Jaguar
Active member
- Joined
- May 5, 2007
- Messages
- 20,639
CNN went after Bernie with such a vengeance you'd almost think he was Donald Trump. Clearly the elites put them on the same risky ground.
Sanders was pressed by CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip, one of the debate moderators, who asked him: “I want to be clear here. You’re saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?â€
“That is correct,†he replied.
She then turned to Warren and asked, “What did you think when Senator Sanders told you that a woman could not win an election?â€
There was some laughter from the audience, and Sanders shook his head.
Jag, it must suck to be in your shoes without a political home. You seem to be socially liberal but not really keen on the whole democratic tax and spend agenda either. Too bad there’s absolutely no party or candidates in this country running on a fiscally conservative, socially liberal platform. Yep, none to be found.
That is why I prefer developed multiparty system. Where all the parties are basically like a keys on a piano. Now I want more welfare, now I want better laws and less welfare, now I want more environment friendly stuff, now I want more minority rights , now I want ... whatever. American main parties are just 2 too big conglomerates to truly represent the sophisticated 21th century environment.
To me temporal alliances between smaller blocks are more logical than two huge "frozen" blocks.
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Yes, so if you prefer a Minor 7 chord, or a Diminished chord. As it stands, the two major parties are basically each the most generic three key major chords and offer little variation. Hell, I'd argue they might even be just the root and fifth notes. This makes for very limited compositions that tend to lack in dynamics or any sense of progression. Democrats are A Major. Republicans are, I dunno, E minor?
The thing is that with genuine multi party system you have a few benefits.
1. you don't have "us vs. them" narrative so much.
2. You have less status quo since some block can always jump in and change the ratios.
3. It is much harder to corrupt the whole political system and even if that happens there is the option of having new blocks.
But this isn't just EU thing all democracies are doing this.
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To be honest if I had to choose between this and introducing medicare for all I would actually go with this. Black and white thinking is almost certain death at this point. While the current American system is actually closer to China than to other democracies. I know this isn't nice to say but I think that the claim generally holds.
You're right though. Our democratic process is laughable. Because there's little democratic about it anymore. Duopoly. The media has a responsibility to report on major third parties. Several of those parties have offices and members nationwide, several of them make it to the ballots in nationwide elections, and to me, that is enough to merit media coverage. If the media spent as much time actually covering all viable parties and candidates as they spend obsessing over what Trump tweeted or what Bernie said to Warren, then people might be a little better informaed and realize there's other viable options. It's shameful how our MSM chooses to ignore them, and it's largely because of their selective coverage that third parties aren't viable options in the USA. The media even works closely with the republican in democratic parties in ensuring third parties are barred from debates or that debate rules will make it more difficult for lesser candidates to make it to debate stages.
Ideally, the Foxes and NBCs and CNNs would be saying "this party is also on the ballot in a majority of the 50 states. We have decided to add them to our coverage of the campaign and will attempt to give them adequate coverage so you the viewer is better informed when you head to the polls" Otherwise people know fuck-all about these candidates and automatically assume them to be longshots. It's sort of a vicious cycle too, the circular logic the media and people in general employ in dismissing third parties as unviable.
Isn't this why the League of Women Voters no longer participates in debates? Something to do with the 2000 election.
The League of Women Voters is, incidentally, an excellent source for information on local elections, at least in Chicago.
Yeah I belong to the LWV and they haven't participated, I think, since about 1988, on the national level, due to all the bullshit. They replaced it with voter registration, outreach and the VOTE411 org for info. I agree, they are an excellent resource for election information.
For some reason, I thought it had something to do with 2000, when Nader and Buchanan received a little attention.
"It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and honest answers to tough questions," Neuman said. "The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public."
The League is indeed an excellent source of balanced, unbiased information about candidates and issues, including on the state and local levels. They never support any party or candidate, and take positions on issues only after careful study and deliberation. I have been a League member for years, in part to stay informed about local politics. The two main parties wrested control of debates away from the League in the late 80's. They invitied the League to participate in the 1988 debates, but placed too many conditions and the League declined. They still host debates or candidates nights at lower levels. See details here, in addition to the link [MENTION=4050]ceecee[/MENTION] posted.Isn't this why the League of Women Voters no longer participates in debates? Something to do with the 2000 election.
The League of Women Voters is, incidentally, an excellent source for information on local elections, at least in Chicago.
I really wish Warren had a better campaign manager. She could handily run over Sanders, but her own messaging instincts are bad, and her team appears unable to understand mass psychology beyond the scope of debates.If Elizabeth Warren said that I was calling her a liar, I'd say "That's right. You are one. It's been well documented. And you're also not a Native American."
I really wish Warren had a better campaign manager. She could handily run over Sanders, but her own messaging instincts are bad, and her team appears unable to understand mass psychology beyond the scope of debates.
Warren and Buttigieg would be the best team to win the presidency. But by now I fear that Warren will fall to Sanders, Sanders will fall to Biden, and Buttigieg will not get a chance to wrest Biden voters away from the warm familiarity of the Obama years.