The whole electability argument is kind of lame since it is an internal Democrat debate about not who should be President but who can beat Trump. The fact is they don't know, but Biden, PeteB and now Bloomberg surges are carried along by it.

I predicted last week (on some thread around here) that Trump would shamelessly start calling out Bloomberg on the racist and sexist policies and behavior.

And dang, is that dude predictable.

Anyways, if Bernie is the nominee, I expect Trump to propose a wealth tax for billionaires, free college and free healthcare.

I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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I think Buttigieg is likable (though I may not vote for him) and I know a lot of people who liked him but were worried about his electability being gay and relatively inexperienced, but as we are seeing, his likability is prevailing over his electability concerns.

As for the support of billionaires, I don't believe he is some secret mole for the billionaires club. I also don't believe the DNC is rigging it for Buttigieg. I don't believe that, mainly because that is dumb. If the billionaires and DNC really were interested in staging a candidate they had far better and safer bets to choose from at the beginning of the primary season.

Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Buttigieg is going nowhere unless he can get black voters to vote for him.

sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Buttigieg is going nowhere unless he can get black voters to vote for him.

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Isn't it amazing how 14% of the population has such a tremendous effect on things. Hmmm.

OdontoBear66 said:

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sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Buttigieg is going nowhere unless he can get black voters to vote for him.

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Isn't it amazing how 14% of the population has such a tremendous effect on things. Hmmm.

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They're a bigger factor in a Democratic primary.

sycasey said:

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OdontoBear66 said:

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sycasey said:

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Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Buttigieg is going nowhere unless he can get black voters to vote for him.

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Isn't it amazing how 14% of the population has such a tremendous effect on things. Hmmm.

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They're a bigger factor in a Democratic primary.

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It will be interesting to see if they stay with Biden or where they go. Biden no longer seems to be the safe choice.

OdontoBear66 said:

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sycasey said:

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Buttigieg is going nowhere unless he can get black voters to vote for him.

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Isn't it amazing how 14% of the population has such a tremendous effect on things. Hmmm.

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You could just as easily be taking about evangelicals.
Or senior citizens.

For better or for worse, double digit percentage populations matter in this country whether you agree with them or not.

"My fellow Americans, we face a national emergency. Never before have we had a president so utterly lacking in personal integrity, so able to lie and abuse his powers with such impunity and so blindly backed by an amoral party, an unscrupulous attorney general and a media-fund-raising juggernaut. It is an engine of raw power that will cram anything the president says or does right down your throat.

James Carville had it exactly right when he noted on "Morning Joe" the other day that the only thing standing in the way of lasting damage by this machine to all that makes America unique and great is the Democrats' nominating the right person to defeat Donald Trump.

We have to get this right. This is no ordinary time, no ordinary Republican Party, no ordinary incumbent, and it will require an extraordinary Democratic machine to triumph.

Because, without doubt, Russia and China also will be "voting" Trump 2020 for three reasons: (1) Trump keeps America in turmoil and unable to focus on building the infrastructure we need to dominate the 21st century the way we did the 20th. (2) Both Beijing and Moscow know that Trump is so disliked by America's key allies that he can never galvanize a global coalition against China or Russia. And (3) both Russia and China know that Trump is utterly transactional and will never challenge them on human rights abuses. Trump is their chump, and they will not let him go easily.

So who is the right Democratic candidate? " Thomas Friedman, NY Times

Opinion | Paging Michael Bloomberg - The New York Times


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/opinion/bloomberg-president-2020.html

Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Please explain how it is being rigged right now.

sycasey said:

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I am shocked that Thomas Friedman thinks the Democrats need to nominate a more conservative candidate.

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Perhaps Bloomberg with a progressive running mate. We need Mike's money to counteract the Brad Parscale propaganda machine. Maybe Mike can retain the most elite hackers in the world to derail Brad and the Russians. Let's finally bring a gun to a gunfight!

OaktownBear said:

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Cal88 said:

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I think Buttigieg is going to win the nomination, he's got the most powerful backers, 40+ billionaires including GAFA/tech, and most of the MSM will put its full weight behind him once he starts looking like the favorite. I see Obama endorsing him next month.

The DNC machine and the MSM will shaft Bernie once again, this time it's going to be more blatant as in 2016, they're rigging it right from the start. It will be a Pyrrhic victory though, and will cost them a bog chunk of the Bernie backers. This, and the fact that Buttigieg is not likeable will translate into a comfortable win for Trump.

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Please explain how it is being rigged right now.

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If it's being rigged against Bernie they're sure doing a lousy job of it.

Uh oh

It does seem that Bloomberg's video ads team is really top notch.

B.A., on Maher last night Katie Couric said Mikey used some of his green to hire a top notch expert in narcissism and a comedy writer to craft tweets and videos to literally drive 10 year old boy tRump bat sh@it. Yes, it is a sad commentary that it has come to this, but if Putin is going to install his boy for a 2nd term we might as well have fun torturing his fragile psyche. The one flaw in Roy Cohn's "always counterpunch" philosophy is that in the case of a tired old senile guy like tRump, he just doesn't have the game or endurance to stand up to the volume and quality of the garbage Bloomberg can dump on him. tRump has no ability to let even the smallest perceived slight roll off him.

No amount of lipstick is going to help ingratiate Bloomberg with at least two constituencies: Black Americans and Bernie bros. The former because of his targeting of young Black males as a NYC mayor, and the latter because Bernie is going to beat him by a wide margin in number of delegates, so the only way Bloomberg can get the nomination is if the DNC shafts Bernie.



Furthermore, Trump, warts and all, is more relatable to the average midwestern voter than Bloomberg is.

bearister said:

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B.A., on Maher last night Katie Couric said Mikey used some of his green to hire a top notch expert in narcissism and a comedy writer to craft tweets and videos to literally drive 10 year old boy tRump bat sh@it. Yes, it is a sad commentary that it has come to this, but if Putin is going to install his boy for a 2nd term we might as well have fun torturing his fragile psyche. The one flaw in Roy Cohn's "always counterpunch" philosophy is that in the case of a tired old senile guy like tRump, he just doesn't have the game or endurance to stand up to the volume and quality of the garbage Bloomberg can dump on him. tRump has no ability to let even the smallest perceived slight roll off him.

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I laughed in anticipation when I heard her say this and then I remembered that the guy we want to drive "batsh@t" can blow up any part of the world (or the whole thing) any time he wants to. Yikes.

George Conway: There is no one to stop Trump now - The Washington Post


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/15/george-conway-no-one-to-stop-trump-now/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/15/george-conway-no-one-to-stop-trump-now/%3foutputType=amp

This rigged DNC nonsense is Putin made propaganda

The voters sabotaged Bernie in 2016

The media always sabotages the left - mostly by depriving it of oxygen until it can humiliate it. Think back to Howard Dean in 2004. Nothing new there.

The cost of going after Bloomberg - Axios


https://www.axios.com/democrats-bloomberg-cost-of-attacks-d8b223d5-edb3-4dbd-bbff-d0749ae0bd62.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top


How Trump's economy stacks up - Axios


https://www.axios.com/presidents-economy-gdp-trump-5d042c64-ace6-4904-8602-40003f917719.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top

So we have a Democratic Socialist who despises the 1% and then a member of the .01% running against each other. Interesting choices.

Technically, with Bllomberg it's the 0.00001% or the very tip of the American oligarch pyramid...

Cal88 said:

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Technically, with Bllomberg it's the 0.00001% or the very tip of the American oligarch pyramid...

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Not sure you left enough there for margin of error???

Yang is an example of a successful businessman who is nothing like an oligarch. Oligarchs are either very successful business people or heirs to large fortunes and members of powerful clans, like the Pritzkers of Chicago, who have launched the political careers of Obama and Buttigieg.

Bloomberg is a textbook oligarch, someone who manipulates the political and economic landscape to drive his fortune and personal agenda.

Trump is short of being an oligarch, his real net worth is probably a lot lower than he claims, he's a highly leveraged real estate developer. He does cater to oligarchs like Adelson, Mercer and Bernard Marcus but he's somewhat less dependent on them having built up a popular base..

Trump just likes to play an oligarch on TV.

Cal88 said:

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Yang is an example of a successful businessman who is nothing like an oligarch.

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Is Yang a successful businessman? He's never built a business. He's had a nice enough career, but in terms of "success" he's one of the least successful ever to have his brand at least partially built on his career. The only reason they trade on his "entrepreneur" status is because he doesn't have a history of public service.

For all the complaining the yang fan club does about poor media coverage, they don't seem to care that he was constantly mis-identified as a "tech entrepreneur" despite not having the bona fides.

Bloomberg, despite his many faults, is by far the most successful entrepreneur we've seen run for president in many generations. He is nowhere near being an oligarch compared to say the Koch family or even the Mercers. Once he loses this fight however, I could see him devoting billions to become an oligarch since he apparently has the time and interest (and obviously money).

You're right about Yang, his success is relatively modest by Bay Area tech standards, looks like his net worth is in the low seven figures.

Bloomberg is the definition of an oligarch, he's bought his way into the mayorship of NYC, and has been a media mogul, that's a leg up over the Mercers or Kochs. Going forward he's asserting his full financial power over the American political system like no one else has in the modern era, literally buying up politicians and influencers, from people with expensive price tags like Stacey Abrams, whose going rate is apparently $5M, to micro bloggers at $150 per pop. I think he's already spent $400M to date and is just getting warmed up.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/of-course-michael-bloomberg-is-an-oligarch/

Don't the Mercers own Breitbart? Koch brothers fund how many "think tanks"?

You're probably right about Bloomberg though.

sycasey said:

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Trump just likes to play an oligarch on TV.

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Is he still on TV?