My take on last night's debate

[beastie boy]

I get a very distinct impression that all Democratic candidates who run against Trump in the primaries will gain support, and those who run against Democratic candidates will lose out badly.

We should know this for certain very shortly.

[rampartc]

1. i hope you are right

i think our candidates last night stuck to the issues. i'm satisfied with all of them for that.

[beastie boy]

2. Just to make myself clear:

My comment is related to the Democratic primaries, not general election.

[rampartc]

5. do you think any of our candidates would tear down our nominee in a general election?

and, to be clear, i thought your comments were related to these debates and our larger primary process.

[beastie boy]

8. I doubt any of the candidates would make an effort, actively or passively, to undermine a GE nominee

However, given what happened in 2016, I am not confident that this is a certainty.

[rampartc]

12. sanders actively campaigned for ms clinton

his campaign was very issues focused. he motivated many independents and young voters to vote. i have no doubt he will do the same this time around.

just to finish this spiel, sanders is not really running for president, he has founded an issues oriented movement that is growing (considerable success in 2018, and in the issue positions of many of our candidates.) and reshaping the party from within.

[beastie boy]

15. Your defensive reference to Bernie specifically is telling.

There were other candidates that fit the bill.

But if you want to talk about Bernie, his efforts to campaign for Hillary were tepid at best. Not nearly enough to undo the damage he inflicted on her in the primaries. And there were always preconditions he demanded in exchange of his support. He motivated a lot of independents to vote for HIM in the primaries, but the fact is that a full 12% of Bernie supporters voted for Trump in the generals. And who knows how many were motivated to stay away from the polls?

BTW, if Bernie is not really trying to run for President, what is he doing on the debate stage tonight?

[rampartc]

16. you brought up 2016

and we shall see what Bernie is doing as the night, and the campaign, progress. i would be unpleasantly shocked if he "took a shot" at any other candidate.

"nobody cares about your e mails" Bernie sanders at 2016 debate

[JustAnotherGen]

3. I agree

We are all on the same team and in general - along the same way of thinking and looking at America.

However, I did see a lot of folks that needed to sit down last night.

Tulsi Gabbard, John Delaney, Tim Ryan, Bill DeBlasio, Jay Inslee, and Beto are not going to take it over the finish line. They simply are not.

Tulsi in particular is very canned, wooden, and didn't answer the first question - she gave the same freaking synopsis that is on her web site. John Delaney looked confused. Tim Ryan DID get schooled by Tulsi Gabbard but he's saying the same thing over and over again. I'd be surprised if a single black woman voted for him in South Carolina. Just one would be a win. Beto is not a strong debater - his heart is in the right place but he was too staccato.

And all I saw from DeBlasio and Inslee was ARROGANCE. DeBlasio IS an elite - doesn't get more elite than that. Manhattan doesn't have working class people - can we just come right out and say it? He's third generation Ivy League. And Inslee's bullshit about "I and I alone" . . . where the hell have I heard that before?

The one I was most disappointed in was Inslee. The Environment is my greatest concern - but he's not the right person to pull together coalitions in the House and Senate.

[Honeycombe8]

4. You know that Biden is specifically not "running against Trump," right?

That's the strategy he has chosen.

At this time he's not being very critical of other candidates, because he's the front runner. The front runner never "shoots down." If he drops to third place or whatever, he would have to "shoot up," to gain.

[beastie boy]

6. My comment applies equally to all candidates, Biden included.

[Honeycombe8]

7. So unless Biden changes his strategy, he will lose support? nt

[beastie boy]

9. It is likely he will.

[themaguffin]

10. What? He specifically targeted trump in his opening video & and has focused on trump

[Honeycombe8]

13. No more so than running against any other candidate.

Trump IS his opponent, so naturally he'll mention why he Biden is better than Trump.

But his kickoff rally that introduced his campaign strategy was all about "unity," unifying the nation, working with Republicans who were lead down a garden path for a while but will awaken and be nice once Biden is in office. It's not about negativity or Trump...except to the extent that Trump is his opponent and is taking the country in the wrong direction (as all opponents are said to be doing).

But we'll see what he says tonight. I have trouble supporting someone who equates the current Republican Party (which has caused normal Republicans to leave their party) with the Republican Party of decades ago.

[themaguffin]

14. He says that because

Many want that unity. Obviously that depends on the GOP to actually start working in good faith, but that's one them.

It doesn't mean that Democrats can't or shouldn't be statesman etc.

It doesn't make them naive, it's part of being professional.

[lark]

11. We will start finding that out tonight.

Of course most of us expect Sanders to be anti any Democratic leader because he is definitely a "me first" kind of person. I'm glad Booker won't be there to join in because he would definitely do that. I look forward to hearing from Harris and Mayor Pete and of course Joe. Hope Joe has some good answers ready because he will need them if he is to prevail.