A hypothetical : 6 more years of Trump but it all ends in charges and marched out of the WH in cuffs

... Or a Dem win in 2020 but Trump and everyone in his circle gets off scott free and he assumes his 'elder statesman' role and continues to mooch for many years?

The six year choice probably means one or two SCOTUS appointments as well.

We Asked All Of The 2020 Presidential Candidates Their Thoughts On Vaccines.

Some interesting notes. Mostly standard stuff with the exception of Mayor Pete whose spokesman appears to have stepped in it and then pulled it back.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/claudiakoerner/2020-presidential-candidates-vaccines-measles-health?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc

Senior Army NCO (who is also black and female) arrested after acting in self defense...

A Fort Knox sergeant is going on the offensive after being charged with a crime she says she didn’t commit.

Police charged Kai Waters, 33, with felony assault in connection to a road rage incident in Elizabethtown in February.

Waters says she now has proof that she was not the aggressor. She spoke with WAVE 3 News, claiming Elizabethtown police who arrived on scene assumed she was the attacker because of her age and race before looking at all the evidence.

....


Fort Knox LTC Alicia Masson sent WAVE 3 News the following statement on behalf of Waters:

“SFC Waters is a professional and was chosen from our entire field to come to Fort Knox and represent our Corps after an intense vetting process. She is a trusted leader and this turn of events is in total contradiction to her performance and character. I understand the police department has a job to do but now that the truth is seen by video that our Soldier was attacked, I hope there will be swift correction to this situation and her rights returned. I stand behind her and am anxious for justice.”

http://www.wave3.com/2019/04/10/fort-knox-leaders-stand-by-sergeant-charged-stabbing-our-soldier-was-attacked/
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At least the Army is standing behind her. There is literal video of this NCO defending herself.

WTF is going on in Kentucky?

538.com talk about Trump's chances in 2020

Posted in GD as this is mostly about the general and not the primary.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1108389546037788672

What could Democrats have gained if they played the same sort of "hardball" in recent decades?

Just reading a story about Mitch Mcconnell and I find myself wondering what we could have gotten in the modern era (define as you like) if we played the same way? Anything short of and up to outright illegality is a valid tactic. Norms, decorum, standards be damned...

A la blocking the Supreme Court seat etc...

This would be setting aside the incredible damage that blowing up norms does of course...

Calls increase for Democratic lawmaker to resign over use of racial slur

A groundswell of Maryland elected officials — including the state’s black legislative caucus, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) — called Wednesday for the resignation of Del. Mary Ann Lisanti, the Har­ford County Democrat who used the n-word to describe a Prince George’s legislative district.

“We know she is one of our colleagues, we know she is a Democrat, but party has nothing to do with the hatred and bigotry that comes out of someone’s mouth,” said Del. Darryl Barnes (D), who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and represents part of Prince George’s County, one of the wealthiest and most highly educated ­majority-African American jurisdictions in the nation.

“There is no place in the House of Delegates for that type of language to be used,” Barnes said. “It is unacceptable, it is offensive, and it is very hurtful.”
...

Lisanti used the racial slur in late January, in a conversation with black and white lawmakers at a cigar bar in Annapolis. She told another white lawmaker that when he campaigned in Prince George’s on behalf of a candidate last fall, he was door-knocking in a “n----- district,” said Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince George’s), who witnessed the comment and represents the district in question.

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Article is a day old so posting here...

Holy crap. I'm surprised we haven't been beaten over the head with this one more. I'm relatively tuned into the news cycle and this is the first I've heard of it.

Seriously... WTF?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-democratic-party-calls-for-lisanti-to-resign-over-use-of-racial-slur/2019/02/27/7b2f819c-3a9e-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html?utm_term=.f42ff4b67c75

Which 'lower tier' 2020 candidate would you like to see rise to the top? Mine is Hickenlooper.

Do Democrats want Nancy Pelosi as speaker again? Poll finds more prefer 'someone else.'

As Rep. Pelosi (D-Calif.) spends the week back on Capitol Hill trying to persuade her colleagues to give her another run at House speaker, fewer than one-quarter of self-identified Democrats — 23 percent — say their party’s lawmakers should pick her, while a larger 36 percent say they should choose “someone else” and a 41 percent plurality have no opinion, according to a new poll released Wednesday by Monmouth University.

Support for the current House minority leader becoming speaker dips further to 17 percent among the public overall, factoring in Republicans and independents.

It’s not surprising that Republicans would have an unfavorable opinion of the longtime Democratic leader. For many years they’ve vilified her as the personification of a liberal agenda. But Pelosi doesn’t garner rave ratings from Democrats either.

Just under 3 in 10 Democrats approve of Pelosi’s job performance as the party’s minority leader in the House, 29 percent, higher than the 16 percent who disapprove but dwarfed by a 55 percent majority who say they have no opinion of her efforts. Republicans are more decisive in their feelings about her, with 72 percent disapproving, 5 percent approving and 23 percent with no opinion.

More at link...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/14/more-democrats-prefer-someone-else-than-nancy-pelosi-become-house-speaker-new-poll-indicates/?utm_term=.00543441111c

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There could be a middle ground here with a clear date to turn over power before 2020 and an established line of succession right now.

Vox - Election takes policy off Trump's plate and provides a female politician to fight with...

All things that he is salivating for.

The Weeds podcast around 40:00

https://www.vox.com/the-weeds

We need to be realistic about the fact that with no real chance for legislation in the immediate future we are going back to what Trump likes best. Media slugfest...

Give it a listen... They also address the role Nancy Pelosi needs to play and the roles she shouldn't.

Good stuff...

Pelosi needs to pass the torch

All of her experience and connections can be better used in a supporting and advisory role for a new party leader.

This is the same mistake we made in 2016.

Look forward and not back.