On the eve of Super Tuesday 2020 (March 3rd), here are the top candidates for US president ranked from best to worst in my opinion:
1. Bernie Sanders (1941- ), left-wing senator from Vermont (2007- ). The closest to me ideologically. I voted for him in 2016 and am glad of it – it has helped to move the debate in the Democratic Party well to the left, where things like the Green New Deal, reparations and Medicare For All become thinkable and not just airily dismissed. He opposed reparations in 2016 but now supports setting up a commission to study the matter, the first step. (I do not expect to see reparations in my lifetime, but you got to start somewhere.)
2. Elizabeth Warren (1949- ), centre-left senator from Massachusetts (2013- ). The Root says she would probably wind up doing the most net good for Black people. Not only does she know what redlining is, for example, but she has a bill that deals with it. She is not a lift-all-boats sort of Democrat. She is, though, too cautious by half. And, in any case, is likely to drop out by the end of the week. But if it somehow comes down to her and Sanders, I would give her a second look and might in fact wind up supporting her. I will cross that bridge when I come to it. She is a close second. Either one would be way better than the rest of the field:
3. Joe Biden (1942- ), centre-right vice president under President Obama (2009-17). Got the older Black vote in South Carolina – the elders have spoken! Probably the safest pair of hands – except that he is becoming a doddering old man right before our eyes!!! For example, he said he was arrested in Soweto, South Africa in 1977 when he was a US senator trying to see Nelson Mandela. Huh? That would have been world news! It is the kind of lie a five-year-old would tell. Hopefully if he becomes president he will be able pick good people and not a pack of incompetent cronies like Trump.
4. Mike Bloomberg (1942- ), centre-right mayor of New York (2002-13). Like Trump, he is a racist, sexist billionaire from New York. He would probably respect democratic norms more than Trump, but not by much. He is, after all, trying to buy the election! He is a plutocrat, not a democrat. And, as mayor, he trampled on the civil rights of Black, Latino and Muslim Americans in the name of protecting White people. He backed the police blindly. I really, really, really, really, REALLY hope it does not come down to him and Trump in November. But I fear it will.
5. Donald Trump (1946- ), far-right US president (2017- ). He has gone from proto-fascist to an outright fascist who does not respect the rule of law. If he is not stopped, what little that is left of democracy in the US will be gone.
Note: All of these candidates are in their 70s, so they need a solid vice president.
– Abagond, 2020.
See also:
- The 2020 election for US president
- endorsements past:
- 2008: Barack Obama for President
- 2012: Why I am voting for Obama
- 2016: Hillary Clinton for president
- redlining
- reparations
- lift all boats, etc
- Green New Deal
- The Root
- Bernie Sanders – written in 2016
- Elizabeth Warren
- Joe Biden – in 2008
- 2019: Biden and busing
- 2019: James O. Eastland – Biden praised his “civility”!
- Mike Bloomberg
- Donald Trump – in 2015
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@Abagond
“For example, he said he was arrested in Soweto, South Africa in 1977 when he was a US senator trying to see Nelson Mandela”
Could you find this quote and produce it. 1977 was quite a while ago (43 years) I want to be positive it is not a part of the Russian propaganda. It is doubtful that VP Biden writes much of his own stuff.
Seems we are back to “anyone but hillary”.
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@ Abagond
For example, he said he was arrested in Soweto, South Africa in 1977 when he was a US senator trying to see Nelson Mandela
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/biden-admits-he-was-stopped-not-arrested-in-south-africa/
Sorry about that, I violated my rules and did not check the facts. Words like detain, arrest, can get misused. This is not a prove of a doddering old man.
You should evaluate your believe in the pie in the sky folks.Money is not the only item that must be evaluated in Medicare For All. Have you any thought about giving up your wonderful health plan to get the mediocre plan you will get under any one (government) plan? Where do the doctors come from?
I doubt if you can produce a person in the US today that does not get some type of medical attention. All of those programs will disappear.
Also, presidents do not write public laws. You need a house and senate to get such work done.
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You forgot Mike Pence. If DJT comes down with the corona virus Pence will be the contestant.
IMHO he is even worse than Trump for a lot of reasons.
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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I want Tramp to get re-elected so he can destroy America from within.
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Abagond, I agree with your list.
Apparently Bloomberg has said he will (paraphrasing him) throw loads of money at the nominee’s campaign against Trump.
Question: If Bernie wins the nomination, should/would he accept Bloomberg’s money?
I see Bloomberg as, not only a racist, but as profoundly anti-democratic. He is, to some extent, trying to buy the nomination and then the Presidency for his preferred candidate.
Bernie has said from the beginning that, for him, this is “us” not “him”. And he has the greatest number of donations from ordinary individuals. $5, $10, $20 a month etc.
I know this is hypothetical at the moment, but should he accept Bloomberg’s dollars “for the team”, to get rid of Trump?
What do people think?
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Some states are red,
Some states are blue,
Some states are purple,
But only a few.
Blue states have people out the wazoo,
Red states think Trump is heaven sent,
Though Blue would rather that he went,
Purple will pick the president.
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I also want to note that the emerging viral outbreak could turn out to be a significant player in politics. It will potentially impact both the economy and healthcare, exposing and exacerbating latent deficiencies.
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Elizabeth Warren is the best candidate running. Bernie just parrots her ideas.
She Hannibal Burressed the crap out of Bloomberg and she politely bloodied the nose of every other candidate onstage including St. Bernie
If she had a penis there would be no question as to who was the best.
(https://youtu.be/N1sJjtQ0gG8)
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IMO, Warren is one of the more charismatic candidates. She has a youthful energy despite having a lifetime of experience. She’s also rather witty and can often find a great response to a question on the fly. However I’m willing to bet that Sanders was already saying what he has been saying while Warren was still a Republican in the 90s.
Now that she has announced the end of her campaign it will be interesting to see who she endorses. Will she endorse the candidate she’s believed to be most similar to policy-wise (Sanders) or will she go with the establishment candidate (Biden)? She’s probably under a lot of political pressure to support Biden so I think that’s what will happen. I think she will message it in terms of backing a candidate to beat Trump.
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I do think Sanders is actively courting the Warren endorsement, BTW.
It would be a boost for him after all the Biden endorsements before Super Tuesday and the boost Biden got coming out of the polls.
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@ Origin
Yup.
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@ Emma Flessner
I doubt Sanders would accept Bloomberg’s money. It would destroy his brand and demoralize his supporters. And destroy any chance of his grass-roots strategy from working.
But that would hardly stop Bloomberg from buying up seats in Congress, strengthening his own power and that of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. He has enough money to become like a Koch brother, warping the party to his will.
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@ wolframgothe
An earlier draft did have Pence! I had him pencilled in between Biden and Bloomberg, But it started to become a rabbit hole, so I pulled it.
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@ Allen Shaw
I disagree. At that rate I have been “arrested” repeatedly, from age 11 onwards. But if I told people that, people who knew me, they would think I was not right in the head.
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@Abagond. ” I doubt Sanders would accept Bloomberg’s money. It would destroy his brand and demoralize his supporters. And destroy any chance of his grass-roots strategy from working.
But that would hardly stop Bloomberg from buying up seats in Congress, strengthening his own power and that of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. He has enough money to become like a Koch brother, warping the party to his will.”
Right. Of course, he can buy seats in Congress.
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Elizabeth Warren was my favorite. And I am sad she’s gone. America hates women who are smart and competent. There are large numbers of women who are misogynist. Sexism did Elizabeth Warren in. My dream ticket was a Warren/Castro ticket. Not sure why Tulsi Gabbert is still there like an extra useless digit on a hand or foot. Joe Biden is so cringe. I feel sorry for him, listening to him gaffe and bumble along scares me he can’t beat Trump. And Americans don’t want socialism. I personally don’t like Bernie Sanders either.
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Bloomberg spent billions of dollars for nothing, and he’s still a rich man. He was only good for trolling Trump in his television advertisements.
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Biden for older Black people is like a security blanket and chicken soup. Everyone including myself is frightened of fascism and authoritarianism, so it is vote blue no matter who. I truly want to see a blue wave.
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Why is Tulsi Gabbert still in the race. Is she like HRC said a Russian asset?
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@ Mary Burrell
“Elizabeth Warren was my favorite. And I am sad she’s gone.”
Same here. My state hasn’t had primaries yet, so now I won’t even get to vote for her. 😢
I think I may have a comment or two on this blog from 4 years ago saying how much I’d rather have Warren running than HRC. This time around, I was so excited about her candidacy and so hopeful. Naive, I guess.
And it does feel like misogyny took her down. Possibly also some Wall Street machinations behind the scenes, because she was coming for the banksters and she had a plan.
I hadn’t thought as far as a VP, but I could have gotten behind a Warren/Castro ticket no problem.
Here it is only the first week of March and we are already resigned to having yet another doddering old white man for president. 😝😝😝
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If you look at Tulsi Gabbard’s history, back around the time of the previous presidential election she was vice-chair of the DNC right behind Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. There were scandalous (and basically true) allegations that the DNC was not neutral in the primaries as it should have been but favored Clinton over Sanders. IIRC, before the story came to a head and Wasserman-Schultz stepped down, Gabbard had resigned her position on the DNC and endorsed Bernie Sanders. There are leaked emails of Democratic Party operatives scolding her for that decision and she has been basically persona non grata ever since. I’m not surprised the HRC smeared the congresswoman as a Russian operative. That’s a well she goes to a bit too often.
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I think many people who fear the term ‘socialist’ (because of a reflex association with authoritarian states) also like Sanders’ policies such as M4A. It’s funny because it is viewed as prudent for the government to bail out banks or pay for bombs to go up in smoke, for example, yet the idea that taxes should pay for healthcare is seen as controversial. I think many attitudes come down to the way in which media narratives shape public opinion; the media consisting of large corporations that would also favor corporate welfare.
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Totally agree. Let’s have a safety net for big corp, but a safety net for the people? Oh, no – that’s communism, baby.
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This list is perfect. It was pretty shameful how many Democrats were so quick to get on board with Mike Bloomberg with his absolutely atrocious record and saying that no matter if he won we have to “vote blue no matter who.” That only makes sense when Democrats put up an actual alternative, not someone who is Trump-lite.
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Wow. It is hard to believe Super Tuesday was little over a month ago. Seems like another world.
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but for only $5 you could wear a vote for mike bandanna
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how could anyone seriously propose biden be president, and i hope the orange one don’t get sick
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bernie’s out
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@v8driver
I’m assuming they’re going to try to have the VP carry the ticket. I’m guessing the move will be to pick Warren for VP to get a woman beside Biden to help mute some of the accusations that will probably be flying. Probably that’s the reason she endorsed neither Bernie not Biden; she’s in the running to be Biden’s running mate but she wants to remain appealing to Bernie supporters.
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of course it’s going to be a woman: gabbard, probably not; warren sounds right although i have heard snippets of maybe clinton (i hope not).
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