Why is Tulsi calling herself a Democrat again?

[nbsmom]

Link to tweet

?s=21

[jcgoldie]

1. ...

[2naSalit]

2. +1

[Me.]

3. +2

[bronxiteforever]

4. +3

[crazytown]

6. +4

[nini]

5. because plenty of idiots will buy her BS

and it weakens the party.

She is not an ally..her history and double downing in Assad is proof.

[thesquanderer]

7. Interesting quote from Gabbard, that you linked to...

She says

There is evidence that both the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad as well as the armed opposition groups aligned against him have used chemical weapons (CW) during the Syrian war. However, I remain skeptical about two particular CW attacks

From what I had read on DU, I thought she denied Asaad used chemical weapons on his own people. But based on that quote, she does not deny that he's done so, she is only skeptical about two particular reported instances. Is that a change in her position? Or is that consistent with her earlier statements?

[thesquanderer]

8. Also, related to the question you ask in the OP...

No party has a monopoly on being seen favorably or unfavorably by Russia. Russia doesn't care whether a politician's domestic agenda is liberal/Dem or conservative/Repub. What they care about is things like a candidate's positions on foreign interventions. Which means that candidates on the far left and far right tend to appeal to them, as those are both places where you'll tend to find those politicians who are most against "nation building," who objected to the Iraq war, etc. And the fact that Russia likes these politicians does not mean the politicians are intentionally aligning themselves with Russian interests. So yeah, getting favorable press from Russia doesn't mean a candidate can't be a Dem. Overall, Gabbard's positions are Dem-friendly positions, so why shouldn't she call herself a Dem?

[Voltaire2]

9. All Russia really cares about is sowing chaos distrust and a general detachment from reality.

Their goal is the destruction of liberal democracy. They don't give a rat's ass about political parties.

[MBS]

15. Exactly correct.

[Hortensis]

10. Because Hawaii's 2nd district is OVERWHELMINGLY blue.

Anyone who wants to be elected there must run as a Democrat.

"Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District includes all of the Hawaiian islands except for southern Oahu.

Hawaii, Kalawao, Kauai, and Maui counties and portions of Honolulu County are included in the district."

[Princetonian]

18. And her father is in the Hawaii Senate.

[Hortensis]

20. Funny how often elite positions are entry-level jobs

for relatives of powerful people. Many people who end up embarrassing the Democratic Party, including some of our comparatively rare corruption cases, are conservatives pretending to be liberals to get elected.

[Princetonian]

11. Gabbard was a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016.

"Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009...First elected in 2012, she became the first Samoan American and the first Hindu member of the United States Congress... When she was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives at age 21, Gabbard was the youngest woman to be elected to a U.S. state legislature... Gabbard opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership... She supports abortion rights, Medicare for All, and same-sex marriage."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsi_Gabbard

Gabbard sounds like a Democrat to me.

Russians like her because she objected to U.S. Intervention in Libya, Venezuela and Syria. That is how they roll.

[oasis]

12. Gabbard quit her high DNC post during the 2016 primaries to throw

her support behind Bernie Sanders, an Independent who temporarily switched to Democrat for his presidential run.

[Princetonian]

17. That was very brave and principled of her. Unlike other politicians, she will not say or do anything

And Gabbard has paid for it ever since.

[JI7]

21. she was spewing conspiracy theories pushed by Russia/ Wikileaks

which had propped up Sanders campaign along with trump and steins.

[Princetonian]

27. When? And what were they?

[Hortensis]

23. Sanders refused to have anything to do with her at

that time beyond a photo op or two. You can argue how brave it was of her to permanently soil yet another nest, but any prospective employer would have said a huge no after she created a nasty squabble in the DNC and had to resign. She then topped that spectacularly by pushing herself in front of the national spotlight to make a national spectacle of her version of it while we were involved in a huge election battle against Trump and the Republicans. Her behavior was far beyond unprofessional; it was a betrayal. She proved herself extremely untrustworthy...and whatever!, and it seemed entirely understandable at the time that Sanders wasn't about to allow her inside his operation.

[George II]

13. She was also actively anti-LGBTQ and same sex marriage as recently as 15 years earlier:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/13/politics/kfile-tulsi-gabbard-lgbt/index.html

[Princetonian]

16. Joe voted for IWR but regrets it.

She was good enough to be named Vice Chair of the DNC.

[elocs]

14. At least Sanders never calls himself a Democrat. nt

[Blue_true]

19. Her actual record in the House is pretty progressive.

She made vote that way to get along, but her party line voting is pretty strong.

I must add that I am disappointed in her. When she first ran for Congress, I donated to her in the General. This time around, I back Kai Kahele.

[JI7]

22. she has to vote that way to keep her congressional seat

[Blue_true]

24. That sadly is what I now believe. I really don't know what her core beliefs are.

Some of the people that she embrace are not people that I would touch with a long broomstick.

I don't regret my donations, she was the democrat and the alternative was not acceptable. But now there is a better choice that has the name recognition needed to stay on equal footing with her and beat her in a primary. She won't be able to refuse to debate him and not pay dearly for refusing to debate him.

[JI7]

25. my worry right now is what she will do in the presidential primary

when Harris and some others were attacking Biden or other candidates i knew it was so they can try to take him down in the polls and go up themselves.

but i gabbards attacks as more about hurting the party.
she said Kamala Harris was not qualified to be president.

[TSIAS]

26. She had to choose

For the same reason conservatives like Biden, Delaney, and Manchin do. In the duopoly if one wants to hold office they have to choose a party. Gabbard feels the Democratic Party is more closely aligned to her views than the Republicans.