2020 Presidential Election

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I increasingly think Harris is the right person to take on Trump.

We have a predator living in the White House': Harris sharpens attacks on Trump



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[Frelga]

V, do you have a take to the criticism of Kamala's record as the District Attorney in San Francisco and California's Attorney General? Is there any substance to it?

Also, irrelevant to the topic, but I learned today that Harris is 5'2". Though she be but little she is fierce.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There's always some substance to things like that, but I mostly was impressed with her in both roles. Most of the criticism that I have seen relates to her position on capital punishment, with some people critical that she generally opposes it and avoided seeking it, and others upset that she didn't oppose it strongly enough. I've seen criticism that in some cases she wasn't sufficiently sympathetic to victims of crimes, but for the most part I think that criticism was unfounded. I was only peripherally aware of her as the D.A. in San Francisco (though even then she was clearly an up and comer) but I thought she was an effective AG.

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[Cerin]

Returning to the woke Democrats, here is an article looking at a study on our country's tribalism:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/amer ... ket-newtab

[RoseMorninStar]

I read that article too Cerin. I have conflicting views (am confused by?) the term 'political correctness' and how it is generally used. I find the term too broad and fluid in meaning to be of value and is too easily used as a dog whistle. Of course there are some things which are universal (or SHOULD be universal) which is just ordinary common decency. I find that what may be 'politically correct' (or derided as politically correct) in one area of the country or group is the opposite in another area/group.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

One out, and one in.

California Congressman Eric Swallwell has announced that he is ending his have-no-chance presidential campaign so he can focus on getting reelected. But billionaire business and Trump-impeachment-backer Tom Steyer announced that he is running for the democratic party nomination, after announcing earlier in the year that he wasn't going to run so that he focus on pushing for Mr. Trump's impeachment.





(And I suppose this is a convenient place to mention that two-time independent presidential candidate Ross Perot passed away today. So at least we know that HE isn't running.)

[Cerin]

I read an article saying that all but the top five Democratic candidates (Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg and Biden) will soon be out of money. Meanwhile the next debates will be on Tues., July 30 and Wed., July 31. This time Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg will be together on the first night and Biden and Harris together again on the second.

July 30 - Warren, Sanders, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, author Marianne Williamson, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

July 31 - Harris, Biden, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, businessman Andrew Yang and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro.

[Túrin Turambar]

While I appreciate the DNC's desire to be inclusive, I'm not really sure there's much benefit in keeping candidates 11-20 at this stage. The idea that Bullock or Williamson will be the nominee is so far-fetched at this stage it seems to me the time would be better spent picking apart the positions of Harris, Sanders, Biden, et al in more detail.

[yovargas]

I think it's a good idea to be this inclusive for the first couple ones. Most of them will be gone by the next one in September which is still plenty of time for voters to get to know the candidates left standing at that point.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yes, for the one in September, the thresholds are doubled (from 1% in the polls to 2% and from 65,000 discrete donors to 130,000) and the "or" is replaced by "and" (so a candidate has to meet both thresholds, not just one of them). That should significantly reduce the number to a manageable amount.

[RoseMorninStar]

Candidates which aren't truly viable can sometimes help clarify the positions of those who are contenders. In that way they can be of value at this stage of the game. That said, our electoral process is way too long (imo).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Bernie Sanders' Unionized Staffers Clash with Campaign Over Guarantee of $15.00 per hour

Feel the hypocritical Bern!

[Cerin]

What exactly is hypocritical about having a unionized staff and going through the required negotiating process with the union members? And who exactly are you accusing of hypocrisy? Was Bernie even aware of what was going on? Are you accusing the campaign manager of hypocrisy? It sounds from the article that he is very eager to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to staff.

The corporate media hates Bernie and is either ignoring him or trashing him. I would say, after reading the article, that the headline is somewhat misleading. They aren't clashing, they are negotiating, which is what unions and management do in order to reach agreements.

[yovargas]

Got to agree with Cerin on that one. That was a needlessly inflammatory headline and article on what sounds like a pretty ordinary, benign negotiation process.

[River]

Sort of like how there was an attempt at working people into a frenzy because Elizabeth Warren, J.D....wait for it...got paid local market rates for working as a lawyer. How very sinister.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't think it is at all similar. If you make a big deal about how you think people should be paid a minimum of $15/hour, and then you try to pay your own employees less than $15/hour, you should be called on it.

[yovargas]

They were getting paid $15 an hour. But from the sound of it, they are salary employees so when they started working overtime, some of them were then making less than $15/hr so they felt they deserved more pay. Bernie agreed, from the sound of it, and now they are negotiating on how to handle the situation.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That is not correct. They are salaried workers being asked to work more hours for well under $15 per hour. When they complained the campaign refused, and to date has continued to refuse, to increase their pay so that they are actually paid a minimum of $15 per hour, claiming that it is not in the 'budget' to do so because they hired so many staffers.

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[River]

They should cap their hours at 40 and tell their managers to hire a whole new staff if they don't like it.

[Frelga]

They should cap their hours at 40 and tell their managers to hire a whole new staff if they don't like it.

The article did say that the campaign offered to limit hours of the workers, which labor rejected. As far as firing and hiring staff, they may be limited by their labor agreement.