What the Democratic Debates Taught Me.

What the Democratic Debates Taught Me. → (0)>>They’re  awful. One of them out of the 10 are likely to be the nominee . If you’re a voter trying to figure out not just which candidate to back but also what this election is really about, what would you have learned?The CNN circular firing squad, popularly known as the Democratic Candidates Debate, demonstrates vividly that there is no longer a Democratic Party in this country. The former Party has metastasized into a fractious collection of warring tribes whose only commonality is that they are not Republicans. Most of them are not even Democrats....The Debates also demonstrate that anyone not of a particular ideological persuasion is fair game for a full frontal assault. Cannibalism at its finest on display for those looking for something more blood thirsty than mixed martial arts in an octagon...When the DNC staggers to some semblance of a nomination next year, we can expect to see a number of the Debate gladiators declare their third, fourth, fifth - or more - party candidacy for President. A Green New Deal candidate is also likely...E Pluribus Chaos. The new Democratic rallying cry. Actually it proves that the entire (1)>>Democratic party is fractured , its really going to be playing right into the Republican hands   .   Next, we are all tired of partisan politics. The policies of Warren and Sanders cannot pass congress and are a waste of our time. We need leaders who can work across party lines and pass bipartisan legislation. Enough of the partisan fighting. Being a moderate is not shameful. It is pragmatic, realistic, and productive!  So it was deeply frustrating, if ultimately unsurprising, Democratic presidential candidates on stage in Detroit on Tuesday night debated in detail two different visions for the future of the party. The stark ideological divide, during the second debate Tuesday night in Detroit, as the party's moderate candidates repeatedly tangled with front-runners Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, describing their ideas like "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal as "fairytale" or "wish list" economics. ( 1.2) >>It seems to me I have heard these "promises" before on healthcare for example . The two rounds of Democratic presidential debates, rather than bringing clarity to the primary or culling the field of 24 candidates, have instead laid bare the fragility of former (1.3)>>Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as a front-runner and showcased the divisions over ideology and identity in a party that appears united only in its desire to defeat President Trump.Having failed so far to dominate the debates, Mr. Biden tried on Thursday to quell liberal resistance to his candidacy by other means: He charged, in Detroit, that certain attacks from the left on his record and his policies amounted to attacks on former President Barack Obama and his legacy.After nearly 10 hours of nationally televised and often contentious candidate forums, the Democratic hopefuls and their voters are plainly

torn over how best to take on Mr. Trump and how aggressive a program they should embrace, particularly on health care and immigration.The former Vice President and still the front-runner in the Democratic primary — took perhaps the harshest body blows from the junior Senator from California, known for her prosecutable mettle and, now, considerable debating skills. Besides Biden.  (2) >>Sen. Kamala Harris faced critical words from Rep. Gabbard  Harris faced tough questions on her record as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and California attorney general from 2011 to 2017 from  ( 2.1) >>Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). In a blistering series of criticisms of Harris' tenures, Gabbard accused Harris of not doing enough to change the brutality of the criminal justice system. "The bottom line is, when you were in a position to make a difference and an impact in these people's lives, you did not and worse yet in the case of those who are on death row, innocent people, you actually blocked evidence from being revealed that would have freed them until you were forced to do so," said Gabbard. "There's no excuse for that and the people who suffered under your reign as prosecutor—you owe them an apology."  But Gabbard's push marks the first time a 2020 Democratic candidate has joined in that rhetoric. And conservatives, despite viewing themselves as the main targets of alleged political discrimination at the hands of Silicon Valley, are voicing support for Gabbard's public brawl with Google.  Gabbard has a dangerous popularity to the Democratic Establishment . The fact that progressives think that either(3)>>Bernie or Warren can win shows how out of touch they are. They couldn’t win an election even with only democrats voting in a general. And they call Biden out of touch. They re delusions of grandeur would be laughable if not so serious.Ironic that the Democratic candidates are finally getting down in the mud for the fight. It's too bad they are taking the fight not to Donald Trump, but to each other. The infighting shows that the Democrats have schisms within their party , simply said as example that the Biden Party is vary different from the Warren Party . And far from coalescing around a possible nominee, Democrats are also sharply divided over what kind of standard-bearer would best bridge the larger generational, gender and racial differences shaping the party in the 2020 race.




NOTES AND COMMENTS:
 (0)>>They’re  awful.  The debates aren’t reality television and they’re not a sporting event. They’re forums aimed at helping voters assess who should become the world’s most powerful individual, with millions of lives and livelihoods are at stake.   (1) >>Democratic party is fractured. And far from coalescing around a possible nominee, Democrats are also sharply divided over what kind of standard-bearer would best bridge the larger generational, gender and racial differences shaping the party in the 2020 race. ... So far the Dems have succeeded in bringing themselves down, and thats about it. Overall the party looks unfocused, and ready to self-destruct (1.2)>>Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.   Casting his liberal critics as generally hostile to the administration he served in, Mr. Biden said it was “bizarre” that some candidates were questioning the Obama administration’s record on immigration and other issues, a defensive tactic to remind primary voters of his connection to a respected former president. Biden, appearing at a union forum in Nevada with 18 Democratic rivals, appeared fired up as he forcefully defended former U.S. Democratic President Obama and his signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.“I’m against any Democrat who wants to get rid of Obamacare,” Biden, 76, declared.Biden appeared at the forum shortly after U.S. Massachusetts Senator and progressive candidate Elizabeth Warren had given her full-throated backing to a “Medicare for All” healthcare plan, a government-run system that would remove roughly 140 million Americans from their private or employer-issued plans. But Biden has avoided any racial gaffes since the last debate, and it seems doubtful that Harris would attack him a second time based upon any personal experience with policy he either supported or opposed. She pushed herself to the top tier, and the time has come for her to make her affirmative case for the presidency. It will be fascinating to see whether Biden has any preloaded attack lines to try to knock her down, seeing as she would clearly be his most obvious threat.The problem is that a laundry list approach of having candidates debate each other on legislation issue by issue neglects that the most powerful tool the President has is agenda-setting. Obama was not able to get the exact legislation he wanted passed, but he was able to say that a stimulus package should come first, then a health care package, then a financial reform package. His allies in Congress came to those decisions with him and then did the hard part of rustling up votes and crafting legislation that could pass.The rising tension over Mr. Obama’s legacy, most notably the Affordable Care Act, is a new crack in the party’s orthodoxy, as an ascendant progressive wing that favors transformative change raises questions about the incremental policies of the former president. After a few candidates used the Detroit debate to demand that Mr. Biden account for Mr. Obama’s record on issues such as deportations and free trade, Mr. Biden was joined by some of the former president’s advisers, who chastised the critics for committing political malpractice.   ( 1.2)>>It seems to me I have heard these "promises" before.Perhaps, what the candidates are showing us is that, like the 5 Blind Men and the Elephant (John Godfrey Saxe), they each recognize a part of a problem that is too complex for any one person to grasp in its entirety. Perhaps, if they would quit bickering, present themselves as potential leaders rather than competitive job applicants, and allow the people to choose, the system will begin to rebalance itself and the demagoguery of the moment will begin the transition to history lesson.The vast majority of all Americans, let alone democrats, support Medicare for all. These “centrist” democrats don’t represent the people, they represent the pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. I am so grateful that we have democratic candidates who are willing to stand up to them, this is hardly arrogance. (2)>>Sen. Kamala Harris faced critical words from Rep. Gabbard  Harris faced tough questions on her record. I was so put off by Kamala Harris's campaign team and her attacking the honorable Congresswoman Gabbard for her truth telling. Was like a mean girls move. And Harris's myopic obsession with talking to Biden. She's ok if SHE'S emoting a 'little girl on the bus' monologue, but no one should ever attack her background. Huh?( 2.1) >>Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). I really Like Tulsi  She really should not be a Democrat , but she is helping to expose to the American public our failed foreign policy run by the Military Industrial Complex , the endless wars of regime change . Tulsi is a peacemaker , she would talk first rather than engaging  in war as a last resort . If there was a choice for President I would like her to win , but I know its not possible , the Democrats have out for her , they have already rigged the nomination for Biden .(3)>>Bernie or Warren can win . The progressives in the Democratic Party never liked Obama and this far left platform gives them a real chance to go up against the Obama legacy. This is political suicide for Warren, Sanders, and Harris if they don’t know this. How could their staffs agree on something like this? When Donald Trump says the left spent more time bashing Barack Obama than they did bashing him you know something is wrong. If the progressives feel they have to bash Obama to beat Joe Biden then they are a bunch of political amateurs and should never be chosen as our nominee.