Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumMichael Bennet is sick of watching Democrats lose
Washington PostFew people are more irritated by this than Bennet, a serious-minded favorite of Washington editorial pages who could not believe what the race had turned into. ("I'm not going to get a haircut to get attention," he joked here, referring to a Beto O'Rourke clip that went viral in the wrong way.) His initial pitch, that his party risked going too far left and embracing "policy proposals that have no basis in reality," didn't seem to differ much from Joe Biden's. Demand Justice, founded last year to urge Democrats to reverse conservative appointments to the courts, ran ads in New Hampshire that asked why the senator voted for "67 percent" of the president's nominees.
The backlash has actually helped Bennet carve out a niche. If Biden is the pragmatist who wants to turn the clock back, Bennet is the pragmatist who says the clock is broken, smashed by right-wing Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus. While Biden refuses to speak ill of other Democrats, Bennet is happy to tell his intra-party critics that they're fools. The senator, whose low-key style can resemble a podcast played at 3/4 speed, would use his time on a debate stage to warn his party against disaster.
Take the issue of judges. Bennet's first problem with the "67 percent" attack is that it's wrong; to get to that number, he says, opponents added up his vote for one-third of contested Trump judicial nominees to his votes for the many unanimously confirmed nominees. The people criticizing him now, he says, were the ones who pushed Democrats to loosen filibuster rules in the first place, taking away the party's ability to block conservative judges. When they argue that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would have blown up the rules anyway, as he did to prevent Barack Obama's final Supreme Court appointment, Bennet scoffs.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Bradshaw3
(7,455 posts)The debate stage rules made sense but when a self-help author is on the stage and an accomplished senator is left out, something needs to be changed.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Raven123
(4,716 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Bradshaw3
(7,455 posts)But starting early shouldn't put an unqualified person ahead of someone with Benet's credentials.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Raven123
(4,716 posts)However, it did provide an opportunity for candidates to introduce themselves to enough people who would show their support either via funding or polling. The qualifying metrics for debates didnt appear overnight. Also, a number of candidates have put a lot of effort into their campaigns. Campaigns are expensive in time/labor and dollars. I too like Bennet, but if he seriously wanted to run, he ( and a few others ) would have done better to enter sooner. As for unqualified persons its gets a little sticky when one tries to add qualifications not specified in the Constitution. I think this will sort out. As long as we have large numbers of candidates declaring early, I think we will all be unsettled by these decisions.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)So far he's one of the losers he's unhappy with, falling short of 1% in the polls and really in danger donation-wise. And even if he manages to make the first debate, he has to survive well enough make the slightly increased requirements for the third in September.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
corbettkroehler
(1,898 posts)Howard Dean's work as DNC chair 2005 - 2008 is part of why Obama won by a landslide and eventually had 60 votes in the Senate.
Naturally, the charisma and bona fides of candidates are vital but having the party contest every election, every cycle, from school board upward, is the most important stratagem.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided