Today is the day we talk politics, more specifically, the Democrat Presidential Primary. We talk politics one day per week until the election.
[The Dem Convention is in Milwaukee on 13-16 July 2020 at Fiserv Forum. The first debate is in June 2019, only two months from now. The DNC has the campaign penciled in for a dozen debates though there were more than 40 in 2007-8 when Obama was vying for the nomination.]
Who’s running, Big Red Car?
Good question. Thus far, we have the following folks running:
Current House Rep, Eric Swalwell — California CD #15, a self-proclaimed progressive, white
Current House Rep Tim Ryan — a self-proclaimed progressive, white Irishman
Current Mayor of Miramar, Florida — Wayne Messam — construction company owner, Florida State University wide received on the 1993 national championship team, African American, self-proclaimed progressive
Former House Rep, Robert Francis O’Rourke known as BETO — white Irishman posing as a Hispanic, self-proclaimed progressive
Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper — old pale guy but tremendously woke who oversaw the legalization of marijuana in Colorado
Current Governor Washington — old pale guy with long political resume, but totally unknown outside the Pacific Northwest
Current Senator Bernie Sanders — 77 year old, pale woke guy who was defeated (cheated?) by Hillary R Clinton the last time around, self-proclaimed progressive
Current Senator Amy Klobuchar — white woman from Minnesota with some kind of The Devil Wears Prada management vibe going on, self-proclaimed moderate
Current Senator Elizabeth Warren — white Indian Princess Harvard law prof from Massachusetts, self-proclaimed progressive
Current Senator Cory Booker — black, former Stanford college football player, who now has a main squeeze who is an actress, self-proclaimed progressive
Current Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pistol Pete Buttigieg — youthful white husband of Chasten (don’t worry, he will tell you about this), a self-proclaimed progressive. Hee is Mayor Pete on his and Chasten’s wedding day — blue suits, blue ties, blue flowers.
Current Senator Kamala Harris — she is a Jamaican-Tamil Indian woman (she calls herself an African American), a self-proclaimed progressive
Current Senator Kirsten Gillibrand — white New York Senator, a self-proclaimed progressive
Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro — Latino former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama, a self-proclaimed progressive
Current House Rep Tulsi Gabbard — white, Hawaiian, self-proclaimed progressive
Marianne Williamson — white, female best selling author, a self-proclaimed progressive
NYC entrepreneur Andrew Yang — Taiwanese, white Ivy Leaguer, a self-proclaimed progressive
Former Rep John Delaney — white Marylander, a self-proclaimed progressive
Already dropped out is West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda — announced, but quit.
Not yet announced, but leading all the polls is former Vice President Joe Biden — an old, pale, self-proclaimed moderate.
Lurking on the sidelines is Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame.
OK, so what, Big Red Car?
So, dear reader, the leader thus far is a guy who has not even announced he is running — former Vice President Joe Biden.
All of the candidates are self-proclaimed progressives except for Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden.
There was a time when “liberal” was good enough, but not now. Now, if you are a Dem, you have to be a progressive. It will turn out that America does not like this term. That is for another day, y’all.
So, the B’s, Big Red Car?
Yes, dear reader, today we chat about Biden, Bernie, Beto, and Buttigieg.
Here’s the low down:
1. Joe Biden, old pale straight guy with decades in the Senate and two terms in the White House basement as Vice President, is the leader and will remain the leader until such time as he decides not to run. Therein lies more than a bit of irony — the leader is a guy not yet suited up to run?
This brings one to notice — the progressive wing of the Democrat party is fairly small even though almost all of the candidates are self-proclaimed progressives. It is a band wagon with very few seats left.
It is not big enough to carry the primary as there are simply not that many progressives.
The second Joe Biden gets into the race, he is the front runner and it is his race to lose.
2. Bernie is polling behind Joe Biden, but Bernie is the one who first articulated the progressive mantra. Some will say he should have won the nomination last time around. You be the judge of that.
Bernie is old at a time when the media is celebrating young. The guy invented the progressive strain of politics — the free everything — the Dems have adopted as their mantra. His fifteen minutes is over.
3. The Beto thing has run its course. He is no longer the youngest hipster in the pack. Game, set, match to Mayor Pete, which brings us to Mayor Pete. Beto the Loser, self-proclaimed.
4. The current flavor of the month is Mayor Pete Buttigieg — Chasten’s main squeeze. It is hard to believe that in 2008 President Barack H Obama was publicly against gay marriage. In 2012 — spurred on by VP Joe Biden’s announcement that he was open to gay marriage — President Obama took a focus grouped pivot and came out as in favor of gay marriage.
Mayor Pete is going to play the gay card more than once too many times. It will become an irritant, but it is historic and it will play in San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles.
The guy is brilliant — articulate, well-spoken, intellectually a giant, Rhodes Scholar, US Navy veteran, and great in front of the camera. He is terminally youthful, but that will sort itself out.
The Pete 2020 campaign is a very sophisticated undertaking. The creative design work alone is light years ahead of any of its competitors. It is worth looking at here:
Pete For America
Hey, Mayor Pete has already KOed Beto. Deal with it.
Bottom line it, Big Red Car
The Dem campaign for the nomination is going to sort itself out most rickety tick, y’all. I am amazed, but it is true.
All those Senators? Dead meat in a vegan burger joint.
It is going to be Biden v Buttigieg with a side helping of Bernie. Small side helping.
Biden will hold down the middle while Mayor Pete (and Bernie) will go hard left — OK, they already have, I know.
There are not enough noses on the far left side to win the nomination, but I am not prepared to announce that Biden, a guy who hasn’t even announced yet, is the winner. Still, it won’t be anybody but Mayor Pete v old, pale, sniffing Joe.
You heard it here first. The media is ready to canonize Mayor Pete in the next month.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be good to yourself. I am so sad to hear that Notre Dame in Paris is burning.
