Faced with existential threats from the right, the Democratic leadership remains timid; faced with demands for justice from the left, it goes on the attack.
I’m sorry, did you sleep through the 2020 primary? Obama brokered the deal behind the scenes where right before super Tuesday every single establishment friendly candidate dropped out simultaneously and endorsed Biden, even though most were well ahead of him at that point.
The only other candidate that stayed in besides Sanders was Warren. Warren was at that point too far behind to have a chance and had effectively shut down her campaign, but she held onto enough of the progressive vote to be an anchor on Sanders. She is the only candidate that it hasn’t been confirmed that Obama pressured, but I’ll go to my grave with the pretty much obvious assumption that he did.
Voters might not care who Obama wants them to vote for, but black voters in North Carolina care very much who Jim Clyburn wants them to vote for. Clyburn has tremendous pull over the black churches that are the social hubs of the black community there. Clyburn had announced he would stay neutral but, the same time everything else happened, he got a call from Obama and immediately gave Biden his enthusiastic endorsement. Just in case you think I’m exaggerating his influence, watch Bill Clinton’s speech at RBG’s funeral. He takes that opportunity to publicly thank Clyburn for “settling the dispute” in the Democratic party.
Biden won North Carolina with overwhelming support from black voters, despite being attacked by Harris early on for his former stance against bussing for school integration. That was the only moment where Harris momentarily became relevant in the race, but voter interest in her lasted about three days before she crashed back to the bottom. Yet, we ultimately got her as the nominee anyways, despite overwhelming rejection in the only primary she was in. Kinda makes you wonder how she got on Biden’s ticket in the first place, but that’s a whole other deal.
Despite the fact that less than a quarter of the country had voted after Super Tuesday, the Democratic party and their media talking heads immediately started treating Biden as the presumptive winner. Whether people do it consciously or not, as soon as that happens in a primary the remaining votes shift massively towards the presumptive winner. Obama’s machinations didn’t directly shift enough votes to lock the race for Biden, but they provided the window for the media to steer the narrative. Narratives are everything in politics, a fact that Democrats understand in primaries but somehow forget in general elections.
There is a whole lot more I could say on the subject, but I don’t want to write a book here.
Obama brokered the deal behind the scenes where right before super Tuesday every single establishment friendly candidate dropped out simultaneously and endorsed Biden, even though most were well ahead of him at that point.
That wasn’t a “deal”. That was Pete Buttigieg taking unilateral action, then many of the others slowly imitating Buttigieg over the next few days.
despite being attacked by Harris early on for his former stance against bussing for school integration.
It was ridiculous that anybody even mentioned this piece of ancient history. EVERYBODY was against school integration in the 1970’s, for reasons that had nothing to do with “racism”
as soon as that happens in a primary the remaining votes shift massively towards the presumptive winner.
Would you stop insulting millions of voters? Who the fuck would be stupid enough to change your vote just because somebody on TV wanted you to. ESPECIALLY if you are voting Bernie Sanders.
There is a whole lot more I could say on the subject
But probably nothing that doesn’t insult the intelligence of voters in general and Bernie Sanders voters in particular and exaggerate the power and influence of certain politicians.
That wasn’t a “deal”. That was Pete Buttigieg taking unilateral action, then many of the others…
Believe what you want, but it wasn’t just “many others”. It was every establishment friendly candidate, and several of them were well ahead of Biden at that point in the race. Absent any specifics whatsoever, the “Occam’s razor” explanation was coordination by party leadership. However, there were multiple reports from inside each campaign but Warren’s of Obama’s involvement.
It was ridiculous that anybody even mentioned this piece of ancient history. EVERYBODY was against school integration
Not EVERYBODY. For instance, not Sanders. Anyways, I made no judgement over the question of Biden and racism. It was Kamala, and it’s notable that it was the only time she briefly moved up to be remotely relevant in the 2020 primary. If we are going to consider Biden’s willingness to project racism (I won’t dare to guess his real views) then this clip should at least get some consideration.
Would you stop insulting millions of voters?
LOL, um, are you aware of who is currently sitting in the oval office?
Who the fuck would be stupid enough to change your vote just because somebody on TV wanted you to. ESPECIALLY if you are voting Bernie Sanders.
Sanders had more committed voters than anyone, but not everyone who might have voted for Sanders was that committed. I’m not spinning theories here. This is a pretty well understood aspect of how narratives work in politics.
But probably nothing that doesn’t insult the intelligence of voters in general
Have you ever seen any “man on the street” interviews with the voting public? Not every voter is an ignorant fool, but a whole lot of them definitely are. The reasons many people give for their votes, even when it’s for someone I like, are absolutely insane. Again, I reference the current president.
You havn’t given any proof that Obama has magical powers to chose nominees. Of course I’m not going to believe vague claims of magical powers with no proof.
If we are going to consider Biden’s willingness to project racism
I am fucking sick of ALL identity politics. It is the main reason why Dems are losers.
This is a pretty well understood aspect
This is your example?
[In the U.S., concerns that exit polls or winner declarations from the East Coast would influence ongoing voting on the West Coast…"]
OF COURSE, that would change behavior. This is citing a case where the outcome was literally already determined. That is hugely different from your assertion, that Obama caused Sanders to lose the primary. Which is absurd.
You havn’t given any proof that Obama has magical powers to chose nominees.
When did I assert that? Note that I’ve given you links for several points so far and you just ignore that you were wrong and pick at the rest. It’s like creationists where every newly found “missing link” just creates two more missing links before and after. However, in full knowledge that this is a waste of time, here are some links.
But some of his aides now concede that behind the scenes Obama played a role in nudging things in Biden’s direction at the crucial moment when the Biden team was organizing former candidates to coalesce around Biden.
That’s about as close as your going to get when it comes to back room deals. There were also a number of people from inside the campaigns and Obama’s team that spoke to Obama’s involvement, but those are harder to find and I doubt you would care anyways.
I am fucking sick of ALL identity politics. It is the main reason why Dems are losers.
It’s certainly a factor. However, it’s the way the Democrats use identity politics to avoid real issues. Biden in particular blatantly uses these issues as a shield.
This is citing a case where the outcome was literally already determined. That is hugely different from your assertion,
Not really. It happens in every single contested Democratic primary, and voters rarely have an accurate understanding of where a race stands.
Making a phone call or two is not the same thing as dictating how millions of people vote. There is no way that millions of people changed their votes because of anything Obama did. But yes, pretending there was an Evil Mastermind pulling the strings and controlling the votes of millions sounds a lot more exciting then the boring reality that a majority of voters, for whatever reason, did not understand how great of a politician Bernie Sanders is.
Making a phone call or two is not the same thing as dictating how millions of people vote.
Yeah, talking to you is useless. I never said he did that. I explained exactly what I was talking about, and Obama directly influencing individual voters was not part of it. We’re done.
I’m sorry, did you sleep through the 2020 primary? Obama brokered the deal behind the scenes where right before super Tuesday every single establishment friendly candidate dropped out simultaneously and endorsed Biden, even though most were well ahead of him at that point.
The only other candidate that stayed in besides Sanders was Warren. Warren was at that point too far behind to have a chance and had effectively shut down her campaign, but she held onto enough of the progressive vote to be an anchor on Sanders. She is the only candidate that it hasn’t been confirmed that Obama pressured, but I’ll go to my grave with the pretty much obvious assumption that he did.
Voters might not care who Obama wants them to vote for, but black voters in North Carolina care very much who Jim Clyburn wants them to vote for. Clyburn has tremendous pull over the black churches that are the social hubs of the black community there. Clyburn had announced he would stay neutral but, the same time everything else happened, he got a call from Obama and immediately gave Biden his enthusiastic endorsement. Just in case you think I’m exaggerating his influence, watch Bill Clinton’s speech at RBG’s funeral. He takes that opportunity to publicly thank Clyburn for “settling the dispute” in the Democratic party.
Biden won North Carolina with overwhelming support from black voters, despite being attacked by Harris early on for his former stance against bussing for school integration. That was the only moment where Harris momentarily became relevant in the race, but voter interest in her lasted about three days before she crashed back to the bottom. Yet, we ultimately got her as the nominee anyways, despite overwhelming rejection in the only primary she was in. Kinda makes you wonder how she got on Biden’s ticket in the first place, but that’s a whole other deal.
Despite the fact that less than a quarter of the country had voted after Super Tuesday, the Democratic party and their media talking heads immediately started treating Biden as the presumptive winner. Whether people do it consciously or not, as soon as that happens in a primary the remaining votes shift massively towards the presumptive winner. Obama’s machinations didn’t directly shift enough votes to lock the race for Biden, but they provided the window for the media to steer the narrative. Narratives are everything in politics, a fact that Democrats understand in primaries but somehow forget in general elections.
There is a whole lot more I could say on the subject, but I don’t want to write a book here.
That wasn’t a “deal”. That was Pete Buttigieg taking unilateral action, then many of the others slowly imitating Buttigieg over the next few days.
It was ridiculous that anybody even mentioned this piece of ancient history. EVERYBODY was against school integration in the 1970’s, for reasons that had nothing to do with “racism”
Would you stop insulting millions of voters? Who the fuck would be stupid enough to change your vote just because somebody on TV wanted you to. ESPECIALLY if you are voting Bernie Sanders.
But probably nothing that doesn’t insult the intelligence of voters in general and Bernie Sanders voters in particular and exaggerate the power and influence of certain politicians.
Believe what you want, but it wasn’t just “many others”. It was every establishment friendly candidate, and several of them were well ahead of Biden at that point in the race. Absent any specifics whatsoever, the “Occam’s razor” explanation was coordination by party leadership. However, there were multiple reports from inside each campaign but Warren’s of Obama’s involvement.
Not EVERYBODY. For instance, not Sanders. Anyways, I made no judgement over the question of Biden and racism. It was Kamala, and it’s notable that it was the only time she briefly moved up to be remotely relevant in the 2020 primary. If we are going to consider Biden’s willingness to project racism (I won’t dare to guess his real views) then this clip should at least get some consideration.
LOL, um, are you aware of who is currently sitting in the oval office?
Sanders had more committed voters than anyone, but not everyone who might have voted for Sanders was that committed. I’m not spinning theories here. This is a pretty well understood aspect of how narratives work in politics.
Have you ever seen any “man on the street” interviews with the voting public? Not every voter is an ignorant fool, but a whole lot of them definitely are. The reasons many people give for their votes, even when it’s for someone I like, are absolutely insane. Again, I reference the current president.
You havn’t given any proof that Obama has magical powers to chose nominees. Of course I’m not going to believe vague claims of magical powers with no proof.
I am fucking sick of ALL identity politics. It is the main reason why Dems are losers.
This is your example?
[In the U.S., concerns that exit polls or winner declarations from the East Coast would influence ongoing voting on the West Coast…"]
OF COURSE, that would change behavior. This is citing a case where the outcome was literally already determined. That is hugely different from your assertion, that Obama caused Sanders to lose the primary. Which is absurd.
When did I assert that? Note that I’ve given you links for several points so far and you just ignore that you were wrong and pick at the rest. It’s like creationists where every newly found “missing link” just creates two more missing links before and after. However, in full knowledge that this is a waste of time, here are some links.
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/27/obama-privately-vowed-to-intervene-in-primary-to-stop-bernie-sanders-from-winning-nomination-report/
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/26/obama-privately-considered-leading-stop-bernie-campaign-combat-sanders-2020-surge
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-warns-2020-democrats-warren-sanders
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/09/barack-obama-joe-biden-2020-campaign-178115
And a quote from that last link:
That’s about as close as your going to get when it comes to back room deals. There were also a number of people from inside the campaigns and Obama’s team that spoke to Obama’s involvement, but those are harder to find and I doubt you would care anyways.
It’s certainly a factor. However, it’s the way the Democrats use identity politics to avoid real issues. Biden in particular blatantly uses these issues as a shield.
Not really. It happens in every single contested Democratic primary, and voters rarely have an accurate understanding of where a race stands.
Making a phone call or two is not the same thing as dictating how millions of people vote. There is no way that millions of people changed their votes because of anything Obama did. But yes, pretending there was an Evil Mastermind pulling the strings and controlling the votes of millions sounds a lot more exciting then the boring reality that a majority of voters, for whatever reason, did not understand how great of a politician Bernie Sanders is.
Yeah, talking to you is useless. I never said he did that. I explained exactly what I was talking about, and Obama directly influencing individual voters was not part of it. We’re done.