It's #BiWeek, but nobody I know has any declarations to make. Rather, this will be the first of at least two 2020 presidential candidate posts this week due to the heavy schedule of events.
First up:
Thursday, September 19
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Senator Michael Bennet
Senator Michael Bennet
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson
1:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Former Representative John Delaney
Former Representative John Delaney
4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
Representative Tim Ryan
Representative Tim Ryan
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Former Secretary JuliƔn Castro
Former Secretary JuliƔn Castro
Friday, September 20
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Senator Cory Booker
Senator Cory Booker
10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Governor Steve Bullock
Governor Steve Bullock
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
Tom Steyer
Tom Steyer
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Former Governor Bill Weld
Former Governor Bill Weld
More from Vox. There seem to be quite a few of the front-runners missing, you say.
Former vice-president Joe Biden and the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, will miss an MSNBC forum on the climate crisis to be held in Washington later this week.
The California senator Kamala Harris, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke and the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar will also miss the event.
Organizers said most candidates who declined cited scheduling conflicts in the early voting state of Iowa, including for an LGBTQ forum in Cedar Rapids on Friday.
-- There's also a conflict with the #ClimateStrike. Stephanie Quilao explains.
Bernie will be at the MSNBC #ClimateForum2020 in conversation with youth at Georgetown. Biden and Warren will be at the LGBTQ Presidential Forum in IA.— The Bern Identity (@bern_identity) September 16, 2019
The Climate forum is also timed with the global youth #ClimateStrike 9/20. @GretaThunberg will be at the NY one as will @AOC. https://t.co/lZP3hM1Tkg
I see no reason to read any lack of commitment into any candidate's non-participation in any one event, though there will be plenty of spinning like that. I feel the same way about the Working Families Party endorsement of Warren over Sanders; lots of sound and fury, but the endorsement itself means nothing. WFP is just another progressive org corrupted by the establishment.
-- This event today is a big deal, however.
Elizabeth Warren to skip the Workers' Presidential Summit, Philadelphia's largest coalition of labor unions, where candidates will speak about their labor platforms.https://t.co/uWSiIjHfHM— š„BERNforBernie2020š„ (@BernForBernie20) September 17, 2019
(Biden and Sanders) along with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, businessmen Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang and author Marianne Williamson will speak about their labor platforms before members of the Philadelphia Council of the AFL-CIO.
The summit is taking place just two days after the union of autoworkers at General Motors in Michigan announced strike plans, the largest labor action by workers in the auto industry in a decade. ... The power of organized labor and the importance of the Pennsylvania electorate in presidential elections gives candidates a unique chance to connect with two constituencies at the same event.
-- So where is Beto this week, since he's not at any of these events? Svitek at the TexTrib almost always knows these things.
.@BetoORourke heading to Aurora, Colorado, on Thursday for town hall, per campaign— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) September 16, 2019
He's sticking to his guns.
-- Bennet is pushing all in on the Hawkeyes.
Michael Bennet is doubling down on his commitment to Iowa with a seven-figure TV and digital ad push over the next several weeks, starting today https://t.co/dYQOVfRj1F— POLITICO (@politico) September 17, 2019
Another million bucks flushed by a no-name.
-- Tulsi gets hosed again on the polls.
The fact that the DNC's criteria of "qualifying polls" is solely determined by which corporate sponsor pays for the poll, and not which polls are graded the best or most accurate, means that the candidates onstage for the debates is determined by the DNC, not American voters. https://t.co/qHK01DWm3m— Nicole Alexander Fisher (@_nalexander) September 17, 2019
-- One more thing about Boot Edge Edge, from the last climate town hall.
Buttigieg: Let’s talk about climate as a "faith" issue https://t.co/gQTq3eGTgI— Dan Merica (@merica) September 5, 2019
Let's not. Let's talk about climate chaos as a scientific emergency action issue, and let's leave your imaginary friend out of the discussion entirely.
This dipshit is really starting to piss me off.
-- Trump's in H-Town this Sunday evening.
-- Last, and updating last Thursday's Update with a new development regarding Mike Gravel's alleged endorsement of Howie Hawkins ...
So there’s more drama in the Mike Gravel endorsement saga:— PRIMO NUTMEG (@PRIMONUTMEG) September 9, 2019
An email went out requesting support for Howie Hawkins, who is running for the Green Party nomination.
The Gravel campaign is indicating this is not an endorsement. It is unclear whether Mike Gravel approved the email. https://t.co/QsMAxaWBZk
If this is meaningful to you then you should a) scroll through Primo Nutmeg's Tweets for the full story, and b) follow his/her Twitter and YouTube channel for some of the best progressive news you can find anywhere.
I'll be posting a local (Houston, Austin and elsewhere in Texas) political events update as soon as I can collect a few more items. If you have something you want to see in that post, send it to me via e-mail or Twitter DM.