"I've told the Democratic candidates not to go too far to the left"

[doompatrol39]

106. I'm a bit confused....

you seem to support Warren. She embodies what I'm talking about wanting in a candidate. I don't think we disagree as much as you think we do. Do I think she will work across the aisle if such efforts will be productive? Definitely. Do I think she will value bipartisanship above all else and be overly nice in an effort to get it? ? Not for a minute. Do I think she will vocally fight and push and use her bully pulpit to achieve everything she wants to achieve? Absolutely. I don't for a minute think she would be "needlessly" partisan but I think she will be when she has to be.

Honestly, the only candidate so far who I take any issue with is Biden. Not because I hate him, not because I think he was a bad VP, not because I think he wouldn't be better than Trump. Because he represents a time that has long past and a style of governing that just will not work any more. He's not a fighter. He was perfect for VP because he was a nice guy who could do all the ceremonial, backslapping, handshaking stuff that a VP does. And he has a very bad record of being on the wrong side of history on a number of issues that have been important to not just the country but specifically a lot of core Democratic constituencies. And now as a declared candidate, his lack of policy specifics compared to almost every other candidate is scary to me (especially if he is the frontrunner due to name recognition). I don't want a president who is going to coast on charm and think that will work (I think it was one of Obama's biggest flaws but in him it was minor compared to what I see in Biden).

I think someone like Warren, or Harris, or even to a lesser degree folks like Pete and Booker (who as my Senator from NJ I actually do not care for all that much) will do the fighting that needs to be done.

As for the ACA, my family is one of those that were helped by it so I am not privileged enough either. But it was built on such a tenuous foundation that it has been easily attacked, dismantled and nearly all decimated because Obama started from a position of trying to get Republican votes (which he never did) rather than starting form a position of fighting for the best he could get and then winding up with something less than perfect. Warren is someone whose starting position on healthcare is a strong one and her speeches are focused on what we as a country (all of us) need, and not on saying nice things so that maybe, if we ask nicely enough we will get some Republican support.