The author probably is right. The same feeling could be seen on day he won. You can easily see that on some YouTube clips of the networks report when he won and took both houses with him. Another NYT contributor began by actually saying Trump won the debate. He probably did. What have we heard from the candidates before and during the debate? One wants to have open borders so anyone who wants to can just walk in. Another states he will confiscate all of certain types of guns from Americans, whether they like it or not. Another wants to abolish private health insurance. Everything will be by the government, every pill we take and the care we are given and when. It's all about the issues they want. During the last election, Hillary threw her hands up and shouted to her crowds, “Now it’s my turn”. At the same time Trump looked at his crowds, telling them. “Now it’s your turn”. So, there is a very good chance he will win. It’s probable why they keep talking impeachment. They think that’s the only way to get hm out.
51
Ms. Dowd seems to have a very low opinion of Americans. She seems to think Trump’s bullpucky works, that we voters are easily led by the nose by the “very stable genius”. It’s true that there’s a cohort of Americans who are ardent pro-wrestling fans, who buy into the sham competitions as if they were real. Those people are Trump’s base. But most of us think pro-wrestling is idiotic, and see Trump as a cringe-worthy fraud - an illegitimate and incompetent president. Ms. Dowd needs to consider that maybe Democratic politicians respect their voters’ intelligence too much to campaign like carnival barkers. And she needs to respect her readers a lot more than she seems to...
85
It simply won’t do to say that Trump is some malevolent aberration, a one-time narcissistic freak show that will never happen again. The fact is, he is likely to be elected again. We need to understand what it is in the American soul that allowed this monster to be born.
40
The debates are annoying in many ways. Time limits. The questions, themselves. And then .... They are arguing, not debating over fine points of each of their plans and for what. If any become president an amalgamation of parts of all or "none of the above" will come to pass.
And even this nonsense about holding Biden accountable for each and every thing that happened during Obama's presidency is adolescent. I ain't defending Biden, however it's the attacks that are troublesome. We already got a guy that (not "who') is well on his way to accomplishing attacking each and every one in this country and the world, not to mention most other living things and inanimate objects.
Rules for debates? The guy in the white house acted like the
"insult dog' and people thought that act actually had value; the latest episode being Julian Castro's, "Nah na da nah na, you don't remember what you said," while it was the much younger man that didn't remember. That's what we need. A young president with political amnesia/dementia.
How about each candidate gets to speak and we get to listen. And none of this, "Your plan is stupid," and "Oh yeah, well your plan is stupider than mine."
25
girl, you nailed it!
17
Saying "Trump changed the game forever" isn't being totally honest Maureen. You keep forgetting the media has also "changed the game forever".
Aren't you guys the ones who made him never-ending "breaking news" when he was campaigning in 2015-16?
Turn on your television and the never-ending subject is Trump to this day. Childish tweets become breaking news for specialists to assess. Unbelievable!!!
I never thought I would see someone be so graciously rewarded for ridiculous behavior. You guys fall for all of his tweets. You make him breaking news for the most ridiculous reasons at times hence shutting off real issues.
When the Democrats debate, your priority becomes; "What did the president tweet? Let's make that the primary subject."
So let me answer your question Maureen.
Until you tell your friends at MSNBC and CNN that the president shouldn't be their Obsessive Compulsive gig, yes, the Democrats are doomed. Notice I didn't mention Fox News because they don't know what journalism is, hence we don't expect better.
That said. I am also disappointed that the Democrats haven't and still are hesitant to call out CNN and MSNBC for their daily promotion of Trump.
So, once again, your headline should have been; "Let's Debate: Are Democrats Doomed? The media has changed the game forever."
58
Maureen Dowd is definitely on to something.
The difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is the difference between going to a pro wrestling match, and attending a meeting of the local school board.
22
"Trump is one of the phoniest people ever to walk the earth. Maybe that’s why he was uniquely suited to tear through the phony conventions and bloated world of consultants that made up politics as usual." --thus spake Maureen Dowd. But when one strips this absurd utterance of its blatant Trumpophobia it actually tell us the truth, that, yes, Donald Trump, has torn through the phony conventions and bloated world of consultants that made up (Democrat) politics as usual, Because, if nothing else, Trump is no phony. He may be uncouth, a boor, a shooter from the ip. But he is as genuine as they come and THAT'S WHY he is able to tear through the phony conventions that were so disgustingly on display during the Democrat presidential debate the other night.
21
Wow, hundreds of comments not one mention of Andrew Yang. Clearly, no one googled him. HE is the one who can beat Trump.
7
You are not giving thinking women and men nearly enough credit. Seriously.
13
Perhaps another week of vacation Maureen...
Unlike 2016 we now know who he is; who he REALY is. And unlike 2016 Hillary is not on the ticket. I voted for her (and she won the popular vote) but - let's face it - she had lots of baggage.
We need to take the presidential platform away from the worst president we have ever had...the worst US president the world has ever seen. Send him back to scream at the pigeons on Fifth Avenue (sorry New York).
If we don't elect a Democratic president in 2020 WE DESERVE HIM.
20
Everyone should chill. This is a historically unpopular President and the election is still fourteen months away. His re-election is far from inevitable.
And, in the meantime, Ms. Dowd,would it kill you to say, yeah,maybe Hillary world have been better....
35
Maureen, listen to your brother. We need a column from him. I’m college-educated, former Obama-voting Democrat, gay, and all in for Trump in 2020.
17
Doomed??? I dont think so, stay positive people.
4
No, Maureen is wrong, what we are witnessing is the culmination of red-baiting every economic and social policy that protects the American public from exploitation by economic monopolies, and other unscrupulous business practices.
The collapse of the stock market in 1929 devastated the middle and working class in this country and they united behind Franklin D. Roosevelt and his "New Deal" policies. Since his death in 1945, there has been a systematic effort to dismantle those policies by conservatives in the Republican, and Democratic, Party. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, and most other newspapers across the country are complicit in political crisis we face today, along with ABC, CBS, Fox News, MSBC and internet social media.
What we are witnessing is the rise of fascism in America and it has been a long time coming. I am 81. I remember World War II; saw the horrors that Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, and Hirohito in Japan inflicted on the world. I fear that things will get worse before it gets better and it is our children and grandchildren who will suffer.
35
Running for president is always a bit of a con job. You make promises you know you can't keep. Trump has been conning people all his life. He is the Master.
13
If you are the charisma expert, then pull up your big girl pants and run for office. Be Obama II. We want to see what electricity a politician should emit without mentioning policy and reconstruction after Trump.
Did you expect a Second Coming of Obama on that debate stage? A magical ray of light beaming down on the next anointed one?
Running for President is tough, grinding work -- meeting a lot of people, listening to their opinions, traveling constantly. Explaining your position on a host of important issues.
It's easier to snipe.
I think Elizabeth Warren can handle Trump in a debate. She's a big girl and he's a blowhard. Ten minute knockout.
32
Media have met their match... it is President Trump ....
Media no longer in control of narrative and having someone fight back....!
9
Democrats, you mean the supreme beings, who aim to lower the oceans but who, with unlimited subpoena power and armies of lawyers, can't figure out how to publish Trump's tax return. Keystone cops.
14
Ms. Dowd- your Hillary criticism in 2016 helped only Trump. Please don't help h im again.
28
Trump is a rhetorical genius- admit it.
8
Question for this journalist: Is mid-September 2019 your personal launch date to try and legitimize Donald Trump or should the American public expect all media to jump into the stilling waters before the first leaf falls? "Are Democrats Doomed?" and "Trump changed the game forever" are catchy headlines that lead into an article that simply mocks an alleged unhinged, traitorous president of the United States while thoroughly trashing Democrats. Ending it all with "Will the most beatable candidate in American history win twice? An answer to all media before you start up on us: No.
13
The problem Ms. Dowd is not the Democratic Party. Trump's election is the result of the innate ignorance, racism, and xenophobia of the American people.
24
Maureen Dowd writes: "Tactics superseded passion and vision."
Ms Dowd, I would like to introduce you to Senator Elizabeth Warren. It's clear you've never heard of her.
20
Looking ahead from the the current primary debates, why should the Democrat candidate debate Trump? Trump will repeat "fake news' mantra to any legitimate fact-based points and throw unfounded insults and allegations against the Democrat nominee. Trump will cry out "biased press" against any moderator's attempt to fact check him or ask questions critical of his presidency. Such debates will be great fodder for the 24/7 news cycle, but the impact to voters will most likely be to their blood pressure. What would the Democrats lose by refusing to debate a nasty, demented, narcissistic liar?
12
Ms. Dowd, Your weekly column always offers a break from the daily drumbeat of racism that emanates from most of your colleagues keyboards. If as you wrote 'Trump is one of the phoniest people ever to walk the earth,' he has some stiff competition from Thursday's debate stage.
1. Joe Biden. A man so completely devoid of original thought that he feels the need to grope, kiss, sniff or 'put the arm' on anyone within striking distance. A man driven to plagiarism as his only defense against the really thoroughly goofy thoughts that pass through his head.
2. Kamala Harris. She can't appear on stage for more than 20 seconds without revealing herself as a poser. No ideas, no substance, just nasty, sneering, whiny remarks that fall flat while she giggles to her audience.
3. Beto. Not even his real name. Acts out a cartoon caricature of the truly vacuous.
4. Julian Castro. Hard to fake your way through offering to lead a country that you despise. Nevertheless, he persists.
5. Elizabeth Warren. No one has ever advanced so far in life as the woman who faked American indian ancestry. Even her DNA test was so phony that they had to include all of the indigenous people's of North and South America to squeeze out a 1/1024 chance of her having any indian DNA whatsoever. All while there is clear evidence that her recent ancestors fought and killed actual American indians.
6. Bernie Sanders. Is the only truly authentic person on that stage. So you know he has no chance.
16
I watched the debates and wondered how Democrats can have it both ways:
Either:
America is so great a country that millions and millions of people are willing to risk death and great suffering for the mere chance to live here where these freedom and opportunity reign;
or
America is a horrible racist, sexist country created by white men who use their “privilege” to
doom all others to a life servitude.
If America is so great millions break our laws for a chance to live here, I guess those old white guys who get blamed for everything - and who support President Trump must have done a pretty good job creating the country.
20
Trump has managed to corral three disparate groups. Disaffected Whites who need bogeymen to blame for their circumstances; corporate money because they see him undoing regulations in all areas and willing to reduce taxes on the rich and Evangelicals because he'll stay out of their way. Republicans in general have owned the corporate class and Evangelicals for generations but Trump has added a trove of White voters who were not participating but see him as the savior of their race. Trump appeals people's worst instincts across the board. He certainly can win twice but at some point the incompetence and corruption will blow up in his face and he'll have no one to blame in a second term. People will suffer as a result and will turn on him big league. And it won't be Democrats, it will be his most passionate supporters who have had with him for being taken as suckers.
7
"...lacks dignity and can be ugly and hateful."
CAN be?
Name one thing uttered by tRump that's beautiful and loving.
7
If Trump wins this time, it says more about who we are then who he is. I realize, it is difficult to admit you were fooled but there are no witnesses in the voting booth.
For me this is a revenge vote! I want to tell the world America is better then “Don the Con.”
It is time for all of us to step up and let him know, “We will not be conned this time!”
9
No. He won’t.
Americans, a large majority of them anyway, are sick and tired of Trump, his endless reality show chaos, his grifting, his adult kids, and his whole crew of third rate hangers on.
13
Almost. Until you quoted David Axelrod.
2
This is Maureen's take on the Thursday evening debate, and I have to respect all of the years she has witnessed DC politics and politicians in her tenure as the NY Times Washington opinion writer, covering all sorts of licensed fools and chaos, but I disagree with her here. Liz Warren and Pete Buttigieg clearly stood out as great potential POTUS material, for their ideas, their rhetoric, their values. They are as real as anybody can be, with worthy programs to assist all Americans. They are inclusive. They are genuine presidential material. As are several of the other debaters, potentially. Trump's only shtik is to play the drunk at the end of the bar, as we all know, whose foul mouth and racist meanderings "tells it like it is" to the delight of his illiterate cult, whose only acquaintance with the U.S. constitution is their misinterpretation of its 2nd Amendment.
It's a bit early in the game for Mo' to start knocking Democrats, but not at all surprising. Trump, if re-elected, will consistently supply much more sensational copy.
9
For the country’s sake, Oprah must run.
3
All this because Bernie was off his game?
4
When Dowd writes ‘we’ she must be referring to herself in a queenly way because I, and no one I know, even Republicans, think Trump talk is entertaining, interesting or meaningful. The trash talk was trending for awhile but few care anymore. Maybe people realize its irrelevant given he, maybe the first time in his life, actually has a job to do and is bumbling it. Once you get past the spin the Democrats who don’t waste my time with gossipy nonsense are refreshing.
9
Are Democrats doomed?
Well, one thing's for sure: They are if you have anything to say about it, Maureen.
You took your best shots at Hillary while giving Trump a pass, except for those times when you drew false equivalences.
Let's see how many people you can steer toward Trump this time, using that same tactic. Should be interesting.
19
To defeat the phoney/staged rallies/twitter trump, a ton of Dem candidate words will be worthless, truly worthless, against the vulgarity, dishonesty, childish, and ugliness of his words: Crooked Hillary, Sleepy Joe (Hannity added Creepy), Pocahontas, Crazy Bernie, and the .schoolyard mocking of so many others,
You cannot fight AR-15 words with pea-shooter words. So why try. Believe me.
If words cannot do the job, what is left?
Only two alternatives remain,and they both involve audio/video images.
First, choose highlights from the endless hours of his repetitive schticky script his many lies, vulgarities, pettiness, and ugliness. And then repeat, repeat, repeat. Is that so difficult. Do you really think he will not continue his past strategy. Show him how small he is. It will drive him nuts.
Second, show side-by-side split screen images comparing the GOP with the common voter. Compare their homes, their clothing, their restuarants, their vacations, their cars, and then repeat, repeat, repeat.
All of the above do not require a single word . And that in itself will be enough to push him off the rails, along with his toady entourage. That I can tell you. Believe me, or rue your disbelief.!!
9
Yes Maureen Democrats are DOOMED this includes gang of four recently come on scene. Need someone who can enforce checks and balances policy rigorously.
2
Totally disagree with Ms. Dowd. Elizabeth Warren understands this game and she is playing it beautifully. There is concept in boxing (and sports in general) about letting the fight or game come to you. That is exactly what Warren did at the debate. When she needed to attack, she did with lighting jabs and shifty footwork. And when she needed to go on defense, she deflected beautifully. These debates are a prelim. The heavyweight championship fight will be here next summer and Warren will face-off against Trump and the bout will be like the 'Trilla in Manila'. She will rope a dope Donald, make him look foolish and in the end Donald will sit on his stool in the corner and cry 'NO MAS'.
7
Maureen, you're right the earnest but too-often ineffective democrats are fighting losing battles: with the president, with themselves, with voters.
And you're also right the phoniest president in history has rewired our collective sense of what's phony or not.
And therein lies the problem. Why do so many think Trump is the real deal when he can't even make deals? when he's accomplished so little of what he promised his base?
They used to call Reagan the "Teflon president" but Trump wins that label hands down. Could anyone on that debate stage get away with all the corruption, stupidity and venality of this man?
Who else but Trump could convince his base it's no big deal to help the Russians help him, to profit from the presidency, to throw away all American values, including generosity, integrity, and compassion?
It is more than a rewiring. It's as if the president, like a bunch of termites, is destroying the very foundations of our sense of nationhood.
8
The big take away from the debate was did the younger man,Castro,insult the old guy,Biden.There are older people like Bernie and Warren who look like they haven't skipped too many as they have aged and then there are seniors like Biden.Biden does what some seniors do when their minds and their mouths are not on the same wavelength.Senior Biden debating Senior Trump does not disturb me but the raking of Castro over the coals for his interaction with Biden does.It makes Biden look like he has to be protected because of his delicate age.Does anyone think Trump is going to respect Biden's delicate age.Keep treating Biden like some endangered species and Trump is going to eat him alive. I say let Biden take his licks about his fitness to be our champion and if he is still standing after the smoke clears so be it. Castro was right this isn't Bean Bag its War.Trump is not going to fight by The Marquis of Queensbury rules.Trump is going to try to kneecap anyone he gets in the ring with.
5
Sadly, there's little to challenge the gloom in MD's column with one exception. Voter outrage.
The analogy I like best is the car crash scenario - Trump's erratic driving hasn't totalled the USA - but neither is it a mere fender-bender. We've sustained - headlight, taillight, brakelight, parkinglight and turnlight damage - with grill, trunk, panel and paint dents and scrapes - but that's all fixable in the hands of a master mechanic. There are two automobile maxims feeding my hopes. 1. Driving is a privilege not a right - this guy should (must) lose his licence- and 2., there is always going to be someone who can 'pimp my ride.'
Vote Washington and Adams, '89!
3
Your superficiality is a perfect counterpoint to Trump's phoniness.
10
Sounds like you prefer Trump's "authentic" pyrotechnics to Democrats' reason, Maureen.
6
More Dem bashing from the writer who ceaselessly churned attacks on Clinton in 2016, and on the Dems in general, and this contributed big-time to Trump's election by all accounts?
Do we really need more opining like this from this writer in 2019?
16
Thanks Ms. Dowd,
After the debates I just needed a warm shower...the dearth of charisma is disconcerting to say the lest.
3
House races are based on housing patterns and gerrymandering. But even here Democrats have managed to break through.
Senate races (not the ridiculous false equality of 2 Senators per state) are based on the popular vote within each state.
The presidential race is based on popular votes within states, distorted a bit (maybe more than a bit) by the electoral college.
What most results comes down to is largely, though unfortunately not completely, dependent on each of our votes. Yes, there are distortions. But there actually is a there there. Just as there is Medicare and Social Security in spite of the criticisms and attacks by the Republicans.
So rather than suppress that vote with pessimism and snarkyness, the Maureeen Dowds and all other public voices need to motivate the vote -- by logic, reason, and psychological stimulation. Stop giving people not to vote.
Call out everyone to vote, challenge them to get off their butts, put aside their doubts and historical complaints, stop predicting apocalypse, and simply go to the polls and vote. Don't be intimidated by anyone. Assert your existence. Just do it! (And get your relatives, friends, neighbors, and like-minded strangers to vote).
8
With Trump plummeting in the polls that show just about any Democrat defeating him, it's up to the Democrats not to defeat themselves. Hillary Clinton managed to that with the help of James Comey, Vladimir Putin, and her awful decision not to unite the party by picking a progressive as a running mate. For the Democrats to win they must have:
---- A winning ticket that unites the party. At this point that would be Biden-Warren.
---- Massive turnout to overcome Russian interference, Voter ID laws, purges of the voting rolls, and gerrymandering that gives Trump a 5-7 percent advantage. Warren can provide that excitement.
---- An impeachment authorized by the House. It will allow the candidates to focus more on the issues and prevent Trump from claiming "Total exoneration."
Will Biden pick Warren who has charisma and "plans'? Will voters, especially the young and minority voters, turn out as they did not for Hillary? Will Pelosi continue to be too timid, too afraid of losing her House majority and too focused on protecting her members from Trump districts, to do the right thing and take the gloves off in defending the Constitution from being undermined further by Trump? If "past is prologue," they're doomed!
2
Is Maureen saying she wants a free-wheeling,crazy talking candidate on the other side?
No thank you. Give me a ‘boring’ Buttigieg or Warren.
I’ll take policy and decorum over thrills.
6
Not one Democrat on stage looked orange.
Score one for energy efficiency.
10
This piece, like the accusations it levies, is far too manufactured and loaded.
The message needs to be a complete and utter repudiation of the Human Stain. But the discourse needs to be NOT about him. He craves attention, just like a petulant child wants to throw a tantrum because they can’t have a candy bar.
ANY candidate on the Democratic side will be vastly superior to Trump but you don’t get there without the votes. Fabricating “what if” paths to victory is like coming up with the greatest baseball teammof all time. Its an exercise in entertainment.
To suggest the Dems are not serious is deeply disingenuous and insulting. They need to take DJT’s oxygen - attention - and keep it from him. They need to be a tough, street fighting, smart populist oriented politician. Because that has always been the game, that’s the one DJT wants to play. Its political rope a dope (and you know who the dope needs to be).
The Stain needs to not just be beaten but demolished. You need to give everyone who’d rather not vote for him a good reason not to. He needs to be abjectly embarrassed and obliterated (politically) to shut up him and his loser supporters.
If you are a DJT supporter right now then you are unAmerican and an existential threat to our values, goals and Democracy.
THREE MILLION more people voted for Hilary than the miscreant in the Oval office, what you’re really running against is the Electoral college and Vladimir Putin. If you can’t beat that whats the point of trying
6
Maureen you were looking for a Trumpian moment, and are seeking a Trumpian candidate, someone aggressive and dominating the "dialogue" whether they are on topic or not. Whether they were sane or not. Thank God that has not happened, and thank god the Democrats are not serving that up. You were watching and hearing what you wanted to view, your perspective was clearly slanted going in, and your mind is clearly shuttered up. I hope you are amongst a minority not a majority, because that is really the issue. What exactly are people seeing and hearing? Are people capable of listening to dialogue that is longer than a soundbite? Can they care about subjects that require more than simplistic answers and easy decisive solutions? Can they be captured by a candidate or two, who is not a caricature of a human being, some who is not trying out for the role of President, and batting their lashes at the camera, but actually wants to BE him or her. Someone capable and willing to do the monumental diplomatic work that is required. Someone that can salvage our Republic and it's standing in the world along with our personal and collective esteem.
6
I really didn't want to read this article. I really didn't want to accept the premise but I did and Dowd is right. Trump is a stain on humanity and should be the human pinata he is on Social Media so then why is this horror story real? Because Trump is the ultimate expression of what we are and the Dems are the ultimate expression of what allowed it. We are corrupt and morally bankrupt. The financialization of this country and it's a hybrid hydra, the fossil fuel paradigm, has pulled the ultimate smash and grab looting job between 2001 and 2008 that has completely hijacked the system that is nothing short of a crime syndicate. The underlying grift is the likes of Ms. Dowd, who can satirize the moment but failed miserably in telling us the truth. How and why? Because Ivory Towers are just that.
2
As America continues to experiment with a CLEAR shift toward fascism the Democrats try to cleave to the center. The Koch brothers spent big money to shift divisions THIS far to the right. Trump has raised and is BACKED by almost unlimited money. This is NOT about Democrats. This is about whether or not our Constitution will be rewritten to favor money, property and business with the next 20 years.
There plan and minions is clear, public, focused, funded and working. The plan for constitutional democracy surviving as we know it is not. TIME TO FACE UP TO THE REAL SITUATION. Pick one person, quickly, everyone get behind that person get EVERYONE in the bottom 60% of the economy on the same page. The reason wages have ONLY grown by 3% is part of the plan. The goal is to have control of the country pass into the hands of the wealthy. Identify the problem- get the majority to vote to solve the problem. If you are on your knees worshiping wealth, power and celebrity- well- you ARE the problem. This is OUR country and we control it through the vote. Time to vote. Stop dithering- we can't afford another step in this direction.
7
I commented earlier about how wrong-headed Maureen's prospective seemed to me, and it wasn't published. So I'll say it in a different way:
Is the American electorate really willing, as we have suffered through almost 3 years of the buffoonish charade of the Trump presidency, to have four more years of it? I say a resounding "no,"
Trump got nominated because he was a refreshing contrast to the Republican dullards he debated, and America was willing to grant him the benefit of the doubt. All his rivals seemed driven more by ambition than any actual vision for the country.
The Democrat roster of candidates do not seem to be driven by ambition alone, but rather have the purpose of drastically changing and restoring what has become of our country's reputation, if not her fortunes.
Who could view Trump's taunting, belittling, self-glorifying behavior as the right aspects for a leader?
Maureen seems to view the Democratic candidates on the Trumpian measure of outrage, wanting an equal measure of this kind of "charismatic" brew from them. That's no measure at all.
Perpetually dissatisfied, what more unhappiness can Dowd muster?
8
I watched Trump's speech that Dowd talks about, and I found him very entertaining, spontaneous, and refreshing. I happen to think the same about bulbs, cows and the rest. When one feels that certain interests are pushed on him, it is great to hear someone voice your concerns out loud.
I also watched bits of the democratic debate. That Biden is the front runner of the democratic party is an embarrassment. It is not about age as it is about how you age. I liked Bernie, Warren and Yang, but I doubt they will beat Trump.
Because he never had a boss, Trump is a free man and in the PC era of today this pendulum swing is going to win 2024.
7
Dowd voices the monstrous anxiety shadowing the Dems:
Good as we are, and tragic as Trump's deformation of our politics is, do we yet have a charismatic, complete candidate - a Carter/Clinton/Obama - who can beat him? But her essay commits the Trump-like fallacy, going off the rails to point out how infectious Republican nonsense can be. It doesn't analyze the current candidates but only points out the obvious condition of a crowded debate stage - that there is traffic, no clear leader, and no full-formed Obama.
The obligation is to figure out how to fix the problem, not just wallow in it.
Warren seems almost fully formed.
5
“The bulb that we’re being forced to use — No. 1, to me, most importantly, the light is no good,” [Trump] said. “I always look orange."
This theory does not make sense at all. Trump looks orange in sunlight, too. He reminds me of an oompa loompa from Willy Wonka's factory where the light bulbs shone evenly on everyone.
I pity his base who consumes his deranged nonsense time after time and doesn't understand that using more efficient and brighter LED bulbs, is a step in fighting global warming by reducing energy usage.
His base needs to understand that we are all in this boat together. If his base drills a hole on their side of the boat just because it's their side of the boat, we will all drown.
7
Democrats only win 2020 if they loose the silly pandering lightweight woke social justice warrior nonsense by laying out real solutions for real problems that have festered for 40 years and crushed the middle class.
These "debates" have been marked by show pony stomping, hot air infighting, adolescent sibling rivalry, and whistling past the graveyard on important issues. The candidates share the blame with the lame celebrity journalists performing for their network bosses but accomplishing little for American voters.
We'll get to a basic 3 or 4 to choose from during the primaries. But, oooh geez, even at this early pre-primary stage, it ought not be like a root canal when the opposition is a demented clown in chief Donald Trump, McConnell and Pence theocrats.
We've heard nothing about:
1. The Supreme Court dilemma, including repeal of Citizens United;
2. Guaranteeing the constitutional rights of HALF the U.S. who are female;
3. The unsustainable $22 trillion+ national debt we now have;
4. A fiscal plan to *reduce* that debt;
5. NOT slapping on trillions more for doomed, illogical and unwise, undoable big spending "free" programs that would put a smile on the face of spendthrift LBJ were he still alive;
5. How to end illegal immigration, how to enforce current laws, how to prosecute EMPLOYERS hiring illegals, how to revamp chain migration laws gamed since 1965, how to actually protect and tend to legal immigrants who benefit the U.S.
7
I find it slightly disingenuous of Ms.Dowd to offhandedly compliment President Obama when she was not particularly favorable to him during his illustrious presidency. That aside, I found the Democratic debate refreshing and hopeful given such qualified candidates, all of whom would be worthy of the White House! All intellectually and morally superior than the dangerous racist, megalomaniac now holding the nuclear codes. It would be helpful if opinion writers like Ms. Dowd understood what is at stake for the country and not get lost in the weeds of indolent criticism!!! Down with Trump! Save America!
12
It is about time that many of these tangential candidates step aside for the good of the country. In addition, Democrats needs fresh faces and well explained ideas on country’s needs and solid budgetary solutions. No more gimmicks please!
1
Well said. For one side. Many voters like what Donald Trump says. Nothing is more validating than someone who tells you over and over exactly what you want to hear. That's his gift. He's the playground out of earshot of teachers to bully without consequence.
His voters feel bullied by those who dismiss their fears of a changing world. It's deeper than White Nationalism, that's a symptom but newcomers that change the culture and dynamics of long held beliefs, that upends their sense of security. Frustration sets in. Donald Trump has mined that frustration with perfection. And it shows no signs of abating.
The problem is that malaise has been festering for decades. Turning it back may be impossible. So how to go forward.
Everyone wants a life that works for them. Change is hard. It's scary when politicians ignore those changes because donor money rules. This crop of candidates just tosses out a laundry list of shiny objects hoping to gain traction.
Therein is the problem. When people are afraid they grab onto anything to tamp down that fear. Trump has told his base that only he can give them what they want. He's their cocaine and they're addicted.
3
Hold debates sans audience.
It would encourage the candidates to substantively debate, and not crowd please.
And I do hope that the big bad gubment takes away their assault rifles. And installs national healthcare. And forgives student loan debt.
Viva Social Democracy!
3
And another thing.....the game show format favors anyone who wishes to avoid thoughtful interaction. It also favors those who have no answers to complex problems. And finally, it favors those citizens who only want entertaining snarky “gotchas”. Get rid of the audience and ask better questions.
2
I'd like to see NYT columnists get more direct and analytical. For example, which Democratic Party presidential candidate has the best chance to win Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin? Need I say who that is?
Go back 80 years. When Democrats took those states they won the presidency and usually the Congress. And when they didn't, they lost.
2
I don’t worry about the Democrats. Face-to-face with any of the leading Democratic candidates, Trump doesn’t have a chance.
The key is to frame his phoniness in ways that all citizens recognize from salesmen who try to sucker consumers.
Trump finds fakes everywhere because he lives in a world of fakery.
Trump mocks because he’s clueless, and it’s phony to belittle others in order to hide that you secretly feel incompetent—which is easy to show in terms of Trump’s vapid record.
He devalues others because he’s deflecting from his own inner sense of worthlessness, and that’s easy to show in terms of his worthless pretending to be presidential (which he can’t even do with a teleprompter).
Et cetera.
Imagine Trump in a face-to-face with Biden’s genuineness of appeal to American decency. Or facing Warren’s firey invective.
I’d love to see Kamala Harris as V.P to either Biden or Warren and watch Harris light in to the phony salesman.
2020 is going to see American politics return to being the global example against rightist narcissism.
Note well, world: American democracy corralls right-wing arrogance and emerges with a greater sense of American humanity.
5
The Dem Party establishment will strive for the broadest and mildest platform they can use to drump Trump, but will hardly advance our society for the progress we badly need in all areas.
So if millions still cannot afford medical care that all people in other democracies enjoy as a right---too bad. Hey, we're not 'revolutionaries'. We'll 'improve' the system over coming years. Just keep waiting.
So if people have to keep dying or be crippled from gun shots, that's sure tragic, and we DEPLORE IT! But we can't...go too far...etc. Just make up the phrases that keep allowing guns everywhere in our country, with a few weak restrictions to quiet the complainers. We get it.
Let's just hope we can dodge any bullets in school classes, churches, jobs and shops. Have regular practice drills throughout our society.
Will the media ever start discussing pros/cons, what works for medical care for all--if that isn't too radical for the media to touch?
Stop keeping it a secret in the internet age, how dozens of other democracies pay for this right, for generations.
How their gun laws keep citizens safe---as centrist politics, the 1st duty of govt.
Crucially, stop avoiding how the Court, in Citizens United, blessed big money power over politics. Stop avoiding how mega donor elites define what's too 'left wing' for the media and candidates---whatever might interfere with excessive profits.
Stop wasting the public's time with Reality TV personality politics. Useless and boring.
8
Lucy, you choose. Either by voting or abstaining. It’s an active choice for a dem or trump.
Dowd is dead-on, and I suspect the quiet intellectual leadership of Obama for some voters wasn't inspirational, which may be one reason why Trump has held sway. The Dems need to toughen up and show some spine. Whoever ends up running against Trump is going to have to pull all the stops, because Trump will play a dirty fight, and the Democratic candidate will have to be sharp, savvy, passionate, with a strong message and on fire as well as skilled at dealing with someone like Trump. Most of all, the candidate will need to possess powers of persuasion for on-the-fence voters and come up with a sound-byte message, which appeals to voters.
8
Trump's willingness to use the Federal Govt to cover up his erroneous weather forecast on Dorian hitting Alabama shows the world that Trump will lie and use the federal govt to enforce his lies. We saw this before with Cheney/Halliburton war in IRAQ that the latest film "Official Secrets " exposes how governments lie to their people. Trump is a lying fraudster too corrupt to be in the high office he holds and his forced top security clearance to his son in law Jared as enabled Jarec to save his family biz and insure financial backing from Middle East princes. A pack of grifters a crime family protected by Roy Cohn clone AG BARR sent in by the GOP to help the donor class.
3
No - he isn’t in our heads. He’s like a fly around the food. He needs to be swatted out of the way.
It’s irresponsible to compare the Trump one man show with ten Democratic candidates. If on the left you have ONE big clown, and on the right you have TEN huddled people, even an uneducated guess will tell you who is the most visible.
Trump is going for laughs. The others are trying to be serious, as the situation merits. Here’s the problem with the trickster who keep you laughing: while you’re distracted he has taken your wallets, and the laughter covers the sound of the ground crumbling. The clown’s intentions are to take the tent. It’s not about the laughter. It’s whats left when it’s over.
7
Maybe “the old conventions” the Democrats cling to while debating, Ms. Dowd, is just plain decency. Remember that old antique moral ground? Maybe hard to in the land of Trump. Is that what you mean by “change”?
5
i had a pet rock that was more inspiring than many of these democrat candidates. then there’s the lack of principle coming out of the populous of democrat mouths nowadays, “anything but trump!” now, how inspiring is that? Zero. i’m so uninspired that i’m not even bothering to capitalize words.
i saw michael moore on one of those liberal comedy talk shows recently, the name of which i’m not even bothering to remember, and there he was talking about free stuff, the (new) opium of the masses!...and wearing a baseball cap inside the studio. The baseball cap NOT on the unarmed male head indoors is a tradition and mr. moore ignores it, so i’m going to ignore him too.
democrats forget, that they’ve disliked pretty much all republican leaders over the years...”money’s too tight to mention... Reaganomics” that song was a long time ago!
all trump has done is to take the rhetoric into the reality zone. he blurts out his rancid opinions out in the open, making america look like a laughing stock in front of the world and democrats do basically nothing about it—but then, five minutes later, senator bernie sanders gets mentioned and they pull back with “too socialist!” —so much for we’ll take anyone other than trump.
that voting gap called the center is so uninspired that i feel many will not bother to vote this time, just like last time. that’s why many twisted dems want 16 year-olds to vote...except on vaping...for that they’re too young!
the center feels dismal towards both sides.
3
He would not be my choice but I don’t think Bernie Sanders is a phony. He could win but Trump would like his chances against him. I still think he will likely quit and endorse Warren in order to prevent Biden from getting the nomination and I think her chances against Trump are better.
4
Senator Klobuchar says Trump is running the Presidency
“like a game show.”
But the Democrat debates have become a game show too.
If we drop a couple of the debaters, like Castro and Yang, you might as well set up the Hollywood Squares, tic-tac-toe style.
Each square with its requisite combination of categories — balanced by advertising research: older/younger, white/brown, male/female, coastal/middle, gay/straight, etc., got all the bases covered!
That’s it? Democracy by demography?
Just a meandering string of glib quips and zingers.
Three whole hours and not one full paragraph of coherent thought articulated.
Oh, and we are supposed to “get the money out of politics,” so why are there commercials?
Gover-tainment.
And the newscasters who get to ask the questions — and decide who to ask and how long they can speak — they are media stars too, posing with their “important” questions. Why not bring in my former high school debate coach?
We are going to get what we deserve.
Like the Oracle of Delphi, Obama beat Hillary — not in ‘08, but in ‘02 — when he said he was against a dumb war, Iraq.
I didn’t get him, though, until I heard him, live on public radio, that More Perfect Union speech in Philadelphia in March ‘08. I literally sat in my car in the driveway to hear the whole thing.
The Driveway Speech, I call it.
But it took pain, too — the college class had to see its 401k’s drop by half to be shocked out of their blind faith in the GOP as the good-for-the-economy party.
6
They’re doomed with this slate of radical leftists. Moderates of all stripes are being ignored.
3
Axelrod is making the implicit case for Michelle Obama. Unfortunately for her, the Obama administration is about to get clocked by the DOJ's IG and then US attorney Dunham. As nutty as Trump can be, no Dem on the horizon is in a position to beat him.
3
Started out in a truthful way but Maureen could only contain herself for a sentence or two and quickly transitioned from the shallow lies of the Dems to Trump attack mode.
Trump cannot take credit for the idiotic, adolescent performance of the Dems. Let me sum up the platform: We are going to take money from you and give it to them. Along the way we will destroy the benefits of capialism, motivation to excel, intellectual honesty, religion, sexual verity and color blindness in America. And for what purpose -- political power.
4
As a columnist steeped in daily politics, I think Maureen takes things a little harder than she should. Just because Trump made some stupid statements about bulbs and straws doesn’t mean we’re going into a culture war over these things. Here in my world, we hear him, we think he’s an idiot, and we move on with our life, living by our own values.
I watched the debate but I didn’t think it was overshadowed by trump in any way. I just thought it was a somewhat superficial way to hear from a lot of good candidates at one time.
8
I am going to be optimistic that our country is not stupid enough to elect the clown/criminal twice. Anyone on the debate stage would be able to reestablish relations with our allies, lead on global warming, and stabilize the train wreck our government has become.
8
Maureen is overreacting to Trump’s uniqueness. He is the most vulgar,simplistic and least competent president in the history of the USA. Whoever emerges as the Democratic candidate will beat him by a wide margin. Most Americans are sick and tired of the non stop Trump show. He is simply an embarrassment domestically and globally.In November of 2020 the majority of Americans will say to Trump. You Are Fired. And this Canadian will be applauding.
6
The is way overwrought. Yes, Trump has gotten under our national skin. Yes, the Democratic Presidential candidates up to now have been restrained in their criticisms, opting instead to convey that beyond the issues and policies, they are eager for a return to sanity and probity in the White House.
What I think Dowd under-estimates is just how repulsive Trump is to a majority of Americans. In fact, it is his repulsiveness that is fueling what could turn out to be a sweeping rejection of Trump, his family and his enablers in the Congress, the media and the Cabinet.
it is as if we were living a horror movie, you know, like Alien, in which glue-dripping creatures emerge from giant shells, to destroy humankind, only to be thwarted by Signourney Weaver. That's how disgusting Trump is to many -- a majority -- of our fellow citizens.
Yuch, we say. Get him outta here.
6
Every single one of the DEM candidates is a trillion times better than Individual1. I would be proud to have ANY of them as president and the remainder as VP and cabinet officials. They are intelligent, have ideas, would represent the nation as a whole very well, would be good public servants, would surround themselves with other intelligent leaders. I just will not accept the trifling criticism and nit-picking of them. One of them will be the candidate and I hope she or he picks every other one of them for a cabinet or other senior position. They are all patriots who want to do what's best for the country and I think any of them would lead this country well.
14
The Democratic presidential candidates are doomed. Not one of them is capable of winning the presidency over President Trump. The country is on solid ground and is doing very well. Why would anyone want to risk this success by voting for a Democrat that would change all of this.
All of the the Democratic candidates have a liberal agenda which does not appeal to most Americans. It would damage our country and their lives. They like things the way they are. They want to keep America great. It will not happen if a Democrat gets into the White House.
8
KMW, the economy under Trump has produced less jobs in his first 30 months compared to the last 30 months under Obama. Annual deficits have skied to over a trillion per year and economic growth is about the same as it was under Obama. Meanwhile, Trump is ignoring climate change ceding jobs of the future to other countries including China. it will take decades to recover from Trumps presidency.
6
If the most beatable candidate in American history wins again, you can easily consider it as God’s will telling 🇺🇸 to move away from the Center Stage.
God gave us plenty of opportunity and time after WWIIto prove our exceptionalism to the whole Earth. But, we drank the Kool-Aid from multiple generations of GOP faux/leaders, from Reagan to Trump, without ever demanding evidence of their assertions. God needs to manage the whole universe, and we are a small spec in it. We just falsely believe in our importance on the Globe.
DT has been sent by God to bring us down to Earth.
4
@Data Data & More Data
Read Tolstoy's epilogue in "War and Peace."
It is a little rambling but in there are Tolstoy's thoughts about God and history.
With more than 12 months before early general election voting starts, 55%-60% of those polled say that Trump should not be reelected. Another year of Trump being Trump will likely push those numbers higher.
His approval ratings among women continue to decline, and his record of not fulfilling major campaign promises will remain intact. No "great" or "beautiful" health insurance for everyone. Clean air and "crystal clean water": he's actively going backwards on these. Where's that 10% tax cut for the middle class? Instead, 83% of the 2017 tax cut went to corporations and high income earners. Manufacturing jobs revival? Intellectual property theft by China reduced? Mexico paying for a border wall? Not much, no, and no.
Mrs. T in the months before the 2016 election told us "he'll be so presidential". Candidate Trump ran in 2016 on the above promises. President Trump will run in 2020 after 44-45 months of his performance and conduct in office. Some significant share of 2016 Trump voters were on board hoping that he would make a positive difference in their life. Those people won't be fooled twice.
Trump himself will deliver the presidency to a Democrat (take him at his word "I alone can do it"). The party needs a nominee who can bring along a large enough majority to regain control of the Senate.
6
The biggest problem Democrats will have with beating Trump is that, although he is a very dis-likable person, his policies are supported by a greater majority of Americans. Open borders versus border security; border security wins. Keep your own health insurance versus medicare for all and free healthcare for illegal immigrants; keep your own health insurance wins. On issue after issue, Democrats have simply gone too far to the left. I can only hope that, once the primaries are over, the Democratic nominee will move their rhetoric significantly back to the center. If he or she does, I think Trump will lose.
I also think that the reason Warren is moving up in the pols is because, so far, she has focused mostly on talking about reigning in big corporations instead of identity politics. The other candidates should take note.
3
Democrats are doomed. That's too bad, because we are trapped in a world created by a lying, incompetent, obviously corrupt Trump. Worse, his sycophants are louder in the media and have a better grasp of social media than Democrats. Democrats are afraid to use their power against him.
I give Trump a 60% or better likelihood of a second term. It won't be my fault, as I will be voting against him.
5
So many comments have no self-reflection. Can we not stop and state, “ugh, Maureen May be right.”
6
I agree with MS. Dowd’s assessment. Trump may be authentically coarse and common and utterly revolting as a human being, but he is authentic. Authenticity has been missing in candidates of all stripes seemingly forever. Adding insult to injury, they promise the world and deliver very little once in office. Then it’ all about them, not us.
5
@Barbara - authentic........Brings to mind a political cartoon I saw (New Yorker?) - flock of sheep looking up at a billboard with a wolf saying "I will eat you". And the one sheep says to the other, "At least he tells it as it is".
4
Just one principled authentic candidate who doesn't give a fig about twitter or likes or which way the social media wind is blowing, that's what it will take to oust the phony faker who stole the last election via twitter and an ill wind of his own making.
But there is no one fitting the bill. We can see that now. Expect a low turnout reflective of a collective bitter disappointment.
2
He is entertaining and fun. The Democratic debates were boring. There are no scary pictures on TV, and we all have jobs. So why change?
6
Hey, I fist pump almost every time Mayor Pete speaks! If only he were more seasoned and experienced. I expect he will continue to grow and mature and I look forward to putting him in the White House on 8-12 years.
11
All I can say is that Elizabeth Warren is like Hillary Clinton without the likability. It’s difficult to come up with a candidate like that but doggone it, they have.
6
Our stable genius got it wrong, as usual.
In ranting against new standards for lightbulbs he confused CFL’s with LEDs. CFL’s do contain mercury. But LEDs do not.
The marketplace and the public are moving away from CFL’s toward the cleaner, longer lasting LED bulbs.
Sounds like this guy hasn’t bought a lightbulb in 40 years, maybe longer.s
11
@Mike M
"Sounds like this guy hasn’t bought a lightbulb in 40 years, maybe longer."
Like never. LEDs rule!
Trump's knowledge is so 2000 and late. Or he's being disingenuous. Hard to say.
3
How about we start by getting rid of the phony and condescending "debate" format with it's time limits and lighting rounds imposed by the well paid producers at the networks to be implemented by incredibly well paid psuedo journalist news readers.
What if Elizabeth Warren had a conversation with Andrew Yang for thirty minutes or so, and Kamala Harris had a conversation with Amy Klobuchar, etc, etc? No moderators to direct the conversation with false choices. We might actually listen for nuanced policy discussion rather than checking our feeds every 45 seconds to tell us who is winning or losing.
5
This column made me cry. It speaks to a dystopia more awful than anything Margaret Atwood could conjure.
4
It was the Democrats who ushered in the exporting of our industrial base, blanket citizen surveillance, expulsion of immigrants, and the criminalization of whistle blowers and journalists. That's why all we have to talk about is superficial issues and showmanship.
4
@Eric Jensen
So if that is the case, Trump supporters should like the Democrats.
2
All I can say about this is, forever is a long time. Trump certainly found and exploited a vulnerability in our ADHD culture by running as the first crossover reality TV personality. But there are two clocks running on this:
1. Reality, as distinct from reality TV, bites back, and in reality, Trump is no more than a sellout to the same donor interests which have purchased the Republican Party, a fact which will become more and more impossible to ignore as time goes on, and that is not a popular place to be standing.
2. Just as surely as you may capture the attention of the easily-distracted portion of the American public, you will eventually also lose it. Trump is fundamentally pretty boring and repetitious, and his shelf-life is running out.
Reality is going to make a comeback in 2020, and there will come a time when people will be hiding their MAGA hats in the bottom of their closets, or just pitching them in the trash.
8
Please be careful, Maureen. It's not the candidates individually who are making it look like they'll fail; it's a ridiculous non-debate format that sets them up to appear foolish, and pundits like you who point out the absurdities and failures. Do you really sleep well at night when you think of your lame attacks on Al Gore that helped George W win? What about writing a column about the DNC: why aren't they objecting to the non-debate debate plan they initially set in motion? Why aren't they getting candidates into a room to talk about a winning plan for this election?
We don't need to see the blood-letting; we do need one of them to emerge as a winner.
6
Trump will not appear on any stage that is not his own, period. The Republicans hold their noses until they bleed, to give credence to this monster; their own creation; their own god.
Democrats need to find the Republicans who are tired of holding their noses. They know the Democrats will be there. This is the Republican fear in 2020. Trump is not a god to most of America.
4
I think Ms. Dowd is confusing the intellectually compromised Republican Party with the 2020 slate of Democrats. There were performances that were impressive (see Elizabeth Warren), improved (see Beto O'Rourke) and unimpressive (see Julian Castro), but all infinitely better than Republican-styled offerings with no plans, even fewer ideas and a complete lacking of regard for anyone but the top 1%.
12
Democrats will win if enough people vote.
11
“Donald Trump has fundamentally altered the way we experience politics.”
Poppycock!
You assert this as true, and then follow it down it’s rabbit hole!
Life is messy not elegant, and humanity most often, carries on by the seat of it’s pants.
Get off you’re high horse, stop sniping long enough to acknowledge your privilege. Realize that your belief that you and your pals see more clearly the way forward than the rest of us is more poppycock.
Support the efforts of someone principled, studied, consequently learned, and able to grow, who has been bold enough to step into this breach and struggles to pioneer a way forward into our future, a future complex, more opaque than clear!
Imagine that all the progress, all the efforts of so many, might in fact have put us all in the position to create more than enough food, medicine, clothing, housing.
Further imagine, that perhaps we have made all kinds of progress, and all we need to do is learn how to work together to sort out the logistics and share.
Now imagine you are sitting back in grade school, and you stop sniping at that sweet, so almost annoyingly principled lady teacher. You decide to actually listen, because you realize you might learn something.
Finally imagine, you realize, things haven’t changed that much. You then, after some soul searching, begin to write columns supporting Elizabeth Warren and helping her explore and express such ideas you only have been able to imagine or scorn in fear of flying.
7
For heavens sake stop WRITING ABOUT TRUMP. Every word you write to disparage him is gold to him . You pump his Base.
You are helping him as much as anyone. It is unconscionable. It is incredible. It is short sighted journalism.
10
Americans want simplicity - not obfuscated or complex answers. Most voters are smart, decent people, who are juggling jobs, family, and myriad other responsibilities. For the Democrats to win, they must be clear, concise, and recognize that most of us want something better for our children. It's that simple - the Republicans have a historically weak candidate, and if the Dems don't win, it will be time for a serious inward look at strategy. All of the grandstanding on impeachment did not work, as it did not address the core interests of economy, healthcare, and jobs - it looked like grandstanding.
2
I don’t think the debates changed many people’s choice of candidates. Castro’s very poorly delivered ageism remarks about Biden killed his chances in 2020.
All the debates and campaigning will not matter if we do not have free and fair elections. I think without Russia’s interference in the 2016 election Donald Trump most likely would not be President. I think Trump, Moscow Mitch and Barr are not doing much if anything to improve election security which is sorely needed.
3
It is encouraging M Dowd attracted comments about Democrats long-held (and mistaken) emphasis on the presidency (Article II) and not on Congress (Article I). The continued focus by the Democratic candidates on the presidency demonstrates Democrats learned nothing from the McConnel led Senate and the House Freedom Caucus handcuffing the Obama presidency. A Democratic president without a Democratic Congress can not produce legislation on climate, infrastructure, or trim prior Congressional errors in executive power. Likewise, no Republican president could continue the DJT act with a Congress populated by adults from either party.
A modest proposal for all Democratic presidential contenders: Reserve roughly 10% of every campaign rally to support at least one regional Democratic legislator (federal or state) of their own choice. Repeat at each forthcoming debate and all candidates demonstrate respect and humility towards the value and power held by the Congress to provide effective governance.
4
The problem is that the majority won't believe the far-left. And Warren & Bernie may not win, even if they win the nomination. If either wins the presidency, I will be ecstatic. I will support them & contribute the maximum allowed even if I have to borrow beyond my means.
5
2 percent wealth tax on the top 0.01 percent.
Not enough.
5 percent on the top 0.1 percent.
Not enough.
10 percent on the top 1 percent.
Not enough.
20 percent on the top 10 percent.
Not enough.
40 percent on the top 20 percent.
Not enough.
80 percent on the top 40 percent.
Just right!
7
These debates are a series of circular firing squads wherein each combatant tries to tear down the other. Trump and his campaign is sitting on the sidelines collecting Democratic debate snippets that can be edited together to aid his re-election. Trump can win again if you aren't careful.
8
Conspicuous in its absence Thursday night and so far to date, is Trump's calling out of Kamala Harris and lack of a demeaning nick name for her. Maybe she is the one Democratic hopeful who he really fears running against. She represents everything he is scared off: Female, Black, smart, and a prosecutor. He may well be calling attention to the others for a reason. Maybe once we are down to five or fewer contenders, Ms. Harris, or an other candidate will have an opportunity to break out of the externally imposed "phony political" structure that characterizes the process of getting to a standard barer. Wish there was a better mechanism.
7
Harris simply has not attracted Trump’s attention. Trump lives in the moment.
4
Trump has indeed changed the paradigm for being president, and not for the better. The Democrats look like old fashioned pols spouting off about all the free things they are going to "give" the masses. Then Trump gives a "speech" that demonizes his opponents, makes sarcastic comments about the members of his own administration and party, and shoots down all of the old shibboleths said by American politicians since Lincoln.
So, of course, he is a hit with the cynical and weary electorate that looks at the new and the entertaining. He is unique and fast becoming an icon to some, an object of fear to others. After Trump, it will no longer be politics as usual. But what kind of politics will it be?
4
Here's the platform:
1-Education: K-12 and beyond. Free and low cost options for post K-12 education and training will power the economy for the remainder of this century. Renovation of K-12 schooling including facilities along with community based solutions, better pay, and the recruitment and retention of quality teachers. As a retired teacher I've seen too many leave; for good reason.
2-An entire redesign of our national infrastructure which includes our energy grid and energy production along with transportation and public buildings. Focus on renewables. #1 above goes hand in hand with this plank. Trained, educated workforce for good paying jobs.
3-Healthcare for all at an easily affordable price. There's lots of existing models. Let's examine them all and come up with a hybrid of the best that works for us.
4-A complete overhaul of taxation and banking which provides more transparency and places the burden of taxation where it belongs--on those who profit the most. A larger and fairer share of the pie for those who create the goods and services which create our amazing abundance.
5-Term limits and campaign finance reform. 3 term limit for Senate. 16-20 year limit on SC justices.
6-Election reform: Secure elections, end of gerrymandering, remove electoral college. End Citizens United.
As for trumpty; he colluded and conspired while continuing to lie and obstruct. PERIOD. Hammer that and push the platform: It's A Better Way Forward.
11
Medicare FOR ALL WHO WANT IT is a winner.
I don't think we could find very many current Medicare recipients who would trade it for another plan. Medicare administrates a system with a 3% overhead while private insurance vultures devour a minimum of 18% of the nation's healthcare spending and provide less. When the millions of Americans with private policies are able to compare benefits with their friends and family they will flock to it in droves. Till then let's deny Trump the issue.
6
First of all, these are not debates. They are better described as group job interviews. Nonetheless they are useful. We, as voters, get to know these candidates a little better. There personalities. Their ability to express themselves. Their reaction to being criticized. Their compassion and empathy. If we want to know the specifics of their policies and hopes for America, we can read their websites. The real campaign will begin with the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. No one thought Barack Obama would be a winner in September 2007. These are good candidates, and I am optimistic about Democratic chances come November 2020.
4
Obama sold himself as both a change from G.W. Bush’s Administration and an inclusive leader. Despite a concerted effort to deny the people good government to make them blame Obama by Republicans, he stuck to his inclusive efforts and won re-election. The country did enjoy the longest recovery on record while he was President. A pretty good record.
But the Republicans promises of less government and public services to moderate inequities of wealth in order to restore robust expansion lead to great inequities, and it became a big problem. Had Republicans promoted infrastructure projects, that problem would have been less stark an issue.
So poor policies from Republicans affected Clinton, instead of Obama, because she was unwilling to make the false promises which Trump did. But she also failed to see that people still wanted benefits from their belief in Obama, which they did not feel.
But Trump found resentment for changing demographics for a lot of Americans could be used to gain support. He relies upon division to retain power. A sense of common purpose shared by our citizens would send him back to Trump Tower for good.
Americans are divided over many issues and they are not trivial disagreements. Thinking that winning an election will bring victory for one side or the other has been distorting our liberal democracy and undermining it for four decades. We enjoy liberal democracy by having a sense of mutual interests which seeks outcomes that serve all not just some.
5
Ms. Dowd has given us some valuable insights here. We don't, however, want another celebrity president. We don't want to replace their personality cult with one of our own. We don't want another president who thinks he or she has all of the answers. We want somebody who is humble, who knows what he or she doesn't know, who is willing to take what they can get today and live to fight another day. We don't want inexperienced, incapable, pie in the sky, or altogether empty charisma. Ms. Dowd's insights here are helpful. All the same, all politicians aren't the same. That kind of cynicism benefits only Trump. This debate format favors the loudest voices in the room, the arm wavers, the extremists, the men who interrupt women, the glib and the young. In other words, this debate format especially benefits celebrity candidates and reality TV presidents. This debate format itself rules out a broad and appealing message. Some politicians do believe what they say, and some would indeed be able to deliver on their promises. Sadly, one of those has already dropped out, that is, Governor Inslee.
227
@Robert
No reason why Inslee can't be tapped for veep.
My choice all along has been Klobuchar/Inslee, both selected for their qualifications, experience, work ethic, temperament, ability to achieve goals and care about the 330 million entire U.S. population - including the next gen we've already stuck with $22 trillion debt that's due to increase by another $10 trillion before gen Z is even out of college...those who can afford it.
15
@Robert insights? I think she giveth Trump too much credit. Remember Trump is not a great change maker he's not the cause but rather a symptom / result of a process gone wrong and like the short lived lines he gives his core supporters that he knows they love he's not provided anything real and lasting that is good for the nation. He won't last. I honestly believe as much as there were people that initially didn't want to say they supported him and voted for him there are many that may still find him "entertaining" but won't say they'd vote for someone else.
Still - again it's for Dems to lose. We have a handful of good candidates and they must not define Trump and themselves pull out all the stops. Mostly we'll need turn out.
20
I want to vote for a Democrat and oust Trump. Maureen is right that these multi-candidate debates don't provide the opportunity for any of the candidates to stand out and make me feel as if I have one I can support, yet. Harris took a shot at it by calling out Trump. But, what we need is a short list of actionable items that the country can come together on. And a candidate who will simply use Trump's own words and actions to reinforce the need that he be replaced. If not at these Democrat debates, then certainly at the Main Event, when one of these Democrats are debating Trump. His own words and empty promises are the best ammunition to use against him. And, Medicare for All by decree, not by choice, telling people that they will have no choice on their own health insurance is not a great selling point. It seems the candidates are simply addressing an audience that already supports a Democrat, not trying to convince the moderates who supported Trump that they can vote Democrat the next time. Winning over moderates who hate Trump is the way for a Democrat to defeat Trump.
4
This column really nails it. Thank you. One of your best.
4
Authenticity is not always great. I think Trump is authentic. He is just a bad person being authentic. People assume politicians are bad people pretending to be good people. The act is usually very obvious. Trump is who we all see him as, bad but not pretending to be good.
3
trump's little comedy act about light bulbs is more clueless than biden mentioning a record player, and absolutely not accurate (clearly he hasn't bought a light bulb in the past 10 years) - but who points that out?
his opportunity zone loophole is far worse than even the NYT reported (it has nothing at all to do with neighborhoods, an investor can pledge money or inventory that isn't even located within an OZ, and backdate their investment to before this ruling even took effect, and still take the tax benefit)- but who points that out?
meanwhile the debates waste voter attention by rattling off disagreements about "your plan" and "my plan" while all of the plans will cost tens of trillions, so why would anyone actually care about on or the other? at that point it's all a blur, and even warren won't answer the question honestly.
if trump remains president there probably won't BE any health insurance anymore - problem solved! or any social security; or any national parks. but you can keep your light bulbs, the ones that burn out once a month.
8
I'm happy to see that so many commenters are not buying into Maureen's take on the debate. Let's start with the fact that the debate format is idiotic, with too little time for any candidate to develop a complex issue, and the moderators pushing to create strife and cram in more topics in the hopes of creating a better entertainment event. Given those limitations, I thought the candidates did a great job on the whole. I was very impressed with the average level of intelligence, preparedness, and vision demonstrated on that stage.
As many candidates emphasized, there are far more similarities than differences among the Dem candidates and I believe the media is over-hyping the supposed divisions in the party, again because they need a story line that they think keeps people engaged. In reality, countless millions of Americans on the far left, center left, center, and center right are galvanized by the urgency of getting rid of the corrupt incompetent currently in the White House. I am feeling better and better about the odds of succeeding in that mission.
6
Maybe the problem is that we're starting to realize that this ain't no democracy after all. The candidates can have great policies and usher in a more professional and positive atmosphere but none of it matters because the only votes that actually count are those of the conservative media that has a stranglehold on the godforsaken flyover states that actually determine the election and the crooked republicans that will do ANYTHING to ensure victory as nasty old Comey did right before the last election. This union is practically over.
3
Never was a democracy. Always been kleptocracy.
1
None of the people appearing on the debate stages will be the Democrat candidate in 2020. It will come down to Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton or Michael Bloomberg. They might all throw their hat into the ring, no later than December.
@MickeyOnedara
Yep. I've been saying that from the beginning. Hillary is waiting for all the amateurs to destroy each other.
2
You reported more on how Trump insulted the (D) candidates than how the candidates did. I get to hear him insult everyone in sight on a daily basis, that’s not new. We need these Democrats out there more in the press and on TV. I don’t believe that the best candidates are polling at the top. That’s unfortunate.
3
Remember, these debates are made by and for, corporations. It is simply impossible to have a good debate with 10 people on stage for 3 hours, "answering" questions posed by celebrity "journalists", within a format designed for sensational soundbites and attacks against a media-designated "frontfrunner" for a nomination process whose first vote doesn't even take place for another 4 months. Let's stop the spectacle of the horse race and let the voters decide who the frontrunner is starting in January. So how about a reality check and perspective, punditry?
5
Of course there is some ambivalence about spending time berating Trump when you have only a couple of minutes to make your point. Besides, if anyone doesn’t yet know that Trump is incompetent, why waste the time trying to convince them?
But the ship of government cannot turn on a dime & the Democrats should stop scaring people off by implying that it can and will. The only thing that requires immediate action is climate change, all else should be described as goals to be moved toward. On healthcare in particular, instead of abolishing private insurance, how about saying that the new national plan will be so good & affordable that people will want to join? The fate of private insurance will then be decided by the voters not by government. Besides, with all of the legislative hurdles any initiatives will encounter, a little common sense moderation makes sense and does not undermine the goal or change in direction.
After Trump, I don’t need fist-in-the-air excitement, just intelligence, morality, character & good ideas. Thankfully, no Democrat candidate will ever approach Trump’s trumpery. I might add that “Trump” is one of the oddest, yet most appropriate, anglicizations once you know that trumpery means worthless nonsense or trivial or useless articles.
5
"Unlike with Barack Obama in 2008, none made you feel like you wanted to pump your fist in the air and march into the future behind them." NOT SO!
Sanders, makes me want to pump my fist in the air and march into the future behind him!
Obama had a smile and soaring words, but was vague on much, and allowed folks to think he was progressive when he wasn't. He bailed out the banks/bankers while mostly ignoring the ordinary people suffering with foreclosures and unemployment. Obamacare was partially subsidies to the insurance companies.
Obama may have had little interest in world history, or much knowledge of how the US and its State Department/CIA and military had interfered in other countries. Certainly his choice of warmongers Hilary and John Kerry as his Secretaries of State meant that his administration oversaw the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Libyans, wrecked their countries and metastasized ISIS all over the globe.
I doubt that he wanted that legacy, but he did not know enough to lead with more wisdom.
I will not vote for another moderate democrat.
I admire Sanders' integrity, authenticity, bold ideas, conviction, courage and passion.
President Sanders would lead the US to be a better, healthier, more educated, more thriving country.
As for Maureen Dowd, I rather imagine she values the status quo, looks and wit in a candidate. Her vision of a president is doomed!
3
Obama promised to remove all troops from Iraq and he followed through on it. unfortunately it gave ISIS the chance to take over the country. would you have preferred he not fulfill that promise. He stopped Iran's nuclear program without a shot being fired and he did not start either the Libyan or Srian war both of which were started by rebels in those countries.
2
Andrew Yang made a broad, appealing message for change in the small amount of screen time allotted to him.
2
Really Maureen? At the same time as you are insisting that someone needs to act differently, you are chastising everyone that acts differently. That comes across as a typical Republican playbook. The whole Republican/Conservative/Evangelical Axis, like you, is focused on pointing out, in the most conventional terms, every unconventional second from each and every Democratic contender, from President and every other elected office down to dog catcher and then applying it to the entire Democratic field. I am hoping that no one is actually fooled by this. Everyone should listen to every argument presented right now for what it is, a testing time. I am hoping the Democrats are listening to each other and to your and everyone else's reaction, especially the Presidents. Once the final nominee is announced they should use every once of that knowledge to insure they win.
2
We can’t win the electoral college with the rhetoric being spewed in these debates. Better grab a bottle of your favorite whiskey. It’s gonna be a rough 5 years.
1
“Unlike with Barack Obama...none made you feel like you wanted to pump your fist in the air and march into the future behind them.”
What the beltway center right Dems that Dowd speaks for will not accept is that it was Obama’s false promise of a more progressive future that gave us Trump. Obama made many feel that they could march into the future. But once elected, he gave us Summers and Geithner and the rest of his Clintonoid neoliberal administration. Instead of ‘change’ he gave us a kinder gentler version of the center right dystopia.
Trump gives people a ‘fun’ mad max version of that dystopian reality. Orwellian reality TV. What those who did not go Trump, and for many who did, want now is that more progressive future, BUT FOR REAL. But the Beltway Dems do not want to offer that. It would threaten their big money contributors and the world where they and their friends — like Trump and his pals — are economically speaking living like mythological gods.
The Dems held power in this country because of their leadership on the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier and the Great Society. The Clinton/Obama Don’t Expect Too Much But Keep Working Harder is a bomb. Trump’s white nationalism clown show sells more tickets. When will Dowd (or Pelosi) figure that out?
2
I've been expressing these sentiments for a while. No one got the lesson of 2016; 17 professional politicians went up against trump and all of them lost. He's not playing their game; and unless you respond to him differently, outcome is going to be a loss. I blame the handlers these people have, maybe people like Axelrod, because they're clueless. No one got the message of 2018 either; people aren't looking for a progressive agenda that bankrupts the country for years to come; that was a referendum on Trump. People hate and despise him. Except his base. His base will vote for him monolithically; will the democrats do the same? Will they get the moderates and independents to vote for a democratic contender. Not if its Warren. And I'm having doubts about Biden too- come right down to it he sounded near incoherent a lot of the time during that debate. Attack Donald trump; attack his policies, attack his lack of ethics, his lies. Don't yield the podium to him; don't let him control the flow of news. America wants a hero to go up against him.
3
The whole world is orange, which is really Dowd’s point. There is a seismic shift which the Democrats aren’t even aware of. They fall back on 2010 as if a contest without Trump is at all predictive. He is a phenomenon unheard of a Category Six taking the world by storm. Let’s hope we can get through it.
2
Yes. The most constant disconnect I hear is that "Trump does it" so x candidate should also be able to do it or a milder, less hideous version of "it" whatever it is and that will be ok. People will of course understand that this candidate is so much better than Trump. No and no.
1
" Should the candidates attack him or leave him to self-destruct? Were they talking about him too much or not enough? "
we should both attack and let him self-destruct , talking about him is talking about the country, how the country coming apart and get corrupted, and how to fix it, Democrats are not doom, GOPs are.
2
The field is such a disaster because Democrats have lost their minds. (I am registered as one).
Health care for illegal immigrants? $1000 a month for existing? socialism?
Who is asking for this stuff?
Stop pandering to the screamers and get back to 5th grade civics. 'A government you can ignore' - there's a slogan
4
It is about street fight. He is playing boxing on twitter on the social media arena and the democrats don’t even have a twitter account , it seems like.
2
Trump is an anomaly. A despicable, disgraceful and dangerous anomaly but nonetheless an anomaly. He won by a very slender margin due to a convergence of numerous circumstances. He has not changed the game except for the Republican Party whose elected members will have to scramble to save themselves in 2020. Take note of how many more elected Republicans will not seek re-election in 2020.
4
Trump is right about Sanders's and Warren's plans to tax the heck out of the middle class to give away "free" everything. Yes, they just keep giving him ammunition.
5
I want to see an all out attack on 45 by these candidates, I want to see who is going to bring the big guns out. Each one of them ought to take one of 45's huge immoral/corrupt/very bad tweets, policies, crimes...and get down to the nitty gritty of how awful they are. What an awful thing he is, how he's destroying us, exhausting us and robbing us. That's it. Three hours of that is what I want to see. They're all great, but I want to see who can be and maintain fury for three hours against 45
3
The Democrats should be sued as a whole for political malpractice. They have a president who is a phony criminal in the White House and they just can’t get their act together – because? – because of egos.
Pelosi- long ago should have started the impeachment inquiry – changing ideas is not bad – the terrible thing is having no ideas to change. And that’s what’s happening to the democrats. They should have rallied around the impeachment process – and don’t try to look like a Trump debating each other.
My deepest concern is a “Hillary/Bernie Syndrome” Part II. It was, in a large measure, the culprit for their loss. If Biden wins – so be it. My ticket would be Biden/Warren – but not even Steven Spielberg can make that movie.
1
Yes! That's the simple answer. Not one candidate is going to defeat Trump and the Dems will lose the House too. They showed American where they stand and it isn't with Americans. To the average American they, and their policies, sound insane.
What the NYT's and other Left leaning news outlets should study and write about is why millions of Democrats voted for Trump the last time around. That's a paradigm shift no one is talking about. They will do it again too. I know, I was one of them.
6
The Devil's in the details. We need to just get out and vote. Michael Moore's idea that states put cannabis legalization on their ballots to bring users out to vote works.
5
OK -- Trump proved the "Game" malleable--Democrats unite. Make it "team" effort to unseat Trump. Castro's out. But other Candidates are in. Going forward--only hammer Trump.
1
Well, if this president believes he is unbeatable because he loves a food-fight, it is because no one has yet beat him at his own game. But that doesn't mean it can't be done.
Everyone has a weakness, including Trump. And his are very obvious. He can't stay focused and he can't tell the truth. If all of the brilliant political strategists working for the Democrats can't find a way to capitalize on those, then their party is in worse shape than I thought.
3
Trump: Getting Rid Of Him Is Job Number 1
The only Dem who should get the nomination is the one most likely to win.
It doesn't matter if Joe doesn't know what day it is, how old Bernie is, whether Warren is 1/1000 Indian, etc.
The policy issues can get sorted out later. The only thing which matters is making tRump a 1 term potus.
9
Please stop with the evil genius stuff fellow readers. He's still a buffoon and the majority of Americans know it. If he wins it will be with a lot more outside help than he had in 2016 ( and he had a lot). Thanks Mo , he is the biggest phony ever. Let's keep our eye on the prize.
6
I absolutely agree with Maureen Dowd about the echo chamber of the president's campaign speeches. Simply positing 'plans' will not be heard. But if all of the candidates presently running pledge to campaign for the primary winner, then many voices can drown out The ONE.
The importance of this election cannot be exaggerated and all Democratic voices need to join as one including the voices of former presidents of both parties.
If there was ever a time to gather at the barricades, it is now.
joyce saler
2
Democrats need better word meisters. Better, catchier, easier to understand lingo AND THEY HAVE TO DELIVER IT WITH CONVICTION.
Use your Hollywood connections and learn some lessons on delivery. Hear that Mr. Biden? Enough with the fumphering and the semi-mumbling. For Heaven’s sake, has no one told you to slow down until your thought is completely formed? And stick with it until it is finished. Then, and only then, go on to the next example, thought, comparison etc. What you have now will not pass muster against Trump whose delivery is CLEAR — but also totally without meaningful content.
Trump changed nothing. We’ve been a made for TV vote for the last 40 years — Does nobody remember Reagan? His delivery was calm but he was a silver tongued nothing — which is just what the public wanted.
Empty suits like Trump are inadequate to the challenges we face. His biggest talent, if you can call it that, is that he knows how to appeal to a common man who feels that his resentments, his anger at being left out hasn’t been addressed. Ironically, of course, that is all Trump does: repeats the gripes.
No legislation to improve the situation, undercutting our national security by using military funds to build a wall of questionable value to keep out people whose situation we made worse by cutting off US funds that were being used to make their own countries safer and more democratic.
7
Winning the primaries requires appealing to a different set issues from what must be addressed in the general election. Biden and the moderates kept this in mind. The rest abandoned it. O’Rourke did it with an adolescent display of strong feelings and spinning of facts to impress. He was repeating his long time opposition to guns but representing as inspired by his recent experiences in El Paso. His long term goal has been to drastically reduce who have guns. It’s going to dog every Democratic candidate in the state where Trump beat Clinton in 2016.
What exactly do people want? The issues facing us are complex and the average person has neither the time nor the expertise to truly understand them. Politicians have to reduce and summarize their stances to something they can get across in a sentence or two. Of course this ends up being calculated and canned! People confuse spontaneity with honesty and authenticity when it really implies neither. We need leaders who analyze and think things through instead of instantly reacting with their gut feelings. I’ll take a regular politician over the abomination in the Oval Office any day.
9
I blame the Trump voters more than I blame the Democratic candidates for the problems Ms. Dowd describes.
We all know what Trump is.
Still 40% of Americans support Trump.
How can that be?
14
Many of us don’t support Trump. We just support the policies of the left far less.
8
@Mike
That may be you don't really understand the policies of the left.
W Bush got a balanced budget, zero deficit, from Clinton and gave Obama a whopping $1.4 Trillion deficit.
W Bush also gave us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
And with two "tax cuts for the job creators", we got 3 million jobs.
Obama got us through the Great Recession, cut the deficit by almost 2/3 to $550 Billion and we got 11.5 million jobs, almost 400% more than W Bush.
And that was with the "jobs killing" Obama-care. And 20 million people got healthcare.
Now after 8 years of relentlessly railing against the debt during Obama, the Ryan / McConnell / Trump tax bill did it again.
The deficit will increase from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion.
All to be paid for by our children and grandchildren.
Every Republican senator voted for it. Not one Democratic senator voted for it.
I wouldn't mind if Trump voters got fleeced, but the rest of the country is getting fleeced, too.
2011 2.09 million
2012 2.14 million
2013 2.30 million
2014 3.00 million
2015 2.71 million
2016 2.24 million
2017 2.06 million
2018 2.60 million – now revised to 2.4 million
Republicans will tell you Democrats want to make the US a socialist country like Venezuela.
They will never tell you about Denmark or Germany or all the other first world industrial countries that have universal healthcare for half of what we pay, etc.
4
@Mike
PS -
Or it may be that you are the top 1% who the Republicans are taking care of at the expense of the rest of the country?
3
I understand your concern about Trump in the brain at all times. Really, I do. But, this President understands too well how to manipulate media and keep his name out there. He may outrage, he may charm, he may say or do something we love or can't stand, but whatever he does, he gets himself covered by the news and that plants his name deeper in our thoughts. Key- news loves outrage because people watch and read outrage. Based on the need for show and outrage, the debates are set up and those candidates trying to pull out of the crowd (remember, this is a horse race and is covered as such) need to do something to get that fifteen seconds of fame and perhaps have it repeated the next day. So, does this get us the best candidate? No. It does cause turmoil, gives the opposition ammunition and turns off some of us. My suggestion, rather dull in comparison, is to follow the rules of the Franklin County Consortium for Good Government, a very low budget loosely organized multi not for profit organizations entity in existence to put on forums for candidates and issues since 1991. Each candidate is asked the exact same question on an issue important to the position for which s/he is running. Each candidate has one minute to answer the question. That way everyone hears each candidate's opinion on that issue and can compare the one to the other. It limits and often eliminates grandstanding, but does provide information. Check us out.
1
we're being treated to the next entire YEAR of political-speak. Somehow that doesn't suggest democracy to me, but instead the implementation of a strategy to make most of the voting public so inundated they decry even 'bothering' to vote. It will probably work as well as dis-allowing laws to protect our next election cycle because there isn't a quorum, and won't be until well after any foreign involvements have been said and done.
so SHAME on all of us.
I spent 20 years working at NASA working on experiments that collect data on our climate. If the Democrats are doomed, then the planet will be doomed. To those who are unaware, melting all the world ice would add more than 200’ of water across the globe. The likelihood of a 10-20’ rise by the end of the century is nearly a certainty. Think it’s rough now? Just think how much of our planets population lives within close range to the worlds coasts and major rivers.
13
Thank you, Maureen! Finally someone said what I have been feeling. The Democrats have a chance to save us from the biggest threat we have faced. If, as a country, we don't fight the status quo of the Donald Trump/Mitch McConnell control in Washington, we will fall with a bang. I am terrified and relatively powerless. Where is the hope and strength we should be seeing for the next election? Certainly, it is not on the debate stages. The moderators ignore the stronger voices and the top three look weaker with each question. Help!!
1
When I look back at the 2016 Republican "debates" and draw a comparison to what I saw on Thursday night it is a universe of difference. Regardless of who ultimately wins the Democratic primaries, one thing is for certain it will be a contrast between the Democrat with plans, vision and a future versus Harold Hill in River City. If people prefer the con then it is time to consider migrating to a safer saner place.
8
Basically, the three questions I’d like to have answered by the contenders haven’t been asked:
(1) As a candidate, how will you challenge Trump?
(2) As President, how do you go about making decisions? Give examples of the kinds of people/institutions you would consult in making those decisions.
(3) How will you go about implementing your policy agenda with a divided Congress?
The “what” of candidate policy is valuable to know, but the “how” of implementation is the measure.
7
almost all the candidates have good plans and any would be a great improvement over the clown you have in the WH. But the one to choose is the one with the best debating skills, or he or she will be run over by Trump at the first debate. Warren seems to be quick to react and think on her feet. It doesn’t matter if she supports Medicare for all: once one is elected, one will have to deal with congress and senate to pass anything, and probably the people in general are not ready for that yet (Obama wanted a public option included in Obamacare and they were not ready at the time and it didn’t pass). Booker also seems to have excellent debating skills, beside everything else.
As an aside, let me tell you that in Canada you will not find a single person who would trade our medical system with yours!
8
I an astonished to say I missed Marianne and Tulsi. And I am glad Andrew and Beto and Pete are still on the stage, for now at least. They have the guts to say interesting and provocative things, and - when they get the rare chance to talk - broaden the conversation and reveal the leaders' lack of mental agility. And for those of us who care about results more than rhetoric, agility is key. It's hard to imagine Bernie or Elizabeth being able to craft a workable compromise, or any compromise.
3
The third debate was great entertainment but a terribly thoughtless display of inspiration mixed wit defiance. No ideas that anyone with knowledge of the issues can honestly support. Addressing global warming is terrifying of you understand the math. Reducing human generation of carbon gases is not a flip of a switch transition which is what the Green New Deal happens to be. Switching to a smoothly working single payer system will take many years and nobody is going to do it faster without killing people. The long time loss of opportunities for the mass of our people to improve themselves is going to demand raising taxes, or everyone, and deliberately aiming public policies to change how people advance and prosper in our new global world. There is no appreciation of these things but they are in the backs of every citizen’s mind.
1
I heard a lengthy Q and A with Tom Steyer this week on NPR. Mr. Steyer is articulate, personable and has well thought out answers to complex political questions. And he is an actual billionaire, not a pretend one. I would have been "pumping my fist in the air" had I not been driving.
Mr. Steyer will be in the next debate, and I will be watching and listening.
14
@MikeM.Not quite sure a campaign slogan saying “An actual billionaire, not a pretend one” will resonate with Dem voters, but right now you have nothing to lose.
4
Yes Maureen the world including the US has changed. You seem to want a candidate who can match Trump in the world of reality show politics more than sound policy. How do you think Harry Truman, FDR or Lincoln would measure up to your standards? Did you not find anything positive about the 10 candidates on stage? If another Obama was there I am sure you would gravitate to the faults rather than the virtues because that is what you did and do with every candidate. So since you asked for a debate, I ask you whether you think any of those candidates on the stage would be a better President than Trump? That is the main question. For me, any one of them would be far better than Trump.
63
In my early 20s I used to go to a local music club where you could pay $2 and see the show. Sometimes it was $5 for an established star like Van Morrison. He would play there to tune up his band for an upcoming tour. And a lot of other really good musicians played shows. And some lesser players and rank beginners would get up on stage on Tuesday nights to get some experience.
But mostly I really enjoyed the opportunity for some cheap entertainment. And quickly I picked up on the fact that the acts fell into two main categories whether they were well known or not. A performer could either connect with the crowd, or not. The ones who could were a joy to watch, even if I didn't care so much for the music. Just to see someone up there on stage who could grab and hold an audience was a thrill. The others bored me.
Trump can connect, whatever else you say. I've seen him even with challenging interviewers and they can 'feel' him even though they might think he's an utter horror.
These Democrats? Which one has to be President if it's the last thing they do? Not one in my opinion.
10
@paulyyams
But aren't you just a little bit troubled that this is what the voters want? Someone to "connect" with?
Can't they just head down to the local watering hole for that? Do we really have to choose the person to run the country, and by extension, half the world in this way?
Are we to the point at which we only want an entertainer for president?
Is that OK with all of us? I can only speak for myself - and I can say that is not.
Definitely not OK with the idea that we would accept five and half more years of this because we don't like quite approve of the personality of the person applying for the job to run our country.
Definitely not OK with me that we are looking at the real possibility that someone like this could be re-elected.
19
@paulyyams And yet that is the least useful quality of a president as benefits the people. As illustrated by Trump.
4
Good does not always triumph over evil and someone who refuses to play by the rules can't be fought without climbing into the gutter with him. True in life and doubly true in Trumpian politics. Climbing into the gutter with Trump may not win you anything as it may turn too many people into non voters. This may be the new reality of politics. Trump may very well have changed it into a reality where the most horrible candidate wins. We will see.
4
The Democrat’s debates are just an elimination run to see who gets to represent the Democrats in the three 2020 Presidential debates. Already, about 44 percent of voters will vote for Trump regardless of what he does or says. Close to 50 percent will vote for which ever Democrat is chosen.
The determining factor is who wins the debates. All else is preliminaries — necessary but not decisive.
The key question is who can beat Trump decisively three out of three debates. Biden cannot — he is too bipartisan, too old, has too much baggage and too tied to the past. Neither can Sanders, he is not even a Democrat.
The only two candidates who can take Trump down are the two leading women — Warren and Harris. Each are skilled debaters. They know how to handle a boorish, ignorant, sexist man. They have done it all their lives. Either of them will cut him to pieces.
The fight is over the tiny group of voters who are not going to pay attention to this election until the debates. It is there that either Warren or Harris can win the election.
2
Trump started working on a phony public persona when he moved to Manhattan and tried to become a celebrity. He has never been an honest person, but he listens to the conversation and fits his presentation to match the attitudes which he perceives to ingratiate himself. He studies the mass media and has become a very astute observer. Not only that he watches the ratings and has found how to know what his audience wants to hear. The result is some like a therapist’s mirroring, and his audiences feel like he’s a kindred spirit.
Trump has turned the nomination of judges to the right wing Federalist Society and Heritage Foundations, which are partners for McConnell. He is eviscerating the government, reimposing a patronage system to trash a civil service, and has given opponents of each department that has annoyed the worst actors in our country authority over them, and has set government on the path to a fiscal meltdown with radical tax cuts. He’s the dream come true of every anti-liberal group in our history. He has even returned white supremacist attitudes to the main stream for the first time dice World War II.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are reacting like people in torture, yelling, vowing retribution with every utterance, and generally unable to bear the pain and keep their heads and holding to their egalitarian principles. They talk of radical remedies which they will force all to accept because it’s good for them.
4
Horrifyingly brilliant observations.
The thought that we may not get rid of Trump is very distressing. Even more upsetting is the Democrats inability to seize what must be the most advantageous circumstance in politics- to get rid of an incompetent, deceitful, cheating president. Instead of attacking each other, they need to coalesce and support the strongest candidate- out their muscle behind one person who can defeat Trump. If Trump is not defeated, it will be the most destructive result for the US and the world. Shame on anyone who does not vote.
3
Trump has indeed gotten in our heads if we yearn- not for mere excellence, not for the paltry sacrifice of a lifetime of public service, not for intelligence, or leadership or honor - but for a personality, a cartoon character, a monstrosity equal to and yet opposite from Trump.
The Democrats are simply not up to beating Trump.
Americans have never liked the politically correctness that labels groups as helpless victims which Democrats are now doubling down on. Free healthcare for illegals aliens while working class people are being crushed by deductibles (especially in Obamacare) are the kind to tone deaf programs the Democrats push and berate people for not being "good" enough to support.
The 60's and 70's are over and unfortunately so are the Demcrats
4
I think the N.Y. Times has some great photographers. In practically every "reporting" piece the photographs depict the very essence of the truth. I encourage readers to concentrate on this photograph in particular. Can't you just feel what the candidates are thinking? Give it a try.
1
This column misses the mark, because it doesn't acknowledge the preamble aspect. No serious consideration can be given to Trump's prospects for reelection until his opponent has been nominated. Then, Maureen, and only then, can we see what your cynicism hath wrought.
2
Let's get one thing straight Putin is the President of the United States not Trump and there will be no election in 2020 without the Kremlin saying who will be the President.
3
Pelosi and Schumer will Never agree to tax billionaires to fund Warren’s spending programs!!! All of those free giveaways will end up on the backs of the middle class. Beto just ensured that Republicans will maintain the senate and a majority of the state houses. Democrats will be a bigger disaster than Trump. I was so optimistic before all of these debates but now totally depressed. What a clown car of candidates.
3
Yes, Maureen, you get it! Real political life has become a reality TV show, with zero distance between the sound bites and the soundest policy proposals.
The most common-sense voices were banned Thursday -- Tulsi Gabbard and John Delaney. And the trivial small-mindedness of Government telling people which light bulbs to use -- you know, Trump is right about how small-minded that is -- is a very relatable example of how we Democrats come off. We want to manipulate how people deal with the most minor concerns while leaving the really big stuff -- jobs, the First Amendment, access to affordable legal drugs -- either off the menu or only included in fantasy scenarios. Of course, Michelle Obama could be the answer -- the antidote to the rise of reality TV Presidents.
2
There is one constant theme that runs through your sour and sarcastic columns over the years; no one is good enough for Maureen Dowd. Joe Biden would seem to me like a cool clear drink of water over the current occupant of the oval office. When every President or candidate for President can be negatively dissected, we lose the ability to distinguish and we end up with a guy like Trump.
6
Trump says what he means; most of the democratic candidates shade what they really mean.
5
@Gregory
Sure, when Trump says racist misogynist xenophobic transphobic and over-all hate-mongering things, he means them. Considering that he's so far told us 12,000 lies, I suppose you can cling to the former as proof that he does, sometimes, not lie.
Me, I prefer Democrats who are doing their best to communicate what our nation's problems are and how they plan to fix them, in 60 second and 30 second chunks. If that's what you mean by "shade," give me shade.
2
Amazing! An entire column with the usual funny put-downs of the president, maundering about the lack of pizzazz in any of the Democratic candidates and yet, no mention of the absurd, neo-Marxist, economy-killing, culture-destroying positions on health care, reparations, GND, etc., etc., etc., that are the real reasons why Trump may win another term.
Down the (very funny) rabbit hole again.
3
Yes, Donald is like a raging party every night. But after a while, wouldn't you rather stay home and watch an old movie.
What I don't understand is how families with young children can keep trying to explain why this mean, crude, rude, blaspheming old goat is not a role model.
How do you explain that you wouldn't allow your daughter to be alone with the president?
2
There is something wrong with the American people if they keep supporting Trump.
4
@Robert McKee
Please elaborate.
If you have sought to depress us, Ms. Dowd, you have. Well, at least, the editorial 'us'. And it's just going on 9 of a Sunday morning - barely into the calendar week. And that orange tinted monstrosity (he apparently blames the noxious tint on led bulbs) has a year and, possibly (probably?) plus 4, to go. The country may survive the first scenario but definitely not the second. Thank you, Ms Dowd, you've transformed my Sunday. I'll not say into what.
1
Thank you! Sometimes I find your column snarky and unrelatable, this one, however, was totally different you articulated what I have been concerned about.
3
Whilst President Trump may be, in the view of Ms. Dowd, a "phony", he does not come close to the phony level achieved by the Media - and until the Media looks in the mirror (and Ms. Dowd might wish to lead that movement, instead of following it), President Trump will enjoy great popularity.
1
Thank you for providing Trump’s best lines from last night.
His ‘light bulb and cows’ stream of consciousness is why he won, and why he will win bigly in ‘20.
4
We are still at the weeding out process Mo. Maybe it's time for you to get on the Trump bandwagon. He's much more exciting than these democrats that actually care about our country.
I expected better from Ms. Dowd. While it’s true that there was no one on that Houston stage with the stature or charisma of an Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy, those bars are set so high as to be out of reach. It’s also 14 months out from the election and WAY too soon to be writing anyone off, much less the Democrats in general. Mayor Pete, Senators Warren, Klobuchar, Booker, and Harris gave solid if not dynamic answers to the questions posed. Given the limiting format of sound bite responses and rebuttals, all 10 sounded so much better than the incoherent ramblings of the poorly lit POTUS discussing light bulbs.
1
everything you write about is absolutely correct but, guess what? people don't care. latest polls Biden 55,Trump 40. These polls have been consistent for months. People across America understand this president is the worst President of our lifetime and they will vote in large numbers against him in 2020. So let's stop the "hangwringing" please. organize!
4
The NYT pundits really should stop this wilting away and shrinking from an assertion of ‘progressive ‘ positions. On the very night that the Republicans run their Beto gun ad there may well be a mass shooting. This is going to be a different election. There have been enough of these horrible events that no one will buy into that con! But you can help. For example, won’t it take years for our system to implement Medicare for all? That is a big reassurance for people who currently have insurance. Start to detail that the transformation need not be radical. Everyone knows that we need affordable care for Everyone. Sure you can soften the message a bit with assurances but you must tell the truth that 100 percent coverage will have to be single payer or Medicare for all program. People are being made poor by medical insurance and they are being bankrupted and even criminalized by medical bills. Please be careful you at NYT that you don’t end up causing people to cynically stay home for this election.
3
That's it? We give up? This is what is exhausting. Democrats rolling over. That was supposed to be the Republicans current job- rolling over and kissing trumps feet... 414 days left...
I have an idea Democrats...vote. Vote like your life depends on it. Vote even if you don’t love everything about the candidate. Stop complaining about this and that one being “unelectable “. Just vote! Get off your couch and register people. Knock on doors. This election is so winnable. Any one of those candidates is better than the current president.
1
And yet the one candidate who speaks frankly (and who would destroy Trump head to head) is not even allowed onto the debate stage: Tulsi Gabbard.
2
If the Democrats are foolish enough to nominate Bernie or Warren, Trump will win in a 45-state landslide. Frankly, I’m not convinced that any of the Democrats on the debate stage can beat Trump. It’s all very depressing.
2
Ms. Dowd, just for the sake of argument, perhaps you are asking the wrong question.
It is not so much about Democrats being doomed because of a debate beauty contest, but our country being doomed if Trump is reelected again and frankly, that should be the only issue that matters!
Everything else will have no meaning if he remains in office.
Thus, if what you say is true and our politics are being realigned to just superfluous banalities and outraged Twitter mobs, then, for me, it is an irrelevancy as to whom will become the Democratic candidate and where they will stand on any specific issue.
Truthfully, I could care less because these issues will mean nothing if Trump is still in office.
In that respect, you can run a used condom and as long as that condom is not Trump, then that condom is going to get my vote.
What can be more clear?
That is the only issue I am concerned with and that is the only issue that should concern all functionally sane Americans; getting rid of Donald Trump by any means necessary.
4
The last great American president was FDR who died in 1945. In the intervening 84 years have witnessed a parade of institutional decline: from men who were Roosevelt's seconds (Truman and Eisenhower), to mediocrities (LBJ - Carter), to imbeciles and sellouts (Reagan - Clinton) then complete fools (Bush 2 - Obama) leading up to the traitorous buffoon who supposedly 'runs' the government, today.
Kennedy had a chance at FDR's greatness but he didn't get the chance to witnessed the Moon landing he commanded; arguably Americas greatest achievement. But JFK was tainted by Vietnam, as Eisenhower and also his presidential successors. The Democratic party, the American left; all were ruined by it. Say what you want about Obama but his refusal to do his job, to prosecute bankers and other white collar crooks after the 2008 crisis is why the presidency is occupied by Putin's second, today.
Enter the Pulitzer Prize- winning opinion writer who believes Trump can 'win' again because of some TV programs ... how does this compute?
America is a different country all right: after 2 and a half years, Trump holds no more surprises, even his followers knows he is a stupid, lying fool, an unapologetic white collar criminal. The only spectacle remaining is his ultimate disgrace; the only question is how soon this will take place and what will be the instrument.
As for the presidency; no matter who wins the next person will be no improvement. The post WWII trend is not your friend.
2
Your critique of the president ignores the fact that our country is far better off now than it was before his arrival in the White House. The Dem candidates could say nothing bad about the economy because they couldn't. This was a clown shown show and you stopped short of saying so.
3
It's never going to be a fair fight because the media is so enthralled with equivalency and the false equation of 'balance'.
Trump lies constantly and misrepresents the facts daily. Yet the media and most of the Republican establishment accept it. They relish it. It gets page views, it puts money in people's pockets.
It has nothing to do with representative democracy. It's a sellout. Trump is the worst president ever and he has managed to change the political landscape. He is a liar and bully. Yet a large minority of the population love him. Makes no sense and seems highly immoral.
3
What might happen if Joe Biden were to leave the stage?
1
“No one made the broadest, most appealing message for change,” David Axelrod said of the debate. “Can we, as a country, function any more if we have another four years of waking up to turmoil?”
I humbly submit that Mr. Axelrod and clever op ed writers like Miss Dowd are completely out of touch with how Democratic voters are reacting to the candidates. I’ve heard the turmoil we are in referenced numerous times. All of them who are viable are confronting this problem. If Axelrod didn’t get that, then he isn’t paying attention.
As far as the nonsense flowing from the presidential gas bag in N C last week. Who cares what he thinks? Maybe M D had to watch him for material to write about, but the general public did not.
We are a long way out from the demise of the opposition and to sliding completely down the road to Trumplandia.
The problems on the D side (I'm an I fwiw) are the same as ever. Obama was an anomaly. It's a lack of conviction over things that actually matter. It's a lazy complacency that plays safe even when the forest is on fire. Think about it. Who besides Obama has inspired you? Dukakis, Gore, Kerry...even the Clintons are snoozers. What do any of them actually believe in? I could ID Obama as AGAINST Iraq, FOR Afghanistan and FOR health care reform. He hung his hat on those issues. If you fail to identify what you are FOR, then how am I supposed to be confident in you? Yes, you're better than Trump, but dear Lord, is that all you can say?
I think Ms. Dowd is onto something here:
"Trump’s faux-thenticity somehow makes the Democratic candidates seem more packaged, more stuck in politician-speak."
re: Medicare-For-All I suggest Ms. Warren try this instead of what she did Thursday night:
Q: "Will middle class taxes go up under your Medicare-For-All plan Ms. Warren?"
A: "Of course they will, a little bit, but think about what you are buying. You will never have another medical bill in your life. When you go to the pharmacy you can leave your wallet at home because all your prescriptions will be free. Now let's talk about how much they'll go up...A family of four making 60K will pay an additional $600 a year in taxes. Fifty dollars a month. My copay for just one of the drugs I take each month is $45. Slightly higher taxes so that every American can have excellent health insurance...to me it's a no-brainer."
Everyone saw Ms. Warren obviously ducking the honest answer that taxes will certainly go up for everyone. She tried to make the case of "total cost" but I'll bet most viewers subconsciously tuned out once they realized she was not answering honestly.
This fear of losing X, Y or Z constituency has to stop. You lose all of us when you're so clearly uncomfortable with the consequences of your own proposals. Stand by them and make the case!
402
@RC
It is really a matter of shifting the money we pay to private insurance companies into Medicare for all.
The US spends on average about $10,000 per person for healthcare.
All the other first world countries spend around $5,000 per person for healthcare.
We don't have universal coverage and we have parts of the US with infant mortality rates of a second world country.
We have bankruptcies because of healthcare and these countries do not.
Instead my employer paying an insurance company, they can pay into Medicare for all.
And we will save money and get better coverage.
55
@RC This is basically the answer Sanders gives on the campaign trail. He asks the audience how much their policies cost them, what their deductibles are, how much are co-pays. It's effective.
26
@RC I don't think her answer was dishonest. It clearly implied that your taxes would go up, but that would be offset by greater savings on healthcare. I think she just didn't want to give a recordable soundbite that Trump could use, out of context, during the campaign.
Healthcare is a major issue. I also think that every one of the debaters gave me the feeling that they will improve what we have, rather than tear it down, as the GOP & Trump will work to accomplish.
46
Dowd writes that many Americans find Trump exhausting and that "It’s draining to live on the edge all the time, to be plunged into the culture wars. . . ." The only people lunging Americans into the culture wars are the Democrats and as for President Trump, I and millions of other Americans do not find him exhausting and draining but refreshing and inspirational. There has never been a better time to be an American than now in the Age of Trump. MAGA! Thank you.
2
You seem to be yearning for a savior, for another "I alone can fix this" candidacy and that´s exactly what we don´t need. We need to actually listen, read what the candidates are proposing, on their websites, discuss and educate ourselves about the issues. Listen to the substance, that is, which
won´t be available on these televised debates, which are an exercise in gotcha celebrity games.
In 2016 Trump benefited from wall to wall coverage of his campaign, especially on cable news, and from voter suppression and voter apathy at the prospect of another hawkish, pro-banking industry establishment Democrat. And still, Hillary Clinton WON the election by a huge margin. In spite of the fact that we were bombarded hour after hour by CNN and MSNBC coverage of Trump and despite Clinton´s mistakes.
So the Democrats need to not make stupid campaign mistakes, not ignore real Americans´needs when it comes to health care, wages, Social Security and climate change, and don´t depress voter turnout, again, by nominating Biden.
168
@JJ Agree about 45's coverage in 2016, but media is doing it again. There are many, many good bills passed by congress, and dying at the feet of Moscow Mitch. Bring each and every one of them to prime time all the time and then go after McConnell at the same time.
29
@JJ Yearning for authenticity is not yearning for a savior. The most authentic/charismatic candidate has won every presidential race in the last 30 years. We can call Trump a phony but he spoke to how empty the suits in Washington were in a way that resonated. Democrats even laughed at his insults of fellow Republicans during the primary. He affixes his opponents with insults that often speak to legitimate concerns any voter would have. Elizabeth Warren’s “Pocahontas” — Trump is parroting, in his own twisted way, a real concern of exploiting identity politics. Joe Biden is clearly too old — we are judging him on such a curve because we think Trump did it why can’t he. But Biden has been legitimately incoherent in the debates. Bernie’s praise of Castro will be exploited — even if only by targeting Cubans who could swing Florida.
I support Buttigieg but can sympathize with those who don’t though he seems the only one who will be bulletproof. He has no long record to criticize. He has served in the military. Mocking his homosexuality will backfire. Mocking his height is water off his back.
11
@JJ: "And still, Hillary Clinton WON the election by a huge margin."
Not really true; she won California by 4 million votes, which means she lost the rest of the country by 1 million votes.
13
Ms. Dowd has said it better than any commentator. National politics have been a staged, canned affair for so long and Trump is the original faker. And so, in being the truest fake, he actually is the most authentic, rendering the Democrats impotent. Democrats are continuing in the old mold, playing politicians but corporate media spectacle subsumed politics long ago and Trump changed the rules.
98
@Will You are right about one thing. Our political system almost cried out for the election of a con man who publicly seems to rejoice in his swindle showing us the very reason we must move beyond what we have now (I hope).
12
@Will
Sanders is one "politician" who is absolutely authentic.
He has been working to better the lives of ordinary people his entire life.
Often standing alone, but no longer, Sanders with great authenticity and integrity shouts with passion his bold ideas and vision for a better, healthier, more educated and more thriving America.
Sanders is enthusing huge numbers of voters, included some many who have been discouraged and do not vote regularly, and some Trump voters.
President Sanders 2020!
A Future To Believe In!
9
@Lucy Cooke
If Sanders is authentic I'm the daughter of Pope Francis.
9
Chill out, Maureen. A month from now, no one will remember who said what at the September debate. Remember how the “real” Republicans trashed Trump during the 2015 debates? Did any of their “warnings” make a bit of difference once The Orange One secured the nomination?
Yes, there’s a real danger that Trump could win again. So don’t cripple the competition before he or she is even determined.
2
Ms. Dowd, we must have watched a different Democratic debate. The one I saw showcased ten articulate and policy driven candidates. Juxtapose them to the narcissist in chief and there is no comparison. I'll vote for a sponge before voting for a person who has made our country into a laughing stock around the world.
4
The Dems need to get their act together if they don't want to hand us 4 more years of Trump. Sadly, I don't see this happening. Of course, the Republicans could rediscover the party they used to be, but I don't see that happening either. I think we're doomed.
1
Trump's insult comic presidency entertains roughly 40% of the nation with the rest of us opposed to him.
No, there is no perfect democratic candidate, but there are some impressive ones. The ability to shine will grow as the field shrinks.
3
Dems are not doomed, but one of the candidates must talk about Stress: A corrupting sickness that comes from generating money, keeping money and the genuine panic when you do not have enough money. It’s killing us all, destroying both body and soul. It will be the ruination of this country.
The success of wealthy Americans was built by everyone who owns an iPhone, shops at amazon or uses gas in her car. There’s plenty of money in this country for everyone to live better lives. We must Share better. Why is this so Un-American?
Honestly we need the wisdom of Marianne Williamson bc she’s diagnosed the problem correctly.
4
Trump's legacy will be a new normal in a balkanized social media landscape that unfortunately is here to stay. I think what has so many Democratic operatives flummoxed is how quickly yesterday's conventional assumptions changed. Republicans found that out after Karl Rove humiliated himself on Fox in 2012. Mr. Axelrod hasn't - he still speaks with all the lofty assurances of the 'before-times.' He's just soooooo 2008.
The reason why Ms. Warren is doing so well is precisely because of her specificity. Obama's inflated rhetoric doesn't cut it anymore. She channels the hidden disappointment Dems have with Obama's timorous and indecisive leadership. When she uses the word "fight" we know she means "as opposed to Obama's politics of dithering."
On the plus side, some Dems have 'figured it out'. They played the game well in the Alabama Senate race seeding social media with crafty cyberganda. It may not be pretty, but it is the brave new world of a medium without gatekeepers. Biden will lose because he's a blast from the past Americans have rejected and he still campaigns like its 1994.
2
If the Democrats can’t win an election against Trump, then they are doomed. They seem to be heading in that direction.
3
More of a lop sided debate,
Mayor Pete was the most polite speaker but outspoken of all if given a chance, always speaks so eloquently and to the point.
Julián Castro attack on Joe Biden was a mean spirited one particularly when he was wrong and Biden did not forget what he had said.
But the interviewers, particulary George Stephanopoulos focussed mostly on Biden, Warren, and Sanders, sometimes Harris.
So two ABC newsmen, instead of David Muir it would have been so much better if they had Judy Woodruff or Martha Raddatz .
2
It is our culture that made getting here inevitable. Authenticity is likely to upset. We use terms like "appropriate", "unAmerican" and " Presidential" to mean whatever we want them to mean. We are too ignorant to understand the difference between democratic socialism and regimes like Cuba or Venezuela. We conflate being "educated" with a credential in any silly major from any equally questionable institution. We describe native English speakers who cannot string a sentence together but don't have a non-American accent as speaking "perfect English". And worst of all, we refuse to admit that the inequality at the root of today's vicious societal divide is the result of the emergence of a class system where the playing field is far from level , opportunities and options are not similar for everyone and "following your dream"(rather than acquiring relevant skills as quickly and inexpensively as possible) is no longer sound advice. The candidate to beat Trump must be authentic and play a new game, the "AT" (after Trump) game. It isn't hard to beat him at his own game but non of the Dem candidates seem interested in learning the rules or how to play it.
2
Balance is what is needed and required by the Democrats. Too much free stuff is a no winner. Good sound honesty in government is required and must be driven home by the candidates. If not trump will walk away again with the election and the United States and its citizens will suffer all because a con man sold his goods to the gullible American public.
3
Americans continue to be tired of the artificial persona of politicians. As a group, they have the same plastic personality, Botox-filled faces, convoluted phrases (“mistakes were made,” "going forward," "game changer," "level playing field," etc.), platitudes and irrational promises (open the southern border, free medical care for all and eliminate all college tuition and debt…) and not answering direct questions.
When Biden says, “Nobody should be in jail for a nonviolent crime” should we give him a pass for listening to his “record player” all night? The political gibberish coming from Bernie Sanders is indistinguishable from what Senators Warren or Harris are saying. They are all acting on the stage. Nothing coming from the heart, personal conviction or experience.
Back in 2015 when Trump talked about Islamic Terrorism, the listening public gasped at that politically incorrect but viscerally appealing phrase. He also called his opponent to call a spade a spade. She did not. Today, the phrase is echoed by politicians around the world. Trump followed his rhetoric with strong action afterwards. ISIS, the face of Middle Eastern fanaticism, has been practically wiped out.
The Democrats continue to talk in circles and make insincere promises. Whether one likes Trump’s policies or not, he talks like a common man without using tired clichés. I will bet that this real estate tycoon will renew his lease for the current residence for four more years in 2020.
1
Well-put, Ms. Dowd - many candidates, but not one leader among them. Without fire in the belly, they are on the road to pulling another Dukakis on us. Will they ever get it before it is too late?
3
Is Maureen saying that Democrats have to become Trump to beat him? That would be an abdication of responsibility and would certainly justify the pummeling Democrats would take from the voters. If voters reject a serious opposition from a united Democratic Party in favor of the "Disrupter" (to put it nicely), then we have to brace ourselves for what may happen next to our beloved country.
1
I think Dowd's pessimism is well-founded.
We seem imprisoned by Trump's perversion of our culture. The Media echo his absurdities, spreading his poison for him. Overreacting to Trump, some Democrats have backed themselves into a losing corner, backing Medicare for all and healthcare for illegal immigrants. Not to mention embracing "Socialism". They are unelectable on these issues, and their lack of this political savvy is shocking.
Though Biden is free of these non-starters, he seems frail and out of touch. If Trump tones down the madness and moves toward the center for just a few months at election time, he can win again. Democrats have given him that chance.
3
My daughter stop by today. “Mom I don’t like Sanders Biden and Warren. None of the others look like winners. I don’t like open borders, and I don’t think it’s a good idea getting rid of private insurance. You know what mom I think Trump is going to win.” That was discouraging.
8
@SMS
ask your daughter if it is really her insurance she likes or her healthcare... does she understand the difference?
Certainly Sanders is not for open borders!
2
I guess there wasn’t enough chocolate, pumps, and FUN!
1
"Conservatism stands on man's confessed limitations; reform on his indisputable infinitude..." Ralph Waldo Emerson
If progressive Democrats can tweek some of the more far reaching elements of their platform in relation to the nation's borders & accommodate those wanting to prop the profiteering health insurers, they can win. It is that simple.
3
Maureen, as painful as this period is, DJT may be doing us a tremendous favor. By tearing at every tradition, convention, and standard of decency, we're being forced to face what kind of country we want to be in the 21st century. If we decide to try to live up to the political platitudes our leaders love to quote, we're going to need to redouble our efforts to treat everyone equally, oppose racism and religious bigotry, and find ways to lift everyone up.
Or just give in to our basest instincts.
1
Donald Trump won in 2016 because he ran essentially unopposed. Hillary Clinton flat out choked, did not show up and allowed Trump to bash her night after night on national TV. (And still got more votes). It is well known in the audiophile world in comparing speakers that low quality speakers iif played at a higher volume will “sound better” than high quality ones. Bernie Sanders is too loud? Good. Sanders will match Trump rally for rally and demand equal time and will embarrass Trump.
3
Trump makes fun of the Green New Deal, oh my god. Lets scrap the whole enterprise. We have the Democratic establishment going into full Hillary mode. We saw how much that excited the voters back in 2016. The Democrats won the popular vote and blamed the Russians for Clinton's top heavy zero popular outreach that enabled Trump steal victory from the jaws of defeat in the electoral college.
1
Just like in Gladiator, Trump is the mob. Look how far we have come in 2,000 years! He gives them games, and they love him for it. Forget Holden Caulfield, we see a Maximus.
Joe does seem a bit too nice to take down a despot. Pete is too short-see Mike Dukakis (I'm 5'6 BTW). Bernie to too strident, stereotypical, and 2016. Now, Elizabeth and Kamala, therein liethe the answer. This election will inaugurate not just a democrat, but a woman, and the age of woman too boot. Too many of us are done with the (supposed) bread and circuses.
2
The Democrats may be doomed because of their timidity . They seem incapable of anger . One exception is Beto O’Rourke and his proposal of a mandatory assault riffles buy back . I wish they would use words like treason when talking about the Russian interference in our elections . I wish they would discuss clearly the mental health of the Commander in Chief . I wish they would use the word criminal when addressing the refusal to address the climate crisis or the gun violence crisis . Minor differences in policy are not important . What is of paramount importance is that we are living in the times of a new Caligula .
2
Dowd treats Trump as if he were some wildly popular president because lazy pundits play his juvenile rhetoric endlessly .He’s not. A couple of polls showed him at a 36% approval rating last week.He has constantly hovered around 40% over his three years in office.This is the lowest average approval rating of any president for the last 70 years for gods sake.He’s already been beaten...by public opinion.Trump’s silly behavior may be a blessing in disguise and may give us the chance to elect someone with well thought out and progressive ideas.Trump is far from the public’s’ choice.He is a reality show with constantly low ratings and voters are ready to switch channels.
3
None of these democratic candidates will win. We all know it.
5
It’s all useless analyses. The next election will not be decided by rational choices. The Republicans and their evangelical allies will all vote for Trump even if the Democrats nominate Jesus Christ. And the Democrats and, hopefully a majority of Independents, will all vote for the eventual Democratic nominee whoever he or she is.
Turn out, turn out, and turn out will be the only game in town.
2
If they don't win the Senate a Dem defeat of Trump will have little legislative significance. Try picturing Liz vs. Mitch for four years.
2
Trump, far from being unique, represents the stereotype of what people say about many New “Yawkers”. Those from outside the five boroughs often describe New Yorkers as pushy, belligerent and loud. The quintessential method of winning an argument is to browbeat an opponent into exhaustion. Every utterance or logical thread of the perceived opponent is completely ignored with the combatee simply recycling over and over back to their original point. When the opponent finally realizes it’s a standoff the common end is to walk away. If the New Yawker has any power, then implicitly they’ve won the perceived prize.
That escape route is not an option now because the entire country is at stake. Unfortunately, Dems have to show more shrewdness....this is the Hunger Games. Logic, reason, knowledge, facts...all irrelevant. Trump appeals to his base precisely because he is raging, visceral and in-your-face, particularly about root issues that do not require much cerebral endeavor. I don’t have an answer but I do know that Dems will have to learn to fight dirty. The Obama methodology of academic rationality no longer counts.
2
Maybe we need to find a suitable nickname for
Trump. For example, we could call him President Moneybags. So, from now to the election, all the Democratic candidates should refer to him as Moneybags. As in, "Do you really think President Moneybags cares about you and your family?" Fight fire with fire! Maureen is right, the old ways don't work anymore!
3
I watched all three hours of the debate and was impressed by half of the participants. I follow politics every day so it's not like the folks on the debate stage were new to me. I thought most of them would bring change, relief, and sanity. I was cheered. Dowd, like other opinion writers I read, has a negative take. I hope she is wrong. No, we don't get a Barack Obama every time. That's okay.
1
The so called debates have been terrible for the Democrats. too many candidates, too many sound bites, none of these ppl strand out as presidential material. Trump blew his way thru a similar panel 3 years ago during the republican debates. He will likely do the same to any Dem who win this primary process. Trump and the Reps have time to refine their strategy to deal with any one of these contenders.
I am shocked by how poorly Biden has done with his speaking time and answers to questions. He reminds me of the elderly Ronald Reagan at his worst.
1
"Unlike with Barack Obama in 2008, none made you feel like you wanted to pump your fist in the air and march into the future behind them."
Sanders, makes me want to pump my fist in the air and march into the future behind him!
Obama had a smile and soaring words, but was vague on much, and allowed folks to think he was progressive when he wasn't. He bailed out the banks/bankers while mostly ignoring the ordinary people suffering with foreclosures and unemployment. Obamacare was partially subsidies to the insurance companies.
Obama may have had little interest in world history, or much knowledge of how the US and its State Department/CIA and military had interfered in other countries. Certainly his choice of warmongers Hilary and John Kerry as his Secretaries of State meant that his administration oversaw the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Libyans, wrecked their countries and metastasized ISIS all over the globe. I doubt that he wanted that legacy, but he did not know enough to lead with more wisdom.
"I would never vote for another moderate democrat.
I admire Sanders' integrity, authenticity, bold ideas, conviction, courage and passion.
President Sanders would lead the US to be a better, healthier, more educated, more thriving country.
As for Maureen Dowd, I rather imagine she values the status quo, looks and wit in a candidate. Her vision of a president is doomed!
2
Trump entered the Republican primary debates as a rich celebrity. That gave hime an instant credibility to millions of disaffected voters who were sick of politicians with their smarmy talk, promising everything to everybody, and a feel-good rhetoric that ignored ugly facts like racial conflict and the downward mobility of much of the middle class. He spoke these voters' real fears and hatreds, their worries about being displaced by immigrants, their dislike of so-called "elites" who claimed to know better than they about social issues like crime, education, and climate change. Trump seemed "authentic" to them, while also upholding certain standard GOP values like guns, lower taxes, and anti-abortion. Since they didn't like Obama or his anointed successor Hillary, once Trump was nominated he was the better choice from their perspective. He lost the popular vote but won the election.
The Democrats vying to run against him are all politicians talking policies, anecdotes, uplifting sentiments: yada,yada, yada. They can't pillory minorities because they are trying to appeal to minorities, and they know that when they play the insult game they are contending with the champion insulter. Trump OWNS hate and fear. When we go low, he goes lower: Every time! All they can try to do is rally Americans' kindness and decency, our dislike of this extremely ugly American, but ALSO they have to denigrate their fellow candidates whom they very much resemble. But wait 'til it's over.
1
The error the lower-polling Democrats are making was epitomized by Julian Castro: Their greatest passion seems to be to be president themselves, and that means their second greatest passion is to destroy Joe Biden. Not just to beat him, but to destroy them politically.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Biden was once a segregationist Southern Senator who vacationed with Bull Connor but now is so compromised intellectually that he cannot remember his Bull Connor days.
Obama’s battle cry was “yes we can”. The lower polling Democrats’ (and the woke pundit class’s) war cry is “No Joe can’t”.
And yet the guy might still become the nominee. Already the bitterness against him is being whipped up into a frenzy. That’s the way to re-elect Trump. The other candidates are most attractive when they talk about their own ideas and their own stories. If Biden comes out for cutting off immigration or keeping schools de facto segregated, then go after him. But to scan his every utterance looking for a way to attack and destroy is wrong.
1
Oh, please, Ms. Dowd, save your hand-wringing. We're still so early into the process that it's like giving up before the game has even begun. The primaries don't start until February and California's primary, the big one, isn't until March.
What will happen between now and February? Biden will either start to fade or simply say one too many stupid things; Warren will break out of the pack, much to the DNC's horror; Harris and Buttigieg will hang on, with Buttigieg looking like the ideal Veep candidate for the eventual winner; and Bernie will continue to shake his fist and yell, but fewer and fewer people will listen.
The eventual Democratic nominee will be Warren or Harris, with Mayor Pete as the Veep candidate if they have any sense. Either of those tickets will roll over Trump, partly because he will refuse to debate, unless Biden is the candidate.
1
gop will take house and senate and trump wins in 2020
..then will figure out how to run again in 2024 by exec order or some charade
sad for our country (and the world)
Nah, the problem is the commentariat have adopted all the far right's talking points & daily give them airtime & grace with their repetition. Look at this article by Dowd, she should know better, look at the questions asked during the debates, socialism is suddenly some form of curse, rather than what we have been living with, as in social security, for years. Commentary written for the Kochs & edited by Fox.
1
One reason for frustration with the "debates" is journalists asking questions not stated correctly. For example, the question about whether middle class taxes will go up with Medicare for All should be stated, How will increased taxes for health insurance be offset by savings in the overall costs of healthcare? Sanders and Warren answer this framing of the question well. Regarding President Trump, yes he has changed/obliterated norms about politics in America. However, it is pathetic that the Democratic Party and its voters are considering "electability" a serious matter after what we have seen of Trump and his sycophants. Good grief, if the American people can't be trusted to reject another four years of this pathological lying, criminal, wannabe dictator, we have far more serious matters to confront than what is being debated by Democrats running for president.
1
Maureen,
Are any of the current Democratic candidates worse than Trump? No? Then don’t worry about what might happen and vote for the Democrat next November.
1
It's not complicated. It will boil down to two real choices. The lesser of two evils is still less evil.
It's no different than the last election except the pure of heart Democrats decided that Trump wasn't evil enough to bother voting for Hillary Clinton.
You forgot to mention that when you were constantly bashing Clinton.
2
Let's get to the hyperbole: If we don't vote in 2020 we will probably never get to vote again. Trump states that the democrats are trying to destroy who we are as a country and become "socialist". Meanwhile the Republicans are banning preliminary voting in 4 states. They have fought non-white voting for a long time. Now they are fighting any and all voting. Why? Because the American Oligarchs are tired o buying fools to implement their greedy view of life that they believe is Capitalism. They want to simply decide who gets jobs, who gets houses who pays taxes and who has to obey or go to jail. The Representatives that have always been bought by the rich, for 10,000 years, are simply in the way now. Trump is a poor example of an Oligarch and a worse example as a President. But The founder of Singapore was much better than most of them. And the last two rulers of China are better also. Putin has the wrong baggage of the Communist party. Even Jefferson said Dictatorship is superior to democracy, if he was the dictator.
Don't vote in 2020 and you won't have to worry about voting ever again. My advice is go and vote and support your local voters.
All politics aside, LED light quality IS generally horrible.
2
The Democrats need a candidate who doesn't act like the Republican ones who ran against Trump for the 2016 election, bowing their heads in shame eventhough they were the ones who had the family insulted, their wives mocked or being called silly names. Even though I am not a Progressive I thought Elizabeth W would be a good choice until she succumbed to DT and had that ancestry test done. There has to be someone out there who fits my bill but I don't know who that person is.
1
Supporting Medicare for all when more than 1/2 of Americans get their insurance from their employers and the latest poll shows that 80% of these people find their insurance adequate or good should be a disqualifier. And those Trump supporters who voted for Obama in the past, will not return to the Democrats if decriminalization of illegal immigration is what they stand for.
Young voters (especially Sanders supporters) are ageists and misogynists:
Much like Trump supporters, they lack critical thinking skills and do not understand the foundational mindset of the scientific method which never allows one's emotion to cause you to reject the null hypothesis without sufficient evidence. For example, there is no real evidence that the Clinton Foundation was corrupt. Yet Sanders supporters hated Hillary and anyone who spoke with them during the last primary got an emotional earful of accusations without any proof. Klobuchar has the correct positions on the issues to win, but she is a woman. Sanders supporters do not like women.
Unlike Sanders himself, who actually sounds old (why doesn't he clear his throat?), young progressives will be turned off by Biden because of his age. No question.
The nominee should be Buttigieg. Progressives will vote for him regardless of his moderate views because he is gay. Just as they did Obama (who was a moderate) because he is black.
Trump will win in a landslide as far as the electoral college. and if you remove California he will again also win the popular vote. Trump is a mess in many ways but his opponents are complete and total train wrecks.
1
The U.S. has been the one country in the world to master change by creating complex social and technical structures. The original vision of the country with an unbounded frontier and people with energy to pursue it. New Yorkers pushed the frontier back by building the astonishing 363 mile long Erie Canal (1825). By 1880 the geographic frontier converted to a frontier of science and technology. Americans produced telephone, electric power, moving pictures, television, computer science, the first man on the moon. . . . The list goes on. So the history is evident. The question then is where lies the frontier today? And the answer is energy, transportation, food production etc. How does the New York Times and Maureen O'Dowd contribute to the vision? How do politicians contribute to the future?
To Maureen’s last point. I’m from Maine and we all thought our crazy, mistakenly elected governor (who is finally gone) couldn’t win twice. He did.
DOOM
Warren. Maybe, maybe. But the problem is it’s still only maybe.
Biden. His fastball has become a slow curve that doesn’t even reach the plate.
Bernie. His supporters are animated by the same emotions as Trumpistas.
Kamala. She speaks through her nose, which doesn’t sound strong but insecure, and she laughs at her own jokes, which sounds weird.
Buttigieg. If only he were ten years older.
Beto. Found his voice on guns, but he’s still just a teenager with a jiggling leg.
Booker. His goo always diminishes his fire and leaves you feeling sticky.
Klobuchar. Still waiting for her to catch fire in a Democratic party that can only listen to the language of fire.
Castro. After that cheap shot at Biden it’s over.
Yang. The fifteen minutes of his gimmick is up.
2
It's now become the norm in punditry to gloss over who Trump is and what he advocates.
The choice is between the Democratic candidate and Trump. Take the least qualified, least appealing of them and match him or her against Trump in an election, and the president is unelectable.
Unless a majority of Americans have lost their minds or any semblance of critical thinking, it's nearly impossible to believe that voters would opt for four more years of the lunacy, ineptitude, hate and racism this man has spewed.
Trump has to run on his record.
And it's not exactly a sterling and inspiring one.
It's not intellectually honest to judge the Democratic candidates in a vacuum.
They should be assessed in contrast to Trump.
268
@Ricardo Chavira Everything Trump is he was when he ran in 2016. It did not motivate young voters and black voters who showed up for Obama to swing states to come out for Clinton. Colin Kaepernick said Clinton and Trump were the same. If Biden, perhaps the candidate most capable of getting the white swing voter, is the candidate, well then you potentially lose young black folks (though not old ones). If you pick Warren or Sanders in a strong economy, what swing voters will want their revolutions?
You have interpreted Trump through the liberal lens. But the other side of that coin is that in 4 years Trump has not catastrophically damaged the country in a way that most Americans feel. What are diplomatic relations? What are illegal immigrants at the border? What are racist tweets? People vote their interests. Democrats asking people to do more than that will fail, full stop. The counter to white identity politics is not leftist identity politics — it’s not playing identity politics in a presidential race. In fairness to Bernie Sanders, he has been the candidate who has most eschewed identity politics, with some other moderates in tow.
7
Much as I like “Catcher in the Rye”, Holden Caufield isn’t your best guy to detect phoniness. Salinger goes to a good deal of trouble to show that Holden’s broad, categorical classification of phoniness neither holds water or does our hero much good. Holden, in fact, would be one of the many “purity monitors “ that we DON’T need in the Democratic Party.
1
The debates are staged for a circus. When will we learn and go back to debate without celebrity news anchors and sound bites instead of cogent discussions? Maybe you are right and Trump, the showman, destroyed that forever. However, I thought Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren made very good points. I felt embarrassed for Joe Biden when he incoherently tried to explain the “word gap”, which identified the need for children in poor environments to engage in literacy rich experiences. His heart is there but the experts didn’t mean, go find grandpa’s record player.
Normally, I find Maureen’s insights quite compelling. This time, however, I disagree.
First, the third debate was a tremendous improvement over the previous two: the length provided for a more detailed look at key issues; the candidates were generally sharper; and the exchanges more illuminating.
Second, the real culprit, in my judgment, is Trump fatigue. A debate like this should not be expected to reveal the next Obama. It's too early in the process, with so many candidates, for one individual to catch fire. People are so tired of the seemingly endless spectacle of Trump’s degradation though, they just want the process to be over, and for the party to unite around a candidate that can win.
People are also deeply and rightfully cynical about polling and the political class given Trump’s unexpected win in 2016; they are filled with self-doubt and apprehension, and simply refuse to believe that there will be an end to the craziness.
Third, we live in immensely challenging times with the pace of change coming so fast that it's difficult to know where we are headed.
Yet, if history is an guide, we know that America is a resilient nation that has weathered worse in the past and come out stronger.
I believe we are at a tipping point and that Trump will self-destruct in the months ahead and that sane people of goodwill across this country will put an end to this travesty in due course.
6
Pelosi and the others that believe impeachment will harm Democrats in 2020 have it backwards.
If Trump is NOT impeached, Democrats will be harmed in the 2020 elections. Top to bottom. Local, state, and federal Democratic candidates.
Part of it is that the base will stay at home.
Another factor is that by not fighting for what is right
prospective new Democratic voters will be discouraged from making the leap or the switch to a Democratic Party that is too weak or unwilling to stand up for what it says it believes in.
The leaders of this Democratic Party are out of touch and afraid of the changes underway in the untapped and unappreciated portion of prospective voters that could lead the Democratic Party to an unprecedented victory in 2020.
The path to victory is plainly in sight.
Why won't Nancy Pelosi and her like-minded Democrats follow it?
6
When will Democrats come to terms with the fact that trying to buy votes with empty promises is not a good strategy to win the Presidency. It is a popularity contest at best and the people of America have spoken. In 2020, the will speak again, this time even more loudly.
1
The democrats have some high quality candidates including those on the center left (Biden, Buttigieg, Booker, Klobachar, Bullock) where they need to be to win a landslide victory and also retake the senate in 2020. Although Elizabeth Warren is somewhat to the left on the spectrum, her facile mind and detailed policies also make her a strong candidate. Substance not soundbites is the ultimate key to victory in November 2020. Pandering and running away from who you really are is not usually a winning strategy in a national election. Several of the candidates on the stage (Harris, O'Rourke, Castro) appear to have this problem and while it may work with the activist base, it is a turnoff to democratic leaning independent voters who will likely decide the election. The focus needs to be on turning out Trump.
Ms. Dowd your frustration is warranted and valid however your conclusions are not. Trump did not "change the game forever," as public opinion can be swayed in any direction.
History has shown us, time and time again, when charismatic leaders, governments, corporations, the secret police and security forces use psychology and all its varied techniques, to sway the people, it works. The brain is neuroplastic - what you practice gets encoded, but can change, depending on what you do, hear and say, on a daily basis. We had advanced warnings regarding the marketing and dumbing down of Americans and the manipulative practices by politicians and corporations. (Vance Packard:The Selling of the President, Marshall McLuhan: Understanding Media ,The End of Education by Neil Postman- to name just a few.)
One of the new words for swaying the masses is "branding." This concept along with a compliant Democratic Party, helped Trump, and Republicans gain and keep control.
You have to educate the masses, and in every possible way, Nancy Pelosi, Schumer and the DNC, have made sure that does not happen. There are so many ways to educate the population. For example, the prior debate, which was not a debate, could have been divided into 2 nights, with 5 contenders each night, allowing for in-depth replies, with very little moderation. However, why educate us? The DNC and leadership decided that Biden is the nominee, just like they decided Hilary was. We know how that ended.
3
Can we please have some clarity and transparency about the state of access to health care and the cost drivers - comparing 1999 to 2019. Have no agenda but to state facts. How many had coverage in 1999 and how many now. What did it cost on average then versus now. For an average person who lacked coverage then versus now who showed up at an ER, what was the cost then versus now. What was/is the average administrative overhead cost? What is the state of rural healthcare? What is the average cost for a typical Medicaid patient then/now? Medicare? What is with all the gleaming hospitals (Stanford has wood paneling?!) How many doctors are being trained to do primary care? How many are foreign rather than US (supply discussion). Trajectory of pharmaceutical profits? Last but not least, did out health care system CAUSE the opioid crisis? Are new mothers and babies dying that don't have to? It all costs too much, is mis-spent relative to outcomes and in fact probably does more harm then good. I have no faith our system of selecting a President allows us to select a leader of substance - or these things would be talked about.
1
Maybe it's time we admit that debates during the primaries are just not useful in selecting a candidate.
Personally, I find even speeches to be more about body language and emotion than I prefer. My methods of choice are (1) reading candidates' written policy positions, and sometimes (2) reading the text of their major speeches.
One or two debates between the major parties' candidates could have some utility, especially if each session were an in-depth debate about the candidates' intentions regarding one specific major policy issue (the ongoing wars, immigration reform, dealing with global climate change, ending gross inequality in wealth, and so on). Of course, there, the problem would be to find issues that both sides agree are major issues, it being all too likely that one side's “bugs” are the other side's “features”.
1
Why bother? We're broke.
All the science fiction writers accurately predicted the future. Mega-corporations rule the country.
The next step will be Soylent Green.
:)
5
... and yet, Trump is deep underwater against most of the top Democratic candidates in August polls.
And yet, Trump has a 42% job approval against a 54% disapproval, basically the same numbers throughout his presidency (and that won't change a year from now).
And yet, 54% of Americans say they will "definitely not" vote for Trump in 2020.
And yet, Trump is losing badly against any Democrat in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
And yet, Trump fooled a lot of people once, but he won't again.
Pundit hand-wringing over whether or not the Democrats can play Trump's twisted game is overblown. The Democrat doesn't have to. A strong majority of Americans have already decided, Trump is not getting a second term.
11
I wish you were right, but you’re not. Yes, that’s what the polls say (and the “pols”)....but they are wrong. With these performances, and these extreme positions, Dems are doomed. The middle can’t catch fire, (Biden), because indeed he isn’t sharp and aspirational. Dems are lost in minutiae and fake excitement. Sad.
Claire McCaskill should run.
1
@tony. spot on, now if we can get the media stop talking about " are democrats doomed", and start drawing comparisons between democrats and this awful human being.
not just once in a while, but every moment they can, also compare to Republicans.
And Biden needs to take the fight right now to the so called Trump base, liking start talking to farmers now, talk to Border agents now.
very powerful.
and don't worry about the extreme left wing of the dems.
Let's get this reelection party started now!
1
@Tony in LA
If you want to really learn how effective polls are, just look at the last election!
1
Bernie and Warren are the only chance we have. There is no one else who inspires change and progress like those two. They are the only two candidates who genuinely WANT to be President. The others are just windows dressing and opportunists.
Warren/ Sanders 2020
6
I have to disagree. Trump doesn't do town hall meetings, and Democrats do. We get to see their authentic, unvarnished comments and thoughts every time they do these events. All of the candidates are bright, articulate, thoughtful and obviously able to think clearly on their feet. They don't repeat themselves or misuse words. The debate stage with the coached, pre-packaged comments is just one piece of a much larger picture, one that lets us all know how they'll appear on the world stage. I'll take the candidates' rehearsed comments over Trump's mendacious blather any day of the week.
11
The Democrats can win the presidency, senate majority and retain the house, only if they stop attacking each other and unite behind one candidate with the most leadership experience and name recognition who can defeat Trump and appeal to a collective majority that includes Democrats, Independents and Republicans who have had enough of the current turmoil. To me that candidate is overwhelmingly Biden!
6
Yup, Biden. But, we need a younger version of him. Who would that be?
Doomed is certainly a strong word. But it is very much a question of whether or not any of these candidates will beat Trump, not because he is a formidable opponent per se but because they are trying to push through a lot of wildly unpopular policies.
Voters don't want ICE to be abolished or illegal entry to be decriminalized. They just want migrant kids to be treated a bit more humanely.
Voters don't want some sweeping, unproven Medicare for All system that will be both single payer AND eliminate private insurance while raising our taxes. Virtually no Western country has truly eliminated optional private insurance. In the UK for example, the upper and middle class typically have private insurance to reduce how long they have to wait to see a doctor and to have more treatment options available.
And don't even start with the ludicrous assertion that if we free employers from having to pay for employee health insurance that they'll then pay us more. That's the lie Trump used to sell his corporate tax cut. Shifting the cost burden of insurance to the taxpayers will just let corporations pocket even more money for stock buybacks and executive bonuses.
And the absurd race-baiting, identity politics of those Dems beholden to the squad actually only align with the views of a small handful of incredibly white progressives. Actual POC are much more centrist in their views.
In short, Democrats should stop pushing an agenda that only 20% of the population wants.
8
We need someone, who will stand up and say, "I'm in favor of decency, and honesty. I don't have all the answers on how to fix the broken medical care system or to make college affordable again or to stop Global Warming. All of these problems are very complex and will not be solved by simplistic solutions. They require the good will and efforts of all of us working together. My goal is rather to make America a decent place again to live where people treat each other with respect and decency and where all Americans can honestly say, I'm proud to be an American."
11
I disagree. The debate showed that Dems do not like the bullying that Trump and the GOP displayed in their previous debates. They want substantive questions, not slogans or tweets. The reality is that this was the first time the key candidates were on the same stage. They did not get to talk that much or engage. As more are dropped from the stage, the debate will improve and the policies will be further delineated. And in the end, the primary question will still be whether you like Trump or despise him. He has become this cycles Hillary Clinton. And if the Dems and Independents show up to vote this time, he has the slimmest of hopes of ascending to the presidency.
7
The Democrats have a field of callow pols who are no different from each other or the long line of self absorbed power mongers we always get. If here was one JFK among them we could be confident about our future and future of America,
Sadly, we'll all go to the polls in 2020 without any real enthusiasm, driven by the absolute need to end our national nightmare and send Trump back to 5th ave.
I hope and pray we are successfull but it needn't have been like this. We could have had a winner up and we don't.
3
Well, the Republicans won't hold any primary debates and probably won't let any other Republican challenge Trump in the primaries. Must remain loyal to their dear, deranged, demagogic leader. No holding Trump accountable allowed in the GOP.
And, what the media calls "debates" for the many contending Democratic presidential candidates for the primaries are not really debates.
These are more like glitzy, neon political spectacles and mini-informercials by each candidate. Each candidate is then judged by the media on the basis of her or his ability to issue soundbites, gotcha digs at another candidate, be declared as "likable," and exude entertainment value.
To say that the media (meaning ratings) rests on conflict is an understatement. Note this evaluation from USA Today after the Thursday debate:
"America didn’t get the big dust-up between Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren that many were expecting Thursday night in the two leading Democrats’ first debate faceoff, though a lot of them tuned in to ABC looking for it."
Are we watching to see who would be the best candidate for president to go against Trump in 2020, or are we watching the WWE? And we know Trump loves the WWE format.
7
I believe that what most pundits don’t discuss, but which Ms Dowd intimates towards is momentum: The sinking feeling that Trump’s message has the momentum- in part ignited by the disaffected amongst us and aided by the press-mainstream and otherwise.
I am old enough to remember the what seemed like the unstoppable liberal momentum of the civil rights and anti war movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Despite overwhelming political, economical, institutional and cultural resistance, the march toward racial and gender equality, the war, the environment simply could not be stopped by the decades of the then status quo. Through all the violence and anti social acts, there was a feeling of inevitability that the pendulum was swinging and couldn’t be stopped. And it couldn’t.
Bored with the status quo or simply looking for headlines, the entire press enameled itself with Trump right from the beginning and couldn’t stop focusing on him. And his “message” first honed in on all of the perceived excesses of the now decades old
march toward liberalism, and secondly spoke to those who were left behind during that march—-and and he is now our President.
Sorry to say, but the movement away from those liberal “traditions” of the past 5 or 6 decades and towards “something else” has that same feeling of inevitability as the movements of the 60’s and 70’s had-despite the institutional resistance.
1
i don't want to see Trump re-elected and would support just about anyone qualified to unseat him, but despite previously thinking Biden was up to the job physically he just looks worse every time out. Sanders and Warren are credible candidates that will do well in the primaries, but won't do well when independents and centrists vote. The rest of the field look like future cabinet members or VPs at best if they don't get a cable TV commentator gig. After 3 debates and months of press, the can't anyone play this game and the why do you think you should be the next President of the US questions hasn't been ably answered by anyone. Maybe we should place a job add on Monster.com.
12
Ms. Dowd misses the point of the debates. They’re SUPPOSED to bore and demoralize people. The main goal is the prevent Sanders - who gets crowds of thousands pumping firsts several times each week - from becoming the nominee even if that means four more years of Trump. The design of these spectacles is to prioritize haute-bourgeois economic interests over all competing interests, and the DNC did a superb job. If I were rich I’d be sending them checks hand over fist...
Who is watching these debates? Certainly not the vanishingly small cohort of swing voters. This stuff is not even on their radar. Sooner or later, likely sooner, we will have a candidate (hint: her initials are EW), and we will move onto the next phase. Trump will be routed if we just GOTV. Will we?
4
Yep. Tomorrow I go to my local hardware store(not hd) and buy our traditional light bulbs. I knew there was something wrong with the ones that contained mercury but now I realize that if the other ones last for 30 years some of the smaller hardware stores that I frequent might go out of business. You think I'm kidding? What oh what will you do when Trump is no longer president. I love the sugar high and so do you!
1
Waiting for Godot, Maureen?
There are all good candidates up there, but there is no Magic Bullet. The reason is that they reflect us - and we are not in fact unified, as long as we are arguing about whose claim takes precedence over the others.
And it's exciting, but unhelpful, to spend half our attention yearning for the Democratic Messiah, while the other half is decrying that the messianic figures haven't already converted all the faithful, and we need to (gasp) compromise. But with feeling.
We need a Democratic candidate who can deliver 50.01% in PA, OH, WI, MI, IA. Maybe FL, AZ, NC, GA. TX is fun to think about, like a Powerball ticket. But I wouldn't bet the house on 00 or 0 either.
All that is required for the moment is someone who will stop the bleeding. I'll forego the Second Coming and be happy with that result. Anyone on that stage (and anyone offstage but Dr. Love) is a vast improvement over status quo.
16
"Unlike with Barack Obama in 2008, none made you feel like you wanted to pump your fist in the air and march into the future behind them."
As always, I disagree with Maureen Dowd. Her op-eds are THE perfect example of the cynicism that is weakening progressives (and as a consequence, the anti-Trump crowd) for decades already now.
Barack Obama HIMSELF made people like her already no longer feel this way just a couple of month after he was elected.
Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Priz because he was and is a truly exceptional person.
During the 2008 campaign, he and Michelle embodied EXACTLY the kind of people most of us wanted to become in our own lives (confident, open-minded, kind, extremely smart, cool, with a fantastic sense of humor - and on top of that, utterly cute).
That, of course, is a tremendous asset, in democratic elections.
It's also NOT what those elections are all about.
In a democracy, we only have a government FOR the people when it's government BY the people - and that means ORDINARY citizens, people like you and me, full of flaws and insecurities, not always very smart, and not always very charismatic.
It's AMERICA that is "doomed", as long as progressives continue to ignore this basic fact and focus on a "Barack feeling" instead.
Last Thursday's debate was excellent, because it was respectful, full of passion, and full of very good ideas. We should be PROUD of ALL those candidates, rather than asking for some kind of guru ... !
22
What Trump does right is that he points out an adversary. Most Democratic candidates want to keep up the illusion that they can make everyone's life better and no one will have to suffer.
It would be highly refreshing if some Democratic candidate attacked Uber for underpaying and badly treating its drivers. Or when they attacked the Kochs for the way they have damaged America's political discourse.
Instead most Democratic candidates prefer to attack Trump or Russia. Most voters don't care. They see the main discussion as a kind of class struggle and they are perfectly aware the Democrats chose their targets carefully to avoid any impression that they might want to harm the interests of potential sponsors.
6
Frankly, I hope the debates themselves are doomed. All of the candidates are just trying to tear each other down, the circular firing squad model. No one really a chance to say anything much deeper than a sound bite. And, meanwhile, Trump can just make fun of all of them. Not really productive for the Democrats. The attack should be against Trump, not each other.
8
@SMM I agree with the hope that the debates are doomed. When a Bernie campaigner called to invite me to a watch party for the second debate, I declined, noting that I am not a sports fan, and I find the debates to be useless zing-fests.
I also agree that the debaters ought not attack each other. I disagree that the debaters ought to attack Trump. Rather, they ought to ignore Trump, and put forth proposals for improving the country. Answer the voters' question: What's in it for me?
1
“There were a bunch of high-end, professional pols there and yet no one actually won it. Not a good sign.”
A good summation.
Common sense and good policy is not riveting. The candidates need to put themselves in context — good vs evil. Sanity vs insanity. Counter dystopia. Pollution and child separation and usurping the Supreme Court are not things Americans favor, but many don’t appreciate what is at stake.
Candidates have to make the alternatives vibrant, not just “better choices”.
7
It was not a completely depressing debate. Scary and impossible to spend good time on a serious subject and "get to the bottom of its solution."
One comment could have been used for discussion at the entire debate:
“We have got to put an end to endless war,” declared Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind."
Another brilliant article in this paper this morning did just that.
Quoting John Quincy Adams on what America might become: “She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.”
"Two centuries later, in the age of Trump, endless war has come home. Cease this folly, and America can begin to take responsibility in the world and reclaim its civic peace."
1
Look at the picture again. This is the best you've got?
Politics have gotten so corrupt, that the party has pushed out any realistic possibilities. The only hope is that Nadler can find something, anything, that could work to knock out Trump.
Not going to happen!
1
I was impressed with the intelligence and thoughtfulness of most of the candidates on debate night. But Maureen Dowd is right that they don't inspire leadership. No one inspires the belief that they will be able to enact the policies they articulate or lead the "nation" and not simply a subset of "nation." It's like a dysfunctional family with many centers to it, every center believing it is the real center. That always results in conflict and separation. Not one candidate can pull all the different centers together. Essentially there doesn't seem to be a core belief that's able to transcend the fragmentary nature of it. They are reduced to finding easy scapegoats like "white males" or "corporations" or "billionaires" that work for a while but then become awfully dull through time. More importantly there is no Democratic candidate able to inspire those who sit out election night, millions upon millions of people, to carry things over the threshold. And the key to these elections seems to be who doesn't vote rather than who does vote. It's as though the Democrats have become excellent critics but have lost the ability to actually lead people.
5
Best use of the Gatsby line I've seen in awhile.
It does feel that way.
3
“Will the most beatable candidate in American history win twice?”
I fear he will. To begin with, there is the lackluster line-up of likely challengers on display Thursday night. In our media-saturated age, when the issues have grown too complex for most people to understand, sports and showbiz values have all but submerged politics. (The standard question “who won the debates?” is itself symptomatic.) Trump understands this shift instinctively -- he is its prime embodiment -- whereas the Democrats keep falling back on an outdated mix of wonkish earnestness and pandering. Whoever they nominate will wind up playing straight (wo)man to Trump’s insult comedian. Second, the GOP has already figured out a fail-proof strategy. Their right-wing base is secure. The American center and center-right may have grave misgivings about Trump’s character, may view with alarm the damage he has already done to the office of president and to America’s image in the world, but in the end they will hold their noses and vote for a second term when they contemplate the alternative. Just play on their anxieties about radical change. Even if the Democrats nominate a bland centrist, the GOP attack machine will contrive to associate him or her with Maduro, Raul Castro, and the Squad.
9
The special election in North Carolina last week should have been a wake up call for Democrats. The Democratic candidate lost by only 905 votes in 2018. On Tuesday he lost by 3937 votes. In the suburbs of Charlotte, where Democratic voters were strongest, the turnout was low. In the suburbs of Fayetteville, where a Trump rally was televised the night before the election, the turnout was much higher.
The debates of the Democratic candidates are handing Trump the ammunition he needs to frighten Americans and motivate them to vote for Republicans. Republican TV ads stoke the fear. Listening to the debates, you can hear the words “socialism” and “open borders” echoing in your ears. They will turn up in ads in 2020, along with new fodder provided by Beto O’Rourke about confiscating assault weapons.
I don’t have a problem with any of those policies, but I look at opinion polls daily and read or listen to the news for hours every day. I know that the majority of American voters are not interested in a left-wing revolution in America.
15
Commentators seem to think pessimism proves their intelligence, but I am thrilled to see us debating ideas, values, and vision with this current group of very smart candidates. Do we need more answers and clarity from them? Yes. But one thing is very clear: above all, they value people, and they are sharing their ideas for how to include everyone in the ultimate success of our country. I believe this is the complete opposite of the Republican Party strategy.
Elizabeth Warren reminds us that wealthy corporate leaders achieved success through the work of all their employees and the taxes of all Americans for things like roads and safety. Higher taxes is simply appropriate payback for that support. Pete Buttigieg reminds us that we value one person, one vote, and the Electoral College stands in our way. Andrew Yang makes the case that, properly implemented, his “Freedom Dividend” could help release people from the chokehold of debt and grow the economy at the same time. Finally, all of the candidates have better healthcare plans than the Republicans, who are doing everything in their power to limit access and burden families with worry. We don’t yet have all the answers we need, but we have 10 thoughtful candidates giving us a great deal to think about and debate. I appreciate their commitment.
9
The Democratic pundits who recommend an issue based campaign against Donald Trump are guilty of political malpractice. The 2020 campaign will be an ugly political street fight. All the arcane policy iniatives, when juxtaposed to Trump's serial banality give the appearance of political impotence, and are a recipe for another Democratic debacle. Trump's pathological lying, political thuggery, and blatant ignorance,easily provide a target rich environment. Trump should be linked to an object of ridicule. Donald Trump is a presidential "Captain Queeg". Queeg ( as played by Humphrey Bogart in the " Caine Mutiny ) was an obsessive ( Queeg had strawberries, Trump has "the wall") a compulsive liar, a coward, and incompetent. Sound familiar ? When they see him the American voter should be programmed to laugh, and think "Queeg". Ridicule is the way to demolish Trump.
11
Brilliant. Another pundit writing to diminish the candidates before a single vote has been cast. Are the Democrats doomed? Are they too far left? Who will vote for such crazy ideas??
The people who will vote for Democrats are the people who are horrified by mass shootings, disgusted by efforts to legislate women's reproductive organs, repelled by the corruption and incompetence of Donald Trump. But, let's tear down ideas like health care for all, banning weapons of war, making college and trade schools affordable, protecting the planet, combatting racism and hatred.
11
Did Ms. Dowd sleep through Beto O'Rourke's jeremiad against assault weapons? Yes, he gave Trump "ammo" (pun not intended), but he was real, emotional, and authentic. He said what I have been thinking for such a long time: Why is it that, in a country that has been called a "shining city on a hill", we cannot muster the national courage to take away weapons of war from civilians? Like Australia and New Zealand? It's getting harder every month of this nonsense to feel proud to be American.
9
Klobuchar/Sherrod Brown coming out of the convention would beat Trump.
4
It’s funny. Democrats think hating Trump is going to get them elected. To heck with polls that ask which candidate would you vote for? Poll what Democrats say they want to do? Medicare for all, loser, limitless abortion on demand, loser, reparations, loser, open borders, loser, free healthcare for non citizens, loser, I can go on. Unwilling to compromise, everyone is trying to out Bernie Bernie. He seems to be one of the most reasonable candidates with a chance to win, and he is a proud Socialist. Honestly, I enjoy watching Trump bash and bully the Dem’s. The name calling is precious. Liberals have to wait until Saturday Night Live for their political satire fix. Republics get to laugh at Democrats every time Trump speaks. We are finally being entertained, and loving it.
5
@Jay: Yes, "panem et circenses" is what about 40% of the American populace wants, nothing much changed since Roman times. Well, we know what happened to the Roman Empire... Let's hope the remaning 60% is more serious about their civic duties.
2
I do think you have your finger on the pulse of a typical Trump supporter. What you don't understand is the depth of rage and disgust a compelling majority of Americans feel toward the current President.
YES, the Democrats are pandering to their leftist flank. I sincerely hope they come to the middle. But if they don't and my choice is Warren or Trump, it will be the easiest decision I've ever made. I want a President who is decent and respectful, one who seeks to help all Americans... so even though I disagree with Warren on many things, Id be glad to have ger as President.
2
If what you fear is correct, that a phony like Trump who can only deliver hateful mockery and nothing else is what will gain the most votes, then we will have four more years of him. If that happens and the country continues to fall apart, I can almost guarantee that that will cure the voters of their mindless addiction to that very low class trashy behavior. However, I do not believe that will happen. In fact I suspect that most of the Democratic candidates such as Warren, Sanders, and Buttigieg, who are anything but phonies, will be able to beat him. Trump has become a caricature, a boogey man, and probably has lost his appeal to the mass of voters. Beware, though. He will be formidably dangerous after his defeat.
6
For God's sake, this is Trump! Why do I keep hearing that it's the Democrats who are "radical" and somehow, Trump is not??
14
It is with a painful longing that I remember feeling that our country was the safest place to be and our president would do whatever he could to keep it that way. Enter this horrifying little creep whose only goal is to rip us off any way he can. We know many of his miserable accomplishments. God Bless the Press for that. I shudder to think of what we don't know. What is he planning for us? Are we going to let him get away with it? Are we going to become an enslaved people that he rules with a tiny hand? He tells us every day who he is. When are we going to listen?
8
Trump's behavior and his acceptance tells us more about 40% of the voters than Trump himself. We are not the mythical "home of the brave and land of the free" . American Exceptionalism ? Nonsense.
9
The rewiring job is a shabby as a trump condo. It is one of the main reasons I am tying up personal and financial details and planning to leave the U.S. in early 2020. I no longer feel this is the place I want to live.
As for the candidates, I would be proud to have Buttigieg or Warren as president. They are light years more intelligent, compassionate, and thoughtful than the braying lout.
8
Perhaps the problem is that the Democrats can’t save us. Both sides sound like they are crazy to me.
Republican’s with their greed, lack of environmental concern, their love affair with guns and caring way more for unborn children than the ones walking among us..
Democrats with their pandering to every social group under the sun just touting their ignorance to the fact that poverty and disparity knows no racial boundaries. The racist ideas they all have that “minority” and “low income” are equal and interchangeable terms. Hypocrites! Completely open borders? Tell me how you’re going to socially support that when you can’t support the people already living here legally.
Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle where common sense lives. Will someone, ANYONE please create a centrist third party? That is the party that would beat Donald Trump.
3
How can we change with the obscene duopoly we are in? How can their be change when both parties take the same bribes? When is the media going to start using the word bribe with these jackals?
3
If Democrats are doomed (speculation based on nothing but fluff) then the country is doomed. Democrats will lose the celebrity war with Trump, because he is so very entertaining. Like a wrestling villain. The good news however, is that celebrity doesn't matter. Only superficial people think it does.
The country deserves Trump. His supporters deserve him. He is a giant baby and his supporters worship him precisely because he is like them. Trump is a metaphor for right wing men.
9
You, Maureen, are exactly right! I read the top "reader's comments"... all saying they love the Democratic debaters. Nonsense!
Trump has the ring of sincerity... even if delusional.
The others are "coached".
It all began with Reagan, Clinton, and now the Democrats who try to say what the listener wants to hear. Not the truth!
6
Precisely. What's striking -- and entirely predictable -- is that the Dems refuse to recognize why they lost 2016 in the first place, and Dowd comes as close as anyone yet to saying it : slick phoniness. People were SICK of it, and chose the guy who blew through it all. Ditto 2020. And no, the sky did not fall, the market did not tank, the red button was not pushed, gays were not incarcerated, breadlines did not form and the sun has indeed continued to rise. History will show (is showing) the last three years as a colossally foolish squander by Dems, focusing on Trump and following all ridiculous paths to unseat him.
8
Oh yes....one other thing.....Barack Obama as Vice president and then in 4 years Michele Obama runs for president. Wouldn't you just love to see the Republicans pulling their hair out for 12 years. Using the Trump method of governing. All those executive orders. The possibilities are endless.
4
in 2016 the republicans nominated a candidate that was, by wide and deep consensus, unelectable. the polls gave an 84% chance he would lose. his philandering and cons and lies and sleazy hush payments to porn stars were on full display. he misquoted scripture and flaunted laws. but "the base" believed in him.
i think it's time the democrats also decided to nominate someone they fundamentally believe in. it's time for the weepy, wavering, timid, timorous, decorous and delicate democrats to cinch up the gut trammel and stand by their convictions, rather than attempt another "peace in our time" compromise and "candidate most likely to win."
4
Maureen, you're absolutely right.
If 2020 is going to be about appealing to Americans' stupidity, shortsightedness, selfishness, and fear—if the 2020 campaign is going to be a reality show where showmanship and "authenticity" are what sells—then sure, there's no beating Trump, no matter who the Democrats send up against him.
Also, I appreciate your retroactive characterization of Barack Obama as a politician people could get pumped up about. And here I thought that YOU thought that he was this Vulcan-like alien being out of touch with human emotion.
6
As bad as Trump normally is, he's even worse at his rallies. He whines, he lies, he ridicules his opponents and enemies. But it's at these same rallies that his most rabid fans line up to see him and love him the most.
Every time Trump opens his mouth, he widens the chasm between the two Americas. There may still be time to heal...but not if he's in office four more years.
4
I think the light bulb example is the absolutely perfect summary of the issue. When Trump speaks about a light bulb you might think it’s inane, it’s childish, it’s unbefitting a President...but to many others they see a man who is standing up tall and actually says what he truly believes in plain English and you have no doubt that he authentically dislikes that lightbulb. Respectfully, with the vast majority of other candidates whether they be the Dems this year, the 20 Republican 4 years ago or HIllary you just cannot say the same. He is utterly authentic, often as we know to a fault or in a direction that may make us cringe, but authentic nonetheless. You just can’t say that about any of the other candidates - save maybe Bernie, who also has had fabulous success being authentic being as he is a screaming Socialist in the most capitalist country in the World. “Canned” and “phony” just don’t cut it anymore.
3
@The Dear, this is so twisted it’s hard to unravel. Here is a man who lies as facilely as normal people breathe. And yet he is deemed authentic. I guess he is authentic in the sense he has no filters, i.e., the usual checks on our baser inclinations most of us employ to get along in a civilized society. Without those filters, he reveals nothing but pure avarice at his core. How can anyone prefer this to a candidate with the decency to comport himself/herself in a dignified manner?
Right now, boring is good, very good.
2
This may be the case. If so, it says more about the inability of working American people to think critically about who really represents their own best interests. Instead, a substantial portion of the populace is being swayed by Trump's appeal to their basest fears and prejudices and believes his faux-populist demagogic lies. Riled up by his carnival barker false promises, the so-called base turns a blind eye to Trump's corruption and the policies that enrich his family and his cronies at the expense of their present and future welfare. Trump's supporters in the 1%, who under Trump's policies are on easy street, continue to profit on the backs of this deceived base.
5
The worst Democratic candidate won by 3 million votes.....not sweating the future.
2
Democratic candidates seem hamstrung by our savage game of liberal "gotcha!" wherein everyone is terrified of offending and therefore being ruined by our Officially Sanctioned Victims, which is to say our cultural ruling class, our current day pharisees.
I am certain, as an example, that the candidates know that advocating for illegal immigrants to receive comprehensive healthcare (before we've even begun to figure it out for legal residents) and to decriminalize illegal border entry is utterly insane policy. But they were so terrified of being canceled by a single woke Tweet, "Candidate X hates poor Latinos and other people of color!," that they instantly hewed to these riduculous proposals.
Americans HATE this toxic, cynical, hypocritical form of politics. And without it, Trump would not have gotten close to the presidency.
Had someone at that first, awful, embarrassing Democratic debate stopped and said, "What?! Have you all gone insane?!," and took them to task for their cowardice, that person would be leading Democratic polls, and scaring the pants off of Trump.
6
Let's face it America , we don't have any Statesmen/Women on the horizon - no Obama to come along and sweep us off our feet.
We have competent pols, idealistic to some degree and impractical to another. Perhaps it's a symptom of the times - the discord, sloppiness and sheer ignorance we find around us. The streets of New York have never been dirtier, and our Mayor wants to be President? He should take a look at the tree beds lining First Avenue in the '50's. Disgusting! There is no pride in how we present ourselves as fashion has taken a nose dive to look trashy, tacky and terrible. Trump is the ultimate symbol of our times - vile, ignorant - lacking decency . Democrats need to fall in love with a candidate for President - None of ours have that special charisma we so require. We are hit by our terrible times.
1
@pkay
To be precise: Even a new Obama won 't do. You need a new Roosevelt.
3
Half the Dem field are empty suits, half are extremists, half are insincere, half are half-baked and all of them will lose big to Trump.
5
True, Mo - "Being a good politician doesn’t matter anymore."
What has been unleashed by Extremely Stable Genius 45* (and the Complicit Crowd who ever let him near a ballot without showing his financial entanglements) means that in the foreseeable future, each party's candidate will be nothing more than the person with the biggest social media following; likely a non-politician of some sort, who has no political track record of keeping/breaking campaign promises....an avatar that voters in key swing states can be fooled into projecting their values on.
This is very dangerous in a society which rewards grift like American has devolved into, where in the very recent past, the public Treasury yuuugely underwrote grift:
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html
allowing continued glorification of extraction piracy, justified as propping up 401k's.
Our grifting problem has bled from the business arena into political life, and has infected academia as well, epitomized by the Greed is God (um, er, good) mantra.
Until this mantra of unrestrained piracy is buried, pirates will continue to cannibalize the polity.
And until/unless the Electoral College is reformed, Dems will have to play the same low game GOP'ers have devised, deferring to what registered voters in certain critical Midwest states favor to select a winning Dem avatar.
Egads!
3
Maureen Dowd seems to have a dim opinion of American voters, expecting them to hold their noses and vote for Trump twice. I am not a religious person but I am praying she is wrong. Voting for Trump is not the same as voting for the more interesting or "authentic" candidate; it is voting plain and simple for corruption and mendacity.
5
Godawful format, has to go. Why not do two hour town hall type events with actual Democrat voters lobbing open-ended questions at the candidates. Or lengthy one-on-one interviews with folks like Jon Stewart or former policy leaders . Put ‘em in the line of fire with live (political) ammo to see how quick — and correct — on their feet they are to answer. Head to head, Trump isn’t going to give any Democrat time to draw breath to answer.
4
@Anne Tomlin Yes , one-on-one interviews or even better smaller, intensive debates between 2 or 3 candidates, But not Jon Stewart, He is a celeb comedian, and there is already an ample supply of celeb media people, including people who work for the cable networks putting their stamp on things and who live lives totally distant from most Americans
It was indeed, very depressing to watch. The Dems are not too far left. Call it what it is, his electorate wants a Fascist. An Authoritarian. That is what he and the Republicans are selling, FASCISM plain and simple. Unrelated? or is it.... they have bills right now to cut your Social Security and Pensions. Fascism versus mild Socialism? You decide. Not one word in regards to woman's issues? No one points this out. Failure of the press? The failure is in us.
3
Any of the democrats on that stage have more decency in their little fingers than 45 has in his whole body. Any would be better than the hate, lying and division from this administration. Liz Warren is brilliant and cares for the majority of our citizens. She is my first choice, insurance or not.
3
Canadians take basic care of their population. You don't see their people falling into the traps of negativity and chaos. They did not elect a paragon in of trash, lies and hatred. They go about their lives rather peacefully. I remind you that they have good free health care, good unemployment, good basic wages, good schools and so on. This basic care is what underpins a stable society. If you want to abuse half the population, give them no health care, poor basic wages, no respect, poor life conditions, and so on, you will get unrest, chaos, hatred, volatility, uncertainty, depression. Billionaires will feel the chaos as well as anyone else. They cannot live isolated from the life around them unless they shut themselves completely off in cells. Take a good look at the US today and you will see where all this chaos comes from. It is no surprise. Trump is a symptom of a society headed the wrong way, a society a prisoner of its past roots. Clean it up. Get out of the gutter. Stand up straight. Get out of your own way. Move forward. Only the weak collapse in self pity.
5
He has 40% of the electorate in his back pocket. Yes, it's disgusting that so many grown up Americans tolerate or even revel in his infantile rants and insults — how many parents would tolerate their child taunting ANYONE for ANY reason as Pocahontas, for YEARS?
But that means 60% vote like adults and are not charmed by his "game-changing" aggressions. All we need to do is turn out and get the traditional non-voters to turn out. Ms. Dowd will be proven wrong — America has not become a nation of nihilists. Trump's legacy will be defined by a plethora of criminal convictions of his associates (and hopefully him) — a lesson to those who would turn our democracy into a game.
2
Beto O'Rourke need only share photos of an AK-47/AR-15 shooting crime scene to get the public on his side. This is like a Vietnam, Iran or Afghanistan war that "others" are fighting on our behalf; we are not engaged! Most of us can't relate to the trauma, stench and horror of these massacres that are being made possible by the GOP and NRA.
3
Me thinks doth worry too much. Trump will lose this time. Badly
1
Maureen, you and so many others suffer from Barack Obama syndrome. This guy electrified us, sure. He also governed center if not center-right, didn't end any wars, deported more immigrants than Trump, and from what I hear, disappointed many African-Americans.
Not that he didn't accomplish some good and god knows he was faced with the most recalcitrant Congress in memory. But instead of the electorate looking to be "excited" how about we try going with "most competent?"
3
Ms. Dowd is frustrated, Mr. Axelrod is frustrated. 10 high end political consultants and no one won. Not a good sign. 10 candidates responding to trite questions from a panel of glib television correspondents to be answered in "the apprentice" boardroom style one minute bites. Yeah...Trump wins this ratings driven reality show. You could say...the media produces it for Trump.
2
Lets face it- the media doesn’t want a return to normal. Trump has been a boon to their bottom line of clicks, subscriptions and eyes on the screen. We have to fight through the media bias of “ Dems in disarray” “ can anyone beat Trump”.
1
Boring is far better than crazy.
7
The Democrats behave as if this is a normal election. They behave as if a barbarian has not already taken over our country. They behave as if the barbarian can be defeated with civility.
They are delusional. And worse, it they do not fight, we'll all be eaten alive.
And I know in my heart they will not fight. They will whine and snivel and become indignant and full of righteousness. But they will not do what needs to be done to kill the barbarian. They think words will defeat him, lofty words, policy positions, fairness.
I have no confidence we will not all be eaten by a cruel barbarian.
2
Maureen, you are right. I share your frustration.
3
Maureen, I completely agree. This is what happened in one form or another during the last election, and is happening again. Pity.
3
But Maureen, isn't that the point? One voter block that thinks fist-pumping actually accomplishes something, while another voter block thinks listening and discussing accomplishes something. Agreed, that might be Trump's "genius" - discovering and tapping into the former. But don't mistake a lack of fist-pumps among Democrats as lack of motivation or inspiration. We are ready to donate, to canvass, and to VOTE.
3
DNC & TV networks need Opra on the panel of questioners. Skype in Michelle O., Laura Bush. Shorten the show and dumb it down. Nobody believes these people’s aspiration for government translates to change. Minn. elected a comic. John Stewart protected funding for 9.11 survivors. We elected P.T. Barnum’s protégés for president. Entertain, entertain, entertain
2
Things that are “off limits” in the Democrat primary:
Biden's record as Vice President, and his age.
Warren’s record as an Indian.
Sanders’ record as a communist.
Harris’ record as a prosecutor.
Pete’s record as mayor.
I’m sure President Trump will also abide by those rules.
4
Gee, surprise that Trump's reputation as con-artist, bankrupt and women abuser doesn't hurt his chances to win. According to you, people rather be defrauded by racist, than improve their lot under Native American or Communist. In this case, we should talk of problem with American society rather than problem with Dem candidates
Stop expecting the Dems to play like Trump. Trump is in our heads because he is the cash cow for the cable outlets. He has stolen the ball and is playing by his own rules. Cover his corruption, deceit, immorality and self-serving ways. He is doing the bidding of the super rich, dismantling regulation in all spheres. Stop drinking Trump's coolaide. Use your column to bring this monster down. what are you afraid of?
1
Maureen are you not paying attention-- methinks you are loving your own words rather than scanning a landscape that has changed since the 2008 election. Even opinion writers should deal with reality. Pay attention to what's really changing in our heartland and not your perceived obsessions of gloom and doom for the Democratic Party.
1
NYT readers fail to understand that we are not a socialist country We are not a progressive one either We are a center/right republic and the democrat candidates that veer too far left do so at their peril
2
The Democrats need to come up with some new big ideas to increase their chances of winning in 2020.
Here they are:
Pass the ERA.
Make it illegal for prenuptial and other contracts to contain provisions barring the dissemination or truthful information about other people.
Make Israel our 51st State. It effectively is already. Israel, of course, would retain its position as the primary sanctuary in the world for Jews threatened anywhere.
And while we're about it, make Palestine our 52nd State. They are a talented people who need to be rescued from the colossally bad decisions and activities of their leaders.
Pass a law making it no crime at all to stand up, lie down, kneel, face backwards or pull down your pants during the playing of the National Anthem. This already is the law, but it needs new emphasis.
The roads are crumbling, and there aren't any places left to park, so promise that by 2025, no more SUVs will be sold in the land.
Encourage the collection and dissemination of information about political figures who are publicly opposed to abortion, but who have had them or helped other people to obtain them.
Make Fridays a holiday for everybody, they already effectively are for many people who just leave work early or never show up at all.
3
Energy-efficient bulbs make mangoes, pumpkins, carrots and Cheetos appear orange too.
trump is like an unincandescent bulb.
A very dim bulb indeed.
3
The only way to beat Trump is for Biden to retire and to enjoy his winter of life.
2
Bernie would easily beat Trump. However, Trump could easily beat a corporate Democrat. I know the corporate wing of the Dem Party loves their donors. But they have to make a choice: Cut the cords or suffer four more years of maniacal rule.
2
so one lackluster debate in September 2019 is all it takes to write off the Dems' chances in November 2020?
2
I was looking for an answer to all your questions and found none.
My oh my. Typically cynical, negative and pretty offensive. Trump is a painful fact of life and I bless the Democratic Party for putting together a defense. Trump has managed to undo so many good steps taken by Obama that we are left with too many criticisms. It is hard to climb the mountain of lies and
narcissism before us, but the debates are getting the job done.
They will get better as we thin the herd.
1
Einstein said: “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.”
Simply put: what got you there isn’t going to get you out of it.
In strategy terms: you can’t out-Walmart, Walmart.
You can’t beat Trump playing his game. So, Stop obsessing about him and stay focused on what the 2020 candidates have to offer.
2020 Democrats: What do you have to offer to Americans? Paint a picture of what our life will be when you’re president.
America is broken. Show that you know what’s broken and how you will fix it...
Elizabeth Warren has got a plan for that. She’s immensely disciplined with her messaging. She knows who’s she fighting for and who’s the villain of the piece. She zooms in on the symptoms and zooms out to their cause (corruption). She’s “whip smart”(Cramer, who knows Wall Street fears her) and has a positive vision. Plus: she will drop kick Trump on the debate stage and show who’s low energy.
We are in this mess partly due to the pundits (“Hillary has it in the bag”... how many votes did their complacency cost us?) and the media which gave Trump free publicity by carrying his rallies live and breathlessly covering him. Some writers couldn’t stand Hillary more than Trump (scratches chin on who it could be).
The op-Ed columnists needn’t worry about a solution - for they have none.
The problem requires a different level of consciousness, so, my advice would be... find topics other than Trump to write about.
Elizabeth Warren has got this.
3
There were on stage in the Democratic debate several serious people who were thoughtful about and experienced in politics.
On the other side, we have an ignorant, arrogant fool with no experience beyond inheriting money and losing it in poorly planned projects.
Stop trashing the Democrats. They are of course not perfect. But they are not mentally disturbed like Trump, and they have some interest in solving problems for the people of the US.
1
The press helped lose us the 2016 election by focusing on every outrageous thing he did and amplifying Hillary’s emails to a fevered pitch. They promote every tweet for a full week, giving him 24/7 coverage everyday. Now you write articles like this....always making the Democrats look like losers for focusing on what the issues are. Keep it up and you may help us get 4 more years of him.....you are also responsible by the type of coverage you provide. Focus on facts...we the reader will evaluate the candidates.
1
Republicans are scared that Trump will go after them in Twitter.
Democrats are scared that the same forces that withheld votes from Hillary in 2016.....the "progressive" Bernie supporters and black men who were not pandered to enough at least as explained by the demagogues who influenced them... will do a repeat or stay home.
Then we have the press who as an antidote to intelligent discussion of issues resorts to snark snide and a vulture type of gotcha.
The only ones who feel able to be free and authentic are those who basically don't have a chance. They have nothing to lose. and they get all the good coverage The rest know the press is lying in wait for them to make a mistake so that they can run gleefully and expose them. Front Runners are most in peril. Biden is getting a taste of what they did to Hillary 4 years ago. the whole thing is disgusting.
1
Maybe your problem, Maureen, is that all of the Dems did pretty well in the debate so no clear winner. Wow, they were all civilized and respectful of one another. What a concept. I am so annoyed with the pundits just talking about the lack of luster with the Dem candidates. I see it differently. I see people who are real and compassionate and smart and would be one zillion times better than the unhinged, incompetent, disgusting human currently holding the office. Why Maureen, do you even need to tell me what he said at the rally during the debate? I don't want to have to take another shower. I already took one today.
2
Just great. That's right, slam the Democrats as not strong enough, cunning enough, brazen enough, mean-spirited enough, cruel enough, shallow enough , profane enough , hypocritical enough...enough, Enough Maureen!!!
The people debating at the Democrat debate, every single one of them , are so far superior to Trump as human beings it isn't even funny. So go ahead and castigate them for their uninspiring views even though this so-called president running the country into the ground. I would vote for any one of these people. The doomsday crowd seems to want Trump for another four, or possibly 8 more years , a real possibility even though he jests about it. He's not kidding, folks! He plans to last 'til he rots, a state he happens to be already in.
3
I don't think the Democratic messages are uninspiring. I think they're *adult* messages. And it's hard for adult messages to break through over Trump's messaging which are all variations of "You don't ever have to eat your vegetables."
Trump layers on such welcome ""French Fries 24/7" relief with "You never have to tell the truth" and "Don't worry about the climate. It's a hoax." "These people who are different from you and frightening don't deserve or require your respect." "We'll toss out foreigners" "Ridicule whoever you like""Smart people are really dumb, you and I are really smart." "Deep in debt is saving money""Tanking trade is punishing China and showing toughness" "Guns and more guns make men virile" "Real men control/use women and don't do women stuff..like raise children" "Black people are ignorant."
Any parent knows asking an impulsive child to engage with the world in a responsible way is a tough sell. Trump (hardly a responsible parent literally or figuratively) keeps saying "YOU DON'T HAVE TO!" The Democrats are relentlessly trying to make a case for "growing up," accepting a changing and changed reality.
Dems assume the reasons are obvious. But they're not obvious to large chunks of the electorate who don't see why Trump is wrong. The Democrats had better start explaining why growing up, being adults, "eating our vegetables" is necessary and the smarter course. Otherwise, Trumps "French Fry" diet seems to work.
1
I actually pumped my fist for Warren during the debate.
She is clearly the most intelligent, most prepared candidate.
2
Trump will wipe the floor with any one of those charlatans on the Democrat stage. What Maureen sees as his hucksterism, others see as authenticity and telling it like it is.
4
Everything in this article points to Marianne Williamson being the best candidate. If you think she is crazy, go her website and decide for yourself. marianne2020.com
Why not ask about Social Security and Medicare on the Trumpian chopping block. Why not ask about clean air, water, the fact that his party revoked mental illness cross-referencing with gun sales even as they parrot mental illness as the real cause of massacres, even though all countries in the world have mentally ill citizens.
The media just has gone Roget Ailes—all they want to do is start a fight.
You all better ask this charlatan about his LIES in the general debates. And nail him to the details of his "beautiful," "best" health care program and crustal clean water policies.
And anyway. Was the 40th-Reublican- president our first TV and movie star? Weren't a couple of Califonia— Republican—governors, TV stars?
Funny. Coming from a party which routinely tells celebrities to shut up.
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My bet is that there are enough rational voters in this country who are sick and tired of Trump and his constant, debilitating chaos, that they will vote for any Democratic rather than take four more years of His insanity.
2
Well that really brightened up my day Ms. Dowd. Thanks a bunch.
Now I read all these hand wringing, woe is me, we're doomed comments and I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I'm going to do neither.
What I am doing to do, is everything in my power to prevent another four years of chaos by a lying bully who conned his way into the White House, along with the crooks and lickspittles who coddle him, and the MAGA crowd who lap up his hate filled kool-aid.
This is my country too and I won't surrender it to a grifter whose only intention is to anoint himself king, loot it and remake it in his image in order to fill some pathetic need for constant attention/adulation and lust for spite/revenge.
I live in a wooded area inhabited by much wildlife and try to live peacefully with all. Recently a cute little raccoon took up residence under a porch. Then he invited his friends. I tried unsuccessfully to evict him with a broom. Then late one afternoon he came after me, determined he wasn't going anywhere - reminded me of trump.
A minority of voters gave trump an inch. Now he intends to take a mile. But he's no Goliath and we don't need a David - we need US to vote for the democrat. Period.
I don't need to be bowled over by soaring speech and heart flutters by the eventual nominee to know what needs to be done next November.
As for the racoon, he's gone. For good if you know what I mean.
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"The candidates struggled to alchemize our exhaustion into excitement."
Perceptive, insightful observation, Ms. Dowd...
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Winners and fist-bumps. Talk about retro political thinking. I heard lots of good ideas during the debates. Some I agree with, some, not. But there were ideas for going forward. Any Republican listening, even disagreeing, was probably trying to come up with a Republican alternative. Besides now-tired rants, there are no Republican solutions. Just, fear.
Taking those assault weapons- as opposed to taking (with just compensation) land along the Mexican border for the Wall? Taking thousands of acres, family farms, for Interstates, Dams, for the public good? Promoting the general welfare? What was the latest court case on taking- for economic renewal? One Amendment up against other clauses, history? Yeah, keep my gun but take my land. Let’s go back to rutted dirt roads, along with other conservative inconsistencies.
I can just see the president, debating Sanders, Warren, and dropping his ‘socialism’ bomb; how many of his loyal supporters are going to recant and reject Social Security for granny? Pay for her health care if Medicaid, Medicare are tossed? Ha!
If we are tired of his cutsie attacks, wearing thin in ability to anger, in the next year, with no real solutions to our problems, Republicans are going to be just as disenchanted. Bring on more ideas, possible solutions. At least Dems have them.
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Yes, he may have changed politics forever in the US (although I think it's indicative of a broader decline, as has been noted by others) but one of the key questions driving voter's choices will be fairly simple: do you like this change? I hope and suspect that enough voters will decide that all that is wrong with this administration doesn't compensate for the $20.00 more in take home pay each week. And that living w/ a "politician" as your president for 4-8 years is preferable, for so many reasons, than another 4 years of a reality tv actor.
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Not one Democratic pol is a leader, not one can succinctly answer the question in a compelling way what middle America desperately wants to hear: whats-in-it-for-me.
2
Totally disagree - they’ve gone into tremendous detail about what they would do to alleviate the pressures on middle America when it comes to health care, access to a good and affordable education, tax policy, infrastructure rejuvenation, and environmental protections. All of these have a direct and positive impact on the lives of Americans in poor, rural, and working class communities. But that’s actually not what many of these people want to hear - what they *want* to hear is that it’s okay to hate and discriminate against people who look, worship, speak, or love differently than they do. No policies Trump has pushed are in the political or economic interests of his base; tribalism and racism are the entire basis of his popularity with a disgustingly large subset of Americans. For these people, it would not matter one iota what the Democrats say if it doesn’t give them an excuse to demonize the Other...
The NPR town hall was great because the audience asked questions. Maybe it's the format, too, that forces people into these artificial situations that needs to go?
4
Trump is in power because not enough Americans vote. You can't blame republicans for that despite their efforts at suppression. We don't have a national holiday for presidential elections, we barely promote civics education, we haven't historically encouraged each other to vote outside one issue groups and we historically have seen little personal impact for the vast majority of the country if the White House is Blue or Red since the 70's when the voting percent dropped to the 50-55% range.
Some times we wake up tired of incrementalism or more interested because something impacting everyone has occurred and an extra 5-10% of the nation votes and we get to 60%. Those elections gave us Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Truman and Nixon. Obama only pushed it to 58% in his first term.
Trump, climate change, immigration, gun control and executive power have the potential to get us to 60% participation. Maybe we will rein in executive authority that has done nothing but grow since 1912, or push through discovery on climate like we once did for space,or usher in major changes like Interstate highways, civil and voting rights acts, Marshall Plan, OMB, EPA and Title IX.
Don't discount the will of the American people for a better world and their ability to rise to the occasion.
1
Since the current president is obviously above the law, since he is not being held accountable for the 20-30 crimes we know he's committed, he'll surely "win" the election with or without Russia's help. America, as we knew it, is over. Now we're just a reality tv show. And not a very good one....
1
I disagree. For me, there was a lot of fist-pumping for the first time there is real discussion about getting money out of politics. This was a central part of the answers for several candidates.
2
Trump will be elected if for one reason only: The Democrats (Warren, Sanders) have stated they will do away with private healthcare insurance. Once that becomes clear in the general election: Game over.
7
I don't think so, when the people tune on more to the candidates, they will understand advantages of the M4A system that gives them freedom and security, the people definitely will support Den candidates as Warren or Bernie against the clown who could not deliver on healthcare after 4 years in office, moreover, don't even have a plan how to lower cost of healthcare.
1
@Sue
The Establishment media working for the insurance companies us going to make sure that people focus on their beloved HEALTH INSURANCE not what really matters to them, their HEALTH CARE, which will stay the same.
President Sanders 2020!
A Future To Believe In!
By the way, I have always had great health insurance,
but I regret that my doctors are always changing because they move out of the area.
I have complete confidence in medicare for all!
1
I hate the fact that the American presidential race is more a popularity contest than a referendum on policy. But that's what it is. There is no way around it.
3
@Jay Arthur
Sanders appeal to voters is based on policy, not "popularity".
same with Warren
Most journalists seem to ignore Pete Buttigieg who happens to be the only candidate proposing a message of "changing the channel" and restoring our core values as a nation, and restoring our democratic institutions.
Buttigieg may be the youngest candidate, but he is also the most mature.
11
In 2000, 537 votes Florida. In 2004 a few thousand in Ohio and Florida. In 2016, less than 70,000 votes out of over 100,000,000 in the states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio.
...while keeping in mind the strategy of the Trump campaign is too drag down the competition, and discourage them, so that his unwavering minority base will somehow be enough to win.
Big picture: unite to win. The Democrats agree on enough to do this. You will vote for your best candidate in the primaries and then the winner will face Trump. You get two votes: the one you want-and the one you must. One will be mostly hopeful and the other of fear. But it’s not the end of the world.
None of them are gods and shouldn’t be revered or reviled as such. They are just people like you and me. Shut up and vote. They are the best we have on all sides, and one will have to take on Trump.
This column isn’t moving Democrats in the right direction. It’s doing Trump’s work for him.
1
Jeez, how do we "change the game forever" on this sort of political analysis.
It's so dismissive to people's intelligence to suggest that we have to have politicians emulate Trump to succeed.
While Trump may have shocked some people who were over-confident in Hillary's win, his win is not a death sentence to intelligent policy.
It is, however, the job of journalists to make the case for ideas, to keep their eyes on the stakes. This column is not it.
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It's well beyond the need for fist-pumping. Were people in full swoon for Nixon? No. For Bush 1 or 2? Not really. For Carter? Far from it. There are degrees of enthusiasm. Not every election requires a mass Kool-Aid party. Trump is every bit of the villain in the story. That will do much of the needed work.
We are fortunate to have so many good people running. They may not be electric or capture the zeitgiest like Obama or Reagan but they'll get the job done and do it with respect for insitituions and the law. They'd let us relax and trust that we don't have a petty squabble to worry about daily. Especially if Moscow Mitch is ditched.
5
@E. Why the snark about Moscow Mitch? How does someone like Sanders or Warren taking all your money let you relax? These fans of bigger government need to take a look at the VA to see how things will be run.
They provide goods: health care education, retirement, while Reps force people in the slave labor while taking away safety net.
It's too easy to watch from a distance and point out the various ways the nominees can't defeat Trump. It would be much more interesting and valuable to start imagining the candidate that would get into the pit with him and come out the victor. That candidate must be willing to pull the clothes off the emperor. Maybe hone in on his weave, his make up team and his tax returns, coming soon, which will reveal his assets to be far less than he'd like us to think . .
4
@Sasquatch. Yeah, going after someone’s taxes will be a real winner. I guess the Dems can’t talk about the economy or foreign policy, so that’s all they have.
What is the proper role of government? What should it not be involved in? These are key questions that need to be discussed. The US government is too big, too bureaucratic, and too wasteful no matter who is in office. We are $22 TRILLION in debt. Just because something is expensive does not mean government should provide it. Wanting to help someone doesn't mean government should forcefully take your money and give it to someone else. We need to teach basic economics in this country and teach personal responsibility. Get government out of healthcare, out of mortgages/housing, from being the police of the world, eliminate subsidies, bailouts, welfare, get out of education, out of student loans, stop excessive regulations, and stop spending trillions more than what they take in. Some proper roles of government: To provide national defense, to protect individual freedoms, to prevent fraud, to prevent monopolies and promote competition. This does not mean no government, weak government, anarchy, or completely unregulated capitalism. Government does have a role to play.
1
And what will be role? To allow corporations to take all money of people and leave them destitute? Is the major role of the Government, in your view, to protect slaveowners, ignoring plight of slaves?
@Joe Your vision would be wonderful if people...and corporations masquerading as people...could be relied upon to be honest brokers. Quite simply: they cannot. Given the chance, the opportunity, free of regulation, there are way too many people for whom the "public good" is a joke. What such people can be relied upon to do is act as modern day pirates, marauding across the economic and physical landscape. They will drill, mine, pollute air and water and soil with industrial waste, and calculate ways to maximize profits at the expense of the citizenry. They will cheat and lie. Steal and pillage. Such behavior is as old as our species' history on earth. Achieving the proper balance of regulation and market forces is the great conundrum, but greed and lack of a moral compass when it comes to paying attention to human needs shifts that balance far away from your naive view. The main weakness in your otherwise attractive argument is failure to objectively assess human nature. A long history contradicts your assessment.
@yulia Government forcefully takes your money through taxes, mostly for things that I don't agree with. I have never had a corporation forcefully take my money, and I buy things that I actually do want.
Trump's orange skin is due to the chemicals he uses for his balding hair. Led lighting is cheap and has nothing to do with it.
The Democrats don't have a solid candidate. It is not going to matter though. As long as Democrats show up to vote, then Trump will be defeated. It likely won't be a landslide. But there are enough voters who despise Trump that his chances of winning are quite slim.
I don't see much to like about either political party in terms of their agendas. I would rather have a moderate in office. Gradual change is a better approach than radical change. But it requires a fair amount of thought and intensity. It is important to set goals, review existing operations, measure results, and make changes.
I expect a fair number of executive orders. I am skeptical that the Senate will pass legislation.
4
I enjoyed the debates and thought they were an improvement over the first two. First, the moderators made a point to ask questions of the candidates who are not in the top three in polling. They seemed to have a greater opportunity to participate. Second, a number of the candidates were able to clarify or pose important issues pm MFA. Buttigieg asked, why shouldn't Americans be able to choose? If private insurance is that bad, people will chose the public option and the private insurers will bite the dust. Cost was raised with respect to MFA and that is important to many folks. This will hit our pocketbooks, and right now there is a great deal of uncertainty. If voters think one of the top issues in the election is health care, the centrists were able to communicate they have an alternative to what is being proposed by Warren and Sanders. Third, while the DNC probably orchestrated it, I think that for the party, coalescing around Obama was a good thing after the insane attacks on his presidency in the last debate. Fourth, I though body language was interesting. Some of the camera shots showed Bernie and Biden exhibiting fairly warm body language; Biden's comment that for a socialist Bernie trusted corporations more than Biden did was not a put down but funny; in contrast body language between Biden and Warren was pretty frosty. What does this communicate about her working with others?
1
Well, the centrists actually failed to specify what the public option is? How will they set it up? Maybe they will set it as bad as the private ones, so in this case they will just reinforce the idea that the Government in the healthcare is the bad idea? Or they could set up much better one but not clear how they will pay for that especially if the people en masse start to sign up for it. So, in short period of time you will have M4A but without any means to pay for that, because it was set up originally for much lower number of users. I wish they were much more specific about the public option.
@Cheryl Swansonit communicates that she’s aware that Biden’s the one to beat at this stage!
I am not a pollster. I am not a political strategist. I am not a pundit. I AM a depressed Democrat.
I only know that no one is REPETITIVELY PUBLICIZING AND INCITING ORGANIZED PROTEST AGAINST the real Republican clincher for 2020: How do we defend our fragile democracy if Russian (and other) media highjacking and electoral machine interference are ignored? If we are really adamant about a Democratic win in 2020, why isn't educating about CHEATING the first and foremost issue every time a Democratic candidate speaks?
8
Never underestimate how badly Americans want to be entertained and are willing to call it leadership, and don't underestimate just how many in the Fourth Estate depend on presidential entertainment to generate the ratings and the jobs that let them feed their families. Our addiction to entertainment is destroying us, a little bit more every day.
10
the whole concept of holding debates is part of the problem. A highly educated press asks tricky questions to a bunch of cautious politicians about things that a largely uninformed voter doesn't care about. No one is educated or informed.
9
Maureen, the Republicans have been rewiring the system for 40 years while the people were either asleep or were fascinated by the goop served up by pundits. Slowly the idea of service became a celebrity-fest of opposing teams. Trump is not an aberration, he's the conclusion.
A big help was papers printing screeds against certain politicians and/or their families rather than sticking to policy, the polities ignorance and lack of care, and other important issues.
Own your role in the destruction of our experiment.
10
Everyone I know that watched all the debates found them energizing and useful. I had no experience of a split screen thankfully. I usually don’t care to watch them and prefer to read my news but I’m glad I did. I texted with family and friends as we watch. Debates have been stimulating some good conversations. Issues are being discussed. It feels like a process. Of course we are all horrified and drained by the daily nightmare. Pundits seem to think we are all as jaded as they may be. I understand the problem as described in this article but cynicism is exhausting also. I want to be positive. We all need to do our job and get the votes out. And take care of each other.
10
A debate is generally between two, or sometimes three candidates. With this crowded stage, you are only going to get sound bites instead of thoughtful insight. It's difficult to stand out in a group of outstanding leaders.
Trump was able to bulldoze his way through a group of mediocrities to get the nomination. He then only had a very unpopular opponent left (who still beat him by nearly 3 million votes).
Too many people are sick to death of this wretched presidency to allow him to be reelected. And he still has over a year left to make himself even more loathed!
462
@emsique,
I would argue Mrs. Clinton lost to Mr. Trump more because she was a victim of a 40-year campaign of slander by the Republicans, than that she was "unpopular".
37
@emsique Especially with the help he had on social media, from Cambridge Analytica and others, right?
11
@emsique
If "loathing" is what this President needs to win reelection, than so be it! Better than the alternative left and it's attempts to repackage failed socialist ideals.
5
Maureen, there is a major disconnect at the very core of politics and what politics as it actually IS, vs what Democrats, with few exceptions have been thinking and doing for at least 50 years.
You'd think Democratic politicians would get this basic concept: politics is the art of persuasion. Most don't. Most could not get and would not wanta job as a sales representative. They'd hate it and never make quota. And they'd be voted out of their job by their sales manager.
Yep. Politics is sales. Sales is how people are persuaded to make a buying decision. Good sales people know that any buying decision is almost never based on fact alone, and often, nevr on facts. It is based on emotion. JFK, RFK, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, Bill Clinton and the Bushes, ( with GHW Bush getting guidance from Lee Atwater) all knew this. Barack Obama and his political brain trust understood this, at least until the evening Obama 1st walked into the White House.
And since buying decisions are based on emotion, most Republicans understand the strongest emotion: FEAR. They play the "fear card" as the central theme of everyothing they say and do politically.
One thing those who are not Trumpies know is Trump is a con artist. He is a crooked salesman. He sells whatever he can to benefit himself, with no ethical or moral restraint on how he does it. So do most GOP pols today.
Meanwhile, Dems are playing "civic club". That does not win elections. This is the core of Dem failures.
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@Roy Smith
Is your remedy that the dems play to fear, but only more so?
There are are other ways to frame fear, such as fear that kids experience when they have to do drills in schools, or fear of toxins in polluted drinking water, or fear of power outages due to inefficient devices...
35
@Marc I think that lobbies pay republican politicians to channel the wealth to top 1% and democrat politicians to remain silent as much as they can. So, the problem is the citizens united.
30
@Roy Smith,
"You'd think Democratic politicians would get this basic concept: politics is the art of persuasion."
So you think that almost 40 years of offering nothing more than a "lite" version of the Republican position was persuasive? How has that worked out for Democrats over the last 40 years?
12
I am deeply concerned that America will self destruct. These comments seem largely about wishfully thinking that a Yang, Beto, Buttigieg or Harris all polling in single digits will somehow build a popular base.
The other theme seems to be about a nostalgic return to the Obama era, much as Dems yearned for a return to Clinton during the George Bush regime.
This wing, does not want a candidate that drives policy changes to end human suffering as a profit center, restore some balance in the horrifying income gap, remove college students from peonage and most importantly focus on a climate crisis that will destroy humanity.
Sitting and focusing on the real policies and plans that we must adapt to avoid or demise is just complex, long term and boring for those who want to fist pump and vote for a king daddy to make it good times again.
We will lose to Trump because we are afraid of needed change to save ourselves and the misinformed, bigoted zealots that support Trump believe in an American that will never return.
4
The one Democrat on stage who could and would deftly and with facts and aplomb, take on Donald Trump is Amy Klobuchar. She has served in politics and has professional and educational credentials. She's been around, but is neither stale nor untested.
She's from that great middle swath of America that is seldom considered or represented by DC, she has cooperated in bi-partisan ways, she is mature and self-assured. And with all that, Democrats still timidly gravitate toward the same old chestnuts.
The coastal press has covered her not as a candidate with merit and credentials, but as a boss who is too tough on staff. Golly gee. In my own career experience I've had tough bosses and I've been one, and the option for employees is to stay or exit.
Klobuchar got little attention during the debate as others blathered on and on. Democrats, and I am one, should brace for yet another crushing defeat. And the post-mortems will be nauseating.
So, let's instead yap about a snide remark about Biden's age or debate Beto's "we'll take your guns" and let the best candidate fade away. Awful.
11
Silent elephant in the room.
Bernie and Elizabeth together are far more popular than Biden. It is my fear, and I imagine Biden and DNCs hope, that they will split the vote and Biden will be nominated by default.
And what about the DNC super delegate votes that have already been bought by special interests?
The Dems have their flaws for sure. Their saving grace is that the Republican Party is so unethical and corrupt to the core only another Republican can stomach them.
5
On the one hand you criticize the Democrats for being too timid. On the other hand you criticize Beto O'Rourke for saying we should get rid of assault rifles and Sanders and Warren for their big steps to fix our broken society. Which is it?
7
The way Trump won in 2016 was by getting enough Democrats to not vote stay home;
The key for the Democrats in 2020 is getting enough Republicans to do the same; a dull candidate may be our best bet.
4
A lot of well-off, well-connected white people of Ms. Dowd's generation prefer the status quo. They don't want change. They just want their comfortable lives to continue undisturbed.
The "little people" though want radical change—either the type offered by Trump or the type offered by the left.
There are more little people. We will get change. It's just which type.
And I'm afraid comfortable white people, even if they dislike Trump, are so worried about the left shaking up their lives that they will allow Trump to win.
Liberal values are nice to hang on your wall. They make pretty pictures to show off to your other respectable friends. But please, let's not really give anyone free stuff. I might have to pay for it.
3
"Unlike with Barack Obama in 2008, none made you feel like you wanted to pump your fist in the air and march into the future behind them."
Sanders, makes me want to pump my fist in the air and march into the future behind him!
Obama had a smile and soaring words, but was vague on much, and allowed folks to think he was progressive when he wasn't. He bailed out the banks/bankers while mostly ignoring the ordinary people suffering with foreclosures and unemployment. Obamacare was partially subsidies to the insurance companies.
Obama may have had little interest in world history, or much knowledge of how the US and its State Department/CIA and military had interfered in other countries. Certainly his choice of warmongers Hilary and John Kerry as his Secretaries of State meant that his administration oversaw the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Libyans, wrecked their countries and metastasized ISIS all over the globe. I doubt that he wanted that legacy, but he did not know enough to lead with more wisdom.
I would never vote for another moderate democrat.
I admire Sanders' integrity, authenticity, bold ideas, conviction, courage and passion.
President Sanders would lead the US to be a better, healthier, more educated, more thriving country.
As for Maureen Dowd, I rather imagine she values the status quo, looks and wit in a candidate. Her vision of a president is doomed!
2
Warren might be feisty enough to take him. She's got a bit of gonzo spirit, goes off script and fires up crowds. Plus she's smart and former Reagan economist.
She picks (stay with me) Tulsi Gabbard for VP. Gabbard has integrity, military cred, big energy with people sick of politics, and dangerous in a debate.
4
The matter, or the facile question, whether the Democratic Party is “doomed” misguides attention from the majority of candidates who are all too willing to exhance their personal, maybe professional, resumes. It’s conspicuous. It’s shameless. It’s the only transparent aspect of their current lives that makes my choice as a voter easy.
These are weak candidates. Some are shallow, some strident, one aging before our eyes. They all talk about themselves in glowing terms but come off poseurs. None of the content is in depth. Simply ask how long it takes to get a hip MRI in Canada and you stop the debate right there ( over 6 months ) or to see a Urologist ( over 1 year ). They are scripted from a class B movie and are hardly appealing. Who is drawn to the wit and charm of Bernie or Liz?
Trump has the gift of enjoying being Trump. That may not come from a good place but he feels what his audience feels and has , as they used to say , the " juice". For a non -politician , he has become a good one , like him or not. Control the narrative, diminish your opponents, make people laugh.
Part of the problem is that candidates are given, by the press, a persona that hardly even fits, i.e,, the puff piece on Harris in today's paper. Personality is power in politics and these folks are either dull, moralizing, shallow, strident, angry , or with mild dementia ( does not take a lot of homework on Joe to figure that one out )
Obama was a distinct personality , a very good speaker and given a bit of a free ride on many topics. We wanted him to succeed as evidence of our national goodness. None of these Democrats can stand up to Trump , though it should have been easy.
Trump should not have been President but will stay President for the same reasons. He simply gets it.
7
We have a carnival Barker as President. I hope people wake up but members of my own family love him. We can't even discuss politics any more. He thrives on adulation but no one adores him as much as he adores himself. We have to vote him out for the sanity and future of our country.
2
Ms. Dowd, please use your platform to point out that ANY of the Dem candidates would be a vast improvement on the current occupant, not to hand wring over their lack of stomach-churning spectacle. After these past few years, I can’t wait for an intelligent, calm, and yes, even boring President!
6
@Donna in Chicago Donna, people like this columnist told us we had exactly the credentials you crave in a president when we got Obama, and he ended up breaking almost every campaign promise he made, from protecting whistleblowers to shutting down foreign wars. To the undecided voter, Biden and the rest of them competing to see which one loved Obama most is Trump's best TV ad ever.
Maureen, I think you underestimate the depth of the revulsion and disgust more and more Americans feel toward Trump.
The vast majority of Americans (60 percent in the latest reputable poll) think Trump is unfit for the job. This indicates they will not vote for him.
Americans are exhausted, disgusted, and ready to put an adult in the White House. Anyone on that Democratic debate stage would be preferable to Trump.
The biggest if is voter turnout. It's not enough to be disgusted with Trump. You have to be so disgusted you go to the polls and vote against him. That goes for lifelong traditional Republicans, Libertarians and Greens, registered Democrats who don't vote every time.
If every American votes in November 2020 who is revolted by Trump and scared about what horrors would await us in his second term, he will not win.
5
@scrim1
And I believe you under-estimate the zealous and broad support of Trump that's more pervasive than you seem to think.
If there were10 NBA players were on a court and one of them was Michael Jordon and he only got the ball once every 15 minutes he would look like everyone else. It's time to narrow the field. If the DNC keeps insisting that anybody with a pulse can run then they need To go back to a 2-night venue. Those with double-digit polling on one night and everyone else on the other night. 10 people is not a debate. It's a scrum. I knew Democrats were in trouble when Perez was put in charge.
4
By 2029, in the second term of the Nikki Haley-Markwayne Mullin administration, not only will the United States have its first female and Indian subcontinent ancestry president, and Native American vice president, but everyone will have forgotten about the Trump Administration. Thank goodness.
3
This was a media show, using tactics engineered by the media. It was used by good politicians - much smarter than you - to get introduced to the public at large. Because not everyone can make an Iowa caucus or have time to get to a diner in New Hampshire, it’s the only way to effectively get yourself known in our country at this time. Big money is the key. Accepting the trite - possibly introduced by Russian bots - and repeating Trump’s lines and holding them as a marker to judge people by, is your problem. It’s a Fox News whimper.
4
“He’s in our head” she quibbles so innocently, last time I heard that line it was Johnny Depp talking about Amber Heard yawn.
Imho, MD’s cutting punditry captures/explains.
Doom & gloom, as DJT continues to turn American political
culture upon our heads.
And he luvs doing it, having the attention/spotlight
upon himself.
DJT is manipulating mass media as he reigns, and no matter how chaotic things seem to get,
trumplicanism reigns.
.
Issue numero one: Democrats lose again.
And thanks, Moscow Mitch, brilliant obstructionism.
1
I wish Trump could be included to debate with everyone on that stage.
1
Sadly and true Trump has changed politics going forward. Hopefully not forever. To beat Trump and his lies and boast. Is to lie right back. You need to counter his base’s paranoia by not making Trump the issue. Lie about his policy, exaggerate his failure in foreign policy and economy. Beat a liter with lies. Sad but in this case truth will not prevail
Sigh. Nothing is more exhausting than withering moderates. David Axelrod is not God. This may come as a surprise to you, but African American, Hispanic voters exist. See you post November, 2020.
2
Thank you Ms. Dowd for your dead-on analysis. Democrats love spin-doctors, who carefully drain every drop of passion or meaning out of their clients' speeches and statements. It is the Democrats' battle to lose, and it looks like, once again, they will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
1
Maureen Dowd makes an important point. The most recent debate was at its worst when the candidates used gimmicks- Kamala Harris talking to Trump and referring to him as the small man behind the curtain, or when they chose the low-road- Julian Castro as an example of that. No one does Trump better than Trump-mean, loud, "me,me,me", indecent.
However, there is one candidate who has inoculated himself to these temptations and that is Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He is the candidate who we may hear the least from, in terms of minutes, on the debate stage, but who definitely says the most in those meager minutes afforded him. While Sanders, Biden and Warren are the headliners, Buttigieg expresses sentiments that become the headlines.
Pete Buttigieg is everyman and superman. He is incredibly perceptive and pragmatic. He relates to people and people relate to him. He is no pushover and yet he will not sell his soul for a soundbite. Buttigieg's courage to tell his story as a gay man is historic, but also strangely incidental to his campaign.
We keep looking for another Obama or JFK. No luck there, they are past. There is, though, a Buttigieg.
I had the distinct privilege to meet Mayor Buttigieg yesterday. The feeling that one walked away with is that this man can bear the load of all of us on his shoulders. That such a talented, focused, principled and empathetic man wants to help lead and heal this fractured country. So don't despair, just take a moment and consider Mayor Buttigieg!
5
If I walk into a zoo, I will find a monkey far more entertaining and arresting than the man or woman standing next to me. The monkey will touch and smell things that fellow members of my species will not. When I walk out of the zoo, I would rather do it in the company of my 'boring' fellow species members than with the monkey. Let monkeys be monkeys.
Lest anyone misses the point, this is only an analogy. Much as I object to the current resident of the White House, I have no intention or desire to call him names.
What is Dowd suggesting Democrats do? Act like Trump? Rant and lie and insult? Give rambling speeches so garbled and incoherent that no one understands what the point is? Offer no policy proposals or plans? Ignore American families and just blame our problems on immigrants? Get lost in tangents about light bulbs and windmills? Just what are these candidates expected to do? Hasn't our political process been deteriorated enough by Trump? Would it help to have two crazy, unhinged candidates raving?
From my point of view, the Democratic candidates offer respite from the Trump craziness. I appreciate hearing actual proposals about improving health care. I am interested to know their ideas to counter the inequality in our culture. I want to know how they're going to address our environmental challenges. I want thoughtful candidates, not turbulent windbags. Trump has no idea how to deal with the many issues facing us. Should the Democratic candidates also ignore America's problems and just whine that the press disrespects them? I simply don't see what Dowd and other critics of Democrats expect from the candidates.
9
Maureen's argument has some valid points when it comes to the continuing ripples of insulting soundbytes from the 2016 beltway splash.
But for those of us who place policy above personality, each "ripple" occupies a nanosecond on our radar until we again sigh, "Just 15 more months".
2
The only person who would be the right foil for Trump is the other loud mouthed egomaniac guy from Queens - Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo would trounce Trump. He speaks eloquently and with determination. And he is a realist with solid Democrat values.
3
You want a good show. Maybe the mocking and jokes have worn thin.
1
This is new? I've been politically aware for over thirty years, and in that time have repeatedly watched Democratic candidates at all levels attached to the shortest of leashes. They've been prevented from saying anything of substance for fear of having to defend it. Nothing but canned replies and focus group-tested platitudes. HRC was only the most obvious casualty among many.
Idiotic campaign consultants are largely to blame, but the non-progressive wing of the party is nearly as culpable. Their preference is for politics as a void. They'd rather not think about it at all, and they certainly don't want to have to contend with anything too bold. Their biggest beef with Donald Trump has nothing to do with policy, but the fact that some vulgar orange man with poor manners keeps invading their screens. They dislike Bernie Sanders nearly as much.
Hence Joe Biden's candidacy and likely nomination. Another campaign purposefully about nothing, trying to beat something. And nothing is exactly what we'll get when he's swept into the dustbin that already houses Al Gore, John Kerry, and HRC. Obama's corporatist presidency was no exception to this embrace of nothingness, but he was at least smart enough to campaign differently.
1
No, most are good enough to be the President of United States, and all of them are far superior than lying, cheating, xenophobic donald J. trump.
Beto was excellent wish he was running for Senate.
Biden was okay and alert this time and Castro unnecessarily attacked him of something Biden was correct of, makes Castro going down for any position he wants for.
Can anyone tell me what Sanders for a moment whispered to Biden ?
My enquiring mind wants to know.
3
What’s all the gloom and doom, I think trump loses in a landslide in 2020 because the majority of voters know he’s an incompetent con artist who never should have been president in the first place.
2
@Bill
You're absolutely wrong. And I'm a registered Democrat.
I tried. I really did. But the debates were unwatchable. They were all climbing all over themselves to provide as much free stuff as possible. The moderators never asked them to say how they would pay for all this stuff. The first hour was all about Medicare for All, being suggested by folks who never ran or lead anything, never created a single job, and haven’t a clue about healthcare delivery. They’ve never worked in healthcare, nor developed their ideas after consulting with doctors and hospital execs, for if they did, they would drop this stupid idea. They equate health insurance with car insurance. It’s not the same. People require a lot more R&D then cars.
And then there’s their open border polices. They would had been an anathema in the Democrat Party. a mere 10 years ago, not its their number one objective.
Seriously, what happened to the Democrat Party?
2
Really? Will Americans really treat the election as simply a choice between the best car commercials? Do you really want to choose a candidate because they are polished and loud?
You greatly underestimate the electorate and their judgment, and misunderstand why tRump was elected. Are the voters just a bunch of rubes to be sold on the most alluring bottle of snake oil?
Then again if you are right then god help the rest of us. They will get the president they deserve and we will have to run for the hills. Or maybe Canada.
4
No, most are good enough to be the President of United States, and all of them are far superior than lying, cheating, xenophobic donald J. trump.
Beto was excellent wish he was running for Senate.
Biden was okay and alert this time and Castro unnecessarily attacked him of something Biden was correct of, makes Castro going down for any position he wants for.
Can anyone tell me what Sanders for a moment whispered to Biden ?
My enquiring mind wants to know.
2
You and David Axelrod should stop mumbling nonsense and talk about the benefits and doability of Medicare for All; of how we are going to get nuclear weapons off the Earth; how we are going to get rid of the horrid disparity in wealth in America; how we are going to work hard on the climate change existential problem. The dems at the "debate" also should have done a better job with these topics.
2
Trump could win again only because of the existence of the electoral college. Even those who will vote for him know he’s a fool. They just don’t care; he hates the elites and he’s giving them judges who will keep immigrants out so...
But Democrats won by a landslide in the midterms and they can do so again if people of conscience bother to vote. I can’t really understand whom we expect these candidates to be. They’re answering the questions asked of them and trying to distinguish themselves in 1.5 minute increments. What in the world do we want, that they should break into song?
5
Wasn't it Maureen Dowd who continually rang this very same bell of 'phoniness' when talking about Al Gore?
That was way before Trump had a change to corrupt our thinking.
Maybe ALL the poison in politics doesn't come from Trump.
2
Yes, Ms. Dowd, Trump is doomed and when the avalanche of his corruption finally crests, he will resign after making a deal to keep him out of jail. Why am I so sure of this happening? He hates dogs and she has a son.
3
So we have a choice between the insipid and the insufferable. Given the choice, I will take a Democrat over Trump. I would like to see Elizabeth Warren run against Trump. He will not rattle her.
5
No Democratic candidate running for president
has demanded a gun safety argument like
Beto O’Rourke has. He is the only democrat
taking on this military-gun-crisis, full frontal.
4
Trump is a mess. His administration is a mess. Most people I know are suffering from severe Trump fatigue. And no, the Democrats are not perfect, but the election is a ways off, and I think the front runners will hone their skills and make their case. I am not as pessimistic as you, Maureen.
7
I'm completely baffled as to what Dowd expected from the debate. I was inspired by every one of those candidates.
7
I'm not sure what Maureen Dowd needed a Democratic candidate to do to make her "pump a fist in the air" in excitement. Does she expect any of them to attract a Trump type crowd? I thought several candidates stood out from the others, and the debates give the public a chance to form some idea of what they're like. I'm not even sure what the purpose of Dowd's op-ed is. It just seems like an exercise in negativity, a message of futility.
2
The relevant question: for those who voted for ‘change’ and to ‘shake things up,’ is this the ‘change’ you voted for? Are you safer and better off? Do you enjoy the stress of daily tantrums, lies and nonsense?
Are you suggesting, Maureen, that the magical Dem candidate has to out-trump trump? Do you think that will work, especially when a plurality/majority is sick of him and his antics, and vow not to vote for him?
Isn’t the most ready retort to any claim by trump, “That’s a lie” — especially when that is so easy to prove? (trump himself more often than not provides the proof, personally and on videotape)
A central argument to be made by any Democratic candidate is that we have a lot of fixing to do.
A majority of Americans do indeed care about this country and about our future.
5
Elections can't be stolen without the press providing a pretense to the inexplicable result beforehand
That's why you got 50 "voters in diners" articles in 2016 and why you'll get 50 articles like this in 2020
The 2016 result was inexplicable because it was a sham
Every time you see one of these "why he can win" tropes instead of an in-depth examination of 2016 election system intrusion, remember it
6
Want an answer to this Gordian Knot, Ms. Dowd?
Put down your dulled sword. You're not an Aristotle. So, unravel it.
Remember one of the last episodes of "West Wing" when Jimmy Smits walked onto the stage of gathered Democratic supporters and told them straight away: "I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to tell you what you need to hear."
Breathes there a candidate who can tell us all, "Ask what can you do for your country." The constricted Gordian Knot that wraps us all is our asking what our country can do for us.
Rise up and lead us in change...
4
Donald doesn’t care about anything, except himself, the Democrats care about everything and every little detail. That’s the problem for Democrats, how do you train yourself to not care, it’s impossible? Donald Trump is not subjected to the same, truths, laws, morals, rules and principles as the Democrats whereas, the Democrats are a slave to them. The choice couldn’t be clearer; live as prop in Trump’s unreality show or live in reality, Americans hate reality.
1
Were you on vacation, Maureen? Haven't see you the last couple of weeks. I watched the debate from my Air BnB in Shenzhen. I could quibble about who said what and how but I managed to keep my critical got cha self seated and kept noticing the positives of each of these men and women putting themselves out there. Wish I could have stayed in my own head but as soon as it was over I went to Tweeter saw grades from "experts" and snarky (but funny) remarks from many people . . . Oh well, it was good while it lasted.
2
You are spot on, Ms. Dowd. Oh, How I wish you weren't, but wishing isn't going to win this thing and the Dems -- or really, any person -- must win. Please, Dems, stop futzing around and start getting it done.
3
But, if you want to blame Trump, another question arises: why didn't Obama worked out?
Obama should be the symbol of a smooth transition in the USA: he did Harvard Law, became senator for Illinois and became POTUS at the perfect age of 46. He was the perfect product of the American Cursus Honorum, America working as it should work.
The only doubt I remember was if America should first elect a woman or a black (Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama). This doubt was solved by the Wall Street, through Penny Pritzker. Obama raised double McCain's money and steamrolled to the WH in 2008.
Obama should continue with the End of History. He should maintain everything America conquered over 250 years and overcome the last stain it had according to the consensus of the time: racism.
This postmodern theory proved out to be wrong. We aren't in the End of History. History continues. The 2008 crisis wasn't solved. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan turned out to be trillionaire black holes. China rose, showing socialism wasn't dead and thus reviving the Cold War. Russia, like a phoenix, reborn from the ashes and is back to the adult table of geopolitics.
In this landscape, Trump is just a symptom, not the cause, and the ideological shift in the Democratic machine corroborates with that hypothesis.
If you listening Caroline Kennedy, Beto O’Rourke is a profile in courage.
2
It's hard to argue with a demagogue. Do the Democrats start shouting about light bulbs?
2
The DNC is shortchanging all of us in this democratic process by controlling which candidates get to be heard on that stage.
I wanted to hear more of Marianne Williamson and after watching 3 difficult hours of the debate it was so exhilarating to see she had recorded a livestream in LA directly afterwards.
I was so inspired by her vision to repair our America that I dug deeper into her plans that are laid out on Marianne2020.com.
This woman has so much more going on than the debates and the media have led us to believe about her.
Voters need to be able to hear ALL the candidates not just the chosen few picked by the DNC for our viewing. There is quite some time before November 2020, why are they rushing to narrow this down? Our democracy is in peril and this candidate should be properly introduced as a legitimate contender in this race. America needs to hear what Marianne really has to say.
That's poppycock Maureen. Hypotheticals. Sure Democrats ring hollow, but when have they not? American politics has rung hollow since I remember. Trump is the consequence of the grifters gaming the game. Us was the country of Protestant work ethic,of the ideals of the Enlightenment that became r eality without major bloodshed. But it was also the country that gave birth to works of literature like 'The bad seed' and 'Greed'. Trump is the latter. Can we recover and go back to the ideals of democracy. Yes, we can, even if the fuse for disaster keeps getting shorter.
3
This notion that we're looking for excitement is half the problem. I'm looking for pros who can do the job. I want to be able to ignore the president completely for weeks and months at a time and not feel that society will be destroyed if I focus on my own job instead of the berserker rages of a failed casino developer.
5
I think Maureen Dowd paid more attention to Trump's speech in Baltimore than to the democrats debating in Houston. Did she hear Beto O'Rouke? She's the only one to ignore him bearing witness to a mother watching her young daughter bleed to death in Odessa and then avidly promising to take the guns of war away from their owners. Not passionate, really? Did she miss Bernie's hoarse declaration asserting the value of Medicare for all, for ALL! Did she miss Klobuchar's quick rejoinder that Bernie's Medicare bill is BAD! Did she miss Buttigieg's account of becoming 'openly' gay before the mayoralty election? And there was more that was authentic, argumentative, revealing, showboating, desperate, nasty, rehearsed and phony. The debate was good and bad and worthwhile. It sounds as though Maureen needs a Trump break. That means going far, far away. I think that Maureen'a distance from the USA would be a benefit to her and to the democratic candidates .
3
If it were only true that Trump won the election fair and square and the Democrats are unable to take him down!
Trump is no Wizard and pull back the curtains and there's Putin. Trump is a puppet -- Putin's puppet. The Russians put him in office. The Russians are working hard to disrupt the next election. The Russians know they've got a good thing.
Let's talk about how our election process is being corrupted. Let's delve into all the irregularities of the last election. Let's talk about how the far right has taken the internet by storm and how it supports Trump. Let's talk about the propaganda machine.
But please let's not pretend for a minute that the next election will be won fair and square by the Wizard -- at least call him a puppet … it wont solve anything but its a start.
2
The Democratic House has passed bills on migration, health reform, and election security, among many others. McConnell refuses to even allow the legislation to be introduced. And, what do the Democrats do? NOTHING. There are six Democratic Senators running for President. Why are they not out touring the country together, promoting the House Legislation and asking citizens to contact the Senate and demand action? Congress was poised to pass Immigration Reform in 2007. Limbaugh told his 20 million member audience to call and tell Congress NO. They did. The legislation was tabled. In 1947, a Republican Congress balked at passing the Marshall Plan which was to rebuild Europe. Secretary of State Marshall, who was credited with the winning strategy in WWII, went on a speaking tour promoting the Plan. Congress passed it. Truman integrated the military in JUly 1948. He went on a campaign tour, stood firm on this decision and attacked the Congress. He won. If Democrats can't handle old man McConnell, how can they handle Trump...let along Putin?
1
Marianne Williamson is the perfect antidote that we need to counter the old conventions of this political game. Her vision of the kind of country we can be, of what the United States can represent is big, honest, and inspiring.
The debate only confirmed the fact that Democrats are a divided lot. All is not lost as yet. Wisdom should prevail and they should decide on one candidate who was on that stage. Get behind that candidate and pump all the positive energy that each one brings. That would certainly bring down this negative energized President. Because Americans have become totally disenchanted with the complete breakdown of the political discourse, society and moral core. There is still hope for the Democrats if they put aside personal ambitions and focus their energies on a ticket that is doable and dreamable as Frank Bruni put it. Although they should first stop tearing each other down as Castro did.
2
I agree with all of President Trump's deficiencies as listed in the editorial and the comments. However, it is important to realize that many people vote against a candidate rather than for one. If the democrats choose a far left nominee such as Elizabeth Warren or Bennie Sanders I will do just that.
Democrats have some soul searching to do. Most people recognize that “President” Trump is unqualified and a miscreant. Yet, a lot of people would still vote for or consider voting for him over the Democrats. Why?
I think the answer lies in the fact that the country is mostly a center / center right country that can move center left. Like any large organization, the US is reluctant to engage in huge sudden changes and has to be convinced over time to do so.
Take a hard look at LIKELY voters and then make a plan. Determine what policies are your core, “find one or maybe two” to push the envelope on and punt on the rest. This is a multi-year / multi-decade exercise. Incrementalism, as distasteful as it is to some, is the way this country works.
This current crop of Democrats have to understand that. Otherwise, a lot of decent people will stupidly vote the miscreant back into office and we will all lose our freedom.
183
@Practical Thoughts
Don't like making sudden changes? Really? Like Obama to Trump doesn't count? Or Bush II to Obama? A better case could be made that we regularly elect people we take to be the opposite of the last one. (Which may be an accurate assessment of who they are or not, but what the populace thinks.)
29
@Practical Thoughts - So are we to consider this administration, if you can call it that, simply an incremental shift to the right and not a sudden change (in the extreme)?
There is nothing about trump that I could consider simply the yin and yang of politics. He's taken a sledgehammer to precedent, norms, decorum, civility and the rule of law. We're in uncharted water here, business as usual it ain't.
40
You are so wrong; when have the Republican party starting with Reagan been incremental in anything? They've been reactionaries trying to remove the pillars of a strong middle class- reversing the New Deal, Civil Rights, Glass–Steagall, a progressive income tax, Public Education, etc., under the guise of being the party of the middle class. They use identity politics and then accuse the other party of the very thing they nakedly exploit. Since the 30's, the country has been center left. Why else would the Republican party double down on voter disenfranchisement and suppression, and a plan to use the courts to subvert the will of not just the people but also of their elected officials?
We need a candid discussion about who and what we are as a nation and a plan for moving toward that aim. The Democratic candidate who can articulate that, will and should become President. There are a few candidates who can and are articulating their vision. Democrats lose to Republicans when they play not to lose, as Republicans are always playing to win no matter what the cost to democracy.
Though there are times for incrementalism, this not that time as we are facing an existential threat to our nation in a second termed Trump. Moderates who don't already understand this can be made to understand this. They'll come along in time, however the candidate that inspires the strongest passions within the party should be the candidate. They by definition will be "electable," as they were elected.
27
Although I like Maureen generally, I disagree with her on this. The real passionate and genuine Democrats are Elizabeth Warren and Sanders. They are the ones America needs. Maureen's laments are misplaced.
5
@Subhash. If they insist on promoting unachievable proposals such as Medicare for all we lose. That is likely true even though it is extremely unlikely their extreme proposals could actually be crafted into a bill that could be passed through Congress for a presidential signature. A better question for candidates would be what can actually be passed to move the progressive agenda forward that they would be willing to sign.
3
The presidency is won not by policy, but by personality. Biden cannot win because Trump has his number. Warren has already lost against Trump, and will lose again if nominated. Sanders will also lose because ... well, he's Bernie Sanders. The one overlooked candidate who hasn't already been nailed by Trump is Kamala Harris. Why? Because she has nailed Trump instead: he's the little man behind the curtain.
I'm beginning to believe my fellow Democrats are even more conservative than Republicans because they do not see and cannot understand that Trump wins by employing surprise premptive strikes against his potential — rather than his current — opponents. In her opening Houston statement Harris prempted Trump by launching a Trumpian strike against the president himself: eye-to-eye, looking straight into the camera. But Democrats don't see it because they don't understand this kind of politics. Harris does.
4
@Lance Jencks Wrong. Trump might have won the nomination by personality, but he beat Hillary because of policies.
Maureen nailed it. The Democrats need someone to walk into the proverbial bar, turn over all the tables, throw a chair against the wall and yell “Enough of this crazy stuff. Let’s just fix what he’s broken.”
226
@Mike
Don’t you think that would be Bernie Sanders? He leads the pack in ideas, and will not take corporate/1% cash.
5
@Mike I agree, and maybe, once the eventual nominee gets to go head to head with Trump, the choice will be clear. I hope that once the American people are offered the binary choice of four more years of insanity, name-calling, and dishonesty, or the opportunity of electing an intelligent, honest, respectful president who has the best interests of the citizens of our country at heart - not his own selfish interests - they will vote for their country, not for the rich guy masquerading as a leader.
6
@Mike there is such a candidate, and his name is Andrew Yang. Many of his supporters are angry with the media for not giving him the coverage he deserves, but I’m actually ok with professional commentators like Dowd completely ignoring him. It’s not her fault...his campaign is so unusual that the MSM literally has no idea how to cover it. Reporters like Dowd have had decades of experience covering traditional presidential campaigns which leaves them ill-equipped to handle the likes of Yang. And we can’t blame people for not understanding what they don’t understand.
9
This is what will happen: when he finally realizes he is not going to win the November 2020 presidential election, Trump will resign and call it a day. He knows he has more important real estate work to get to and he never wanted the job in the first place. He will even say he won.
2
So far, it makes no difference who becomes the Democratic nominee. They ALL lack the passion and charisma which unfortunately DT projects. I want nothing more than to see him lose, and lose big.
But, as of today, I just do not see that happening. I don’t know whether I am the typical Centrist looking for the still non existent Democratic Center. I know I did not vote for DT in 2016, but do not remember whether I voted for HRC or just skipped that line on the ballot. I do know it would have made no difference because I live in a solid Blue state.
Now, I am hoping the Democrats get their act together. I don’t mean just deciding on a candidate, but deciding on one who will be able to seat all factions under the same tent. Come on People. The future of our country is really at stake like no other time than before the Civil War. I, for one, am truly frightened for our future.
9
@Publius
Any self identified Centrist is really a Moderate republican wanting Status Quo. And MOST Americans don't want Status Quo but REAL Progress.
4
@Publius
Too much is made of differences among the candidates even if iIt makes good television. The sooner we are through this and the Democrats have their candidate the better. Differences in policy and strategy will be ironed out and the party and its supporters will coalesce round the candidate. The one thing all Democrats and those who support them agree on is that whoever wins the nomination will get their full support. What we are witnessing is democracy at work. I don't know if we have a word for what is happening at the Republican clown show.
2
@sbhash, congratulations on being so observant. Yes, I was a moderate Republican, until the Party abandoned its moderation. I still do not consider myself a Democrat, so I guess that makes me an independent Centrist. I think the question the Democratic Party must face is whether it wants a Revolution or an Evolution. Maybe you are ready for the former. I am not. I do not want any changes to my own health care plan, but I do want to see a program that offers the option of Public or Private plan, and a way for those millions without coverage to get it. For full disclosure, I have a Medicare Advantage plan.
I do not want to see government raiding private homes, but I do want to see a ban on assault style weapons. I do not want us to become Socialized like Europe, but I do want to see the poor and lower middle class get the fair shake they are now denied. I want a strong defense posture and a return to alliances with our traditional allies. I want to see a fair but regulated immigration policy. I do not want open borders as the Left Progressives seek.
Above all, I want to see a country where people who need assistance can get it. But, I want to see encouragement and support for people to improve their conditions through their own community and personal boot strap initiatives.
Every time I watch a Dem debate I feel like I'm watching an NFC Divisional Round game to determine which team will lose to the Pats in the Super Bowl.
5
The biggest obstacle to defeating Trump is not the candidates running for the Democratic nomination. Sanders and Warren were fantastic the other night. Russian interference is a much bigger concern. The biggest concern, however, is the news media; this newspaper and this piece, included. The coverage on ABC and MSNBC following the debate was an embarrassment and shockingly awful and transparently conservative. Aiming for Trump voters will not win the day for Democrats. Neither will nominating a man obviously suffering from cognitive disability.
10
@Joe True. And let's not forget the role the NYTimes played in the 2016 elections by focusing more on the Clinton Email scandal, than the dangers of Trump. Maureen Dowd was at the center of the anti-Clinton sentiment of this paper and I fear she is now going to be the nay-sayer in the upcoming presidential elections. In this last debate I saw a number of strong performances by Warren, Harris and Booker under less than favorable conditions. Hope the next debate has a more consistent roster of important questions that include issues like reproductive freedom. Hope Maureen Dowd isn't going to whine and undermine the Dems again.
Doesn’t the media share a great deal of responsibility for this situation? The producers of the debates seem to think they are presenting a kind of sporting event, complete with flashy graphics, driving music, and a winner in the opinion of the judges who scores points on other candidates with some. The production values and promotion are more suitable for American Idol than any kind of serious inquiry into the suitability of any of the candidates for office. And the questions seem more like attempts to create dramatic moments than to give the candidates an opportunity to actually address important issues. How about a real openended debate question, like: Should private health insurance be abolished in favor of healthcare provided by the government? I for one tuned out quickly and probably will not bother with more debates, principally because of the format, the production, and the narcissistic questions posed by the hosts (I would not call them journalists).
34
I think this analysis is an overreaction. These candidates are currently not running for the presidency. They are running to be the democratic nominee, which requires them to run this highly specialized gauntlet for a specific audience.
24
@Tim K. Smith right. And in the general election the Dem candidate will say “just kidding” and everything will be fine.
If Dowd is correct, then nothing the Democrat candidates say or do will make a difference in the 2020 election. If less than 80% of eligible voters actually vote, and only 60% of those vote for president, does that also hold for the 40% or more of Trump supporters? Will gerrymandering, voter suppression and dis-qualification in swing states again enable the electoral college to keep Trump in office? That's all that matters, and no one is addressing those issues, at all. And why aren't candidates like O'Rourke running for Senate so Congress can be structured favorably in order to impeach Trump once he wins the election. No foresight it seems.
25
@M.A. Braun
With the possible exception of Nebraska and Maine, in the vast majority of states, the selection of Electors to the Electoral College is based on a state wide election. Therefore, "gerrymandering" has no impact on the Presidential election in such states. Gerrymandering can only have an impact on the composition of the House of Representatives, as Senators are also selected in statewide elections.
And in sparsely populated states as Vermont and Wyoming with only one representative to the House, gerrymandering also has no impact.
13
@RM is this supposed to make gerrymandering acceptable ???
2
@mike
No. But the initial poster implies that gerrymandering has an impact on the Electoral College composition. It does not.
It was a horrendous debate. However, weren’t the questions being asked partially responsible? They were canned questions that elicited canned answers. It’s one thing to cite trump’s charisma when he’s serenading his fan base at his rallies and another to think that shtick will succeed on the national stage during a general election. Which is why, I personally believe he will skip the debates altogether ( Fake News rigged them). Warren could take him down, so could Mayor Pete. He’s not going to allow that to happen.
19
Not a Bernie Bro. He has a rather half baked fuzzy notion about the realities of egalitarian social democracy, so he really does just yell about “free stuff”. Warren has a well thought out version of stake holder capitalism and could actually stand up to trump( if he let her( which he won’t)
@lisa murphy
Sanders could take Trump down, easily and with passion!
12
While I am not as pessimistic as Ms. Dowd, I am concerned that we have misunderstood the selection of a nominee with the selection of a president. It doesn't do much good to win the nomination and lose the presidency. We have foregone the old smoke-filled room and superdelegates. But those were means of selecting a nominee with appeal in the general election. Picking the most popular among the Democrats only means you have picked a weaker candidate in the general election, one less likely to defeat Donald Trump.
10
@David Richards
I agree. The primaries have sunk to the point of establishing a candidate that appeals to the base, not the general voting public - "pick[ing] a weaker candidate in the general election." Or, perhaps it was Yogi Berra who quipped, '[the Democrats] can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.'
But the Republicans have gone one step further: four states have scuttled their primaries, which will help ensure that the GOP will elect the stronger candidate in the general election.
I am as pessimistic as Ms. Dowd.
4
I was able to narrow down who I am considering by listening to what the candidates said at the debate. Democrats are still narrowing down the field while the GOP is destroying their nomination process. The primaries will serve as 51 practice runs for what should lead to a landslide in 2020. Mr Axelrod is expecting President Obama 2.0... well the primaries will sort that out. The 10 people on this stage have already demonstrated they are different than President Trump by using the word "policy" and "plans". The Democratic Party will survive as I believe the republic will as well.
14
I wish Steve Bullock had more traction with the Democratic base.
He would crush Trump in the general and based on his record as a governor, probably make a pretty good president.
Biden has risk as a candidate but could win. And every other candidate on that stage will lose. It's like the Dems learned nothing from the midterms.
12
@Jason
Don't forget what has been stated elsewhere: the primaries are directed toward the base, not the general election. For that very reason, the Dems will lose in 2020 - unless Biden holds on, unless reason holds on.
4
@Jason
If Bullock couldn’t gain traction with Democrats, what makes you think he’d gain traction with Republicans and Independents??
Bullock got crushed by the Democrat base.
Didn’t think that one through, did you?
1
Perhaps Trump's riff on the light bulb points to where he succeeds. We are supposed to embrace them for a variety of proper reasons - yet they provide less pleasant light, and they do have environmental faults. The Democrats are the party of "We will legislate what is good for you". (Much of it may be good for us.) But a lot people resist a call for moral reformation. Is there a Democratic candidate that has some rebel in them? Some courage to espouse something that is not the politically correct cannon of the moment?
9
@Chris Rutledge, no. There isn’t.
@Chris Rutledge: Like legislating forced birth for women, against having to offer contraception in employer based health insurance, or legislate who can use which bathrooms? Legislate against gun violence research? Forbidding the words "global warming"? Removing evolution science from public school curricula? Seems to me the Republicans are the party of "We will legislate what is good for you"...
3
@Anna Whether it is good or night. Global warming is real. Other advanced countries accept it. The Republicans are living in the 19th century and refuse to come awake.
2
Why can Dems never find the GOP boogeymen? Who are the Dem strategists that refuse to go the offensive? Why does it feel like the Dems are losing what should be a very easy fight? I just don’t get it.
15
@MB. See my comment above. The Dems have a core misunderstanding of what politics is: the art of persuasion. They do not understand the basics of sales. And don't WANT to. They are not understanding the rules of the game and lose because of this. Nthis nation cannot afford the continuation of the incompetency of the Democrats as a whole at politics.
2
Politics by bumper sticker...ooops sorry, by tweet.
Returning to the conventional can be presented in a more dynamic way, if the Democrat candidates choose to do so.
I'd really like to see that.
3
The game has changed because time made it change; not Trump. The multitude of problems churning in The USA are beginning to converge. Trump was supposed to fix things. Of course that was a fraud. The problems have only accelerated since Trump's election. The solution is that America changes the way it thinks, acts, and does its business. Without these changes, it's not only the Democrats that are doomed; it's the entire country. Then the world.
17
The ability to perform on a stage is not the same as having a grasp of the issues and solid ideas for how to take the country forward to a better place. Unfortunately, electing an intelligent leader requires a modicum of halfway intelligent voters. I recall after an Obama State of the Nation address, going to our small rural post office and hearing a conversation between a couple of patrons. They had not been impressed and I realized from what they were saying that they had not actually listened to or understood anything Obama had said. It was all about performance and preconceptions. And that is why we have Trump. If you look tough and act confident it doesn't matter if what you say is factual or relevant.
40
O'Rourke sealed the fate of Democrats in many purple states with his zealous call for gun confiscation. I know many gun owners who will support much more stringent licensing of gun owners, but zero support for gun confiscation.
The weapons of war argument is frivolous. All major rifle designs, bolt action, lever action, and semi automatic, were first employed in military "weapons of war".
On the other hand, when I go to a gun store, I often see potential customers who I would not trust with a weapon of any kind. A "well regulated militia" means people of sound mind and responsible behavior. Follow the Constitution.
18
@RM. There is a vast difference between a bolt-action Springfield and an AR-15 with a 100 round drum magazine. That said, I agree that a mandatory confiscation angers the very people you’re trying to influence. The wingnut fringe of those people might actually start shooting and then you have a national crisis. A voluntary buyback is reasonable, as well as banning sale of high capacity magazines. Dems have to do the politically possible, not idealistic. Same with healthcare; keep private insurance, but have a public option. I’m center-left, but my Medicare + secondary insurance is excellent. The thought of being forced into a massive new totally public system, with unknown performance, gives me the willies.
1
@RM Why didn't Beto call to repeal the Second Amendment?
You can't make a leap of faith, in 2 small hops.
Because Beto is going to lose so he is trying to light a fire for his disastrous campaign at the same time ruining a perfectly winnable Senate race.
If the debate seemed canned and full of trite phrases right out of an advertising meeting it's because it was. What's worse, the sponsors (CNN, ABC) and the DNC designed it that way.
Why were there so many completely nonsensical questions from the interview panel? Bernie was asked if democratic socialism would turn the country into another Cuba?
Any high school kid can find Bernie's full talk on what is democratic socialism for an answer. But then the interview panel wasn't there because they had researched the issues.
Trump's light bulb parody came from Chris Cuomo's ridiculous question to Liz Warren about global warming.
How about the question to Corey Booker about whether he would force everyone to become a vegan as part of his policy on global warming.
This political side show is by design, just like the manipulation of the debates in 2016. Bernie was supposed to be Clinton's foil, easily dismissed but necessary for her to even have a primary campaign.
But when he started winning, the DNC stepped in and there brand of democracy was imposed.
No one should be in the debates with 2-3% polling numbers. Or, networks should be required as a public service to have lengthy press conferences with all the candidates so we can see who they are and how they really think about issues.
But given the change in rules, this show is designed to put the nomination to the convention. And after the first vote, guess who weighs in to decide? The politicians.
14
If a person cannot see Trump for who he is by now, there is no point in trying to win that person over. The democratic candidates should not try.
Talk policies. Viable policies.Tell us what it costs to implement those policies and how you plan to achieve that without increasing debt.Talk environment and gun control. If you really will take away assault rifles, say it.Stand firmly on your policies. Don't deliver speeches with a motive to win elections. Deliver to help people understand your principles and what you stand for.We, the American electorate want to see the real person who will lead this country forward. No phonies.
14
two words: ground game.
—
and energized?
let’s not mistake hooting at rallies for enthusiastic support among the general electorate.
“It's not just that Trump has a low approval rating. His strongly approve rating of 28% is far below his strongly disapprove rating of 45%, which is a much wider gap than previous presidents saw and indicates an enthusiasm gap...”
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/cnn-poll-09-10-2019/index.html
if the dems can get people out in force —especially young people—and find a way around GOP voter suppression tactics, the rot will be expunged.
16
Whoa there Maureen. He soundly lost the popular vote to a terrible candidate; if turnout mirrors the mid terms he’ll lose. And lose big. And hopefully be placed in the scrap heap of history alongside McCarthy and all of the other charlatans that have somehow managed to con people.
20
By the time the Democrats nominate a candidate, there will be plenty of time for fist-pumping. Let's hear what they have to say and not judge the entire political world through the frame imposed by a carnival barker.
The dialog may be overly polite and programmed at this point, but when Trump starts his usual blather focused on a single candidate he paints a large target on his own back. All the Democratic nominee has to do is to focus on Trump's failure to do anything constructive. And describe how the policy changes they'd make are not, as incorrectly implied here, "free stuff". Sorry, we're already paying, and sometimes going bankrupt, for health care and education. What is Trump's counter? He has none. He'd rather call names than do his job or homework. At some point, making fun of the other guy is going to wear thin. It always boils down to the old bromide: are you better off now than you were four years ago?
17
@Ray Zielinski
Several of the supposed phonies are ahead if Trump on the polls. Maurer hasn’t been worth reading for a long time
Dowd perceives the country in turmoil because she dwells in the DC/NYC bubble. Across the nation most citizens are going to work every day, sending their kids to school, taking vacations, and getting together with friends and families. If there is any turmoil, it’s created by frenzied columnists who are all agog at the sitting president. The simple fact is the Dems will come up with their candidate for the election in 2020, and the above citizens will decide whom they want to lead the country. And hopefully the pundits and the paranoid won’t see Russians behind every voting booth.
10
What if nobody physically showed up for the next Democratic debate?
They haven't showed up for the first 2 debates.
These people are lost in the woods chasing their own tails.
3
Doomed, if they don't wake up soon. Corporate Democrats are too much like Republicans. Rank and file, old school Democrats are fully aware of that, but are fooling themselves into believing that a return to the status quo will fix this. It will not. Only drastic proposals, and drastic measures, of the kind supported by the younger generations, will fix it. They are much more progressive than the self-serving, backward leaders of our party. Because of that, I fear these voters may stay away from the polls, not realizing that no vote is the same as a vote for tRump. Exactly what the Republicans are hoping for. Democrats: you will never find the perfect candidate. They all have their foibles. Vote for the one with the greatest chance of enacting pro-humanity, pro-environmental legislation. Failure to do so will guarantee your worst visions of the future. Never stop fighting.
5
Campaign in all 50 states. There are a lot of Senate races ir red states that need to be won, and showing the flag, literally, in rural America would help remake the Party's image. Near the end of the campaign, go to every county in the upper midwest and PA. Don't assume MN is a given; it almost flipped in 2016.
Crazy? Nope. Throw the media and the Republicans off stride. It shows that the Democratic nominee wants to be president of all the people, not the forty percenters.
5
The problem is the horse is outta the barn. Trump has lit a match to President Job Description/Qualification. How to put horse back in barn that's burnt down? But please are we not Debated Out for now...Can't this wait until Christmastime
2
Conservatism is all about preserving the status quo. They smack down lower orders which try to rise. Donald Trump is a distraction— a reality TV character playing against boring politicians, but behind the scenes, the plutocrats are humming along.
3
It is not, nor has it ever been, about Trump. It is about his knuckle-dragging followers. Many have been around forever. Only now is there someone willing to steep so low as to get their attention.
Shame on all of us for letting our educational systems be reduced to rubble. Even though we like a dumb consumer, we have to make some effort to educate the masses.
Trump is the product of 60 years of advertising, where the truth has been merely inconvenient. We now have a population that not only accepts lies, but wants to be lied to.
It is much more comforting to be told what you want to believe, than to deal with reality.
8
@K. Corbin Nonsense. We have people that are smart enough to realize that socialism and left-leaning policies of government control, high taxes, and "free stuff" are not better than lower taxes, less government, and free markets.
1
how to counter this? civil war or revolution.
do you really trust this government will run a 'free and fair' election in 2020? he had help from a foreign adversary in 2016, lost the popular vote by 3 million americans, and still got to forever change the law of the land by appointing TWO supreme court justices. trump will be here until he is physically dragged from the office dead or alive.
love 'faux-thenticity' by the way!
6
@cse "how to counter this? civil war or revolution."
Not if Beto takes your guns.
Quite so. But it's simply a fact that the Democratic Party is not putting forward really top-tier people. Top-tier people don't typically run for office anymore, and the main reason for that is . . . the media. Who wants to go through that meat-grinder, with every life event and every word spoken scrutinized to death by reporters and "analysts"? You've got to be incredibly vain and ambitious to do that, and if you've got any ability you can just go into business instead of defaulting to politics.
The Democratic Party remains out of step with America on important issues. And really committed Democrats are the most out of step. The best candidates in the field are/were Mayor Pete, Tulsi Gabbard, and Governor Bullock, and none of them are polling well. Booker sounds like Obama-lite. Biden is the ultimate retread, and Sanders a hectoring socialist. Warren is probably the best of the old crowd, but she can't explain her health care policy or how she'll pay for the other goodies she has in mind, plus she'll be sliced and diced by the Republican smear machine. I doubt she could survive that and go on to win.
I still think the odds are better than 50-50 that Trump loses narrowly in '20. But whoever beats him will be a political pygmy adrift in the swamp that is U.S. politics.
He's not in my head, I can assure you. We are looking for sanity, not cult like stardom.
9
Warren inspires me because she names the problem that got Trump elected in the first place: corruption. Trump, a popular resident-- if not the president--of the swamp, said he was going to drain the swamp. The people who voted for him thought he was the swamp-drainer but instead he's the swamp-king, making our country swampier by the day.
Warren is the swamp drainer and that is why her trend lines are going up. She's got a plan, actually multiple plans, to drain the swamp. Warren like many of us has experienced the swamp starting at a young age and she has learned as many of us have that our country has been corrupted by the influence of money that now owns our government and has turned our country into a dirty corrupt swamp.
Warren inspires me. She's got the courage, intelligence, determination and passion to clean up this mess. She knows that corruption is the fundamental problem and she has all the cleaning know-how and elbow-grease needed to restore our government to the people where it belongs.
12
“He’s in our heads“
Yes.
But it’s Putin that’s put him in there.
With skills in disinformation and kompromat and with revenge in his heart, Putin has made our country a post truth society. We no longer trust the news. We can be manipulated with ease, and are.
6
I think that the worst thing democrats could do is to succumb to Ms. Dowd's cynicism. Frankly, I seriously believe that not only Trump will be defeated in the 2020 election, he will go down snarling and whining in utter humiliation. Of course democrats can't let their guard down, and must charge ahead with the same fierceness as in the 2018 House elections.
14
Ms. Dowd, this is just the same old same old. Yes, Trump is a nightmare. But we've had plenty of completely incompetent presidents before. We've had plenty of hateful presidents before (Andrew Jackson anyone?). Your guy Obama got nothing done in 8 years. His one "big" accomplishment was passing a Republican health care bill which is a joke. Even Warren or Sanders wouldn't really change anything. We're still going to be stuck with 99.9% of the people working to make .1% of the people vary rich. The 99.9% might at least be able to go to a doctor, thus prolonging their misery.
2
Ridiculous premise considering he won by 77k votes over a very flawed candidate. His base will come out all the Dems have to do is get out the vote in a couple states. We put so much stock in the policy argument when in reality people will just want to vote him out so they can argue about something besides his juvenile approach to running the country like we are all back in high school and he is running for class president.
7
Warren joins Trump as "one of the phoniest" with her lifelong false claim of being Native American to propel her professional and political career at the expense of others.
Perhaps she has accidentally found a tactic to create a social and political revolution which will benefit all Americans.
Every American can claim membership in a special identity group for their own personal benefit whether factual or false.
3
@jck But your claim isn't actually true. She has never used her families mistaken belief in having Native American heritage to further her career(and no one can argue it helped her political career). She didn't start checking the NA box until after she had graduated from college and been hired at UoPenn. It's irrational to take what is an extremely common mistake(family lore) and turn it into a nefarious plot. I agree if she had used it to get jobs or scholarships, it would be an issue but that has been thoroughly dug into and proven she did not do that. She genuinely seemed to think she had Native American heritage and was doing it out of a point of pride.
Draft Michelle. (She doesn't want to have to do it, but someone has to save the planet for her kids, and everybody else'.)
trump is the "phoniest people ever to walk the earth? Well, of course he is. He is the triumph of TV culture, the media made flesh. He is the perfect creature to lead a culture when there attention span is 10 minutes, long term planning is the coming weekend, and nobody has a memory.
5
Yes, "the most beatable candidate in history" will win twice. How could he possibly lose against any of the present dem candidates? They are literally a group of broken down fools who don't have a clue what the public wants. As long as the economy keeps up this pace then I see President Trump winning in a cakewalk.
2
The right-wing zealots had a bumper sticker in previous elections (Obama): "Be afraid...be really afraid."
Maybe the Democrats - considering their field of candidates who can, in theory, beat Trump - should get some of those stickers now...
2
With this current group of lamentable candidates, the depressing answer to your question is yes, but it is not just the Democrats, everyone is doomed, though the self-serving and/or ignorant Trump followers, many of whom suffering from an extreme case of Dunning-Kruger syndrome of which Trump is the epitome, just don’t know it yet.
It's shaping up as a Biden-Warren ticket. But if they manage to win, they will change little. Warren as VP would change little because VP's are always ineffectual and Biden doesn't care about progressive change. Further, Biden has eight years experience as VP being ineffectual.
If beating Trump and gaining power only to maintain the status quo is actually more important to Democrats than resolving America's big issues, they deserve to lose.
1
@Lawrence Chanin
I think a Biden-warren ticket would do a good deal more than you suggest. They would return dignity and rationality to the US government. We would have a cabinet of non grifters who would want to accomplish stuff foe the American people and not themselves. Fascination with dictatorial leaders would no longer be in vogue. The army of unfulfilled ambassadors and 'temporary' appointments(since, apparently the word ' temporary' means you can skip congressional approval. And maybe even some common sense in gun control.
I'm not looking for charisma. Charisma is rare but not really necessary for good government. I'm definitely not seeking drama. We are suffering from exhausting, frightening daily White House drama. I'm looking for thoughtful candidates with insight into America's strengths and weaknesses, plans to improve our national and international problems, a dedication to hard work, and respect for all people. Respect! Remember when there was respect? Give me the the opposite of Trump. Most of the candidates on stage (and 2 not on stage -- Bennett and Bullock) have the qualities I will vote for.
8
For the two plus years of this sad reality show that Trump is staging it has become obvious many Trump supporters care little about healthcare initiatives, infrastructure programs, education issues, many of the ideas being bantered about by the Democrats. The Trump voter wants a border wall, all immigrants, and possibly native born people of color, ejected from the country. They want Iran bombed and their AK-47s and AR-15s and light bulbs that don't make Trump look orange (light bulbs won't help that-along with Trump being a dim-bulb himself).
Yet, the Democrats snipe at each other in what appears to be who can have the most expensive program-and Trump takes full advantage of that with his gaslighting scree of "socialism like Venezuela".
Those candidates need to be locked up in a room and not let out until they find the two best candidates with the best ideas that won't be extremely expensive and who can effectively stand toe-to-toe with a serial liar and grandstander.
The ideas are refreshing to hear, but, those ideas and their costs will provide Trump with more points to lie, and gaslight.
13
@Dan
Dan. The candidate will be bound by the Democratic party platform.
The Fourth Estate knows this and should act accordingly. No more free advertising for the dictator. The only real issue is how to restore democracy.
It intrigues me how words such as "forever" and "endless" appear when we talk about contemporary politics. Trump isn't "forever," wars aren't "endless." Let's not be shortsighted in our view of history. I'm not going to pretend I can predict anything, but we should know that nothing is permanent. (At the moment, I find that soothing in regard to Trump and scary in regard to the environment).
9
Is the thesis of this column that trumps veneer of spontaneity and authenticity makes his opponents seem packaged and phony? He’s changed the nature of the discourse so that if a candidate speaks in measured tones about policies they have formulated in great detail, then they’re not connecting in the raw and exciting way the6 have come to expect, so they are doomed? Trump brings the conversation down to the minutiae of everyday life like straws and light bulbs, like cows and cars as opposed to the broader concept of climate. Therefore candidates have to wake up and learn to talk like this too? Is that Maureen’s thesis.
4
Give Andrew Yang the chance to debate Trump one on one and make his case to the American people- I think he'd do quite well. Unlike many pols, the longer he has to speak, the more impressive he is as a candidate. His gambit on Thursday may have been ill-advised, but he is improving rapidly.
4
@jc everyone laughed at his $1000 dollar giveaway. He sounded like an infomercial at that point. The thing is, the demographic that would react to infomercials is probably a good chunk of the demographic that falls for everything Trump says. Maybe Yang is on to something, that while laughed at, it might be no different than how dems laughed at Trump's promises.
2
Democrats need to stop bickering amongst themselves and re-litigating the past. I'm tired of everybody picking on Joe Biden. The grown up in the room. My ideal ticket would be Biden and Warren. He has the foreign policy chops, and she the most interesting ideas for economic reforms. I don't agree with all of her policy recommendations, but they're worth discussing.
9
For about 50 years, the U.S. government increasingly stood on the side of the common citizen. Populist action resulted from voting for populist candidates.
The bait and switch that's now 40 years old was concocted in the political labs of the defenders of the impossibly rich, the Mellons and Kochs and their ilk whose narcissism is a template for the Barnum who is now our peerless leader.
Voting for the know-nothing Reagan was the equivalent of frogs throwing themselves into an as-yet lukewarm pot of water. As the water and the Earth warmed, the frogs were heard to remark, "It's so much nicer here in March than it used to be!"
And thus did vice become virtue: Reality is hard, and thinking is difficult. It's so much more comfortable to be lied to and, besides, life is short. The accumulators of the world convinced the consumers of the world to adopt the mindset of the owners and miners at Anaconda--who cares about the mess when someone else will have to clean it up?
Still, those who were seduced by Reagan might have become uneasy that his financial prescriptions were really just doodles on a napkin and his foreign policy consisted of selling arms to a sworn enemy in order to funnel illegal money to right-wing thugs in Central America. But his voice was so soothing.
Then came GWB, whose contempt for government was so evident when he sent Evangelicals to run Iraq. Plus Cheney.
How surprised can we be that the heat is now up full and the frogs have lost the ability to think?
24
Maureen Dowd is a clever writer who should have been doing fiction all these years instead of making up things about real events. I think she’d be a happier person.
No one can expect Presidential debates to to be exciting; at least not the ones concocted by mainstream media, which give respondents two minutes to answer, at most.
Only simple things are required to achieve happiness; a decent living wage, health care that does not leave people bankrupt or lose a home, a good education, decent roads, etc., to travel on, an end to interminable wars that kill innocent people - I may have omitted a thing or two - and taxes to pay for it all that, which the wealthy must contribute to fairly as well.
Bernie Sanders has been saying this for years and years; and to crowds so large that he sometimes grows a little hoarse. I’m sorry if he bores you, Maureen, but that’s what people need. He was the only person on the stage Thursday night who really meant what he was saying.
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@CS...Bernie may tell you what you want, and he may flail his arms and tell you very loudly, which is why he is hoarse; but when it comes to explaining how we are going to get there, he really hasn't got a clue. And if you can't explain in rational terms how to accomplish what you want, that and ten cents will get you a cup of coffee.
Sanders is also the only person entirely funded by ordinary people. Warren is using 10.3 million raised from big donors last year and will go back to them for more money if she wins the primaries, which makes her accessible to influence peddlers.
@W.A. Spitzer
You can research Bernie’ s 2020 website to find an answer to your questions. For instance, to guarantee higher education at public universities as a right for all, he proposes to impose a tax of a fraction of a percent on Wall Street speculators who nearly destroyed the economy a decade ago. This Wall Street speculation tax will raise $2.4 trillion over the next ten years. It works by placing a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades.
I already mentioned making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes and disallowing investing their money in overseas banks. That, and eliminating the insurance company administrative costs would help fund our medical system.
The insurance and pharmaceutical companies are up in arms over all this, and are telling everyone how impossible it is.
Ending some of our wars will give the government more funds for necessities like safe roads and subways. The Military Industrial Complex wants to stop that from happening, however.
The media, including the NYT, highly disagrees with anything other than negative comments about Bernie Sanders.
Oh, and Bernie’s hoarse because he is always on the campaign trail. He just never stops.