Mr.TaterSalad

Brown has a broader appeal than Bernie because he doesn't go around calling himself a democratic socialist. I think Brown would do well in northern and midwest states in a Dem Primary and struggle down south. I do believe he could be a serious contender though and would be a great general election candidate to go against Trump. Populism vs. populism. He finds ways to win in Ohio statewide when no other candidate for Senate or Governor do. So there is something to the guy, politically speaking, that keeps him ticking in a red state.

Being Jewish isn't what will hurt Polis with the left considering they loved this guy . . .

As crazy as it sounds, I think Sherrod Brown offers a lot of appeal with the growing Millennial (and progressive) base of the party given his economic populism and progressive values. Sherrod Brown and Millennials both want to stick it to corporate America and reform the way we do business in this country. Brown also has a broad appeal with white working class and non-college educated voters which could help Dems nationally. If it weren't for the fact that we'd lose a Senate seat in Ohio and that Michelle Obama would be an even better candidate, Sherrod would be my guys for 2024.

If Sherrod can win in red Ohio how is he too liberal? Sherrod Brown would be a great candidate, except for the fact that he would cost us an Ohio Senate seat.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST . . .

Except for H.W. Bush's loss and Carter's loss and Ford's loss and LBJ deciding not to run again because he wouldn't win.

Unless she wants to be governed by the American version of Viktor Orban and Vlad Putin again and watch us slip into being run by an autocratic regime, she may not have a choice. Can't do much influencing from jail or a labor camp.

I forgot about the BIF in my initial post. Unless people see the effects of the BIF right away in-terms of shovel ready projects, broadband access being turned on in rural/urban areas, roads being fixed, etc. it won't matter Democrats won't be able to sell a bill that doesn't have immediate impacts like the Child Tax Credit did/does or like BBB could if they pass it. The other thing Democrats need to do is go for broke and just start branding Republican candidates as authoritarian dictators who want to strip away your right to vote. I know I just previously said that a rerun of January 6th won't work, and it won't. But if you are going down, go down swinging, scratching, and clawing until the end. Democrat's need to let the American people know that one party is no longer interested in allowing them to vote or their vote counting. White folks, black folks, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, they want to cancel voting in this country. You talk about the cancel culture argument, that's the playbook Democrats need to hit Republican's with, only on the right to vote. Cancel culture comes to the voting booth because Republican no longer believe in free and fair elections and want to cancel out your right to vote. They won't win on that message, but they can get in a few good blows on the way down to damage the GOP brand further hopefully.

We know who that person is and her last name is Obama.

It's a fact of life, we (I am one) are the biggest voting block in America now. At someone point Dems need to get Millennials and Gen Z out to vote or they will get swamped by what Boomers remain and Gen X'ers who have moved over to the right. Millennials aren't that young anymore and you should start to see their voting numbers increase in the next several cycles. Democrats also have to give them a reason to show up and vote for their candidates. That means more Millennial candidates and more candidates who reflect our values. The party and its voting base is where it is. We have to move to the left to court Millennial/Gen Z voters and reflect there values, while still balancing out where the rest of the country is at. I think the divide between Millennials and their parents is as sharp a generational divide as ever. Democrats need to walk this line and get them out to vote.

I don't want Joe Biden to run again, the party needs to new energy and fresh blood at the top. We need someone who can excite and relate to the new Millennial/Gen Z base of the party and finally get them turning out at rates we need to win. I don't want anyone over 75/76 running in 2024 but fear there may be one or more running. I also don't think that Kamala Harris on her own, given her dismal primary performance as a solo candidate, is strong enough to beat Trump or DeSantis. For 2024 both covid and inflation have to be in decline and the economy has to be on the right track. Democrats have to find a way to win back some amount of non-college educated white and hispanic voters. They have to win back Hispanic voters of all ethnic and national origin backgrounds (Columbian, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, etc.). They have to motive voters of color and black voters from all walks of life and get them turned out. They have to hold suburban voters and keep flipping college-educated suburban woman over to their side. They need Millennial and Gen Z voters to actually turn out in mass for once, especially Millennials who now represent the largest voting age block in the country. I think the Democratic short list for 2024 should begin and end with Michelle Obama because she checks off so many boxes for the party and has the broadest appeal. In the end though, I think the party and Biden rally around Harris out of sheer stupid loyalty and make her the nominee. I think the following candidates will be in play and/or at least could conceivably run for the office. Top Contenders Kamala Harris - I think she would lose to Trump or DeSantis if Biden isn't more popular by 2024, but I think she'll ultimately be the nominee. Michelle Obama - The best candidate to unite all factions of the party and grow the base. Mayor Pete - I think he would lose to Trump or DeSantis if Biden isn't more popular by 2024 Elizabeth Warren - I think she would lose if Biden was seen as moving "too far left" during his Presidency Cory Booker - If he has something inspiring to offer besides trying to re-run the Obama playbook for himself he could win. Sherrod Brown - I believe Sherrod would win if he ran against Trump or DeSantis, but losing the Ohio Senate seat would hurt. Gavin Newsom - I believe Gavin could win if Democratic numbers aren't severely underwater and inflation/covid have receded by then. Second Tier Candidates Amy Klobuchar - MN Senator Gretchen Whitmer - MI Governor Mitch Landrieu - LA Governor Roy Cooper - NC Governor

This is the best candidate Democrat's have for 2024 . . .

I think if inflation doesn't go down in 2022 and covid doesn't start to dissipate with these new antivirals Democrats chances are cooked for both 2022 and 2024. We saw in Virginia that being "not Trump" or running a January 6th playbook will not work. Most voters are looking forward and care little about what happened yesterday. When they go to the grocery store and pay higher prices for foods, when they pay more at the pump, when their couch takes 3 months to get delivered, they are going to blame that on Biden and the Democrats 1000%. What message or platform do Democrats have to even run on at this point? The almost year old American Rescue Plan and . . . what else? The party is literally bankrupt of accomplishments and a message to run on. Combine that with high inflation, covid, rising crime, and culture war issues like CRT and defund the police and I think a 2010 style beating is coming the Democrats way. This time, with all the changes to election laws and gerrymandering, I think it is a good decade before Democrats see power in this country again. If we fall into Trump-style authoritarianism than Democrats may never see power again and democracy will have been lost. If inflation tapers down to under 3.5% or so by June, these antivirals work for covid, and Democrats get their act together legislatively and pass a version of BBB, voting rights, and more, then they have a shot. Right now though, I think Democrats are headed for loses so big they will need to invoke the mercy rule. Not only on the House side, but I think Democrats will lose big in the Senate as well in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Warnock will lose to Herschel Walker in Georgia, Fretterman will lose to Dr. Oz in Penn, The Wisconsin Democrat will lost to Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, and on.

This guy has Covid. I'm no doctor, but look at how out of breath he is in this video. This guy is ridiculous.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2019cv11161/527808/39/ Never forget what Fox News' own fucking lawyers argued in support of Tucker Carlson in federal court. "Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes." and also . . . "The "'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.' "

I'm happy with my Michigan accent because I can go to the grocery store and buy all the melk I want from Meijers and then drive home comfortably in my Fords.

Thank you!!!

I post sometimes here about my family because it is something I greatly treasure in my life and I feel that personal stories are often the most relatable. Not only do I reflect fondly on the time we've all spent together, I try as best I can to learn important lessons and take from the wisdom imparted on me from people I am closest with. I also learn valuable lessons of what not to do when I see things in my family that aren't always a positive life lesson. Sometimes, I fail at that endeavor, lose site, and get thrown off course. Each and every month my mom and I would take time out to go and visit the home of my Great Auntie Carmen and my Great uncle Ramon at their home on Rougeway St. in Livonia. When you visited Carmen and Ramon you never just dropped in to say hello and goodbye. Instead, you stayed around. You stayed for dinner and something to eat because they insisted on feeding you something. You also stayed around for the conversations and stories because they insisted on sharing their love with you and imparting their wisdom onto you. Spending time with my Great Uncle Ramon and hearing him tell you about his life stories was an especially valuable experience. Each time you sat around at that brown kitchen table or on their green couch in the living room you got important life lessons that helped you as a human being. Listening to my Uncle Ramon you could gain compassion for your fellow human beings and learn important lessons from history all in one conversation. One story in particular that has always stood out to me and one I heard a hundred times if I heard it once was the story how my Great uncle Ramon fought courageously in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's and stood up against General Francisco Franco and the fascists of Spain. See, even though Franco and his thugs in the Spanish Army drafted my Great Uncle Ramon into fighting on their side, he refused to march the order of fascism, even if it meant his own death in the end. He knew that democracy and freedom were what was right. He refused to shoot his fellow countrymen and himself was almost killed for his refusal to fire his weapon and kill another human being in the defense of tyranny. Never once did my great uncle fire a bullet out of his gun at a human being on the other side to kill in Franco's honor and fascisms defense. He would tell all of us in my family with a sense of sadness about the war, yet with tell us with great pride, that he refused to defend tyranny and kill in the name of fascism for Franco. I'm posting about my great Uncle, Ramon Sieira, on the anniversary of January 6th not simply to share a family story about who he was and what I learned from him. I'm reflecting on his legacy and sharing it here in the hope that everyone can take something out of it. Through his courage, compassion, conviction, and refusal to defend Franco, he knew what was wrong and right. Ramon Sieira defended freedom, liberty, and the right to vote through his support of the Second Spanish Republic of the 1930s. He defended democratic values and norms that proved fragile in Spain in the 1930's and would indeed fall into Franco's hands of tyranny. No, my post about my great uncle is not intended to indict one political party or another. It is not about Democrats or Republicans being worse or better than others. It is about the lessons of democracy and the fragile nature of a free society and peoples. On this January 6th anniversary, I hope we all take valuable lessons from it and don't take democracy and freedom for granted. Republican or Democrat, progressive, moderate or conservative, we should all be able to come together peacefully and support democratic intuitions and accept free and fair election results.

One of my favorite follows on Twitter for sure. Scarily accurate too.

NYT Pitchbot is on fire today. Some of my favorites . . .

I thought Biden gave a good speech this morning about January 6th. It's too bad almost no one saw it and given the short attention span of people, will have long forgotten both the speech and the insurrection by the time November roles around. I love the media's bothsidesisms that will continue as normal after today. You know, some people on one side tried to overturn an election and overthrow democratic institutions of power, but let's hear from Chuck Todd, the New York Times, and Politico about Democrats in disarray for the 1,000th time and how Republicans can take back power.

I can't get behind a defensive back in the top 5. I would pick George Karlaftis the DE out of Perdue over Hamilton if a scenario like that played out.

Why am I supposed to feel sympathy for people who routinely vote against their own economic self interest in red or blue states? My dad does it all the time when he votes for Republicans and he lives off of Social Security and Medicare. I feel more anger for him that a rotten system set him up to fail through two recessions and multiple stock market crashes. But at some point, he keeps voting for a political party and candidates that would gut the very Social Security and Medicare he now lives off of and I have to stop feeling bad at some point. Republicans would tell my dad to kick rocks and eat rats all in the name of privatizing Social Security and getting rid of Medicare. If you think that is me being hyperbolic, just look at what the prior Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, wanted to do. Privatize Social Security and end Medicare. He's a big boy though, he is smart, he knows how to read. He just choses to rot his brain out by reading poorly sourced books, falling pray to chain emails, and watching Fox News everyday. He could chose to listen to NPR and watch PBS News Hour, Frontline, and Vice News as I do. He could choose to read read Economic Policy Institute, Center for American Progress, Washington Post, NYT, the Intercept, and reputable, sources as I do. Instead he choses chain emails, memes, Fox News, and books like The Bell Curve. If Republicans do gut Social Security and Medicare one day, what should I say to my dad and the tens-of-millions of Republicans like him besides "I told you so" and "thanks a lot".