Chuck Todd: 'I don't understand how Bernie is considered a front-runner'
A True Centrist Democrat Story, in four parts
NEW: Bernie Sanders is now the leading Democratic presidential candidate among Texas voters, according to our latest poll.— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 14, 2020
Bernie Sanders: 24%
Joe Biden: 22%
Elizabeth Warren: 15%
Michael Bloomberg: 10%
Pete Buttigieg: 7%
MORE: https://t.co/bV2EiOeWih #tx2020
Our @BernieSanders Houston office is in the heart of the Latinx community. We're celebrating con baile folklorico, música, y comunidad.— Chris Chu de León (@chrischudeleon) February 14, 2020
As a Latino, Tío Bernie is building political power for my family & community. I'm proud to be in this movimiento.#UnidosConBernie #TioBernie pic.twitter.com/SYSnrZZ5nx
.@BernieSanders campaign opening new offices in Houston, Austin Thursday; San Antonio and McAllen this weekend https://t.co/GeULnvwQXW #HouNews #ATX #SATX #RGV #Bernie2020 @OurRevTexas— A Companion Unobtrusive (@PDiddie) February 13, 2020
We'll have a mariachi band, food, screen printing, and more at our San Antonio office opening this Saturday! Please RSVP here: https://t.co/sBJnm6FAFT— Chris Chu de León (@chrischudeleon) February 14, 2020
Over 300 people at the new Austin, TX field office for Bernie. pic.twitter.com/JA3EAa8bVX— Surging Sanders 🌹 (@graff_rayanne) February 14, 2020
🇺🇸 ¿A quién apoyará @SenSanders si su campaña no tiene éxito?— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) February 14, 2020
Esto es lo que ha dicho en el encuentro @LULAC👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/yGVxabaZHQ
Houston Mayor @SylvesterTurner brings @MikeBloomberg on stage at the @harrisdemocrats JRR dinner as a heckler shouts "Bloomberg is a Republican!!" #txlege pic.twitter.com/GZFhn07W3K— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) February 14, 2020
Shocked that so many so-called Black leaders are supporting Mike Bloomberg? Remember, the majority of the Congressional Black Caucus supported the 1994 crime bill.— Kirsten West Savali (@KWestSavali) February 13, 2020
There's nothing new under the sun.https://t.co/yiaqNgrauE
Given that @SylvesterTurner will co-chair the Bloomberg campaign's Infrastructure Council, it's worth noting Turner has shorted Houston's main infrastructure program by $193m in his 4 budgets:https://t.co/7Lzfuk2NVrhttps://t.co/jcafnh4piW— Mike Morris (@mmorris011) February 13, 2020
Bloomberg entered the presidential race in November, and has since spent more than $300 million of his own money in his effort to secure the Democratic nomination. Much of the focus on Bloomberg’s historic spending spree has been on the TV ads he’s running in at least 29 states, helping boost him into the top tier in polls and driving up the price of air time for other candidates. Beyond pushing out his competitors, though, Bloomberg’s spending is having a shockingly disruptive effect on Democratic politics throughout the country: He is hiring armies of staffers and canvassers in nearly every state in the country at eye-popping salaries, poaching talent from other campaigns and progressive organizations that are now struggling to fill jobs. In just three months, the Bloomberg campaign has hired thousands of people to staff more than 125 offices around the country, the New York Times reported Thursday.
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Progressive groups, local campaigns, and presidential operations are either losing staff to the Bloomberg campaign, or are struggling to hire people because the former mayor has picked so many political operatives and canvassers up, according to interviews, emails, and messages from dozens of people involved in hiring. Several of them spoke to The Intercept on condition of anonymity, either not to offend the biggest spender in political history, or not to expose publicly that they are having a hard time finding staff, which the public could perceive as suggestive of weakness.
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During an interview this week on The Hill TV’s show “The Rising,” a senior adviser to Bernie Sanders, Chuck Rocha, said the campaign recently lost a staffer in South Carolina to Bloomberg.
“I’ve heard it in every state that we’ve been in,” said Rocha of the Bloomberg effect, adding that one staffer recently came to him and said, “‘Hey Chuck, I’m with Bernie, I’m gonna vote for Bernie, but I’m gonna go get this money, cuz he’s gonna double my salary and pay me till November and I’ve gotta pay my bills when this thing is over.’
And I was like, ‘Look brother, go do what you’ve gotta do. Out of respect, we’d still like your vote, and ask your mommy and daddy if they’ll vote for Bernie as well,’ and he goes, ‘Oh, no problem.’ That’s a real thing.”
The salaries being paid to Bloomberg staffers are well above market rates, and often come with housing included, as well as a laptop and an iPhone. One operative lured to Bloomberg’s office in New York said she observed a seemingly endless wall of iPhones stacked like bricks as far as she could see. Another said that Bloomberg offered a job to one operative who didn’t take it, but still received a laptop and iPhone from the campaign in the mail anyway, presumably by sheer dint of onboarding momentum. One progressive consultant in Arizona has lost multiple hires to Bloomberg and is having a hard time finding workers. “I have heard of new organizers being hired by Bloomberg and then saying they are secretly still knocking for Bernie,” the consultant said.
For just $5, the San Antonio Zoo will name a cockroach after your former lover and feed it to an animal on Valentine's Day. https://t.co/pRwGnFJyE2— CNN (@CNN) February 11, 2020
The (office of the TXSoS) confirmed it would report presidential primary votes at the Senate district level on election night, as it has in past presidential primaries. This is important because a majority of the delegates a Democratic presidential candidate 'wins' is based on results in each of the state’s 31 districts.
Earlier (Wednesday, February 5), the Texas Democratic Party said it had been advised that the new election results reporting system would not be able to allocate presidential primary votes by Senate district on election night.
“Texans deserve to know who won their election,” said a tweet posted to the party’s official Twitter account. “If, in fact, the [Secretary of State] refuses to report all of the election results, including presidential preference by senate district, it is a violation of the public trust and fails Texans.”
The state party allocates more than half of its delegates based on Senate district performances, which would have meant that candidates’ final delegate counts would not have been known for potentially several days after the primary election. Democratic caucus results from Iowa were delayed by two days because of issues connected with a new application designed to tabulate votes from more than 1,600 caucus sites.
A spokesperson for the Secretary of State said the allegations made by the Democratic Party were “categorically false,” reported the Texas Tribune’s Alexa Ura.
The growth in Texas over the past 15 years has also brought the growth of more than a million Democratic voters. Check out what it means for the 2020 election: #FlippingTexas #txlege @ProgressTX #tx2020 https://t.co/VeB2zWC18O— Ed Espinoza (@EdEspinoza) February 4, 2020
In last week's Wrangle, this blogger ranted about misuse of the word 'progressive'. This week, both Gadfly and Jaime Abeytia picked up on that with rants of their own.
Pls. RT#Sema2020 @_SemaHernandez_ is the only Texas candidate for US Senate who endorsed Bernie and supports every one of his policy positions.@BernieSanders will need allies that supports his policies when he's in the White House.#Time4Sema— Mokum Misfit #MakeLoveNotWar💗🏴 (@Mokum_Misfit) February 6, 2020
Donate: https://t.co/o3qGwYYXRU pic.twitter.com/brxgCcL12t
Bloomer (Mike Bloomberg) is hiring canvassers at $6K/month till November.— Sema Hernandez for U.S. Senate (@_SemaHernandez_) February 11, 2020
I reckon they should all unionize. I’m thinking a general campaign strike. https://t.co/RNpBXH2kaJ
Tlaib: DNC rules committee members working on Bloomberg campaign is a "conflict of interest" https://t.co/BXA1QvvQh8 pic.twitter.com/DLHoKfCoze— The Hill (@thehill) February 6, 2020
(T)here is much more to worry about with the flu. I got my shot four months ago. And I am not changing my behavior or buying any face masks or cutting Asian restaurants out of my dining options.
Local leaders say business is down as much as 70% in some spots as customers are too fearful to patronize the part of town.
“I know of one restaurant that has lost $30,000 a day," said U.S. Rep. Al Green.
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Officials said libelous social media posts are spreading misinformation and have led to empty restaurants and stores.
"It is having a significant impact," Green said. "A needless impact, given that there is no reported case. There is no reason to be away from your normal life. So I’m begging people to please come back."
REGISTER: https://form.jotform.com/92335580529159
Sunday, February 16, 2020
5:30 to 7:30pm
Whitestone Brewery
601 E Whitestone Boulevard #500
Cedar Park, Texas 78613
Meet Democratic candidates for state and local judicial offices, including the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Complimentary food and beverages.
ORGANIZING SPONSORS:
Judge Amy Clark Meachum for TX Supreme Court
Justice Gisela Triana for TX Supreme Court
Attorney Brandy Voss for TX Supreme Court
Judge Tina Clinton for TX Court of Criminal Appeals
Judge Brandon Birmingham for TX Court of Criminal Appeals
.@MikeBloomberg will be a guest speaker at @harrisdemocrats' JRR Dinner next Thursday, per advisory. @JulianCastro is also speaking. It's the party's biggest annual fundraising event; speakers the last two years were @HillaryClinton and @SpeakerPelosi.— Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) February 5, 2020
RSVP to attend our #Movimiento2020 Candidate Forum Feb 15 and prepared to hear from:@AndrewYang @ewarren @JoeBiden @TomSteyer @BernieSanders @amyklobuchar @MikeBloomberg @MichaelBennet @cristinafortx @RubyForTexas @Biggan4Congress— Jolt Action (@JoltAction) January 30, 2020
RSVP: https://t.co/eU8pKlJKL6 pic.twitter.com/4R1klBDfdF
Houston turned out in force to see @BernieSanders win the #DemDebate#TexansForBernie #NotMeUs #Bernie2020 pic.twitter.com/w6R55Ei32v— Chris Chu de León (@chrischudeleon) February 8, 2020
The six Texas oil refineries spewing cancer-causing benzene above the federal threshold https://t.co/XgBprmVhrd via @Progrexas #TXLege #HouNews— A Companion Unobtrusive (@PDiddie) February 6, 2020
TCEQ says carcinogenic risks of ethylene oxide are ill founded, Jefferson County has most EtO emissions in Texas https://t.co/6WvVEMjyQF— SE Texas Record (@SETexasRecord) February 5, 2020
Here is my latest report with photos of 5 of the refineries on the list:-Advocates Call on EPA to Expand Air Pollution Monitoring of Refineries After 10 Found Emitting High Benzene Levels https://t.co/4VNztdxE8U— julie dermansky (@jsdart) February 8, 2020
Kinder Morgan’s $2 billion pipeline project, known as the Permian Highway Pipeline Project, has exercised its right to eminent domain leaving a plethora of infuriated Texas Hill Country property owners in its sizable wake.
These landowners are contesting the actions of Kinder Morgan and seeking a remedy. At issue are land valuation and the offers the energy infrastructure giant has made to property owners.
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Property owners see more than just the face value of the land and believe the pipeline company is “either intentionally lowballing landowners or seriously misjudging the value of Hill Country real estate,” reported Austin’s National Public Radio station, KUT.
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A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2005 furnished governments with the authority to condemn private property for economic development ...
“On something like a gas transmission pipeline, the legislature has given eminent domain authority to people like Kinder Morgan if they are a common carrier,” Clint Schumacher, an attorney at Dawson & Sodd specializing in eminent domain, said.
A common carrier moves other companies’ gas or oil through its pipeline at established rates reported the Texas Observer, and “Kinder Morgan gains the power to seize private land through eminent domain as a ‘public utility.”
The Texas Observer further noted that due to a 2011 Texas Supreme Court decision -- Texas Rice Land Partners v. Denbury Green Pipeline -- the Texas Railroad Commission, the state entity with oversight, isn’t required to verify a common carrier claim.
Towns in the Texas Panhandle are being choked by fecal dust from nearby beef feedlots, dust so thick it blots out the sun. Locals call it "shust" (shit + dust). The authorities aren't helping, & as @collins_reports writes, it's going to get worse: https://t.co/GegDe6iI3M— Jodi Ettenberg (@legalnomads) February 9, 2020
Look at all these climate advocates!— Citizens’ Climate DFW (@ccldfw) February 8, 2020
We’re at the @citizensclimate @ccl3rdcoast regional conference in Houston.#ccl3rdcoast#grassrootsclimate pic.twitter.com/TS8gcOdbaz
The San Antonio Museum of Art opens 2020 with a groundbreaking new exhibition titled “Texas Women: A New History of Abstract Art.”
The first large-scale exhibition of its kind, the show features 85 works by female abstract artists who have lived and worked in Texas from the mid-20th century to the present.
This year, the political buzz at Sundance Film Festival belonged to four Texas teens who might end up as future members of the Texas Legislature—or may become another Brad Parscale. Read about 'Boys State,' the Grand Jury Prize winner for best documentary. https://t.co/SfTvYey0MI— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) February 7, 2020
For the past month Felderhoff, who is a co-owner with his brother of Muenster Milling Co, a fourth-generation family business that makes pet foods in Texas, has been eating nothing else but his company’s products and, yes, that means dog food.
“Well, it’s a little naive to say I want to [eat dog food] for 30 days,” he admitted in the first of a series of videos documenting his journey on the company’s YouTube page. “But we want to prove that we believe in what we do.”
“For two years, I have toyed with the idea of eating our dog food for a month,” he wrote on his company’s blog. “Not just as an advertising bit ... far from it. I want people to know that we are so passionate about what we do, that we’ll do anything we can to make sure we’re providing the best food possible for their dog, so much so, that we’ll even eat it ourselves.”
Sure, Felderhoff is doing this for good reasons, like raising the awareness of animal obesity and promoting pet adoption. And, as he admitted to the Houston Chronicle, his products are not exactly fine cuisine for the human palate. “Dog food is not easy to eat,” he said. “It tastes like it smells. One of the things I did that was key is that I did do some intermittent fasting.”
The transformation of the former newspaper building is nearing completion as the developer embarks on designs for Broadway East. https://t.co/iWZXuD8cKA— Rivard Report (@RivardReport) February 8, 2020
CNN aired this drawing by a young trans girl of Pete as a rat as an example of the uncontrollable violence of the detestable Bernie Bros. It had 22 likes prior to airing the segment. They are also up in arms about post of a cartoon turd https://t.co/eIuXPE4XRc pic.twitter.com/EB3po7jdM9— BigQualityControl (@TSBigMoney) February 7, 2020
Here we are gathered together during the Year of the Rat, and I regret to report that Pete Buttigieg is ascending. I kept waiting for his fellow candidates to go after him for little things like, oh I don’t know, claiming victory over a caucus before all results were tallied? Minor despotic behaviors, that sort of thing? Instead, we heard mostly the same talking points coming from the same candidates who were almost all wearing the same outfits from the last debate. Is that Klobuchar dress plum or more of an eggplant? I’ve seen it so much by now you think I would have figured it out. (Is it just me, or does she spend most of her time on the debate stage explaining to people why they should like her more? Like someone who realizes she’s about to be broken up with suddenly listing out all their best assets?)
So I will just be Tom Steyer yelling from the margins of the stage PULL IT TOGETHER for the rest of this campaign. While some of the Democrats have gotten better at addressing the lived experience of people in the country, most are still speaking in broad ways that don’t connect.
Whenever abortion is discussed on the stage, it’s always in terms of “protecting Roe v Wade,” and not the massive crisis of accessibility that is going on in most states, with clinics closing, prices rising, and distances traveled for care increasing. It’s easy to talk about “rehabilitation” being the solution to the opioid crisis, but no one talks about how ineffective, expensive, and dangerous treatment facilities are in this country.
It’s hard to talk in specifics when you’re given 75 seconds to address structural problems, but the distance between political speech and actual reform never seems to stop growing. It was the exasperated, exhausted outliers at the ends, Yang and Steyer, who spoke the most directly -- Yang channeled Marianne Williamson there for a second, talking about the “disease” of American society that Trump is but a symptom of -- but they are just biding their time, hoping if they stay in long enough they can force a cabinet position somewhere. The inevitable debate confrontation with Trump is coming, and only Bernie Sanders and the single-digit losers seem ready for the fight.
* Lighting: Was it only me who fixated on the fact that the candidates' faces were well-lit but their hands were basically in the dark? Just a weird thing -- particularly for those candidates -- Bernie, I'm looking at you -- who gestured a lot with their (unlit) hands.
During a post-debate analysis, Jones reacted to a moment in the New Hampshire debate where all the candidates except one, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, put up their hands when asked if they were worried about a “socialist” (i.e., Sanders) at the top of the 2020 Democratic ticket.
“Joe Lockhart and I did the three count. Three Mississippis, before Klobuchar put her hand up,” host Chris Cuomo noted. “[Sanders] has been redefining the word. Can it be redefined in a way that works in America?”
“I don’t know if he can,” Jones said, before explaining that his take that the term is more problematic than Sanders’ actual agenda. “For his young supporters, they call themselves socialists, but they really just seem to have, like, grandparent envy. In other words, their grandparents pretty much get to see a doctor for free. And want the same thing. Grandparents went to college for $4 a semester. And they want to do the same thing. Why call yourselves socialist? You basically just say: ‘Grandma and grandpa, I want what you had.’ The idea that is some socialist revolution or whatever. This is not the socialist revolution we heard about in the ’60s and ’70s. And I think the label does harm when the policies are pretty reasonable.”
Chris Matthews ON AIR claiming that if “the reds won” he’d be executed in Central Park and Bernie Sanders would be cheering it on.— Aren R. LeBrun (@proustmalone) February 8, 2020
McCarthyism always lingered beneath the surface of Russiagate. Now, with neoliberalism falling apart, it’s out in the open. pic.twitter.com/LwAjel7C4j
#DemDebate talent round:— Grace Parra (@GraceParra360) February 8, 2020
Bernie: Rachmaninoff on a baby grand
Warren: Anna Kendrick's Cups
Biden: Tapping to "Hello my baby, hello my honey"
Buttegieg: Crucible soliloquy
Klobuchar: A cheer w/Navarro College
Steyer: Katie Lee french toast demo
Yang: J Lo pole dance from Hustlers