Legosi (Tani Coyote)

Representative Swalwell has dropped out of the race, citing that candidates should be realistic about their chances and focus on serving their constituents. He will be running for the House again. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/politics/tom-steyer-2020-presidential-bid-staffers/index.html Meanwhile, Tom Steyer, a billionaire most known for bankrolling efforts to impeach Trump, is planning on announcing a Presidential bid of his own. I'd like if everyone polling 1% or less after the first debate would just drop, honestly. This field needs to consolidate to increase the odds of beating Trump.

Scheduled for February. It's gonna be a long 8 months. The good news is, after this round of debates, it sounds like the next round requires 2% polling rather than the 1% this round had. Which means we should start seeing candidates dropping as they're forced out of the spotlight. God help us if they all wait until the first primary before dropping. If they don't do good in this debate they really need to go away so we can start narrowing down the field and getting an idea who will take on Trump.

Well round one of the debates was interesting. Warren was allowed to have both the opening and closing statement. She started off pretty strong, and while she seems a little weak on policies like how to handle Mitch McConnell and gun reform, she was a solid candidate at the start. Some basic takeaways: -Booker, Beto, and Castro are desperately trying to get the Hispanic vote, because they kept randomly switching into Spanish during the debate. Clearly, they did not learn anything from how Tim Kaine pissed a lot of Hispanic voters off because "I can speak Spanish!" does not actually impress rank and file Hispanic voters and instead speaks to a very narrow understanding of issues facing those voters. -Booker and Castro both seem in favor of nuking the 60-seat filibuster to pass gun reform, and probably anything else. Booker specifically mentions races in South Carolina and Iowa. -On healthcare, only two candidates said they would replace all private insurance with Medicare for All: Warren and De Blasio. In Warren's case, she demonized private insurance as an industry that gambles with people's lives, since its goal is to maximize fees and minimize how much it pays out. -Beto was basically getting destroyed all night. When he said he supports keeping private healthcare and public to create "choice," De Blasio interjected that millions of people do not have healthcare in our current "choice" based system. When he said he supports keeping immigration law the way it is to prevent human trafficking, Castro called him out, saying there are sections of the code that already cover that. Overall, while everyone expected Beto to come out as Warren's main rival, he looked pretty bad. -Tim Ryan kept going on about the need to funnel money into the Rust Belt to bring back manufacturing jobs. Elizabeth Warren called him out on traditional attempts to revive American industry, saying it's almost always "let companies do what they want," and emphasized that American manufacturing should be based on leadership in renewable energy (several other Dems share this view). -When asked about the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States, most Democrats mentioned climate change, Iran, or China. Jay Inslee went "Donald Trump." -Castro spoke for the need to have social justice as well as economic justice (rebutting Amy Klobuchar), and how he wants to decriminalize illegal entry and make it a civil issue. He wants a Marshall Plan for Latin America so people won't feel the need to migrate to the US. -Klobuchar is painting herself as the more realistic left candidate, outright saying she isn't promising as much, e.g. she only wants community college to be free. -Class solidarity: De Blasio called for the Democratic Party to remember its working class roots, while Booker, Castro and Warren basically all favored a 50 state strategy to keep the Senate. -Taxation: De Blasio said all Democrats should support a 70% marginal tax rate on the highest income bracket. OH DAMN. There's a lot of content in 2 hours, but the winners I'm seeing are: Warren's powerful opening and closing statements (regarding American inequality and how she's only on that stage because she got a government-funded education, and wants it an option for everybody) make her a clear winner. Booker and Castro both seem very strong. De Blasio looks like he will have very strong left wing credentials that could help him last. Moving forward: Warren, Castro, Booker, De Blasio Not moving forward: Ryan, Gabbard, Beto, Inslee, Delaney, Klobuchar

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/roy-moore-will-run-for-senate-in-alabama-after-trump-objects.html As we count down the days to Democratic debates on Wednesday and Thursday, Alabama has given the Dems a gift: Roy Moore is officially running for the Senate seat again, and he still has wide grassroots support. If he takes that nomination, Doug Jones' chances of keeping Alabama for Democrats next year are hugely improved.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/democratic-debates-2020-placement/index.html We know the center candidates in the two debates. One night will have Warren and O'Rourke as the candidates in the center, the other will have Biden and Sanders. The center position is assumed to get the most time. Biden's in for a fun ride. Not only will he have to worry about Sanders, but Yang is also part of the debate that night. He is going to look SO BORING compared to two candidates who radically want to alter America's economy.

The FNAF movie might be languishing in development Hell because Scott keeps rejecting every idea put before him, but... there's this. There is a rumor that it developed out of an early draft of the FNAF film that was rejected, but whether that's true or not, well... my God, it exists. And since everyone is comparing it to FNAF, I figured it appropriate to link it here. I feel sorry for all the 70s and 80s kids who grew up with the actual show. This is both an extremely bad and an extremely brilliant idea.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/29/politics/roy-moore-alabama-donald-trump-jr/index.html Roy Moore and Trump Jr. got into it over Twitter. While Moore's since deleted his Tweets, I can't help but think Jr. just made the Alabama Senate race personal. And Moore is the favorite for the GOP nomination based on polling. And Roy Moore being the GOP nominee is the best chance Democrats have of taking that seat for 6 years. Jones has defected to the GOP on a lot of things, but he's also stuck with the Democrats on a lot of things too. He is the best option Democrats will get from Alabama. Where Moore is likely to get swat on the ass is the fact Republican voters are actually very good at rejecting candidates with serious ethical failings. It's why we all too often get Democrats who suddenly win a red seat, but then immediately lose it next race. Republican voters tend punish (non-Presidential) candidates for sexual immorality in particular.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/nevada-governor-vetoes-national-popular-vote-bill.html Nevada Dem. Governor Sisolak has vetoed the state's bill that would have added Nevada to the National Popular Vote Compact. He cited the argument that Nevada would simply be ignored in national elections because it is small, whereas right now it benefits from being a swing state. It's also an argument that falls apart under increased scrutiny: people scream about Texas and California and New York, but those large states are hardly hive minds, and their political minorities will come out in full force if the national popular vote becomes a thing. Candidates will have to cast a wide net to win a truly national election.