Who will challenge Trump? Who you like?

[bcm119]

Medicare for All would be veto'd so hard, as one example. The guy is literally running on a "no changes" platform.

The status quo is Trump, not Obama.

[zachateseverything]

Medicare for All would be veto'd so hard, as one example. The guy is literally running on a "no changes" platform.

That's not quite what he said. He said that he'd have to look at the cost and access associated with what was passed.

PolitiFact | When Joe Biden was asked if he would veto Medicare for All, he punted

[zachateseverything]

Who is slightly left of center? Biden is either squarely in the center or slightly right.

Biden is left of center. He's not a socialist. He's also not a craven Republican.

[davids]

Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you

[Saab2000]

Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you

Outstanding musical reference and knowledge!

[BBB]

Welcome to the unfair media treatment club.

Hate him or not, Trump has been receiving the shaft from the media while others have skated, just as you've posted here. I've "defended" the President often, but not particularly because of him, but always wanting to point out the double standard of media treatment he's received. I hope maybe at least you can now understand where I've been coming from.

The shaft? Really?

Given the number of own goals, and quite serious ones, the lies and belittling treatment dished out to friend and foe, I'd say the media, far from giving him the shaft, could be going much, much harder.

[Will Neide]

Why have rules been changed such that Representative Gabbard could not debate onstage?

Given the options of Biden, Trump, and Gabbard, I’d vote Gabbard all day long. The DNC (and Hillary) have an axe to grind with Gabbard. Biden has had the nomination from the moment he announced he would run. This has been planned.

Trump will beat Biden, easily.

[Mabouya]

Golf? I think he's on track with the last President

1) That's demonstrably false.

2) Since when do Trump supporters use Obama as their barometer of what's right and good?

[JJohnson]

That's not quite what he said. He said that he'd have to look at the cost and access associated with what was passed.

PolitiFact | When Joe Biden was asked if he would veto Medicare for All, he punted

He'll look at what the cost estimates the insurance companies give him.

[jclay]

Fast forward to 6:30 to skip an unvarying and content-free view of the flags on the speaker's platform.

Facebook

I think Bernie's approach here is masterful. If he can force Joe to
answer the questions he recites, then even if Bernie doesn't get the
nomination, he may have backed Joe into irrevocably (?) committing to
implement some of the concrete material benefits that are required to
heal the US's economic malaise. And if Joe evades those questions ... ?

Of course, this approach only works if (a) the DNC doesn't cancel
Sunday's debate "because of the Coronavirus pandemic," (b) the
candidates, not the press, ask most of the questions, and (c) the
corporate media broadcast what Bernie and Joe actually say (or mumble)
instead of jamming it with their spin. A lot to hope for ...

[theflashunc]

He'll look at what the cost estimates the insurance companies give him.

If there's any time or any thing to push Biden on, it's single payer right now. Policy windows like these don't open all the time, but the Progressive wing of the party can make a pretty clear and compelling case that Coronavirus would not be as bad as it is in the US if we had a single payer system. Test kits would be more readily available, they wouldn't cost $1500 a pop to process. You wouldn't have token efforts from the insurance companies to merely say your co-pay is waived for the testing, but you're still on the hook for any treatments. And hey Joe, you get on board with this, you'll pick up a shitload of voters.

That's a real policy discussion to have with Biden that, from where I sit, looks like a pretty strong one. Or just keep lobbing snarky comments about the guy.

[JJohnson]

If there's any time or any thing to push Biden on, it's single payer right now. Policy windows like these don't open all the time, but the Progressive wing of the party can make a pretty clear and compelling case that Coronavirus would not be as bad as it is in the US if we had a single payer system. Test kits would be more readily available, they wouldn't cost $1500 a pop to process. You wouldn't have token efforts from the insurance companies to merely say your co-pay is waived for the testing, but you're still on the hook for any treatments. And hey Joe, you get on board with this, you'll pick up a shitload of voters.

That's a real policy discussion to have with Biden that, from where I sit, looks like a pretty strong one. Or just keep lobbing snarky comments about the guy.

That'd be nice. I can be snarky about the guy because I'm cynical that anything will change. Be nice if Bernie can force him to pivot but he'd lose a lot of the elderly vote that don't have to worry about healthcare costs...

[ericpmoss]

This will not be popular with many in this forum, but it has to be said.

[72gmc]

"DemExit"? That's not even a decent effort. "Leftxit", "Bernxit", maybe even "It's 2020 And Only An Older White Male Can Be Elexit?"

[Mabouya]

This will not be popular with many in this forum, but it has to be said.

Give yourself a few more weeks, you'll get over the hurt. ;)

[bcm119]

Give yourself a few more weeks, you'll get over the hurt. ;)

No they won't.

So what's the long term plan with #DemExit ? How will Trump's second term meet the needs of the working class?

[Mabouya]

How will Trump's second term meet the needs of the working class?

They will be even greater than before. Beautifully great. Greatest ever. Absolutely zero doubt about it.

[theflashunc]

Politicians cater to those who vote. If Bernie's promised coalition of young voters and other disaffected nonvoting groups had shown up -- and the 2020 primary was the ideal time as he was the front runner after New Hampshire and Iowa -- simply hasn't materialized. And he's lost white working class voters in droves to Biden, while not picking up critical African American support. Also claiming Castro's Cuba did some great things -- rightly or wrongly -- is not how you win Cubans in Miami, a critical Democratic constituency both in that primary and the general election.

The movement will live on, but it ain't gonna be through Bernie.

Also the #Demexit stuff, whether organic to US progressives or not, now has some pretty gross connections to the Russian election interference campaign as a wedge issue the Russians have tried to use both in 2016 and, I will presume, seek to do so in 2020. Never mind sitting at home on the sidelines in November reeks of a privilege that many groups in this country suffering under the current administration simply cannot afford.

[jclay]

This will not be popular with many in this forum, but it has to be said.

You can't win every battle and if you're pigheaded you can lose the war. Political and cultural evolution takes time and never scribes a smooth trajectory. There are setbacks along the path to improvement but the worst one would be to fail to assist in the removal of Trump from office this year. Regardless of whether or not Bernie gets the nomination the Democratic Party is going to evolve in a progressive fashion; changing demographics guarantee it.

I support Bernie as much as anybody, but if he isn't the candidate remember this:
You're not just voting for President.
You're voting for who replaces R. B. Ginsburg.
You're voting for the next Secretary of Education.
You're voting for a slew of Federal Judges.
You're voting for saving national parks from extractive and destructive activities.
You're voting for letting kids out of cages.
You're voting for clean air and clean water regulations.
You're voting for scientists to be allowed to speak about climate change and public health.
You're voting for a women's right to choose.
You're voting for what the President says on Twitter.
You’re voting for women to be treated equally and fairly, not abused or cheated.
You're voting for housing rights.
You're voting for LGBT+ people to be treated equally and with dignity.
You're voting for non-Christians to be full, participatory citizens.
You're voting for Dreamers.
You're voting so that there will be Social Security and Medicare when you retire.
You're voting for veterans to get the care they deserve.
You're voting for rural hospitals.
You're voting so that someone else can have health insurance.
You're voting for PBS.
You're voting to have a President who isn't destructive to the foundations of our institutions or the world.
You're voting against allowing the USA to become yet another authoritarian regime
And you're voting for a hell of a lot more.
No Democrat is perfect but the nominee, no matter which one it is, will be vastly more constructive than four more years of the disaster that is Donald Trump.
It will be darned irresponsible to fail to vote for Biden because you're ticked off at the DNC or at whatever reason Bernie didn't become the candidate.

[ericpmoss]

That's not quite what he said. He said that he'd have to look at the cost and access associated with what was passed.

[...] Biden is left of center. He's not a socialist. He's also not a craven Republican. [...]

PolitiFact | When Joe Biden was asked if he would veto Medicare for All, he punted

I disagree about Biden being left of center, if only because the center of the political establishment has moved so far to the right over my lifetime. Obama is slightly to the left of Biden, but said he (Obama) governed like a mid-80's Republican, which is why he was so surprised at the hatred spewed at him for being "communist" or whatever. No European would say Biden was left of center. Biden himself bragged about how often he tried to put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block. He attacked Reagan from the right on the war on drugs. He outright lied about his support for the Iraq War vote -- he later bragged about how he agreed with Bush on WMD, and blasted Democrats who said it was fabricated. I can provide the videos, but they are easily searched on YouTube. Anyway...

As for his veto-ing M4A... Yes, he said he'd look at the financing. It *sounds* reasonable, but... he's always called it "pie in the sky", and he refused to admit there were multiple studies saying it was cheaper than our current system. If it's cheaper, then it's cheaper, and all the rest is deliberate obfuscation. He could say the studies were wrong, but he never did, he just dodged. He takes a huge amount of $ from insurers and pharma, has told them "nothing would fundamentally change" and his administration would be "a return to normal". Moreover, he has repeatedly lied that M4A would "take away the health care of 160 million Americans and start from scratch". It's a lie. He knows it's a lie -- the House and Senate bills are there for him to read. So whatever he claims he'd do, every single thing he has done points to him flipping us the middle finger. It's infuriating how the media won't press him on any of this.