Democratic Primary Power Rankings 5-1-20

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1) Biden -He leads in the polls, major endorsements, and had a nice money haul
2) Elizabeth Warren- Started off slow but is gaining momentum with her policy laden campaign
3) Mayor Pete - He's new, fresh, and earnest
4) Bernie Sanders- Hasn't really attracted any new voters but has a loyal base
5) Kamala Harris- Most likely beneficiary if Biden falters. Acceptable to most members of the party
6) Beto- Still around but seems like the magic is gone
7) Cory Booker - Another likely beneficiary if Biden falters. Acceptable to most members of the party
8) Amy Klobuchar - Has not caught on
9) Jay Inslee - See Amy Klobuchar


At the end of the day it's all about building coalitions or maintaining them. Call it an iron rule of politics. Who are the candidates with the widest reach? Who are the candidates the supporters of other candidates like the most or hate the least? Even if he doesn't win Joe Biden has shook up the race.

[KPN]

1. Don't know where you got this from or whether it's your own, but I have to say

I can't argue with it. As of today, it's spot on ... whether I like it or not!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. I made it up on the fly.

I used to do it for the NBA but I am not as an avid watcher as I once was.

[crazytown]

3. I'm not sure Harris' Single Payer policy is acceptable to all.

It’s more or less the same as Bernie’s - A four year transition abolishing Employer provided health insurance.

Elizabeth Warren is open to a buy in through the ACA. Harris is not. The ACA would be repealed.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. I suspect all the candidates will support genuine universal coverage with the emphasis on genuine.

I don't see different ways of getting there as deal killers for most Democrats.

[crazytown]

7. Employer provided health insurance has always been the stumbling block

going back to Ted Kennedy’s negotiations with Nixon.

It killed the Clinton’s Administration 1994 proposal, and it’s not a question of mechanics, but ideology.

Do you phase out Employer provided health insurance by providing a better public alternative and allowing people to chose it - Medicare for all who want it, - or do you impose it, Medicare, whether you want it or hate it.

Kamala supports the latter and that is not acceptable to the party as a whole.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. Actually Kamala Harris backtracked on Medicare For All because of the backlash

Lots of nations have genuine universal coverage without single payer.

[crazytown]

11. Harris has not changed track at all. CNN town hall May 23

Harris would allow supplemental private insurance - ie for items NOT covered by Medicare. She was asked : ‘How do you respond to the 74 percent of Americans who wish to have the option to keep their private insurers?’ and dodged it:

Transcript
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1904/22/se.02.html

QUESTION: Hi, good evening, Senator Harris. My name is Ryan, and I'm a constituent of yours from Orange County, California. And at a January town hall, when asked about your approach to universal health care, you acknowledged that you would support eliminating private insurers in favor of a single-payer health insurance program. How do you respond to the 74 percent of Americans who wish to have the option to keep their private insurers?

HARRIS: Well, under -- well, I support Medicare for all. And I support it for a number of reasons. That include the fact that there are a lot of people in our country who simply do not have access to health care because they cannot afford it. And that's unconscionable, and I actually believe it's a moral issue. And it is a sign of whether or not we are going to be a civil society to determine, are people going to have access to health care simply because they can afford it, when, in fact, that should be a right and not a privilege of the few who can afford it? That is the value with which I bring to this discussion.

I will also say this. On the issue of this whole dynamic about access to private insurance, of course, private insurance, you can get supplemental insurance and all of that. But let's not be duped by a messaging campaign that has been waged for years by the insurance companies to have you into believing that you need to defend them. You need to defend yourself.

You know what? Ninety-one percent of the doctors are in Medicare. So the idea and the suggestion they're trying to make to you is really a false one. You will be able to have your doctor. Ninety-one percent of them are in the Medicare system. (Snip)

LEMON: So the bill that you co-sponsored, it would effectively eliminate private insurance. Is there room for private insurance in a...

HARRIS: Of course there is. For supplemental insurance, absolutely.

[Demsrule86]

10. You do not impose it...won't work anyway.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. BTW the Nixon Plan was more progressive than the ACA

Employers would be forced to provide health care. For everybody else, including Medicare recipients, there would be a public option. By putting Medicaid beneficiaries with Medicare beneficiaries in the same group you would ensure better health care for the former and the same level of health care as the latter.

[Demsrule86]

8. Biden supports a public option which will lead to universal coverage in my opinion.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. I agree.

[RLG]

4. "He's new, fresh, and earnest".

He's also the mayor of a city of 100,000 who has a few issues with the African American community.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Well

Being new, fresh, and earnest and being the "mayor of a city of 100,000 who has a few issues with the African American community" are not mutually exclusive.

[RLG]

13. But he is the mayor of a mid-size city.

That's a whole lot of chutzpah to think one can be President of the United States because of this.

Say what you want, but at least Bernie Sanders went from being mayor of a small city to a U.S. Representative to a U.S. Senator.

[LongtimeAZDem]

17. The South Bend Combined Statistical area has a greater population than Vermont.

[WeekiWater]

15. Considering his name recognition and the platform he is putting forward...

I think it is too early to say he is having issues with the AA community. If you have bought into the to highly speculative and one sided pieces on him about his housing plan and the police chief then it is what it is.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. I wonder from what quarters does this line is attack is coming from.

If you have bought into the to highly speculative and one sided pieces on him about his housing plan and the police chief then it is what it is

[WeekiWater]

18. When I first read them I noticed one was backed by very little and the other was....

Almost complete speculation. I read additional articles and information to find that the housing issue is actually very positive today and it appears the main harm done when initiated was to investors who were bringing down neighborhoods by not doing any upkeep. The code enforcement was a bit aggressive but that is often the main power of a mayor. They ended up increasing the money available to low income residents to do repairs. With respect to the police chief, you find out that he was going on recommendations by the FBI and did as little as possible when it came to firing people. It's a bit funny that not a person here has heard about the white person that was fired at the same time as the police chief in the same matter. Then there are the tapes. Reading further into that and you find he is simply doing what any mayor would do. Protecting the city from law suits that will come about from what are ill gotten recordings.

People need to read. I'll be one of the first to say one of our candidates has done something wrong. I can't stand maligning them for good works because all a person reads is an overzealous article or two full of omissions or deception.