. If it proves to be inaccurate, Warren’s attack on Bloomberg may hurt her campaign and the #MeToo movement.

[...]

Bloomberg’s discussion about his experience with charter schools in New York was a beautiful symphony for the ears of the thousands of people of color who are advocates of school choice. His work in creating Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety are huge feathers in his cap, but his ability to get things done may not be enough for him to dispel the myth that he is a Republican in a Democrat’s clothing.

[...]

The Democratic Party has changed drastically before our very eyes. The caucuses in Nevada proved that a large swath of Democrats of every demographic believe in and want all of the things that Sanders and Warren are promising. The phrase “Democratic socialist” doesn’t frighten many of them. However, no matter how boring he was in demeanor, Bloomberg was correct when he declared that the country just can’t afford many of the things that are being promised. Most Americans must know that a wealth tax will not propel a Democrat into the White House; that there will never be government-mandated free tuition for public colleges and universities; and that capitalism is as American as apple pie.

Let us hope not. At least in its present form. Democratic socialism is capitalism lite. I think the younger folks understand that. And why not free tuition? It's already in place on the state level in mnay places.

Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and co-editor of Dissent. He is writing a history of the Democratic Party.

he Charleston debate was, until near the end, an irritating mess. All the candidates—save Steyer, who remains an earnest irrelevancy—devoted themselves to hurling unfunny snarks and personal attacks against the others. Biden and Sanders seemed in a competition to see who could shout louder and more often, and Warren appeared, for some reason, far more interested in thrashing Bloomberg once again than in promoting any of her famous plans. After an hour or so of this, Preet Bharara, the New York prosecutor whom President Trump fired early in his tenure, tweeted, “I would like to cringe less during debates relating to who will become the most powerful leader on earth.” Amen.

Finally, when the moderators, who consistently failed to keep the debaters from interrupting one another, got around to asking about foreign policy and the threat of a global pandemic, the candidates showed that they can be calm, intelligent people who would not, like the incumbent in the White House, conduct diplomacy as if it were a popularity contest. But even then, most of their answers boiled down to pat phrases about “consulting our allies” and the like.

Sophia A. Nelson is an American author, political strategist, opinion writer and former House Republican Committee counsel.

The best debate yet for Biden. He was firm. He was forceful. He was fierce.

Was she on the right channel?

Atima Omara is a political strategist and former president of the Young Democrats of America.

The race was on to convince the predominantly black electorate of the South Carolina Democratic primary who was the best candidate for president. From criminal justice reform to affordable housing to education, black voters were discussed a lot more than in previous debates.

Definitively Biden shined more, if simply because his lines got more applause and cheers, which reflected his strong standing with black voters, especially age 50 and up. He even blurted out that he would appoint a black woman Supreme Court justice toward the end.

[...]

Steyer, for all his ads and early organizing work in South Carolina, still seems not to make much of a dent on the debate stage.

I think it's a personality thing: he doesn't have one. (h/t Jean)

I don't mind Steyer.  He has some good points, but I can't see him having the chutzpah to be an effective president.

Charles Ellison is a political strategist and talk-radio host.

Let's first establish the debate’s losers, to get it out the way: the CBS moderators. If getting paid to just sit there and let the candidates brawl in a verbal battle royale is the way it's supposed to work, a handful of South Carolina high school students could have done it better.

[...]

If there was a debate winner, it was Biden for looking solid; Buttigieg came in second for attempting a holistic conversation about the significance of Democrats needing to win the trifecta of the House, Senate and White House.

Biden also finally got the memo: Drill in on Sanders, and drill in hard. Between Bloomberg, Biden, Buttigieg and even, at one point, Warren, Sanders ended up looking rattled and more ranty than ever, rambling off his hypothetical poll matchups versus Trump and his approval ratings in a way that looks, unmistakably, Trump-like. Maybe that doesn’t hurt him, since his force of yelling keeps him impenetrable and his core supporters are only energized by every attack, but it ensures his base doesn’t grow anymore beyond that. I’m still trying to figure out the shrewd calculus behind Warren’s relentless pursuit of Bloomberg; and even as she poked holes in Sanders and needed to as a way to siphon off his support, she went right back to hitting Bloomberg’s buttons. Klobuchar was just there, filling time.

[...]

South Carolina is held down by high poverty, food insecurity and other ailments, and yet this debate went in other directions.

Perhaps because it was a debate for a national election?

John Neffinger is a speaker coach, lecturer on political communication at Georgetown University and Columbia Business School, former communications director of the Democratic National Committee and co-author of Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential.

This was not a great night for the Democratic Party. The moderating was not strong; there was a lot of shouting and cross talk; it was unpleasant to behold. Through all of that, not a lot changed the dynamic of the race, which is good news for Sanders, even as he stumbled several times under fire and even got booed by the crowd. (In Bernie's defense, this crowd was the Democratic establishment.)

Biden and Bloomberg did just enough to give them a chance to do well on Super Tuesday and hope to pick up a larger share of the vote should other candidates drop out.

[...]

Biden could have been sharper, but he looked vigorous and more commanding than usual, and that helps him going into South Carolina.

He appeared that way because he's way behind in polls and debates, and he felt assured that South Carolina is his for the taking. He doesn't believe in himself.  It's in his posture and his presentation.  He gets chuffed when he feels in self-promoting territory.  Much like Trump.  Too bad Biden can't always arrange that, like Trump can.  We should accept Biden's judgment of himself.

Fundamentally, this still feels like Sanders’s race to lose. The rest of the field is split, there’s no consensus alternative, and it’s likely Sanders will pick up a bunch of other candidates’ voters as they drop out. There is a case to be made against him, whether you agree with it or not, but it was not prosecuted in a sustained way during the debate. [...] “Socialism!” doesn't seem any more off-putting to voters than the rest of the spectacle we witnessed Tuesday night.

And that's a good thing.

Amanda Litman is co-founder and executive director of Run for Something.

That debate was a downer. Nobody won, but somehow all of us at home lost. That’s two hours of our lives we’ll never get back. And even worse: Barely a minute of those two hours was spent discussing reproductive rights, climate change or immigration reform, which might have made the evening at least a little bit redeemable.

And even worse: that's two hours (and more) the candidates will never get back. They could have been campaigning somewhere they need votes.

You can read the rest of the comments in the article here.

There was a moment, right at the beginning of Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, when things could have gone in a different and more thoughtful direction. Elizabeth Warren was gently—too gently, by many people’s standards—poking Bernie Sanders by saying that they both shared popular progressive policy programs but that she was best suited to act on them as president.

[...]

The stage was set right there for a discussion of the limits of progressive politics within the Democratic Party. All of the others could have jumped in at that point; Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden could have given the audience a look at where they thought the limits were, and Biden could have provided a long view of how hard it is to get progressive ideas through our political process. Instead, Buttigieg decided to set up the Bloomberg-Sanders binary so he could position himself as being the national trank gun, whereupon the hot spittle and steaming bile erupted and the moment was lost, alas.

[...]

This was the worst political debate I ever saw, and the reason for that was the moderators. None of them had the faintest idea what their jobs were or how to do them. It was also a more-than-marginally corrupt enterprise; CBS allowed one of Michael Bloomberg’s ads to run during one of the commercial breaks, which was inexcusable. Seats were sold for a $1,700 minimum “sponsorship” to the South Carolina Democratic Party. And the paradigmatic moment came when Bloomberg, under fire from Warren for all the money he’d raised for Republican senatorial candidates, including Scott Brown when he was running against her in 2012, came right up to the edge of saying that he’d bought the 2018 Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives.

[...]

Everybody talked over everybody else, and then got angry at the moderators when those sad sacks finally tried to restore order by enforcing a time limit that everybody ignored. I’ve seen better organized soccer riots. And while I have no doubt that channels were changed all over America, and the polls may make me a liar over this, I doubt profoundly that any minds were changed—except, again, for those belonging to the Bloomberg-curious among us.

[...]

Warren took a pop at him on his healthcare plan, pointing out that, when she produced her plan with its precise cost figures, the online weasel patrol that attends the Sanders campaign lied about it and about her. That set off the same general scrum over healthcare policy that’s been a running feature of these debates for over a year now. But the main event was the attempt by the rest of the field, Warren excepted, to pin some of Sanders’s ancient quotes on him regarding Fidel Castro and Cuba. Sanders looked beleaguered and cranky, so much so that, when Buttigieg finally opened the floodgates on his formidable reservoir of sanctimony, Sanders whiffed on it.

[...]

"We're not gonna win these critical House and Senate races if people in these races have to explain why the nominee of the Democratic Party is telling people to look at the bright side of the Castro regime.”

How could Sanders miss on this? Maybe, while he’s in South Carolina, Buttigieg could drive on up to Orangeburg, where, in February of 1968, fired by the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s, three students were shot down while trying to integrate a local bowling alley. Or he could discuss how the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s, as expressed at the Stonewall Inn in New York, was still relevant to our lives today. Or he simply could walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge a couple of times. I’m nostalgic for a lot of that. This was “OK, Boomer” shot through with a kind of entitled contempt for the importance of historical memory.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

*All I could find was an Australian definition:

British slang:

And a Russian YouTube account:

10th Dem Debate

I had to turn it off.

That was a hot mess.

10th Dem Debate

If the people in the audience are any indication of the entire state of South Carolina, Bernie isn't going to do as well as he has in the previous states.  And Bloomberg is going to do better than I'd like.

Also, the two ladies moderating aren't doing a very good job of keeping things under control.  It's a dog fight. 

Oh, wait.  They sent out reinforcements after the break.  There are now three more moderators.

We'll see what they can do.

Nobody wants a socialist, eh?

With 50% of the precincts reporting:

Totals to date (with 50% Nevada precincts still unreported:

There should be no such thing as superdelegates.  Period.   It's called the DEMOCRATIC party.

Hit him again, Liz

Dem debate

I didn't watch.  Some people did, though.

It was the first debate for Mike Bloomberg, and the former New York mayor’s rivals in the Democratic race for president immediately took aim – attacking him for his legacy on racist policing and reports of sexist comments and discrimination at his companies.

[...]

Bernie Sanders argued that Bloomberg’s legacy of stop-and-frisk made it impossible for him to broaden the Democratic party’s coalition and defeat Donald Trump.

[...]

Elizabeth Warren compared Bloomberg to Trump in her opening remarks: “Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another.”

[...]

Bloomberg gave ineffective responses to a series of stop-and-frisk questions, saying he was “embarrassed” by the tactic deployed in New York while he was mayor: “I’ve apologized. I’ve asked for forgiveness. We stopped too many people.”

He also claimed he “discovered” the city was conducting too many stops and that he reduced use of the policy. In reality, a court ordered the city to stop the practice, deeming it unconstitutional.

“You need a different apology,” Warren interjected.

Warren also targeted Bloomberg over non-disclosure agreements several women at his company have signed while settling lawsuits. She repeatedly urged him to disclose how many NDAs women had signed and to let the women speak freely about their experiences. Bloomberg demurred and ultimately refused to answer her direct questions, leading to boos from the crowd.

“In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities,” Bloomberg responded.

“I hope you heard what his defense was: ‘I’ve been nice to some women,’” Warren shot back.

  Guardian

Works for Trump.

Bloomberg is not competing in Nevada, but he had been climbing in polls after spending more on ads than any candidate in US political history. He also sat out the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries and had mostly been making his case to voters through TV ads and scripted public events up until Wednesday’s debate.

He probably should have avoided this one, too.

Buttigieg went after Sanders and Bloomberg, claiming that they were “the two most polarizing figures on this stage” and that he had broader appeal.

But he clashed most fiercely with Klobuchar.

Because they're competing for the same lane of voters.

“You memorized a bunch of talking points,” Klobuchar said, telling the former mayor he has not been “in the arena”.

Buttigieg responded: “I’m used to senators telling mayors that senators are more important. You don’t have to be in Washington to matter.”

Cat fight.

Earlier in the evening, Buttigieg had criticized Klobuchar, for forgetting the name of the president of Mexico, she responded: “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Are you mocking me here, Pete?”

He's just using what he's got, Amy. You should have known the answer to that. It's Mexico, ffs, not Mauritania.

Following the debate, Warren’s surrogates brushed off questions as to why she had held her fire on Sanders. “It’s about showing who can bring together that coalition,” said Allison Stevens, a Democratic National Committee member from Nevada.

Using a smarter tack than Buttigieg and Klobuchar, knowing that when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, if she's to get to the top, she's going to need Bernie's supporters.

Biden’s campaign had deployed additional staff to Nevada, hoping the caucus will deliver some sort of comeback after his poor performance in the first two states led to a significant drop in his national poll numbers. In the debate, the former vice-president went after Bloomberg with some energetic remarks but faced renewed questions about his record from Warren and other candidates and generally failed to break through.

Goodbye, Joe.

And why did Joe get a center spot last night?  As of the last count, he's behind both Pete and Amy.

Apparently, even Bloomberg's campaign manager wasn't impressed with his performance.

"Mike's got to get his legs under him" as the nominating contest wears on.

"Certainly he had a better second half of the debate than the first, I will admit that," Kevin Sheekey told MSNBC, noting that Wednesday night's forum in Las Vegas marked Bloomberg's first debate performance since he sought a third term as mayor in 2009.

[...]

"He's competing against career politicians who have spent the entirety of the last year and, quite frankly, most of their lives doing exactly what they saw last night."

  Politico

Nobody's forcing him to.

"I think he's got his legs underneath him. And, like, you know, listen, I welcome them for the Bronx cheer they gave us last night," Sheekey said. "But I think that, you know, Mike will be back. And then I think this is a campaign that right now is just getting interesting."

He got a Bronx cheer?! Damn. That's not an encouraging sign, dude.

“I'd like to talk about who we're running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And, no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” Warren said to start the debate, with everyone else piling on throughout the night.

[...]

“He was rusty. He was testy. He was out of touch. And, for a candidate often shielded by the scripted one-liners of killer campaign advisers, he was on his own — unable to hide his peevish demeanor and unable to portray himself, as his campaign has tried to do, as the clear choice to stop Bernie Sanders and beat Donald Trump,” POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Chris Cadelago wrote.

[...]

The Massachusetts senator had perhaps the standout performance of the night. Besides her numerous broadsides against Bloomberg, she took shots at everyone else on stage. POLITICO’s Dan Diamond clipped a notable moment, with Warren hitting Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Sanders over health care. Warren’s supporters responded, with her campaign saying she raised $2.8 million as of early Thursday morning.

  Politico

Bloomberg bonus:

She's going for him.

UPDATE 2/22:

Why bother with democracy - the Democratic side

The DNC is changing the debate rules.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Friday afternoon that the criteria for making the debate stage will no longer include a requirement about individual donors—allowing Bloomberg, whose campaign is largely self-funded, to join the candidates if his polling numbers reach the new threshold.

[...]

Candidates will need to earn at least 10% in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12% in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.

The rules change caught Democrats by surprise.

[...]

The Intercept's Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, noted Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.

"Totally normal system," said Grim.

  Common Dreams

How can changing the rules after the debate season starts possibly be acceptable?

The debate rules have been a source of contention throughout the primary process, with some former hopefuls like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro questioning the restrictions on polling and donors as prohibitive to their campaigns.

Progressive strategist Tim Tagaris wondered what could have been different if not for the qualifications.

"How much money did candidates like Julián Castro and Cory Booker have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?" said Tagaris.

Comedian and writer Jack Allison took a wry look at the changes and what they mean about the party.

"Remember when they wouldn't even think of changing them for like Cory Booker," Allison tweeted. "This is what we mean when we talk about the DNC cheating, obviously and out in the open."

Also...

A small group of Democratic National Committee members has privately begun gauging support for a plan to potentially weaken Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and head off a brokered convention.

In conversations on the sidelines of a DNC executive committee meeting and in telephone calls and texts in recent days, about a half-dozen members have discussed the possibility of a policy reversal to ensure that so-called superdelegates can vote on the first ballot at the party’s national convention. Such a move would increase the influence of DNC members, members of Congress and other top party officials, who now must wait until the second ballot to have their say if the convention is contested.

[...]

Even proponents of the change acknowledge it is all but certain not to gain enough support to move past these initial conversations. But the talks reveal the extent of angst that many establishment Democrats are feeling on the eve of the Iowa caucuses.

Sanders is surging and Joe Biden has maintained his lead nationally, but at least three other candidates are widely seen as viable. The cluster raises the specter of a convention requiring a second ballot.

  Politico

They used to have brokered conventions and real democratic primaries instead of bullshit "superdelegates".

Following the publication of this report, Perez responded on Twitter: "Absolutely not. We put in the work to ensure power was returned to the grassroots, we will be following the rules set forth by the DNC. We will not bend on this, we will not change our rules."

Yeah, we'll see.

I hope that both the Democratic and Republican parties, after this year's undemocratic revelations will be relegated to the dustbin of history with the next generation of voters. 

The audio everyone has been waiting for

A late post

If you didn't watch the last Dem debate (and I did not), you may appreciate this podcast:

A damn shame

Cory Booker and Julián Castro have not qualified for the debate.

source: New York Times

Booker has met the individual donor qualification, but not the polling requirement.  The more I hear from him, the more I like him.  Castro is in the same boat, and the debate will be the poorer for his absence. 

I wish Joe Biden had just stayed out of it.  Whoever told him he should run should sit in a corner for four years.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Dem debate in limbo

All seven Democratic candidates who have qualified for the PBS NewsHour/POLITICO Debate at Loyola Marymount University next week threatened on Friday to skip the event, asserting they would not cross the picket line of campus workers locked in a labor dispute.

  Politico

Good on them, and bad on whoever runs Politico's Twitter account for framing Politico's own story like this:

The California Labor Federation, which is made up of 1,200 affiliated unions, had urged the White House contenders to not participate in the debate amid the protests, tweeting: "Every democratic candidate has vowed to fight for working people. It's time to put those words into action."

[...]

UNITE HERE Local 11, a union representing 150 cashiers, cooks, dishwashers and servers at the university, said in a statement that it had not yet reached a resolution in negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement with Sodexo — a global services company that employs the workers and is subcontracted by the university to handle food service operations.

[...]

"The DNC and LMU learned of this issue earlier today, and it is our understanding this matter arose within the last day," Xochitl Hinojosa, the DNC communications director, said in the statement. "While LMU is not a party to the negotiations between Sodexo and Unite Here Local 11, Tom Perez would absolutely not cross a picket line and would never expect our candidates to either."

[...]

UCLA said in a statement it had "agreed to step aside as the site of the debate rather than become a potential distraction during this vitally important time in our country’s history."

Or, you could put pressure on the contractor to settle favorably with the strikers.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 12/17:

The winnowing to white of the Democratic candidates

With the deadline to qualify days away, four white men and two white women have qualified so far, including former vice president Joe Biden, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, billionaire Tom Steyer, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.). Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), who are both nonwhite candidates, each need one more good poll to qualify, whereas Booker, who is black, and former housing secretary Julián Castro haven’t hit 4 percent in any of the required polls. Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who is black, entered the race Nov. 14 and also does not have any qualifying polls.

[...]

To Booker, part of the problem is that this cycle’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee’s qualifying rules are “preferencing millionaires and billionaires.” To Castro, the news media’s narrative on “electability” has also played a role — an issue he cited in part for both Harris’s downfall and the difficulties facing nonwhite candidates vying for a spot on the debate stage.

  WaPo

All I can say is, it's a damn shame black Americans are putting their eggs in Joe Biden's basket. I hope they're not disappointed. I heard a pundit say that he's been talking to lots of people who didn't even know who Kamala Harris is, and she's now dropped out, so I wonder if people are even watching the debates.

Harris had qualified for the debate but cited a lack of funds as the main reason for her decision to bow out. In recent weeks, several news stories described internal turmoil and tense disagreements among staffers in her campaign.

[...]

The [DNC debate] rules also require candidates to score in four approved polls over 4 percent, or two early-state polls over 6 percent, and to have 200,000 unique donors plus a minimum of 800 unique donors in at least 20 states.

[...]

“The media’s flawed formula for ‘electability’ has pushed aside women and candidates of color,” [Julián Castro] said. “Our party’s diversity is our strength, and it’s a shame that we’re headed for a December debate without a single person of color.”

[...]

Like Booker, Castro, in his fundraising video, also criticized wealthier candidates who “basically buy their way onto this debate stage.”

[...]

“Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand — two women senators who, together, won more than 11.5 million votes in their last elections — have been forced out of this race, while billionaires Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg have been allowed to buy their way in,” [Candidaate Elizabeth] Warren wrote. “Running for president shouldn’t be a passion project for bored billionaires."

[...]

But some Republicans mocked Democrats’ concern that the field of candidates on the debate stage may be all white. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made a quip on Twitter that critics called racist. Linking to a tweet listing the all-white lineup for the debate, Cheney wrote: “You forgot Pocahontas.” Using a favorite Trump nickname, Cheney was referring to Warren.

As nasty as her old man.

Castro’s criticism stems from debate within the Democratic Party about which candidate is most equipped to corral support from a multiracial coalition of voters, as President Barack Obama did, while having the best chance at defeating President Trump. As The Post’s Philip Bump reported in a Tuesday analysis, 77 percent of black voters viewed Biden, Warren or Sanders as the most capable of beating Trump, according to a November Post-ABC News poll.

And, coincidentally, those are the three with the largest name recognition. I wish those 77 percent would switch their allegiance to either Warren or Sanders.

I also think that presidential candidates should be publicly funded and given equal time on all major television channels, and that the debates should be wrested back from the DNC & RNC and returned to the League of Women Voters.

Listen to candidate Corey Booker on Pod Save America (at the 69:45 mark).

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Democrat debates

I missed all but the last few minutes of last night's debate.  I don't think I need to watch it at this point.  For one thing, somebody on Twitter will provide all the good parts.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Dem debates

I'm sick of them pressing Elizabeth Warren to say her Medicare for All plan will raise taxes, when she's made it very clear she's not going to give Republicans that video clip.  Anyway, at this point, I don't think these debate structures are helpful.  My favorite part of this last one was the Ron Reagan advertisement to support the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"I'm Ron Reagan.  Lifelong atheist.  Not afraid of burning in Hell."

Democrat's third debate: best Trump hit

Pete Buttigieg on Trump's nonexistent strategy with China trade: 

When I first got into this race, I remember President Trump scoffed and said he'd like to see me making a deal with Xi Jin Ping. I'd like to see HIM making a deal with Xi Jin Ping.

I'd like to see Pete Buttigieg get a chance to make a deal with Xi Jin Ping.  While he won't get the nomination, and there are several very good candidates (NOT Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, please), it would be nice if Buttigieg at least garners a VP spot on the ticket.  I won't hold my breath.

Say No to Joe

He got the essence right.  That'll be handy when he's making agreements and deals with other countries. 

I'll say it again:  We do not need a Democratic Trump.

The no-tension G7

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has floated a plan at the G7 summit to defuse rising tensions in the Gulf by partially lifting the US oil embargo on Iran in exchange for Tehran’s return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement restricting the country’s nuclear programme.

Donald Trump was noncommittal about the plan. Asked for his reaction at the summit at the French Atlantic resort of Biarritz, the president said he had not discussed the proposal with Macron, contradicting a statement from the Élysée that the G7 had agreed to support a French diplomatic initiative.

  The Guardian

I guess the UK Guardian is also fake news.

America’s differing stance on the climate crisis has been a feature of the past two G7 summits, and just one issue on which divisions were so deep that the meeting was increasingly referred to as the G6 in Quebec last year, when Trump left early.

[...]

US officials insisted the US policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran was working and had international support.

“The G7 countries all agreed the President’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran is having an impact, and that it should continue,” an official familiar with the talks said.

An American official, no doubt.

Under the 2015 joint comprehensive programme of action (JCPOA), Iran accepted strict curbs on its activities in return for tax relief.

Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in May 2018 and has since steadily increased sanctions against Iran. In response, Iran has begun gradually to break out of the JCPOA limits, increasing its stock of low enriched uranium for example, and raising the level at which it enriches uranium. Iranian forces have also stepped up the harassment of oil shipping going through the strait of Hormuz.

The other parties to the JCPOA – the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU – have urged both the US and Iran to return to the agreement.

French officials were optimistic they could persuade the US that Macron’s plan was a better alternative to a drift towards a new Middle East conflict.

That's some seriously misplaced optimism.

Senior aides in Donald Trump’s entourage have accused the G7 host and French president, Emmanuel Macron, of seeking to embarrass his US counterpart by making the summit focus on “niche issues” such as climate change, according to multiple US media reports.

  The Guardian

Only in the current ultra-right-wing climate is climate change a niche issue.

Macron’s plan to heal divisions among G7 leaders in Biarritz this weekend apparently did not factor in the need to keep Trump’s aides happy too.

The spark for the fuse appeared to be lunch. Macron whisked the US president away for an impromptu meal for two on an oceanfront terrace at the Hotel du Palais. Trump initially appeared frosty but later called it “the best meeting we have yet had”.

But even as Mr. Trump bragged about what he called “a special relationship” with Mr. Macron, saying they have “been friends for a long time,” members of Mr. Trump’s administration were publicly and privately dumping on the French president and his team.

[...]

Senior administration officials said that the agenda would center too much on issues designed to play well with Mr. Macron’s domestic audience — like climate change, income and gender equality, and African development — and was engineered to highlight disagreements with Mr. Trump’s administration.

They accused Mr. Macron’s aides of ignoring pleas by Trump administration officials to focus the summit, which runs through Monday, on national security and a looming economic slowdown.

  NYT

So, that's what Fox will report, and what Trump will be tweeting soon.

[A]ccording to Mr. Trump’s advisers, the success or failure of the two-day gathering will be measured by how seriously Mr. Macron and the others address a weakening economy — something that threatens Mr. Trump’s own re-election campaign if it drags down the American economy next year.

[...]

Mr. Trump easily tires of the niceties of diplomacy. Last year, he arrived at the G7 following a Twitter tirade about tariffs with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, whom he continued to berate after leaving and backing out of the joint statement with the other leaders.

Before arriving this year, Mr. Macron said he had decided to abandon efforts to craft a joint agreement at the end of the summit, describing it as an attempt to avoid the inevitable clash with Mr. Trump. He told reporters it would be “pointless” to try to reach consensus on issues like climate change with a leader who has made his contrary views quite clear.

The two men have also recently clashed over Mr. Macron’s imposition of a digital services tax on big American tech companies. Mr. Trump has threatened to retaliate with a tax on French wine, adding to the trade tensions between the countries.

[...]

[D]own the road in Bayonne, 13,000 police officers were arrayed, firing tear gas and water cannons on Saturday to disperse protests by demonstrators opposed to globalization and other tenets the Group of 7 represents.

Meanwhile, when he has down time in his hotel, instead of focusing on the issues, Trump is tweeting shit from watching TV.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Touché, Bernie

Then Liz, who may want to be as ruthless as her father, but just looks pitiful instead, took a swipe at Bernie. 



You gotta do better than that, Liz. 

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.