Whenever I find a good profile of a Democratic candidate for president, I try to share it here. I thought this article about Booker was very good. I always like articles written by local reporters.
If you see a good one about Harris, let me know. So far, I’m mostly seeing pundity stuff about her that I don’t think is worth reading.
The article above about Booker is very favorable, but he’s one of my least favorite candidates so far, maybe my third least favorite after Bernie and Biden. I’ll never forgive him for saying Obama shouldn’t have attacked Romney for being a vulture capitalist. Seems like a nice guy but nice guy, I don’t give a shit, like the man says. I want a candidate who can pull the gun out from behind the toilet and come out blazing. I think that’s Warren and Harris, but probably not Booker.
David Fud
For me in Georgia, Harris is the ticket to get out our voters in 2020. Barring any surprises, that is who I am backing on her track record, the quality of her roll out, and what voters she brings to the table. Harris and Abrams in 2020 would be a tidal wave to change Georgia blue, and the sunlight cast in all the grubby shadows would be well worth some effort to get her across the line.
ThresherK
OT: If NotMax reads this, I’d like to h/t you for your name-dropping George Amberson Minafer yesterday.
One of my favorite novels and movies.
No opinion formed on Booker. I have Fernie Froze who think he’s too corporate because, as an NJ senator, he has had dealings with Wall St. (This is my “big shock” look, like when I read that Iowa senators deal with agribidness.)
TaMara (HFG)
I made the mistake of turning on MSNBC this morning after his announcement and pundits were in full on screaming match of how much he could never get elected. I refrained from slamming my head against my desk or throwing a stapler through the tv.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Me neither. The sweaty, desperate effort to convince Wall St and the Beltway that he was the new Lieberman– ugh. I haven’t trusted him since. And all his stunts as mayor of Newark remind me of Letterman’s observation about Leno, from memory: It’s great that Jay happened along in his Stanley Steamer to help that old couple change their tire, but how did the photographers get there in time?
ETA: also, Rachel Maddow once did a scathing segment about all the Dem Senators who had signed on to I forget which rat-fucker resolution by the neo-con Robert Menendez during the negations on the Iran nuke deal. She name-checked every Dem who had gone along with this trolling of Obama that she clearly disapproved of. She somehow forgot to include the junior Senator from New Jersy, her old college pal.
pacem appellant
I like Booker, and the vulture capital gaff–at least for me–is forgivable. But I’m in Cali; I’m all in for the home state candidate. Booker is a really nice guy, but like you, I don’t want nice, I want knives.
VeniceRiley
Kamala. Warren. Every woman except Tulsi. All the other men. Dead last: Wilmer.
I hope Booker’s ego doesn’t divide the south between him and Harris, allowing an unpleasant surprise.
dr. bloor
He’s not horrible, he’s just jumping into a field including a bunch of superior choices.
ReformedPantySniffer
I agree. To his credit, Booker is reportedly dating Rosario Dawson, so he has that going for him. As an NJ voter, I like him but don’t love him. He’s a good, competent senator. I agree that he’s too “nice” in the way that President OBama was too nice with Republicans. He may not have the go for the throat instincts of Harris/Warren. We need a Democratic nominee who will take it to Trump and the Republicans with righteous fury. We need to be absolutely cold blooded about it in every way shape and form. Shame them 24/7, speak hard truths 24/7. Make it so being a Republican is viewed the same way as being a child molester. No deals for Trump and his family and those that assisted them. PRISON OR DEATH. Those are their choices.
Spanky
@VeniceRiley:
Ah, so you’re down with Nikki, then.
I kid!
Spanky
@dr. bloor: That is as good a way to put it as I’ve seen.
Fair Economist
@TaMara (HFG): Of course the fact that he is beating Trump by a distinct margin in the polls does not interfere with TV pundits catapulting the nonsense.
VeniceRiley
@ReformedPantySniffer: Yeah, I want a happy warrior, and he’s just happy.
Brachiator
Leave “forgiveness” to religion. Let’s see what Booker has to say as a potential candidate.
Godfather reference? Michael Corleone didn’t come out blazing. Great scene. He had to wrestle with his conscience. I would also like that in a president.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
Thought I’d post this from Mother Jones: The Secret to Understanding Kamala Harris
Bobby Thomson
@ReformedPantySniffer: his dating Rosario Dawson is probably what I like least about him.
Nicole
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I hadn’t heard about that resolution so I googled- if it was S.Res.65, from 2013, Booker wasn’t a co-sponsor, according to the info I found.
Mind you, it passed 99-0, so when it came up he voted for it, but so did everyone else.
MazeDancer
Apparently, there is a big brou-ha-ha about Booker mishandling a giant amount of FaceBook money during his Newark Mayor days. Jelani Cobb was not having any Booker because of it.
Booker gives a good speech, so looking forward to his campaigning.
But it is still Klobuchar/Harris for me. Though, if Brown gets in, not sure what I will do.
Mike in DC
The field will be cut in half no later than the third debate. Because that would be the first one that doesn’t have 2 nights of debates.
trollhattan
@Doug!
McClatchy is probably the best local-state resource for Harris. A couple pieces since she announced:
Backgrounder: https://www.sacbee.com/article224855910.html
Editorial: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article224873280.html
tobie
I’m genuinely undecided and look forward to the debates, though I will likely be inclined to any candidate who talks about revising the corporate tax structure to close the umpteen-million loopholes and to offer incentives for companies to invest in their workforce instead of funneling profits to shareholders. Eliminating qualified dividends, ending the carried interest loophole, and implementing a transaction tax will generate more revenue for the Treasury than any of the other proposals I’ve recently heard.
joel hanes
The music of Spanky And Our Gang was joyful and optimistic.
Not everything about the sixties was wonderful, but boy do I miss the hope.
Capri
I live in a state that is late enough on the calendar that I suspect Booker won’t be an option when I go to the polls. I’m voting for the candidate with the D after their name. It might be happily, I might hold my nose. I sure as shit won’t let the one time someone dissed Obama or voted like a politician stand in my way,
joel hanes
I give Booker props for being willing to assume responsibility for heartbreakingly difficult stuff, and for walking the talk in easy-to-see ways. Mayor of Newark is no picnic. Moving into the projects and living long-term in the old hood is a mensch move. In these good ways, he reminds me of Jerry Brown, with whom I often disagree, but who is willing to do the hard work of government.
Also, there’s that saving-old-woman-from-burning-building thing.
trollhattan
NPR lists ten Dems running and another potential eighteen(?!?). [mutters to self]
I’d completely missed John Delaney and Andrew Yang.
trollhattan
@Capri:
Since our primary used to be in June we’ve always had the amusing option of voting from among several who had already dropped out but are in the book regardless. Jumping to March will reduce that a lot.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@joel hanes:
Join the Klan!
Join the Klan!
It’s a new and easy way to be a ma-a-an.
What do you say?
Join the KKK.
Betty Cracker
So far, I like Warren’s ideas the most and Harris’s presentation the best, but my mind is open. I know everyone (including me) complains about the primary season extending so long, but this go-round, I welcome it since it allows me to contemplate post-Shitgibbon America in a more detailed way.
waratah
Who decides who wins the Debates? This blog tells me that people have favorites and I am not sure any more if polling would be the answer.
Beto kept saying the polling was not right in the senate race. He was right the Republicans did not start coming close in the polls until early voting and they polled people when they left the polls. The republican strategist said the close to voting day he was getting closer. I think it made them nervous. There is no way they can poll new voters or those that have not voted ever or for a long time.
joel hanes
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I guess I’m slow off the mark, or am missing a connection somewhere.
I do not understand how your comment is a response to mine.
Could you explain ?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@joel hanes: It’s a song from Spanky and Our Gang. It’s sarcastic and very funny. (Though as I recall there’s an assumption that calling a man gay is funny, so not without its problems)
Hm. Perhaps I should have made that clear.
Here’s a clip (assuming the link works): https://myspace.com/spankyandourgangmusic/music/song/the-klan-47883-56751
Monala
@Bobby Thomson: Why?
joel hanes
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
ah. Thanks. I don’t recall ever having heard that one on KRIB Top 40 radio back in the day …
different-church-lady
So I’m the only person in America who’s gonna wait until at least next year before bothering with any of it?
trollhattan
@waratah:
The debates are crap, intended to shove polls but not serious policy and process deep dives. I’d love to turn them over to the League of Women voters and have them run by unknown debate professionals. No audience.
Right after I get my trained ridin’ unicorn.
rikyrah
About Booker and his sexuality..
I don’t know if he is or is not gay.
If he is…I have a problem with it..
NOT that he’s gay…
But, that he’s not living his truth.
I said it below…
NO BLACK CANDIDATE CAN HAVE ANYTHING BLACKMAILABLE ABOUT THEM.
Period.
Because, if they do, then how can they serve my community. Yes, he wants to be President of the United States, but, in order to get there, he’ll need the Black community in lockstep to help him over the hump.
Can’t have anything that would make him vulnerable to blackmail.
Plus, I don’t believe a single gay person will be the first gay President.
Uh uh.
Homosexual or Lesbian…the first gay President is going to be very traditional – with spouse and children.
I’ve written before about that Scandal episode, when Olivia Pope thought that her client was gay (he wasn’t- he had other secrets)…
She said:
“ I can work with gay. Give me 10 years, and I’ll get you a gay President.”
That’s what I couldn’t help think about when I watched the new Governor of Colorado being sworn in….with his husband and children by his side. We will take change, but even change has to be wrapped in an overall ‘acceptable’(conservative) package.
So, as far as Booker and his sexuality….if he’s not out, he’s a non-starter for me….can’t deal with anyone who won’t own their truth. Stakes are too high.
Patricia Kayden
@David Fud: I like Harris too. Will vote for her in the primaries. We have a good field of candidates.
Betty Cracker
@different-church-lady: Nope. The majority of Americans won’t bother paying attention to any of it until well into next year, though you may be an outlier on this blog.
trollhattan
Oh goodie, we had a visit by Laura Loomer of Facebook was mean to me so I’m handcuffing myself to their building fame. It went well.
waratah
@trollhattan: that is what I thought. My problem is that even with good debates they will all have the things they know we want. They will not tell us who voters will vote for.
New Deal democrat
Booker is my *least* favorite Dem candidate, even behind Gillbirand. I would have to hold my nose and think about preserving the basic Republic in order to vote for him.
In the past he has supported raising the retirement age, and means testing for Social Security (although he has made sure that all the page 1 Google hits are from the last year, when he suddenly got all progressive ‘n’ stuff.
Jeffro
@dr. bloor:
Exactly. Perfectly good guy and good senator, just not quite as appealing as some of the other folks already running like Harris and Warren.
I’m still enjoying needling the shit out of my RWNJ dad about how even Booker is polling higher than trumpov, though. GOP better figure it out quickly (tho’ I sure hope they DON’T!): Comrade Don is gonna drag them all down to a drowned-blue-tsunami wave of defeat in 2020 at this rate. “Picture Nixon running again in 1976” – J. Rubin. She’s right.
Jeffro
OT but a couple good tweet threads up about who Don Jr was calling on that blocked number (that wasn’t his dad). Definitely a deeper web of Russian conspirators (and a whole lot of striving, many years back, for that trumpov Tower Moscow by DJT) than what is known publicly. IC be leakin’…
rp
Good title for the post.
Major Major Major Major
@different-church-lady: the first debate is in June, you know.
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: I would be interesting in hearing what you see in Amy Klobuchar. I love that she supposed Obama early, but she seems way too centrist to me.
JoyceH
I must confess to liking Jay Inslee. I doubt he stands a chance – he’s too white-bread white man for the times. But I like what he’s for and what he’s against. First noticed him when Washington State was taking on the Trump Administration for secretly sneaking into his state kidnapped immigrant children. His honest outrage was heartening.
Ridnik Chrome
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I bookmarked that article so I can pull it out the next time one of my Sanderista friends starts whining that Harris was a cop…
West of the Rockies
@Patricia Kayden:
Harris would destroy Clump in a debate. Then again, a box of donut holes would destroy 45 in a debate.
I am high on Harris.
I hope Brown doesn’t run. Honestly, I turn the volume off when he speaks. Gravel on glass over a sandy stretch of concrete.
West of the Rockies
@WaterGirl:
She sure made Kavanaugh look like a buffoon.
Brickley Paiste
1) Booker is male. Sorry – not this year.
2) Booker is gay. America is not going to elect a gay man as president anytime soon.
3) He has all of the corporate/wall street/charter school/facebook humping attributes that some of the other candidates have without having the key demographic characteristics that balance those out enough to make him electable.
Look, sexuality is a private matter, but when someone conceals who they are to advance their political career, they do collateral damage to other gays who are either out (and being closeted carries with it a tacit approval of the idea that people should not be open about their sexuality) or still closeted (and who are kept there by the wall of silence and shame that being closeted perpetuates.)
Booker should just come out and be open about who he is and that will make it easier for less fortunate and privileged people to come out too. Who knows, Booker is young enough that he could run as openly gay years from now when he might have a chance.
But running right now – when there is a field with so many qualified women – is just arrogant and presumptuous.
JoyceH
@West of the Rockies: If we’re going to talk about voices, I can’t believe that Trump’s awful voice is never mentioned. Whining and droning and often shouting without him even realizing it, and that dreadful sing-song intonation when he’s trying to be Significant.
catclub
@trollhattan:
anybody named Mills? It is always good to have a field with Yang and Mills in it.
tobie
@WaterGirl: I just did a quick check on ProPublica of Warren’s, Harris’, and Klobuchar’s voting record and they’re fairly consistent. The difference between the three seems to be one of style, not substance. And it’s actually that difference that makes me think that Klobuchar would be able to woo former Republicans/centrists/suburbanites to the D column. I also thought that she, Whitehouse, and Coons were the most effective senators when questioning Kavanaugh and Barr. Finally my sense is that she helped a lot of down-ballot candidates in MN with time and money and brought people to the polls to ensure victories in tough local races. I like that.
Groucho48
I hadn’t realized he was as big on charter schools as he is. That’s a big negative for me.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: Is there any reason to believe Booker is gay aside from the fact that he’s over 40 and never married? I agree it would be disastrous if a closeted candidate were exposed in the run-up to an election. Just wondering if there’s anything behind the rumors aside from trollery and wingnut bullshit.
WaterGirl
@West of the Rockies: Oh, i like her just fine; i just don’t see anything that says president to me.
satby
Unmarried doesn’t equal gay people. He might be, he might not be: not really anyone’s business but his. And being gay isn’t blackmail material any longer either. Some people don’t want to discuss their sex lives FFS.
I don’t think being gay is what they’re blackmailing Lindsey Graham about, BTW. It’s something worse.
Groucho48
@catclub:
I see what you did there
Major Major Major Major
@West of the Rockies:
Hillary of course also destroyed him in the debates. They don’t move opinion in a very sticky way.
Yutsano
@Brickley Paiste:
No he’s not. He’s had several very public relationships with women. During the #MeToo movement he even mentioned an incident when he was younger involving a woman. Single and 50 means just that. Not everyone finds a compatible match on the road in life. So yeah, drop it.
janesays
@MazeDancer: If Sherrod Brown wins the nomination, the Democrats can probably kiss any hope of a senate majority in 2021 goodbye.
Ohio Mom
@West of the Rockies: Once you get past his voice and his hairdo (hair undo), Brown says smart things — and he can be very dryly funny. He knows his stuff, he’s thought deeply about the issues. He seems to be a fundamentaly good person.
Though he might be one of those people who could make a good president but doesn’t have the charisma to be elected.
Major Major Major Major
Can we stop letting a known troll turn the conversation to speculating about a candidate’s sex life? Thx
ETA I know rikyrah opined first in this thread but it’s all downstream from an earlier thread
Fair Economist
@Betty Cracker: I think if Booker were gay it would have come up by now. Even though it is not a killer problem in NJ anymore it’s still a negative and closet issues would add to that.
Brickley Paiste
@Yutsano:
Yes, and Farrokh Bulsara had a very public, long-term relationship with Mary Austin.
Talk to some who were active in Stanford’s gay community when he was there.
Again – being gay is fan-fucking-tastic in my book, but it will prevent enough votes to be disqualifying for anyone who wants a democrat in the White House in 2020.
catclub
@satby:
or For lack of fucks sake. FLFS
I posted yesterday that Herman Cain might (I really included ‘might’ the very first time) be qualified for a job that Trump is considering him for. The wisdom of the internet suggests I was over optimistic, but does not really explain how the Hell Cain was head of the Kansas City federal reserve Bank.
Jonathan Bernstein has more general and complete comments on nominations. You may be shocked to learn that Trump is still terrible at them.
Wilson Heath
(Just because no one else has yet:)
Oh ee oh ee oh!
eemom
I’m surprised this about Harris hasn’t gotten more attention, given how predictably folks on the left lose their shit on the matter.
https://fpif.org/more-aipac-than-j-street-kamala-harris-runs-to-the-right-on-foreign-policy/?fbclid=IwAR1SnB4lYTfm7wc597SuUS-x0gM3NbJnxIeMZ5QHzF_K1Zt57QacOMgVvhk&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=bf63d362-e7c5-490d-8fe0-b960bf522979
patrick II
@Betty Cracker:
Seconded.
catclub
@Ohio Mom: he is also very much a Union backer/promoter. Which I count as a good thing.
Brickley Paiste
@eemom:
2020 is not the time to run a dream progressive candidate. It’s time to run someone who will get elected.
Harris’ position re Israel/Palestine isn’t noticeably different than that of Obama/Clinton/Gillibrand/Booker/etc.
This is not the time to go chasing unicorns like Bernie or whoever. We need a steely-eyed pragmatist.
WaterGirl
@janesays: @Ohio Mom: I love Sherrod Brown and have wanted him to run since Obama was no longer able to be on the ballot.
But I completely agree that we can’t lose Sherrod Brown in Ohio and still have a remotely realistic chance to take the majority in the senate. It’s just not his year.
Brickley Paiste
@Fair Economist:
It has. Plenty of times. Hell, he addressed it in December when he was laying groundwork for his announcement.
I would not be surprised to see him get married [to a female person] in a “small, private ceremony” in Hawaii, or someplace in the next few months.
Mark your calendars.
catclub
@Wilson Heath: Isn’t it?
oh ee oh,
oh eeeee oh
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
The rumors have been out there for years.
Brachiator
@Ohio Mom:
Are you talking about Jerry Brown?
He got elected governor a couple of times. No reason he couldn’t be elected president.
He’s kinda old, though.
ETA: Sherrod Brown? Funny how some of the description matches Jerry Brown.
catclub
@Brachiator: Sherrod Brown of Ohio
rikyrah
@Major Major Major Major:
Ok, let’s say he’s not gay…
A single Black man dating while President.
ARE.YOU.KIDDING.ME?
Sigh…
Really?
Do I need to get into it?
Brickley Paiste
@rikyrah:
He’s going to get either engaged or married before the primary.
I’d bet on it.
If you are going to be closeted, that is the smart political move (no matter how sleazy it is.)
MazeDancer
@WaterGirl:
What I like about Klobuchar is that she is stealth fierce. Like@tobie: notes her voting record is fine, but you wouldn’t know it from her safe, white girl presentation.
She is beloved in the MidWest. And by Rachel Maddow. She was a County Attorney. She is whip smart and can prosecute a case as she demonstrated in cross-examining both Kavanaugh and Barr.
But mostly I like she is something for everyone. She has no enemies. It will be hard for Trump to build up hatred against her. Seriously, Christian women who live in Trump Country sigh over her. She is Biden without the baggage. Except she’s more liberal.
Running with Harris is the PR Coup of the Century. Dems want a woman. GOP Women want a woman. The only people who don’t want a woman are the idiot men who won’t leave Trump.
And all those “I would vote for a woman, but not that woman” types can’t “that woman” her. The media will be hard pressed to assassinate her.
I am to the left of Harris. But mostly I want to win. I think Klobuchar can win. And I think running two women is media catnip.
JoyceH
@rikyrah:
Sounds like an elevator pitch for a screenplay.
smintheus
@tobie: One of my main metrics is going to be the candidate’s attitude toward coping with the GOP. I want a president who will push the Republicans aside and, ideally, marginalize and humble them with a passion. Klobuchar seems to genuinely believe that she can work with ‘reasonable’ Republicans, which for me is a non-starter. America will recover from Trump only if a lot of his GOP facilitators end up in jail. We’ve had decades of frustration in which only GOP policies get a hearing when Republicans are in power, and only policies that (one imagines) Republicans might be willing to go along with when Democrats are in power. Now we need a good 8 years of policies that Republicans hate with the fire of a thousand suns.
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I get what you are saying about her good points. I don’t think this is the year to go with “safe” or “mild enough to win”, but we are a long way from even the debates. This will be an interesting year.
But someone needs to get Trump out of here before he gets us all killed.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: Oh my god, it was bad enough when the squirrelly half-crazy white guy was dating while running for president. Happily, I cannot even recall his name.
rikyrah
@Brickley Paiste:
There is no closeted when it comes to Black candidates. Just not there.
Betty Cracker
@smintheus: I understand the frustration, but I guaran-damn-tee you every one of our candidates will at least give lip service to the notion of “working across the aisle.” It’s a civic piety that must be uttered to get elected in this country.
catclub
@MazeDancer:
I am thinking good thoughts, but I bet somewhere some media types will be going “Hold my beer” over this.
catclub
@WaterGirl:
John Edwards? Gary Hart?
smintheus
@Betty Cracker: Oh, I agree they will. But it seems that for Klobuchar it is more than mere lip service. A president has to hit the ground running to get an agenda enacted and personnel confirmed in the first few months. You don’t get a few years to figure out slowly that the ‘friendly’ Republicans are sandbagging you.
smintheus
@catclub: Probably meant Kucinich. But all of the above.
catclub
@smintheus: Yours is a better guess than mine.
Betty Cracker
@smintheus: True. Obama sincerely believed it, and it cost him. But Klobuchar was present for that. Maybe she learned something.
rikyrah
@smintheus:
That Minnesota Nice…and, like you, I find it a negative in these times.
Brickley Paiste
@rikyrah:
I’m not quite tracking. If you’re saying that society/the media’s prejudices will cause the personal lives of black candidates to be scrutinized in a way that no white person’s personal life would ever be scrutinized, I agree with you.
It seems a fools errand for Booker to try to run while staying closeted, but that apparently is is strategy. Hence my prediction that there’s going to be an engagement/wedding in his future.
sdhays
Deleted because repetitive.
WaterGirl
@catclub: No, nerdier. Much nerdier. Ohio, I believe. Congressman. UFOs.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: Kucinich
tobie
@smintheus: I’m not convinced Klobuchar is a placator, hopelessly conciliatory, or blind to the radicalism of the GOP. Her quiet but fierce questioning of Kavanaugh and Barr show that. I also think you can be a progressive without being a populist. And, as @MazeDancer: said, I want a candidate that will win, and Klobuchar strikes me as someone who can. Maybe Harris can, too. I don’t know about Warren, and, of course, there are others running who may distinguish themselves in the debates.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes!
maeve
Where I’m at now – there are an abundance of Dem candidates with plusses and minuses – not going to hate on anyone (much) not going to decide yet.
Right now Susan Warren is my fav – but I have to admit its partly demographics – similar age, gender. profession, lived in Oklahoma at one time where everyone I knew who was a 3rd generation Oklahoman had some American Indian ancestry even if was only family history. Plus I like messages and the fact she is not a life-long politician but not a newbie.
But not putting down (almost) any of the candidates now. Except Tulsi. and Bernie, and apparently some self-help guru who announced last week.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@MazeDancer:
I want Dems to double down on women in 2020. Let Trump and any male hangers on, like Schultz and/or Wilmer, split the cootie-averse vote.
I think Harris/Klobuchar would be a fantastic ticket in 2020!
ElegantFowl
Yeah, it’s not about nice guys, and I’m not sweating the policy subtleties either. It’s about power. Tell me how you’re going to force Washington to pass your progressive tax plan or health reform with 51 Senate votes, and you’ll get mine. The era of needing bipartisan consensus and 60 votes to do what Reps do with 51 of their own is over.
Amir Khalid
@maeve:
Susan Warren? Surely you mean Elizabeth.
Frances Perkins
Booker is wise to want to keep private health insurance. It gives people options.
StringOnAStick
I’ve been getting ads starting today for Hickenlooper, our former governor. He’s made noise about running for president and I think he’s in the “feeling it out” phase, but he’s way too much of a centrist in my experience and his swanning about with Kasich on the Reasonable White Guys tour was the last straw for me. Nominate him and every fired up young voter will no longer be fired up. Go home, Hick, this isn’t the year for centrist white guys; Colorado needs to boot Cory Gardner out of the senate, so why don’t you go for that office?
dww44
Doug!, perhaps you have this unexplained antipathy to candidates whose last name starts with “B”.
Zelma
Booker is my senator and right now my favorite candidate. I live in a part of Jersey that is usually ignored by any state-wide candidate. Booker shows up here, even though he’ll never carry my county. I like people who show up.
Irony Abounds
@MazeDancer: Too early at this point, but I am also favorably disposed to Amy. She is ranked 27th most liberal Senator, which is fine by me. Harris looks pretty good as well, although I really wonder if misogynist racist America is ready for a woman of color. She could easily win the nomination and even poll well, but when push comes to shove in the secrecy of the ballot box, the prejudices will do her in.
Another Scott
@tobie: Hasn’t one of Amy’s constituents here relayed a story about calling her office (and also talking to her directly?) about some important issue and vote and they repeatedly lied to him? I don’t recall enough of the details about the incident to bring up the thread. But he was still furious about it.
Constituent service is important and can indicate a lot about character.
To be clear, I’m not saying she’s good or bad. It’s just that we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves in investing in candidates before they’ve declared, before they’ve been tested on the trail and in the debates, etc.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
(“Or was it some other Democratic female senator??”)