Thursday, June 27, 2019

Fight Night 2 (The A-Team)


From left, the roster (onstage, not in the picture above) is:

  • Author and activist Marianne Williamson
  • Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
  • Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
  • South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
  • California Sen. Kamala Harris
  • New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
  • Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet
  • California Rep. Eric Swalwell

Due to the luck of the draw, this is effectively the marquee night for the debate -- with frontrunner Biden, second-place Sanders, and tied-for-fourth-place Harris and Buttigieg all onstage.

And all eyes will be on Biden. He’s certainly no stranger to the format; his first presidential debate was 32 years ago, and he was in several more during his 2007 campaign, as well as general election vice presidential debates in 2008 and 2012. Still, for the clear frontrunner, the pressure will be on, and his rivals will be sure to pounce on any misstep.

Sanders, for instance, will have an opportunity to make the case that his vision for the presidency would be far different -- he wants a political revolution, whereas Biden emphatically does not. Harris and Buttigieg, too, could argue that new leadership is needed for the party. But it’s not clear just how aggressive these candidates will be in attacking Biden; they could decide it’s a mistake to go too negative this early.

The two Democratic candidates without experience in political office will also be onstage on this night. Williamson, an author who has written on spirituality, has recently tried to backtrack from comments she made criticizing vaccines. Meanwhile, entrepreneur Yang will tout his plan for a universal basic income of $1,000 a month.

With most of the top-polling contenders as well as Williamson and Yang on this night, it may be more difficult for the other politicians onstage -- Gillibrand, Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Swalwell -- to stand out.

Like last night, I will put down the phone and step away from the laptop and just let the experience wash over me without feeling the urge to interact with a second, small screen.  Old school, '90's style, not so much sifting and sorting of wheat from Twitter chaff.

Seems to give me a clearer perspective for the morning-after take.
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Voy a patear te el culo

"I'm going to kick your ass".


The former San Antonio mayor had been running below the radar -- WAY below the radar -- until Wednesday night. That is likely to change after his performance, in which he was able to carve out a remarkable amount of speaking time for a candidate polling somewhere between 0% and 1%. (An hour into the debate, Castro had spoken as much as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is in the midteens in national polling, according to a count kept by the Washington Post. Hugely helpful!) Castro's battering of Beto O'Rourke on immigration was hard to watch (especially if you were related to O'Rourke), but a clear win for Castro.

Even the TexTrib poll, reported in the Wrangle ten days ago, showed Castro tied with Tulsi Gabbard here in Deep-In-The-Hearta, with 3% apiece.  This is -- should be -- the moment we mark as Beto's final mistake.  He was never tough enough to take on Ted Cruz, and when Julián punched him in the nose last night, he reeled around the ring and toppled over.  Good night, Bob.

Tulsi also whipped some white man culo.

Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran and frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy, shot back at (Ohio Cong. Tim) Ryan after he said the United States needs to stay "engaged" in hotspots like Afghanistan.

"As a soldier, I will tell you that answer is unacceptable," Gabbard said, urging the U.S. to pull back and focus on America.

"When we weren’t there, they started flying planes into our buildings," Ryan replied. "If we go in there and say we want to withdraw from the world -- that’s what President Trump is saying."

Gabbard noted it was Al Qaeda, not the Taliban, that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, and said, "The Taliban was there long before we got in and will be there long after we leave."


(What is the 'Rachel Madcow smear'?  Glad you asked.)

So while Trump, Joe Biden, and Liz Warren -- the elephants in the room -- escaped unscathed, some people won by not losing.  Not Chuck Todd, however. 

Some of these ten will now fade away (we all hope).


Look for a preview of Fight Night 2 later this afternoon.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Fight Night (hopefully not Fright Night)


Arranged from left (with the best-polling candidates in the middle), the lineup for Wednesday night’s first debate is:

  1. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
  2. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan
  3. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
  4. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
  5. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
  6. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
  7. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
  8. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
  9. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
  10. Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney

Recent polling suggests that a shitload of Democrats don't know who these candidates are, much less what they stand for.

Only 22% of Democrats registered to vote say they know a lot about the candidates’ positions, while 62% say they know a little. And only 35% say they’re paying close attention to the campaign, with almost two-thirds saying they’re paying some or no attention.

“It’s kind of a blur,” said Maggie Banks, 32, of suburban Denver, who has two young children and only has a chance to glean a few details about the race while listening to National Public Radio during her commute.

Banks said she has only a “vague” idea of who’s running and didn’t realize her state’s senior senator, Michael Bennet, or former governor John Hickenlooper were in the race.

Odds are we'll get to late October 2020, and the media will find a few 'Muricans in a Walmart parking lot who, when asked, scratch themselves and look confused and say, "I'm undecided" about whether to vote for Trump or whichever Democrat gets nominated.  And the rest of us will scream, or roll our eyes, or grit our teeth, or react in some way that communicates our full disgust.

Ultra-low information voters might be the bane of democracy's existence.

But here, among the allegedly well-informed in early primary season -- the 'changing room' segment of the cycle -- everyone who cares about what the Donks are doing could at least be open-minded enough to try on different candidates for a good fit.  Yes or no?

I mean, if you're "vote blue no matter who", then why do you care who wins the primary?


-- Do policies matter ... or just 'defeat Trump'?  Of those ten facing off tonight, Warren is most certainly demonstrating the former premise is the right path.  Even if her policies originated as *ahem* someone else's.

-- Is So-and-So just too grouchy, or out of touch, or inexperienced, or old, or young, or too conservative or moderate or liberal or progressive for me?  What's my 'Goldilocks zone'?

Yes, the media will pick the president if you let them.  The corporate talking heads inform, but also distort with their own bias.  That's why you might be better off with CSPAN whenever they are an option.  (They are not, tonight and tomorrow night.)  Maybe turn off the post-debate spinmeisters, and ignore the Thursday morning quarterbacking ... which, naturally, I'll be doing.  (Calling the game, not passing over it, that is).  With regard to social media, Twitter is a cesspool, and also invaluable for the very latest breaking news and often the most insightful analysis, as well as being wickedly sharp, brevity being the soul and all that.

CNN sucks, except when it doesn't.  MSDNC is a bunch of cheerleaders except when they aren't.  Fox is Fox unless you're watching Sheperd Smith.  Anybody been checking FrontPageLive, former Fox reporter-turned critic Carl Cameron's new venture?

Your personal, customized filters are automatically engaged, but for Doorknob's sake be aware of your biases and try not to get stuck in your silos.
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