Bloomberg, aka Trump for moderate Democrats

[lady_*nix]

https://www.gq.com/story/bloomberg-sexism

I bet this billionaire creep wins the nomination, too. Americans love a bully.

[SciFiFisher]

I am not sure. Buttigieg has had a surprisingly strong result in NH. There seems to be a lean towards progressive candidates. California is doing earlier voting this year and that might be a big indicator about who is going to clinch the Democrat nomination.

[Rommie]

I confess I am probably going to tune into the debate tonight, not because I'm curious about him in a good way but I'm curious to see everyone tear him apart for all the baggage he has.

Pod Save America had a good point yesterday in that Bloomberg probably is doing so well because we've had months of knowing the flaws of each candidate, but he hasn't gotten that scrutiny yet, so it's really tempting to think Bloomberg is going to be an easy savior with no flaws if all you know about him are the million TV ads everywhere.

[SciFiFisher]

Well, Bloomberg got tore up in the debates on the 19th. Most folks seem to think the winner was Warren but the other also had a strong showing. Except for Bloomberg. I don't think he was really ready for his debut debate.

[lady_*nix]

Mmm that's hopeful. I am remembering Trump getting his ass kicked in every debate with Clinton and still winning the election (even if he lost the popular vote). But then again he did well in debates against his Republican opponents in the primary, so IDK.

[SciFiFisher]

Mmm that's hopeful. I am remembering Trump getting his ass kicked in every debate with Clinton and still winning the election (even if he lost the popular vote). But then again he did well in debates against his Republican opponents in the primary, so IDK.

Trump won in the Republican debates because he essentially bullied, insulted, and name called. And instead of cutting him out of the debates the media kept airing that shit. Because, ha ha ha, the people would see he was not a serious candidate and a clown and no one would vote for him. And then they gave him hundreds of millions of dollars of free media coverage. And they have spent the last 4 years explaining how it wasn't their fault and they are much better now (except they really aren't). Admittedly, the media was not the sole factor. But, they were a huge contributing factor. If they had made Trump pay for all the free advertising they gave him OR provided EQUAL NEGATIVE or POSITIVE coverage for Clinton it might have been a totally different election. And don't get me started on Comey, the Russians, or Julian Assange.

[Rommie]

I'm pretty sure watching Liz Warren tear Bloomberg apart on the debate stage was one of the best things I've ever seen in a debate in a long time- both in the pivotal moment about women, but at other moments too. I mean, I also stopped watching in the second hour after the break when it calmed down, but I knew no one was going to care about that part anyway.

I think the most shocking part to me was when Bloomberg even admitted to it by saying "maybe they didn't like a joke I made." Like dude, HOW TONE DEAF DO YOU HAVE TO BE. I also can't imagine in a million years that was what he was supposed to say in debate prep- he just clearly doesn't give a shit and doesn't think it's a big deal.

I really hope it doesn't work out for him. I truly don't know if I could bring myself to vote for Bloomberg over Trump because it's not clear to me he'd respect the rule of law over taking advantage over the crazy precedents set in the last few years, as much as that pains me to say. And unlike Trump, I do think Bloomberg is pretty smart, so could do potentially even more damage to our institutions. (To be clear, I may well just stay home if it comes to that, not like I would vote Trump either.)

[geonuc]

Maybe we should have a separate FWIS thread for each of the candidates?

Or not.

[Rommie]

Do we get to lock all the threads as they drop out or something? Cause that would be fun.

[Swift]

I don't hate Bloomberg like some people here seem to. He's done some bad/stupid things as mayor, but it seems overblown to call him Trump. He has done some very good things on some issues, such as climate change, gun control, and health care.

Frankly, I don't think most of the Democratic candidates can beat Trump. Both Warren and Sanders are going to be labeled communists and that's going to scare away a lot of centrists and slightly right of center voters; neither one IMO has a chance against Trump. I also think both of them, particularly Sanders, have pretty abrasive personalities.

I don't think this country is ready for a gay president and I think that's going to doom Mayor Pete (who I really like and I think is actually a very attractive candidate for many reasons). But then I didn't think this country was ready for an African-American president (and in many ways it wasn't), but what the heck do I know.

Klobuchar is just too far down in the polls and I don't see her closing the gap.

I like Uncle Joe, but he is very determined to shoot himself in the foot and then stick that foot in his mouth. I frankly think he is getting senile. I know he has a history of saying stupid things but it is getting worse and I think it is getting reflected in how he is doing. He probably can beat Trump, but I don't think he'll get the nomination.

I actually think Bloomberg would have a good shot at beating Trump. But he really did badly in the debate. And his strategy of waiting till Super Tuesday might have been a bad gamble if people think Bernie has it wrapped up by then.

I'm feeling very pessimistic at the moment.

[pumpkinpi]

I like Uncle Joe, but he is very determined to shoot himself in the foot and then stick that foot in his mouth. I frankly think he is getting senile. I know he has a history of saying stupid things but it is getting worse and I think it is getting reflected in how he is doing. He probably can beat Trump, but I don't think he'll get the nomination.

I'm feeling very pessimistic at the moment.

I read something recently that I wasn't aware of--Biden has a stutter. Many of his stumbles have been due to that. I can't say whether that completely eliminates the possibility he is getting senile.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... le/602401/
If you aren't able to access it let me know. I'll share some of the story.

I'm feeling pessimistic too. I just can't understand why the democrats didn't get to work after the election on cultivating a strong field of candidates.

[SciFiFisher]

The Democrats' challenge is that they have to field a candidate that appeals to a very broad range of voters. The Republicans have been betting on and winning with a very narrow range of voters. All they need is 30-40% of the voters on average. The Democrats seem to have a breakdown of 20% + 20% +15% of the voters. And getting each of those groups to vote for the same candidate has become harder the last few years. Especially with 20% of them seeming to be bitter, nasty, and refusing to vote for anyone but the anointed one. Or they run out and vote for a third-party candidate or the Republican. The calculus for the Republicans is easy. They concentrate their 30% against 20% of the Democrats and they win.

I know that is simplistic but it fits what is happening pretty neatly.

[Rommie]

I do wonder how a polarizing figure like Trump affects the "I'm going to vote third party!" types. It's pretty clear after the last election that voting third party will be a vote for Trump this time around, and while I'm sure there are some voters in America who don't have an opinion on Trump already I can't imagine there are very many of them.

[SciFiFisher]

I do wonder how a polarizing figure like Trump affects the "I'm going to vote third party!" types. It's pretty clear after the last election that voting third party will be a vote for Trump this time around, and while I'm sure there are some voters in America who don't have an opinion on Trump already I can't imagine there are very many of them.

I still see and hear people arguing that a third party vote was not a vote for Trump and how dare anyone accuse them of helping elect Trump. My other favorite are the ones who scream about not being able to pick their candidate in the primaries but they refuse to self declare as Democrat so they can get a ballot. Or they whine that it is too hard to do.

[Rommie]

Well, I think we've established pretty well that there are a lot of people on both sides who care more about "their side" winning than actual policy.

Watched some more debate last night, and Bloomberg's jokes were so bad it made me realize he's the rich boss used to his underlings laughing at his bad jokes. Also, weird how the crowd was booing a lot of things people were saying that were fairly normal Democrat policies, or when things were pointed about Bloomberg... until I learned it was like $1700 a ticket to watch the debate. So, yeah, that was weird. Plus the original mods being so bad they literally had to take an early break to bring in three more.

The whole thing definitely made me depressed about November. We're screwed.

[SciFiFisher]

Well, I think we've established pretty well that there are a lot of people on both sides who care more about "their side" winning than actual policy.

Watched some more debate last night, and Bloomberg's jokes were so bad it made me realize he's the rich boss used to his underlings laughing at his bad jokes. Also, weird how the crowd was booing a lot of things people were saying that were fairly normal Democrat policies, or when things were pointed about Bloomberg... until I learned it was like $1700 a ticket to watch the debate. So, yeah, that was weird. Plus the original mods being so bad they literally had to take an early break to bring in three more.

The whole thing definitely made me depressed about November. We're screwed.

Do you think you can smuggle some of us into Canada?

[SciFiFisher]

And just because I wanted to talk about something besides COVID 19.

Why I KNEW Bloomberg was a Republican.

In case the link doesn't work. He promised everyone he hired for his campaign that they would be paid through November even if he didn't win the nomination. And then he fired them all the first week or so of March. Without pay. But he did let them keep cell phones and laptops they were issued for the job.

[lady_*nix]

Gods, what a scumbag.